Don't Fly Continental Airlines

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 1:57pm

Obviously they don't care that the number of people on the plane does not match the number of people on the manifest.

"Imagine putting your child on a plane to visit her grandparents. The plane lands and the grandparents are waiting, but your child is nowhere to be found."

Link

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 2:09pm

Just don't fly Continental if you're 10.

They were very good to me on my SFO --> Heathrow flight back in March.

[xoangel2789xo]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 5:44pm

Good thing I'm older than ten...I'm using them this summer.

[nealb1]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 6:20pm

Chalk it up to human error, I guess. It's a mistake - it happens.

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 7:08pm

I don't fly United anymore for this reason.

A few years back I was flying home to PA. The snippy male flight attendant was serving food. I was in the front quarter of the plane. When I ordered a snadwhich he snapped at me that he didn't have anymore of what I had asked for. I said "Wow, how could be out of them this fast?" He barked back at me that they didn't know how many people were going to be on the flight and mumbled something else and then, with attitude, told me what he had left. Well, I wasn't up for the attitude as I was going home for a family health emergency. I then said, "Wait, you don't know how many people you have on this plane?". He said "we didn't do a count". To which I replied "So you mean to tell me that if we go down in a cornfield in the midwest and perish, it is possible that some of us may not be accounted for?" Well, she (yes he was a nasty queen) was not happy with that. The man next to me chuckled and people within earshot fell silent. I then told him that I didn't want anything. It was the second problem I had on United and decided after that not to fly them again unless I had no choice.

[DAME]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 7:19pm

I don't fly American because their planes are filthy and their service is abismall.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 8:32pm

I fly Continental because they have daily direct flights to Stockholm from Newark. My experiences with them couldn't be better. My only complaint was due to my own inexperience. I didn't know you had to request a "special meal" 24 hours in advance. They had no vegetarian options on the flight.

My girlfriend is flying in on Malaysian Air. The reviews are outstanding and the prices are great. Based on her experience, we may be switching.

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 8:45pm

The good news is .... at least they find lost kids faster than they find lost luggage.

[Jane2]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:24pm

When I quit Delta, I started flying Continental. So far, not too bad.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:32pm

I'm keeping far away from Continental. They screwed me over big time on my flight to Madrid via London in April. When I arrived, I had to check it at an automated kiosk to print my boarding passes. The computer wouldn't print my boarding pass and said I needed assistance. I asked a guy for help and he shot me a bitch face and told me I pressed the wrong button without so much as glancing in my direction. I asked for help again and he told me which button to press. When I told him that button is not an option, he got pissy that he had to physically walk six feet to my terminal. He said, "You're in the way" and physically pushed me aside. Then he said, "You're on the wrong screen" and pushed something and walked away. I noticed the seats were wrong and asked him how to change it. He didn't respond and just ignored me, so I asked again. He refused to acknowledge me any further, so I headed to the gate.

When I arrived at the gate, I noticed my flight was delayed about half an hour. Then another half an hour. Then another. I realized I was dangerously close to missing my connecting flight in London, so I asked the woman at the gate for help. She looked me up on her computer and told me that Continental had been aware that I would have missed my connection and booked me on an earlier direct flight to Madrid hours ago and that I had just missed it. They had my email and cell phone number, but never bothered to notify me and obviously, the guy at the kiosk didn't bother to check why my boarding pass wouldn't print, for as it turned out, this was the reason. When I explained this to the woman, she said the reason I missed the flight was because she noted that I printed my boarding pass one hour and forty minutes prior to my originally scheduled flight. She said if I had arrived to the airport two hours before my flight as they suggest in all their written materials, then I wouldn't have missed my flight. I tried to remain calm as I explained that I did indeed arrive a little more than two hours prior to my flight, but after waiting in line and the trouble at the kiosk and the bitter little man at the kiosk, by the time is had printed, I had already been there half an hour and it is their responsibility to properly notify me if they CHANGE ME TO AN EARLIER FLIGHT without my knowledge. They didn't page me over the intercom or anything. As usual, no apologies, no concessions. They did get me booked on another flight to London and gave me a list of British Airways and Iberia flights for which I could exchange, but I would have to do that at Heathrow and all the flights were heavily booked. Getting out of Heathrow was a huge mess as well (neither Iberia nor British Airways wanted to honor the ticket) as Continental would have nothing more to do with me and if it wasn't for the pity of an amazing agent with Iberia (who was shocked that Continental offered me nothing in compensation), I would have lost two whole days.

The journey home was no better. I had a transfer in Newark and my flight was delayed four hours, so I went to the customer service desk and asked if there were any earlier flights. Her reply, and I'm not kidding, was "That flight is oversold". I asked her which flight and she snapped, "The one you asked about!". I clarified that I didn't even know what the flights were which is why I asked if there were any. She scoffed and looked at her computer and said there were three other flights but nothing was available. I started to ask her if I could get on standby, but she turned and chatted with her coworker and she was done with me. And this was the CUSTOMER SERVICE desk! I left and went to another Continental customer service desk and explained what happened. I named names and everything. She told me she put me on standby as a gesture, but that it would be useless. I asked if I would get any concessions of any sort and she said only for delays of more than four hours. My delay was exactly four hours, so she couldn't give me a meal voucher or anything.

I had issues with American in the past, but it was nothing compared to this. The flight staff on the return was nice, but that was all. I don't know when airlines decided it was ok to change a passenger's itinerary without telling them, ignore them, then verbally chastise them. It was insanity. If it was just one employee, I could write it off as a bad day, but it was nearly everyone I encountered connected with Continental.

Never again.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:44pm

Well, I will tell my GOOD story to try to balance that out...lol.

