Comments on: Dear Continental Airlines (great flight horror story)

By: Dorcas

Dorcas — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 18:19:24 +0000

OK! listen up! My father works for contilental ok?! U people know nothing! CONTINENTAL ROCKS! We kept pretzles and peanuts the longest and food on the planes! So SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

By: joanna wayn

joanna wayn — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:42:52 +0000

Continued: delayed twice again, so the total delay was more than 3 hours. Finally the plane took off at 11:40, arrived Toronto at 1:30am. I am a frequent flyer, I used quite a few times continental airlines and had mixed experiences. I have seen some good individuals and some not so good ones. The two customer service people at EWR continental C gate service center are absolutely the worst airline people I have ever met.
Speaking of airline experience, Lufthansa have been consistently maintain a high standard including flight schedule, customer service, in flight experience, check in counter. I flew with them many times in the past 12 years, they respect people regardless what language you speak. If you need to go to Europe, you can try Lufthansa.
In the future, I will avoid continental and EWR.

By: joanna wayn

joanna wayn — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:49:36 +0000

continued: delayed twice again from 8:30 to 10:20, then 10:40, finaly the flight took off at 11:40. arrive Toronto at 1:30am. More than 3h delay on return flight. The continental people at Toronto airport had much better atitute than the EWR people, we were welcomed at Toronto after midnight.

By: joanna wayn

joanna wayn — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:10:02 +0000

I just had two worst flight experiences with continental on my way in and out of EWR. Last week our flight in EWR was delayed 5.5 hours, and I missed two connecting flights (both 5-6 hours long flights), and I have to sit in the airport food court from 11pm to 6am (I was told that the surrounding of EWR is not safe, and not worth to go to the city for such a short period). Today I come back here to take the return trip. The flight is delayed again for 2 hours – I am still waiting. The worst experience is not waiting, but the INFAMOURS continental CUSTOMER service. I first talked to female agent, I told her my flight is showing delayed on the screen, please help me to find a solution to get home on time, I have small children. She said her computer did not show any delay, so I will not help you. (The words showing on her face is – go away, don’t annoy me!). I went to check the screen again and came back to her. This time she was really rude, her face carried she did not even speak to me, only talk to her colleagues saying how annoyed this customer is. Later, she said many unethical words as a customer service person. Then she gave me a comment card to fill. I asked her name she refuse to give and she walked away. Few minutes later her manager came and explained for 10 minutes how their operation system works and their partner airline’s problem if my flight is delayed (he insisted that our flight has not delayed YET). In conclusion, it is not their fault (as people have indicated many times – continental never admit their problems). I told him that he should help that female agent on her attitude and I would like to know her name since she gave me a comment card. Until then, that manager showed his nasty face, he refused to give her name and he asked my name. What for? – revenge me? He showed me his name card but I don’t need to write it here, just hope he will improve next time. His customer service group is located at EWR C-gate, between C103 and C105.
20 minutes before the original departure time, the gate agent announced a 2 hours delay of our flight. An hour later, another announcement saying they changed the gate. We are still waiting

By: Warren Smith

Warren Smith — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:24:02 +0000

Dear Sir or Madam:
I was on flight 5828 flying from Houston-Bush Intl to Louisville, KY on May 5, 2009. The flight left Houston at 7:00 PM. The flight was full and the flight attendant needed two seats for a lady and her infant. Initially, she asked for volunteers to give up their seats. Two gentlemen offered their seats to the attendant, but she got distracted with another passenger a few rows back. When she returned, the same two gentlemen again offered their seats. Although she was standing right beside them, she acted like she didn’t hear them. They both stood up to find other seats. When they did, she loudly proclaimed that there were two seats in the back of the plane and “they could just fight over the seats”. She then began to complain to everyone in ear-shot of her voice that they had bad attitudes.
As one of the gentlemen was going to his new seat he looked at me and just shook his head. I laughed in empathy and shook my head too. The flight attendant saw me and asked me what my problem was. I said that the two gentlemen had twice volunteered their seats. The attendant said that was not true, and that they both had bad attitudes. I responded that she was the only one with a bad attitude.
She then accused me of interfering with her job. At this point I had had enough and asked for her name or badge number. That pushed her into the stratosphere. She yelled for a gate attendant, who was on the plane for some reason. When the gate attendant came back to us, the flight attendant proclaimed that I was being VULGAR, and interfering with her job, and threatened to have me escorted off the plane.
Fortunately, the gate attendant interjected enough sanity into the situation for the flight attendant to leave. But not before defaming me and the same two gentlemen.
I have flown for years on business – I had > 1 million miles on US Airways and I have never had a bad experience with any flight attendant on any other airlines. To the contrary, it’s usually the attendant taking the gruff from the passenger.
Needless to say, I will not fly Continental Airlines in the future and risk running into this flight attendant again.

