I flew from San Francisco, California to Newark, New Jersey via Continental Airlines. Though the flight leaving San Fran was an hour and change taking off, we still managed to make it to Newark just in time for me to rush to my gate to find that my plane had been cancelled due to bad weather at the time. That I can understand, no complaints about not wanting to fly in bad weather, considering I could not even see the ground until we hit the runway in Newark to begin with. So now comes the tedious task of trying to figure out how to get to my final destination, Burlington, Vermont.

Lets start with Newark being the worst airport to get information out of anyone in the country. Yes, they have more staff than ATL, LAX, and the other giants that you can understand are understaffed, but atleast if you can find someone, they are helpful, while at Newark they are absolutely not. So I ask one of the wandering Continental Employees who I need to talk to, to change my flight to a later flight and what do I need to do to make arrangements. Well they send me to the "Members Only" line, which after taking 20 minutes to examine my ticket and make some phone calls, tells me to go stand in the farthest customer care service line in the wing, clear across the airport. Now! After standing in this line for 45 minutes, I am informed that it is a "Special Needs" customer support line, and I just have to get into a regular tickets check line. 1 hour and 20 minutes in the ticket check line (becaue Newark cancelled about 20 flights at that exact moment) I finally get to talk to a ticketing agent that attempts to help me. It took him 30 minutes to get everything straightened out and he had me "booked" on the next flight out to Burlington at 8:05 i believe. The only problem was, he could not print an actual boarding pass from his station, only a "standby" ticket, but he assured me that I was on this plane. His manager even came over and confirmed I had a seat, and I would be flying out and to make arrangements to be picked up at the airport. This ticket was "finalized" and I was happy, and trotted over to my gate to wait, because my flight into Newark landed at 5 and its now 10 till 8. Well now the plane is delayed at 1st an hour, but my seat is still confirmed with the original gate people. Thats fine, I can relax a minute. Well, at 9:10 there is an announcement that the gate has been changed at the plane will now be taking off at 11:30pm. So I go to the new gate and wait, but there are new attendants at the desk, so just to double check, i have my standby ticket in hand and ask them "are you absolutely sure I'm still getting on this flight I was promised to get on 4 hours ago" and they reply with a smart ass "Sir, no stand by ticket is ever confirmed, and the standby list is full, and has been full since 8pm." So I ask politely, what are the chances I will get on this plane, and am replied with "I have no idea, we will not know until the plane boards."

So 11:30 comes along and the plane is starting to board. While this is happening, another plane has unloaded a few gates down from us, and half of the people from that plane come to our gate, the last plane to leave out of the whole wing. So I start to think... if this plane was suppose to leave at 8:05, how are these people getting here at 11:15 catching this connection? Well, I'm sure to not too many of you guys surprise Continental has sold half of the seats in the plane twice. Needless to say I did not get onto this airplane. What really fueled my hatred was when my ride in Burlington called and said 2 other planes out of Newark from Continental had landed there while she was waiting since 6pm to pick me up. 2 planes I could have had a chance at getting on that were not on the flight board and not brought to my attention to try to catch. I did not even think about looking because i was CONFIRMED on the 8:05 flight.

So now and about 17 other people are screwed in New Jersey for the night, and they refused to give us food vouchers or hotel credits stating "because it was not an international flight, there is nothing we can do for you."
My final destination being on the Canadian boarder in Vermont is even distance from Burlington and from Montreal, Canada. So trying to atleast get a hotel for the night, no matter how ratty it was, asked about having my final destination changed to Montreal since travel time was the same distance between both, and even had I changed my destination, I was not going to get a hotel or food voucher of any kind.

So they were generous to print out 1 list for the 4 friends I met while fighting this battle of hotels in the area that offer rates for distressed travelers. Here is where I think there is a scam in play. We were driven to the Best Western at Newark Airport, hotel fee $125 (one of the other travelers did not tell them they were distressed and got a room for $89) and then to the Ritz I think ($179 a night normal rate, $249 distressed traveler rate) and we had to pay for our own transportation. We split the cab to the different hotels, but after hearing the rates I had to pay the full cab ride back to the airport where I camped out.

