Why Continental can blow me... Options

[Hartmann]

I have been switching back and forth between AA and Continental (CO) for work so that I can gain status on both of them (I have status on AA but I want Executive Platinum), so I decided to take CO for a vacation to Boston. My girlfriend and I were flying out of IAH at 7:40am so we arrived at 6am and got in line, which was out the door because of Spring Break.

We waited in line for about 30 minutes till a lady a came up to me, asked if I had checked-in online (I had) and asked if I had my confirmation number (I didn't have a printer so I said "No"). She told me to go to the Continental.com bag drop, we did.

We get over there and wait 45 minutes because they were having trouble with some people's bags and finally got to the kiosk, where it asked me for my confirmation number. I called over a CO employee and told her that I didn't have the number and in a rude tone she tells me that's all we can use in that line. I explain to her how we were sent over from the other line even though I didn't have a confirmation number. She goes on to tell me to get my confirmation # or go to the other line. I call a friend who logs into my e-mail account, gets my confirmation # and helps me out, or at least I thought. After the bickering and waiting and finally getting the # into the machine, the window for us to use the kiosk to check bags had expired (30 minutes before flight). The CO employee that had been rude has the gall to laugh at us... I almost lost it but didn't want to get arrested.

She directs us to the line we had come from even though there were people behind the counter who could have helped us and got us on our way.

We head back to the other line and wait, me knowing at this point it would be a miracle for us to make our flight. Then after waiting 10 minutes, the employee who was rude, comes over, opens our line and directs about 10 people, including us back to where we just came from to check our bags.... None of the people had their confirmation numbers but the people behind the counters helped them. They finally helped us but we had missed our flight. CO put us on standby for the next flight (which was oversold) and then finally confirmed us for the flight after that. Basically we sat in an airport for 10 hours.

I went to customer service and complained, a lot. They gave me a $5 voucher (each) for a drink or set of headphones on the flight... unbelievable.

Then to top it all off, during this process they had deleted our reservation, rebooked it, but did it incorrectly, putting my girlfriend and I on separate flights. They fixed that finally but didn't have us sitting together. At least the folks at BOS were nicer and got us seats together.

Just a bad experience.

[Mommy]

wow. thats awful. i would seriously write a letter to consumer affairs or something.

[Seeker]

never used continental, and now i never will

[Testm0nkey]

never had a problem with continental

but fly to and from IAH a lot in the past and that airport is always fucked. they added a ton of more terminals and runways so im sure increased the confusion inside and number of retarded airport employees

[Aaron]

That is pretty fucked up, dude.

I flew Continental quite a bit when I was younger - pre-9/11 - and never had any real problems. Though, over the last eight years or so, most of my air travel has been through Southwest.

[GOB]

this is the best type of revenge you can give them. i'll definitely tell other people about this story specifically if i hear about another rude continental employee.

on that note, farmer's insurance can blow me. i should wear two gigantic buttons at all times, one that says the previous statement, and another that says "ask me about my other button"

[jonathan83]

you should've gotten a hella lot more than $5. that's f#$%ed yo

[Hartmann]

I have sent them a few letters and will be calling them tomorrow.

I just found out that after my flight next week I will be a Elite Gold with them (to give you an idea how much I fly them, I got that, 25,000 miles in right at two months). What does this mean? I am spending a lot of times on their airplanes, they can treat me with some respect.

All future flights after next week will be on American, until they give me some sort of compensation or at least say they are sorry.

Now I know I should have printed the boarding pass out or at least written down the number, but it was the rudeness that stuck with me.

IAH has never posed a huge problem for me as I usually travel during business hours and with other business travelers but it was a complete mess. They were telling people who had flights in E terminal to check-in at C. Why? I have no idea.

[Testm0nkey]

IAH stretches from will clayton all the way to 1960 now. its crazy

[DaveFireDancer19]

yeah ive never had an issue with continental that wasnt their fault (aka weather, the entire airport was fucked...)...IAH is always nuts...especially during business hours...but like i said...everything was always smooth

infact continentals people have always been much nicer than southwests...and most of the time continental is cheaper as well...the last time i flew american they were nasty to me...

sorry you had some issues with a few employees....shoulda brought your info. (although i sometimes forget it and its never been a problem...hmph) I doubt youll get compensation though....i was stuck in the airport for 12 hours trying to get to lubbock of all places...they (i think this was continental...i cant remember) didnt tell anyone the flight was canceled so i just sat there waiting...very frustrating, i understand...then they woudlnt book me for another flight for two days...i got ZERO compensation for my troubles...all that is after sitting in the airplane in new orleans for 4 hours, but honestly....weather was the culprit and EVERYBODYS shit was fucked up..not just continentals....i think most airline employees dont know how to handle shit like that...

in short, i think it just depends on the employee, not the airline...some employees just suck ass and have no manners or people skills...you cant just judge an airline by one incident....thats my opinion atleast...now if continental peopel were aLWAYS like that...then thatd be an issue...but they arent.

[schwab]

i havent had a problem with continental or american. I mostly fly american though

US airways on teh other hand, I have. I have never been on one single flight of theirs that was on time

[impala454]

southwest > all others

[schwab]

southwest > all others

SW is good, but not great...they are good for short flights and that is about it

[impala454]

they're sure as hell better than AA or CO. better prices, way better service, and more comfortable imo. they don't jack you around and connect you through the dumbest places like the others do.

[Hartmann]

I have my qualms with all airlines. I am going to be flying heavy United here soon and will be on Emirates before the end of the year (WOO HOO!!) so I'll rate those as well.

WN (Southwest) is great for short hops and direct flights, but they do not fly into some key areas (BOS, DC, etc.). Also, on their long flights, no food is served, just peanuts.

CO serves a decent meal (minus the pizza) on their long flights and good drink service (had three from BOS-IAH). Their hub system leaves something to be desired, as does their aircraft choice for transcon flights (757 from EWR-LGW, you gotta be kidding). Also, they are good on time flights.

AA is a very efficient airline. They only serve snacks (sometimes food) on their longer US flights which is annoying but they are affordable and have a good hub system. They are also usually on time.

USAir sucks. If you can avoid them, do it. They stranded 100,000+ people this past week and they are hardly ever on time (totally with you on that). Their main hubs are PHL (Philly) and CLT (Charlotte) and CLT is awful. There are always 20-30 aircraft in line in front of yours.

Delta (DL) is down there with USAir for me. They're late, ATL sucks, and they lose bags constantly. Their planes are old and dirty and depending on your connection in ATL you get to sit next to some very interesting (sarcasm) people.