[John Murray Jr.]

Hey Everyone -


Just thought I would let you all learn a bit from my personal experience - I just got back from my second trip to bandon.  On the way home we decided to give the shuttle flight from North bend to SF a shot rather than driving back to Portland.  WHAT A MISTAKE.  We were notified about 3 hours before our flight that it was cancelled.  United basically did nothing for us.  No vouchers, no hotel stay, no compensation for the rental car.  Instead, when we showed up to the airport, they basically said too bad and there may be a flight leaving in 2 days, although that one may be cancelled too.  After 3 hours we were able to get on a flight at 5am the next morning out of Eugene (about 2 hours away) and, after a connecting flight, going in to an entirely different airport (Milwaukee) than our home airport.  There were absolutely NO flights left out of Portland and nothing going into O'Hare or Midway.


After talking with our caddies, apparently this happens quite regularly (the flight was also cancelled the day before ours as well) and it is common for United to just leave the guest hanging with no compensation as they blame the "weather" for the cancellation.


Use this option at your own risk.  To me, NEVER again.  After having a great trip at Bandon, getting completely hosed really kills the buzz.  Bandon should post a warning on their website rather than advertise for this flight.


John

[John Kavanaugh]

Sage advice.

[William_G]

winter travel and major storms don't always mix

[Ronald Montesano]

John,


First, I'm sorry for your rotten luck. Second, did you opt for the North Bend option to avoid the 4-hour drive to Portlandia, or was it money as well? I've played there twice, as part of a larger trip each time, so getting in and out always involved cars and more places to visit.

[John Kavanaugh]

John,


I apologize in advance but I can't help but smile at the thought of you posting this word for word on your blog as you are sitting in the airport. Please tell me it's true.The only thing that could make this story any better is to learn that any small part of your trip was comped. It's the small things in life that brightens my day. Sorry.

[Terry Lavin]

Shit happens.

[David_Tepper]

Those United flights between SFO and North Bend are also noted for bringing all the passengers, but sometimes leaving their golf clubs behind.

[Charles Lund]

Sorry to hear about your experience with United and Bandon.

February was a bad month on the west coast for weather so far.  I had a flight from Hong Kong into San Francisco on February 7th and was connecting up to Seattle on Alaska.  The FAA did not permit the Alaska plane to land at SFO and diverted to San Jose.  I got into SFO and cleared immigration and had my luggage about 90 minutes before my scheduled departure.  They had buses to San Jose but the last one had departed.  Alaska put me on a later flight and I had the option of flying Alaska or Virgin which Alaska has merged with.  Flights were really messed up that day and many planes were not getting into San Francisco.  I was delayed about three hours but got to try Virgin for the first time.

I fly about 90,000 miles a year and do not fly United EVER.  I consistently hear horror stories of bad service.  I will add yours to my mental list.

For Bandon travel, Horizon Air which is part of Alaska, flies into Eugene.  The drive from Eugene is about 2.5 hours to Bandon.  If I were flying to Bandon, I would get a Horizon flight to Eugene and rent a car and drive to Bandon.  There are some other smaller airlines like PenAir that fly into North Bend as I recall and they fly from Seattle.   Portland is about 4.5 to 5 hours from Eugene.  Lots  of Alaska flights go into Portland.

I think three are also a lot of Southwest flights that go to Portland.

Let me share a story of a glitch on an Alaska flight problem a few years ago.
I was flying from San Diego to Redmond, Oregon near Bend with a connection in Portland.  My flight from San Diego was delayed so long that the three hour connection time allotted was exceeded.  So I missed my connecting flight.  The flight the following morning to Redmond was fully booked as were all flights that weekend.  Similarly, there were none from Seattle.
 
I had a car rental in Redmond and made a change to pick up a one way rental in Portland from the same car company and drop it off in Redmond when I flew out on Sunday.  I picked up the car in Portland and Alaska gave me a hotel voucher.  I drove to Bend the next morning and was able to change the car at the airport for one I liked better for the same fee.
 
When I got back home, I sent an email to Alaska thanking them for the hotel voucher.  I told them what happened.  I explained that I had paid for the flight to Redmond as part of the itinerary and was not able to fly.  I asked for a price adjustment on the ticket.  I sent them the original car rental reservation in Redmond and the one way car rental which was more costly.  I asked them to reimburse me for the extra cost.

Alaska refunded the price difference for the plane ticket without the flight to Redmond and they sent me a check for the difference between the car rental costs.

