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USA 3000 Complaint - Delay, Cancel, Delay... - Airline Flight
Airline Flight - Complaint
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- I was not sure what aircraft type I flew on but after looking on the company's website it appears they only have one type of plane so it was an A320.
We had a terrible experience with USA 3000 over the last week and just wanted to share it... We were flying out of Chicago O'hare on a Sat at 4:30pm. We got to the airport and after sitting at the gate past departure time found out there was a hydraulic leak and they were working on it. At 9:00pm they had it fixed and we left for Jamaica. We were not given any sort of voucher, apology, free drink, sandwich or anything. The seats were very uncomfortable so the flight was not too great. After we had been in the air for quite awhile they started a movie so we ended up landing before the movie ended. They did give us free headphones which they said they normally do not do on southbound flights, but they did not have enough for everyone. We were given a couple cookies and could purchase a sandwich for 5 dollars if we wanted which we did since we were starving at this point.
We landed in Jamaica at about 1am, and after going through customs and then the drive from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios we finally got to our hotel room about 4am.
On the return trip, our flight was scheduled to take off from Sangster International in Montego Bay at 9:30pm. Our shuttle was supposed to pick us up at the hotel at 5:10pm and since we had to check out of our room at noon we put our bags in a luggage room by the front desk and later showered in a courtesy room (at 3pm) so we could eat and be ready for our shuttlebus. About 4pm we heard that our flight was cancelled due to mechanical issues (we heard through the grapevine that it was a crack in the windshield of our plane). We had to get new rooms and we were re-scheduled to fly out the next morning at 9:30am with a shuttle pickup at 5:10am. Our shuttle was about an hour late so we were a little worried about making the flight time but we got to the airport and checked in with time to spare only to find out that our flight had been delayed to noon. The staff at the gate cited plane rotation issues and gave us a whopping $10 voucher for food. At some point while we were waiting they announced the flight would be "...departing at 11:45, oops they meant 12:45...", then they said "...once again, the flight will be departing at 12:30". So they basically announced 3 different departure times during the same announcement. We wondered what time we would really be leaving.
At 11:50 they told us we had to switch to a different gate and when we got there we saw people disembarking the plane. We did start loading the plane for our flight about 12:45 and eventually got back to Ohare in Chicago at 5pm. Since all the planes are the same, we had the same uncomfortable seats on the return flight, and they were going to show us the same movie we saw on the way down until everyone complained. Again, we got a couple cookies and we could purchase a sandwich for 5 dollars.
All in all, a very, very bad experience. Flight crews were fine with the exception of one crabby older woman on the way to Jamaica. None of the staff at the airport check in, gate, or on the flight were apologetic for the delays or cancellation.
I have read some other reviews which indicated Apple Vacations may partially or fully own USA 3000 and that USA 3000s fleet was acquired from Canada 3000 airline when it went bankrupt after Sept 11. Another wise reviewer also stated that because USA 3000 has a small fleet of planes, any mechanical issue with one plane could cause havoc with a bunch of their flights down the line.
This was our first and last experience with USA 3000. We will never fly USA 3000 again.
We had a terrible experience with USA 3000 over the last week and just wanted to share it... We were flying out of Chicago O'hare on a Sat at 4:30pm. We got to the airport and after sitting at the gate past departure time found out there was a hydraulic leak and they were working on it. At 9:00pm they had it fixed and we left for Jamaica. We were not given any sort of voucher, apology, free drink, sandwich or anything. The seats were very uncomfortable so the flight was not too great. After we had been in the air for quite awhile they started a movie so we ended up landing before the movie ended. They did give us free headphones which they said they normally do not do on southbound flights, but they did not have enough for everyone. We were given a couple cookies and could purchase a sandwich for 5 dollars if we wanted which we did since we were starving at this point.
We landed in Jamaica at about 1am, and after going through customs and then the drive from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios we finally got to our hotel room about 4am.
On the return trip, our flight was scheduled to take off from Sangster International in Montego Bay at 9:30pm. Our shuttle was supposed to pick us up at the hotel at 5:10pm and since we had to check out of our room at noon we put our bags in a luggage room by the front desk and later showered in a courtesy room (at 3pm) so we could eat and be ready for our shuttlebus. About 4pm we heard that our flight was cancelled due to mechanical issues (we heard through the grapevine that it was a crack in the windshield of our plane). We had to get new rooms and we were re-scheduled to fly out the next morning at 9:30am with a shuttle pickup at 5:10am. Our shuttle was about an hour late so we were a little worried about making the flight time but we got to the airport and checked in with time to spare only to find out that our flight had been delayed to noon. The staff at the gate cited plane rotation issues and gave us a whopping $10 voucher for food. At some point while we were waiting they announced the flight would be "...departing at 11:45, oops they meant 12:45...", then they said "...once again, the flight will be departing at 12:30". So they basically announced 3 different departure times during the same announcement. We wondered what time we would really be leaving.