Back up alittle bit to my anger at the 11:30 flight desk, the attendant told me i was put on standby for the 8am flight, and confirmed on the 10:30am flight the next day. Well after everything that happened, around 2am I decide I am done taking chances and ask one of the Customer Service Specialists about my flight status, explaining to her what had happened during the whole day. She looks up on the computer to find out that not only am I not on standby for the 8am flight, I am on standby for the 10:30am flight instead. I was about to completely loose it when she printed me up a boarding pass for the 8am (well ahead of the 4 hour advance time restriction) and allowed me to sleep at the gate since it was quiet.

My pure rage comes from the 4 people I met who were screwed out of the same 3 flights we all could have been on. All 4 of us were confirmed passengers on the 8:05 flight and all 4 of us were denied. Had we just been told that it was standby and the odds were against us, like the obviously were, each of us swore that we would have rented a car and driven to Burlington, instead of them spending a collected $500+ in hotel fees.

In short, honesty and customer service up front would have gotten me to Burlington at an acceptable time driving which I had no problems paying for or doing, but thanks to Continentals bad customer service I missed out on the whole reason I made the trip, a job interview that I failed to show up for thanks to lack of information.

And yes, before its asked, I did call and tell my interviewer that my flight was delayed but that they promised me I would be in Burlington in time for my interview, but because my appointment was at 9 and the plane left at 7:55, before the company opened (and no, there was no voicemail where I could leave a message with my interviewer), I missed my interview and it was considered my fault.

Thank you Continental!

And here is a picture of my lovely 5 star accommodations at the Newark Airport!

On March 22, 2009 I flew from Bush Intercontinental Airport to Dayton on Continental Airlines. When I arrived home (in Cincinnati) I noticed several things missing from my checked bag. Notably all the gifts & souvenirs I bought in Houston.
This included a small decorative tray, a crumb brush, and several bags of spices that I bought at Penzey's in Houston. I was also missing several items of clothing.
I called Continental the next day, & they were not sympathetic AT ALL. I also wrote a letter to customer service.
Then I got a link from Channel 13 (ABC affiliate) in Houston telling a story about how common this is, that there is no oversight, & no penalty to the persons who steal.

I arrived at Newark Airport in plenty of time to make my 7:20 am flight. after parking in the long term parking lot, I waited for the shuttle bus. It arrived 15 minutes later. The bus driver must have had a fear of driving because he did not go over 5 mph. This delayed my arrival at the check in counter by 10 minutes.

The check in was a total nightmare. There was a huge line of people and the attendants were worthless. By the time I was able to check in my luggage, I was told that because I was late, I had to check in at the gate. OK, I didn't have a problem with this. However, the attendant told me that I had to take my luggage with me. I questioned this and she said that it was too late to check it in, so I would have to take it with me.

Of course when I tried to go through security, they told me my luggage was too big to be a carry on. Something I knew from the start, but I figured that the person who told me to take it to the gate would have the proper training for a situation like this. Well, I returned to the regular check in counter. By the time I got through the massive line of people, my flight was in the air.

So now, I am sitting here on a standby status. The first plane I could have taken was booked solid. I now have to wait another 4 hours until the next flight. I was told that this flight is also booked solid.

Had it not been for the total incompetence of the check in agent, I would have been on the flight I originally booked. I was supposed to land in Las Vegas at 9:30 am. This would have allowed me to go to the hotel, check in and get ready for a meeting with a client. Now I have to cancel the meeting, which would have brought a lot of business to my company and hope that the client understands the situation.

Thanks Continental! Once again, you have proven that you have the worst airline I have ever had the misfortune of taking. I can assure you that I am going to "go to the top" on this one!

I suffered a significant injury (I was hit by a cab, my foot being run over) while traveling on 11/12/08. I was given clearance to travel by air the next day (11/13) provided that I was able to ice my injury by using a cryo cuff boot and elevate the foot. The orthopedic physician emphasized the potential for permanent injury if this condition was not met, due to the acuteness of the injury, and the impact that cabin pressure could have. My seats for both legs of my flight (flight 2592 from Indianapolis to Cleveland and flight 5844 from Cleveland to Providence) were seat 1A.

