United Airlines flights from Hong Kong to Sao Paulo Guarulhos Intl Airport (HKG - GRU)

i missed the cutoff for luggage by 1 minute in eugene. the woman told me i have to bring my big suitcase with me and check it on the plane but i would be fine . There were several others and getting through was long and by the time we got to the gate they had just shut it . i was out on the next flight from eugene to san francisco but could not get on a flight from san francisco to san diego until late in the afternoon. i had to be in mexico to give a talk and they said that there would be no room on the first connecting flight. So i purchased a ticket on line to be sure I could get to my talk. I went to the United Agent in Eugene behind the counter and explained what i had done and she promised me she would be sure my suitcase made the new flight . It did not . i am on my way to Tecate Mexico and my suitcase with all my clothes and information for my talk is in san francisco . She was certain and said for sure the suitcase would be with me and I am very distressed -I used 55,000 miles to make sure i was on time and now i don’t have my suitcase abs necessary things and no one seems to know how to get it to my hotel .

I wasn’t able to make my flight because my first flight from Nashville (BNA) was delayed for mechanical error (someone’s chair wasn’t able to stay in the upright position), so when I arrived to New York/Newark (EWR) the connecting flight was gone. Since it was the last flight heading to Norfolk (ORF) that night, I had to be rerouted to Richmond (RIC), which is a 90 minute drive to my home. I will admit the lady working the counter was helpful in getting me that replacement flight ticket and put me in first class. Although I think there needs to be someway of halting a connecting flight if the previous leg is delayed. Yet I can see that would probably start a chain reaction of missing times, which helps no one. I just wish it were avoidable, but thankfully I arrived safe after all the headaches. The replacement flight got delayed too, but that’s because it was arriving late and held the crew for the flight I was getting on, but that’s a story for another time…

Having problems connecting with my MacBook Pro. Found later that Safari is no supported and had to use the Firefox or google apps. Could have had that in the available brochures, I did not see it. Also lots of empty seats where UA was trying to sell but would not let the 'lower' class passengers move into them even though we were pilots going into a exit row. Once the door closes they are not going to sell anymore of those seats so why not do 'upgrades' for passengers to the 'bit' more expensive class. I get the first class barrier but when in a cattle car. . . . . . . .