when just returned from Paris and we had a lovely time. Much due to the help and info we recieved from this forum! I thought I should share what happened to us with Continental airlines. I am still shocked at what happened. I am shure there are many other stories out there. We talked to people all over the country who suffered at their hands.
We were to depart Denver to Newark on Saturday the 15th. As departure time grew near it was obvious we would not leave on time. They had not cleared the flight that was at the gate to be able to pull our flight in. They repeatedly said that if everyone cooperated and followed directions we would be loaded and off on our way with out any problem. It was said over and over that we should arrive close to our original arrival time. Everyone was great and plane was boarded and the door shut. We sat, Now we were going to make an unscheduled stop in Cleveland for fuel. We sat in the plane for near to an hour before we departed.
During the flight and extensive lay over in Cleveland our flight crew was great. They said we would be taken care of, it was the company%26#39;s fault. When we arrived in Newark that there would be agents to help us make our connecting flights. Not to worry!
Well when we arrived, there was no one to help us! We somehow made our way to the last flight to Paris. Not with any help from Continental. They took our tickets and told us to wait. Maybe we would be able to make this flight!
While waiting we talked to people from all over the country that their flight was delayed and this missed their connecting flight and no one helped them. They found their way there as we did.
We did not make this flight. We understood and followed their direction to go to customer service. We were a bit disappointed that we would miss a day in Paris. But these things happen.
Then the fun began. Suddenly everything was weather related. They were not helping anyone. There were no more hotel vouchers. We could not have access to our luggage. We explained our flight did not arrive late due to weather. They handed us food vouchers and offered a blanket and pillow. They did book us for the next day to Paris. One agent began to yell at everyone. She said they were leaving at midnight no matter what. We were to late to expect help. To call the 1-800 number for assistance. There was no more help with HOTELS, no matter what! Some people were in tears. Some needed access to medication. Not only were we not helped, we were treated as though it was our fault!
We went to airport information and they told us to go directly to where the vans pick up for hotels. We did and a driver called his hotel and arranged for us to go there. They were fantastic! They treated us with kindness and could not believe that we had not been given a hotel voucher.
I called the 1-800 number and the agent that I spoke with checked my information and said we should have been given a hotel voucher. He wanted us to return to the airport early the next day and speak with a manager. We did and we received the same treatment. Again the weather. They gave us more food vouchers.
The hotel mentioned that they only received guests from Continental and no other airline. That it had been that way for two weeks. We talked with people from everywhere that had experienced problems. One guy arrived to his flight still at the gate to find that they gave away all of his first class seats to someone else.
Lesson learned. Plan your flights with plenty of layover time. Take early flights so as to have access to later flights. Take charge of your situation and don%26#39;t wait thinking they will take care of you!
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we flew continental for our trip this spring and there but for the grace of god go we
we sat on the ground in Nashville for two hours while all the luggage was off loaded due to some malfunction in the hold -- and we were assured we would make our Newark connections but that our luggage wouldn%26#39;t -- we were heading for an apartment in Amsterdam where of course getting late luggage would mean not being able to leave the apartment
luckily in our case, they finally fixed the problem and loaded luggage -- we were very late into Newark but I had a 4 hours layover so it wasn%26#39;t a problem for us
I always try to book insanely long layovers on international trips although that is not always possible --
it sounds like Continental is running with no reserves at all -- I guess we are all lucky the corner cutting didn%26#39;t have an even worse impact than it did
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%26gt;%26gt; We did not make this flight. We understood and followed their direction to go to customer service. We were a bit disappointed that we would miss a day in Paris. But these things happen. %26lt;%26lt;
Since your flight was EU-bound, you are eligible to the EU261/2004 compensation rules. No matter what Continental will bogus in reply.
eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do…
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Thank you superteterodyne for the info. I will look that up. I imagine I should mention this law in my correspondence with them?
Graceh9
I think you are totally correct. They have everything so maxed out that if something goes wrong anywhere in the country, it throughs a wrench in their whole system.
Many people told us that there had been a storm in Houston. Just a quick rain. Whick I beleive was the whole %26quot;storm related%26quot; issue.
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* * * * IMPORTANT * * * *
NEVER pack and check your medications !!!!
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Oh, no.... we fly Continental when we go in July - Seattle to Newark and then on to Paris.... Sure hope we don%26#39;t have problems like you had! YIKES!
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%26gt;%26gt; you are eligible to the EU261/2004 compensation rules.
(14) As under the Montreal Convention, obligations on operating air carriers should be limited or excluded in cases where an event has been caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Such circumstances may, in particular, occur in cases of political instability, ** meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned **
Good luck :)
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We travel frequently on Continental, PDX to Newark to Scotland, have never had any problems. I even chose a flight to Scotland with a 15 minute layover in Newark (%26amp; made it!!) Yes I know this is silly and unrealistic, as my husband pointed out, however I was flying solo and thought if I miss the flight I will get on the later one, and perhaps have some time for Manhattan.......
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just another small example of how slim the margins are -- the entire plane on our return from Paris to Newark had no reading lights -- NONE of the reading lights in coach worked
I don%26#39;t know what you all do on long plane flights -- but me, I read -- at least it was daytime so it wasn%26#39;t totally impossible although I was not near a window and it was not pleasant to read in the low light
I guess I wonder when this kind of skimpy maintenance and lack of reserves is to going to put me in the drink rather than just inconvenience me -- but then we do have those rafts and life vests which we all know will do the trick
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Hi, sorry about your unfortunate experience. Continental is supposedly one of the best domestic airlines nowadays. However, with lessened flights the chances of being bumped are greater than before according to media reports. Also flights are going either full or close to capacity as well nowadays. I believe all airlines have the potential to have the same problems that you experienced. In fact, US Air, which just not too long ago used to have a very good reputation is not as good as before; I had two canceled flights back to back last December which was not a nice thing at all.
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