On the first leg of my flight, the entire flight crew was sympathetic to my needs and provided assistance. I was allowed to keep my cryo cuff boot and cooler with me during the flight and allowed to elevate my foot.

When I was wheeled to the plane in Cleveland (the same type of airplane), I explained my needs to the flight attendant. She informed me that it was against Federal regulations to keep any item in front of me during the flight and that she would have to move me. I informed her that I needed to keep the medical device with me, but she still refused and moved me to row 6. However, she walked away when I did not give her the device. She told me that there was a “Fed” on the plane and she had to follow the rules. I told her I did not care who was on the plane, my medical needs should be met. She again refused and I felt strongly that if I had continued to pursue my request that she would have had me removed from the plane.

During the flight, I experienced severe pain, since the leg could not be properly elevated. Since I also gained a seatmate after she moved me, I was also kicked in the ankle 2 or 3 times. I noted an increase in my respiration as my pain level increased.

At the end of the flight, the attendant never informed me that a wheelchair was being brought to assist me. I moved out of the seat in order to allow the seatmate to leave. The attendant never approached me to indicate that she would help retrieve my belongings until I started to get them myself. I looked at her and said “are you kidding me?” at which point she approached me and said, “I have no idea what I’ve done to cause you to be angry with me ma’am”. I told her that angry was not the word that I would use, that she had caused me unnecessary pain and distress. I reminded her that the flight crew on the first leg of my trip had accommodated me. By moving me, she had only insured that I would be unable to elevate my foot, which was a condition on my approval to travel and that she had potentially increased my risk for permanent damage. I was in serious pain, almost as bad as what I experienced immediately after the injury occurred. This could have been mitigated if the attendant had met my request for accommodation. Her response was that she was sorry that the other crew had, “not done their job” and that she could show me the Federal regulations that prohibited her from allowing me to elevate my foot in the first row. This was a different excuse from what she gave me in Cleveland where she told me she was moving me because I could not have an item that was not stored in front of me during flight.

Regardless whether or not this Federal regulation exists, it was superceded by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) which clearly indicates that reasonable accommodations be made to ensure my health and welfare. This flight attendant’s refusal to even hear my reasons, let alone review the documents that I had with the accommodations listed cannot go without reprimand. This individual was rude, unsympathetic and downright nasty.

I contacted 1-800-WECARE2 to lodge my complaint. "Miss Cunningham" filed my complaint and indicated that it would be "handled internally". That sounds to me like code for "this is going straight into the garbage". I have a case number and told her that I would be pursuing this at the corporate level since it was apparent that this flight attendant needed retraining in what the ADA was and what the definition of "reasonable accommodations" would be.

We, were told by our departing airport that our luggage was checked all the way to our destination. So we arrived at Bush International Airport cleared customs, but didn't pull our luggage to check it in for the final flight to destination. So when we arrived at our destination our luggage wasn't there, understandable we made a mistake. The clerk at the counter called their counterparts at Bush International Airport and they provided us a claim number. We contacted them and we were told that our luggage had arrived. When my husband went to the airport our luggage had been zip tied. So while he was there in the presence of the clerk, he cut them open. To his dismay, he noticed that a lot of his property was missing. The unbelievable part is that they put the original containers that the items came in back in his suitcases. I understand that customers has the right to remove any baggage that has been left behind and checked for security reasons. What I don't understand is how come they couldn't do the right thing and put the luggage along with all of its belongings on the next flight to its final destination once they notice that there were no items in the suitcases that could harm anyone. They could have even contacted us, because all bags were labeled and had our information on it. Someone between Bush International Airlines and Continental Airline Handlers stole from a customer. I hope and pray that I never have to use the services of Bush International to get to my next overseas assignment and I would drive to the nearest city before I use Continental Airlines to get me to my next International departure airport.