Bandon is great. But like Dream Golf says,   “What’s the difference between Bandon Dunes and Ballybunion?”  “It’s easier to get to Ballybunion.”

Charles Lund

[John Murray Jr.]

John,


I apologize in advance but I can't help but smile at the thought of you posting this word for word on your blog as you are sitting in the airport. Please tell me it's true.The only thing that could make this story any better is to learn that any small part of your trip was comped. It's the small things in life that brightens my day. Sorry.

It is on my blog...www.thegolfsage.com, but....
I'll do one better....so, we initially got set up with a flight that left Eugene in 2.5 hours and it takes about 2 hours to get there from North bend.  Me and my buddy pack 3 suitcase and 3 golf travel bags (amazed that it fit with room for 3 guys to barely sit) into a Hyundai Sonata (because that is the only rental available at North bend airport) and go to close the trunk.  The trunk wont close.  When we finally do get the trunk to close, we try to open it again to test it.  The trunk wont open.  ALL OF OUR BAGS ARE LOCKED IN THE DAMN TRUNK.  This shit show ends with me somehow pulling all of the clubs out of my bag to crawl through the backseat of the Sonata to pull the emergency lever in the trunk.  I then am stuck between the backseat and the trunk until my buddies pull me out of the trunk by the arms out the back of the trunk.  Needless to say, we missed that flight too.  When we finally get on our 5am flight out of Eugene, 1/2 hour into the flight, the guy behind me almost dies.  Luckily a doctor was on board.  I thought for sure they were going to do an emergency landing and we would be stuck in some other twilight zone city.  AHAHAHA!!!!

[John Murray Jr.]

Sorry to hear about your experience with United and Bandon.

February was a bad month on the west coast for weather so far.  I had a flight from Hong Kong into San Francisco on February 7th and was connecting up to Seattle on Alaska.  The FAA did not permit the Alaska plane to land at SFO and diverted to San Jose.  I got into SFO and cleared immigration and had my luggage about 90 minutes before my scheduled departure.  They had buses to San Jose but the last one had departed.  Alaska put me on a later flight and I had the option of flying Alaska or Virgin which Alaska has merged with.  Flights were really messed up that day and many planes were not getting into San Francisco.  I was delayed about three hours but got to try Virgin for the first time.

I fly about 90,000 miles a year and do not fly United EVER.  I consistently hear horror stories of bad service.  I will add yours to my mental list.

For Bandon travel, Horizon Air which is part of Alaska, flies into Eugene.  The drive from Eugene is about 2.5 hours to Bandon.  If I were flying to Bandon, I would get a Horizon flight to Eugene and rent a car and drive to Bandon.  There are some other smaller airlines like PenAir that fly into North Bend as I recall and they fly from Seattle.   Portland is about 4.5 to 5 hours from Eugene.  Lots  of Alaska flights go into Portland.

I think three are also a lot of Southwest flights that go to Portland.

Let me share a story of a glitch on an Alaska flight problem a few years ago.
I was flying from San Diego to Redmond, Oregon near Bend with a connection in Portland.  My flight from San Diego was delayed so long that the three hour connection time allotted was exceeded.  So I missed my connecting flight.  The flight the following morning to Redmond was fully booked as were all flights that weekend.  Similarly, there were none from Seattle.
 
I had a car rental in Redmond and made a change to pick up a one way rental in Portland from the same car company and drop it off in Redmond when I flew out on Sunday.  I picked up the car in Portland and Alaska gave me a hotel voucher.  I drove to Bend the next morning and was able to change the car at the airport for one I liked better for the same fee.
 
When I got back home, I sent an email to Alaska thanking them for the hotel voucher.  I told them what happened.  I explained that I had paid for the flight to Redmond as part of the itinerary and was not able to fly.  I asked for a price adjustment on the ticket.  I sent them the original car rental reservation in Redmond and the one way car rental which was more costly.  I asked them to reimburse me for the extra cost.

Alaska refunded the price difference for the plane ticket without the flight to Redmond and they sent me a check for the difference between the car rental costs.

Bandon is great. But like Dream Golf says,   “What’s the difference between Bandon Dunes and Ballybunion?”  “It’s easier to get to Ballybunion.”

Charles Lund

Great story!

[John Murray Jr.]

John,


First, I'm sorry for your rotten luck. Second, did you opt for the North Bend option to avoid the 4-hour drive to Portlandia, or was it money as well? I've played there twice, as part of a larger trip each time, so getting in and out always involved cars and more places to visit.

We flew in to Portland on the way there.  That is what we had done in the past.  My father-in-law was traveling with us this time and did not want to drive that far back to Portland at the end of the trip.  Man, did he learn his lesson!!!