I spent 10 days with the better half and when we parted, we knew it would be months before we saw each other again. We were both devastated. We got to the airport 2 hours before my flight and she was waiting with me to get my boarding pass. (Lots of tears and gloom.) The man who was guiding people to the correct line came up to me and asked where I was going. Then he turned to her and said, "Are you traveling, too?" then he saw her face and said, "Oh, I guess not." Then he said, "You can't be in this line with her, but you can wait over there." He leaned in to me and whispered, "Follow me." He took me past the other customers (sorry) and to the kiosk. He printed all my stuff for me and said, "You have at least 45 minutes together before you need to go through security." He was just the nicest airport person I have ever encountered.

Updated On: 6/17/09 at 10:44 PM

[Anakela]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 11:58pm

2nd Kid on Wrong Continental Plane

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 12:11am

I'm not saying it's the child's responsibility, because it's not, but I would hope a 10 year old would know where they are going. When on the plane, they announce your destination several times (before taking off), I'd think the child would realize they were on the wrong flight.

Then again, I realize that the child is 'thought to be' in the proper hands and shouldn't have to worry about anything.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 12:29am

I've never had a single issue with Continental. US Airways, on the other hand, is an airline I avoid.

The only time I ever had an issue on a Continental flight was when I was flying to Cleveland out of Philadelphia. Because PHL is a US Airways hub we kept getting bumped for US Airways planes. This did help me learn a lesson. Never buy tickets to a baseball game the same day you fly in. I, literally, just made it to the game. Luckily, my hotel was cattycorner to the ballpark.

On the return flight out of Cleveland my flight was boarding at the same gate as two other flights. You had to follow a certain color line to get to your flight. I can understand how there would be a mix up in a situation like that.

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 12:57am

I don't like the extra fees all the airlines are tacking on for luggage, etc.

Continental does have a Newark to Honolulu direct flight which is the best going in terms of fewest hours, something like 11 or 9 hours depending which way you are traveling. And the planes on that route have decent legroom and space.

However, I was on a direct 15 or 15 1/2-hour flight with them in the fall and that plane was horrible. No leg room. No face room. If the chair in front of you was leaned back it was in your face. You literally could not stand up from your seat except by rolling sideways after the people beside moved out of their seats into the aisle (I made the mistake of getting a window seat) or if all three seats in front of you were raised (forget it, they were all sleeping). Plus the flight was completely filled. I have to stick to aisle seats. I thought I was going to sleep on the flight but not one wink I was so uncomfortable. I was dead when I arrived and dead when I returned home.

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 4:26am

Mine is kind of the opposite kind of post. I recently learned this:
ONLY fly Virgin America. I don't believe it's all Virgin flights, since I think Virgin America is somewhat new. All I know is that it's completely awesome. When I flew to New York from Las Vegas there was a disco ball and a big sign saying goodbye in the walkway thing to the actual plane. Then on the plane itself they have this weird lighting. It's purplish and completely soothing and relaxing, as opposed to the usual bright airplane lights.

Each seat has a little console attached to the back of the person in front of them. I know this is hardly new, but because it's Virgin the features are endless. You basically use it for everything, from purchasing bigger things to watching movies (huge selection) or TV shows, to ordering your food and drinks. It's all touch screen and they bring it right to you, so I just ordered a few of those small bottles of Bacardi and then ordered a ton of mixers. They brought me endless amounts of cranberry juice, soda, orange juice, and I just went about flying and enjoying. Oh, and you can use your remote control as a game controller, since the console ALSO has some cool games. I spent the majority of my way back playing Doom. DOOM!!

Perhaps the coolest feature of all comes from the fact that it's Virgin flying you around. They have a humongous seleciton of music to choose from, everything from bluegrass to musicals. And you can create these playlists from their mass inventory of artists/songs. So the entire time I was flying I had this great mix of O Brother Where Art Thou?, Bye Bye Birdie, Britney, and who knows what else.

I moved around a lot as a kid and even when I stayed stationary I had parents at opposite ends of the world. So I have flown more times than I can count and am used to it being just a normal, albeit slightly inconvenient, occurrence. This is the first time I've flown and truly felt like it was a luxury.

[singtopher]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 8:09am

Another good one is Frontier. I've never had issues with them, and the service is just great.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 9:39am

I absolutely hate Air France. I've traveled extensively with them because they tend to have the lowest fares for my destinations. They are also good about the diabetic-friendly meals they serve. My problem is that they lose my luggage EVERY FRIGGIN TIME I travel with them.

Last Summer I flew back from Paris to JFK but my bag went to Switzerland! It was delivered to my front porch three days later.

Zut alors!

Updated On: 6/17/09 at 09:39 AM

[winston89]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 12:45pm

I must say that when flying in the US I have never had a bad situation at all while flying Jet Blue. I just love them.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 12:52pm

I have had a good time flying Continental. Delta on the other hand...

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 1:42pm

I loved flying Jet Blue, but they stopped flying to Nashville. Bah.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 11:29am

This guy decided to stop flying Continental mid-flight, I guess.

Bonus: he's the captain.

http://www.kptv.com/news/19789091/detail.html?treets=ptl1&tml=ptl1_natlbreak&ts=T&tmi=ptl1_natlbreak_1_10210106182009

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 12:29pm

Ah, I was just going to post that, Lizzie! That's so scary, though. If he died 'naturally,' wouldn't there have been some indication he was sick before he got on the plane?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 12:34pm

Yes, I remember. I had lasagna.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 12:36pm

"If he died 'naturally,' wouldn't there have been some indication he was sick before he got on the plane?"

Not always. Something like a heart attack can, and does, creep up on you. A high school friend of mine was with her dead and he had one all of a sudden and died right in front of them. It does happen.