4th of July travel cancellations continue, Houston travelers share stories

HOUSTON - Some holiday travelers for the 4th of July had a tough time trying to get in and out of Houston.

As of Sunday, more than 1,200 flights across the U.S. were canceled and more than 29,000 were delayed according to Flight Aware. At Bush Intercontinental Airport, the number of cancelations dropped to 23, but many travelers arrived at their destination without their bags.

"I came from Montana up by Canada and flights got delayed through Denver by like 4+ hours," said Phil Munoz.

Munoz, who’s in a wheelchair, relies on custom medical equipment to get around. Munoz said his luggage was lost three days ago.

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"I was looking for my luggage with my medical supplies and my prescription medications and my driving hand controls. They told us it out was out for delivery but when we were looking it up online, they were saying my claim number isn’t registered. So, my lovely fiancé spent a total of 5+ hours on hold over the last couple of days, then finally confirmed today that it was still at the airport," said Munoz.

Chris Wilson flew from Phoenix to Houston for the 4th of July holiday with his wife, who just had back surgery.

"Everything went smoothly, we were on time and then we arrived here in Houston and our bag that we checked is not here," Wilson said.

Even travel experts like Janine Iannerelli are having issues. She was supposed to fly to New York on Friday on United but two days later, she still hasn’t been able to leave town.

MORE: United CEO apologizes for flying private jet while the airline delayed, canceled thousands of flights

While so many passengers were stranded, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby decided to take a private jet to avoid the nightmare. He’s since apologized for the ‘insensitive’ decision.

"Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home," Kirby said in a statement. "I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who have been working around the clock for several days — often through severe weather — to take care of our customers."

"One of the biggest frustrations that was expressed to me is the fact that they would end up on extra duty time or stuck somewhere with no hotel rooms, no meal vouchers. Now this is the crew. They're not even taking care of the crew, let alone the passengers. I will tell you that my passengers, my friends that I flew down, were never offered any sort of compensation, even though they were stuck in Dulles for about 8 hours on Friday," Iannerelli said.

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A United Airlines spokesperson said Thursday, "Delays and cancelations at IAH are a result of the severe weather witnessed in the Northeast that’s impacted all airlines this week. We’re seeing improvement across our operation at IAH and remain all hands on deck as our pilots continue to get aircraft moving, our contact center teams are working overtime to take care of our customers, and our airport customer service staff is working tirelessly to deliver bags and board flights.

As a reminder for customers whose travel has been disrupted, the United mobile app now automatically gives personalized re-booking options, bag tracking information and meal and hotel vouchers when eligible if your flight is delayed or canceled, making it easier and less stressful to get back on your way.

To track flight delays and cancelations, click here.

To file a complaint about your affected flight, click here,