At 11:50 they told us we had to switch to a different gate and when we got there we saw people disembarking the plane. We did start loading the plane for our flight about 12:45 and eventually got back to Ohare in Chicago at 5pm. Since all the planes are the same, we had the same uncomfortable seats on the return flight, and they were going to show us the same movie we saw on the way down until everyone complained. Again, we got a couple cookies and we could purchase a sandwich for 5 dollars.
All in all, a very, very bad experience. Flight crews were fine with the exception of one crabby older woman on the way to Jamaica. None of the staff at the airport check in, gate, or on the flight were apologetic for the delays or cancellation.
I have read some other reviews which indicated Apple Vacations may partially or fully own USA 3000 and that USA 3000s fleet was acquired from Canada 3000 airline when it went bankrupt after Sept 11. Another wise reviewer also stated that because USA 3000 has a small fleet of planes, any mechanical issue with one plane could cause havoc with a bunch of their flights down the line.
This was our first and last experience with USA 3000. We will never fly USA 3000 again.
Comments:
Posted by Hugh_Jorgen on 2008-03-18:
Any of these non-scheduled charter operators are going to give you about the same thing.
They have a limited number of aircraft, so one mechanical problem can ripple thru their whole system for days. They also cram the maximum amount of seats into their aircraft and the in-flight amenities are limited.
But people want three night trips to the islands for $299 per person, so something has to give and most people get a good value for their money. If you want to avoid this type of service, buy your air fare and accommodations ala carte.
They have a limited number of aircraft, so one mechanical problem can ripple thru their whole system for days. They also cram the maximum amount of seats into their aircraft and the in-flight amenities are limited.
But people want three night trips to the islands for $299 per person, so something has to give and most people get a good value for their money. If you want to avoid this type of service, buy your air fare and accommodations ala carte.
Posted by bargod on 2008-03-18:
But I bet you saved a couple of dollars by booking with this cruddy airline.
Posted by Crown Jules on 2008-03-18:
Honestly, these sound like typical delays that could happen with any airline, big or small. While they can be frustrating, I personally would rather wait through a delay than fly on an unsafe plane.
As for not being given any complimentary food, that's becoming standard anymore. Granted, I haven't flown anywhere in over two years, but my last flight was overseas and about 8 hours so they fed us on that one, but on my connecting return flight from Chicago to Oregon they offered a meal for sale but only a snack was free. And that was on a major carrier.
At least they informed you of the delays in advance and $10 should have been plenty to buy food at the airport.
As for not being given any complimentary food, that's becoming standard anymore. Granted, I haven't flown anywhere in over two years, but my last flight was overseas and about 8 hours so they fed us on that one, but on my connecting return flight from Chicago to Oregon they offered a meal for sale but only a snack was free. And that was on a major carrier.
At least they informed you of the delays in advance and $10 should have been plenty to buy food at the airport.
Posted by JPK1 on 2008-03-20:
Agreed that these types of things COULD happen on any airline, but I would not be happy with whatever airline they may happen on. I think that to have 2 four hour delays and a cancellation all on one roundtrip flight is excessive. With at least one delay and the one cancellation being mechanical issues (and the other delay due to plane rotation issues - which I take to mean a plane somewhere prior to our flight had a problem)... that is 2 or 3 different planes with mechanical problems. I don't get a warm fuzzy safe feeling with that number of different problems on an airline that doesn't have that many planes in the first place.
On another note, does anyone know what the relationship is between Ryan air and USA 3000? We had previously flown on Ryan through Apple and I was wondering if they were still around and if Apple is still using them. Did USA 3000 replace them or did they merge into USA 3000, or none of the above? Thanks for the comments and info!
On another note, does anyone know what the relationship is between Ryan air and USA 3000? We had previously flown on Ryan through Apple and I was wondering if they were still around and if Apple is still using them. Did USA 3000 replace them or did they merge into USA 3000, or none of the above? Thanks for the comments and info!
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