[Ross Harmon]

My only trip to Bandon started off bad too... United DEN > SFO > OTH. 2 hour layover in SFO. Easy, right? Well, we got delayed 90 minutes in Denver and missed the connection to OTH after scrambling to the gate. Agent said first open seats to OTH was 4 days away. All other flights to Oregon booked. So, we drove all night up to Bandon from SFO (10 hours).


Coming home was the reverse itinerary, and not much easier. While boarding, they said the plane was overweight and they either had to take off bags or people. We (my group of 12 had 60% of the plane) voted for bags and so a few people didn't get their clubs back home for a few days.


Haven't been back since, and that was 5 years ago. Will certainly do Eugene or PDX next time, although the DEN > OTH direct is somewhat compelling for me living in Colorado.

[Doug Wright]

I always fly in and out of Portland. Four-plus hours of drive time to Bandon just adds to the anticipation. The drive from Drain to Reedsport is one of my favorites  anywhere, scenic along the Umpqua River and fun to drive the curves and passing lanes. Only once has someone I was with tried to fly out of North Bend. The result: a cancelled flight and 4 hour late night van ride to PDX.

[David Wuthrich]

Only way to do North Bend for a Bandon trip is on your own bird!!!

[William_G]

Haven't been back since, and that was 5 years ago. Will certainly do Eugene or PDX next time, although the DEN > OTH direct is somewhat compelling for me living in Colorado.

also 2 non-stop flights daily to and from DEN/EUG

[John Foley]

As someone who travels a lot for work & on United - NEVER had a problem with them. Nothing but good service. I know everyone has had issus w/ airlines, but for me I'll take United almost every time.


All that said, best advice I ever got and one I always adhere to - the drive to/from the bigger airport is always the best plan.

[Michael Whitaker]

As someone who travels a lot for work & on United - NEVER had a problem with them. Nothing but good service. I know everyone has had issus w/ airlines, but for me I'll take United almost every time.


All that said, best advice I ever got and one I always adhere to - the drive to/from the bigger airport is always the best plan.

John - my wife has a business in London and we have flown there almost exclusively on United two or three times per year for the past 11 years with hardly any issues.

[Bill_McBride]

I have been to Brandon Dunes half a dozen times starting in 2001.  I've never given any thought to North Bend, it's a complete crap shoot. 

[Ira Fishman]

Wow, this thread may have saved us from a huge mistake. I booked our first trip to  Bandon (September) several weeks ago but uncertainty around going to SF area before or after held me up from booking flights.

[Brad Tufts]

Interesting the pro and con opinions on United.

They have all been aced out of Boston with the JetBlue expansion and Delta as well, both pretty damn good airlines (yes I know JB has had bumps in the past).

I don't really fly anywhere United goes exclusively so it's rare I end up on a United flight these days.

[William_G]

airline travel is better than ever worldwide, and I fly in/out Oregon

[John Cowden]

I can generally beat my LAX/EDI time by an hour or so when I book into North Bend (OTH).

There's a United pilot who's infamous for turning back upon reaching  the North Bend approach.  Working his overtime or he's got a girlfriend in Eugene.   Best to drive (SF is only 8 hours)  or fly into EUG.  Go Ducks! 

[Tom_Doak]

I'm enjoying this thread at a hotel in Tokyo, after being stranded here this evening when my connection to Taipei was grounded due to weather in Taiwan.  I'm back on the bus to the airport at 5:00 am tomorrow


FWIW, I haven't flown into North Bend in several years, as the weather issues in SF and North Bend make that flight a crapshoot.  I miss the old days of the Alaska airlines connection from Portland; now I just get off there and drive down, which is one less flight for me than Eugene.

[David_Moorhead]

We must have been lucky because we did the DEN-OTH flights last September without an issue.  Those flights allowed us to play 18 on the day we left Chicago and 9 easily the morning we flew home.  We used ShipSticks to ensure our bags were there.  Our flight from Chicago to Denver was delayed because of a major storm in Chicago, but United held the North Bend flight because more than half of that flight was on the delayed flight from Chicago.

[Ian Mackenzie]

I've taken that flight twice w/o incident.


If it's any consolation, that same scenario has happened to me before....but, it was from NY LaGuardia to Chicago on American!!!
My 7:00 pm flight cancelled, all other flights overbooked so AA schedules me for the next day. I took cab to JFK and bought a Jet Blue ticket and got home that night.


Flying can suck sometimes.

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