By: John

John — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:11:39 +0000

Customer service at Continental Airlines is simply terrible.

By: Jules

Jules — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:17:18 +0000

Ah yes, Continental the worst airline customer service! Where to start….At 1AM on Wednesday morning I learned that our 8:55 flight to Toronto (3303) was cancelled. So I called Continental and asked them to put us on the 10:15 flight (2296). I asked why my flight was cancelled and she didn’t know. So I checked the new flight before I left for the airport. On my way to Newark I called to verify the flight again and learned that is was cancelled, but there was a 30+ min wait to talk to an agent. So we drove to the airport and I went in. Get this setup. It was 8AM and here I was told that Continental had automatically rebooked me to fly out the NEXT DAY!!! As for the flights to Toronto for this day….

6:45 flight left on time
8:55 Cancelled
10:15 Cancelled
11:50 On Schedule but already booked
3:00 Cancelled
5:25 On Schedule

She told me that I could go on stanby for the 11:50 (3305) but there were already some people on standy, I could fly to Ottawa at like 1PM and then take a connnecting flight to Toronto a few hours later, or I could fly to Toronto at 5:25PM. (Since remeber they had already cancelled the 3:00 flight even though it was only 8AM.) We unhappily took the standby option.

Notes: EWR=Newark / YYZ= Toronto / BUF=Buffalo

Over the next 3 hours I visited the Continental help desk about 300ft from out gate about 5 times. I started asking about parnter airlines, other flights that my friend was seeing on Continental’s website, flights to BUF. My friend would tell me about an available flight to YYZ and Continental would tell me it was booked.I asked about Buffalo I was told there was a 4PM to BUF but there was only 1 seat. The next flight to BUF was 5PM. Well if I was going to fly to BUF at 5PM I might as well wait for the 5:25 to YYZ. A little later I was told by someone else that there were 2 seats available on the 4PM to BUF, but if I reserved them I would lose my 11:50 standby to YYZ. The standby list was printed at about 11:15 . We were # 14 & 15. So I went back to the help desk and spoke to a third person. She said there were still 2 seats available on the 4PM to BUF and she could hold those seats for us while we still waited standby for the 11:50 to YYZ (something that the last guy said we COULD NOT DO.) So we waited, we didn’t make the standby of course. At the gate I asked if our luggage was going to be taken off the Toronto flight and was told it was never loaded on and I could go to baggage claim get our luggage and recheck it. I got our new boarding passes for the 4PM to BUF.
We went to baggage claim and waited at Carousel 6. Twenty minutes and no luggage so I went to Continetal Baggage Help Desk and filed a request for our luggage. I gave her the flight # that we were on stanby for, the Baggage Tag #s, and the picture and color description of the items. She gave us a receipt and told us to wait at Carousel 9. Thirty minutes later and still no luggage. I go back to the same lady and she calls up to someone and they tell her there is no luggage up by the flight, our luggage must have gone to Toronto, except that we are scheduled to fly to Buffalo now. I am given a telephone # to call after the flight is scheduled to land and request that they hold my luggage so I can pick it up in Toronto after being driven by Mel’s boyfriend from Buffalo. Out of exhaustion we sit in baggage claim for another 30 minutes. I call the number early and give them all the info to alert baggage claim in Toronto as soon as the plan lands…Instead at about 1:20 our luggage comes out on the conveyor belt of Carousel 9 in NEWARK!!!!
Angry, happy, frustrated, we go to Check in our baggage for our 4Pm flight to BUF. They check us in and give us paper tickets. We go to eat. We get “radomly selected” at Security to be patted down and have our carryon luggage rummaged through. YAY!
After lunch we go to our gate (which is 100 ft from our old gate.) Plan should board at 3:15 (3309). At 3:20 the ticket goes from On Time-4:00 to Delayed-4:30. Then it changes from 4:30 to 5:40 as we learn that our plane is there but the flight crew is coming in late from Albany. After 45 minutes a new fligth crew is picked and we board and move around 4:40, but we do not take off until after 5:15 to BUF. As we are about to land in BUF we are told there is poor visibility, overcast skies, and ice. We land and drive over snow in our tiny little plane in BUF where 10″ have fallen throughout the day.
By 6:45PM we are just getting to the car to be driven from Buffalo to Toronto (a 2hr drive.)
Continental’s explanation, we do not compensate traveler’s for delays or cancellations due to weather. FYI it never snowed in Toronto on Wednesay and it only flurried in Newark at about 2:00PM. The rest of the day was a mix of clouds and SUN!!!! All flights to SNOWY Buffalo went as scheduled all day. I was told on Monday by 1 Continental Employee after 2 hrs on the phone, that both of my flights were cancelled due to airway and runway CONGESTION.

By: Danny

Danny — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:16:25 +0000

Without a doubt, Continental is the worst airline I’ve had the displeasure of using.
We just came back from a 8 day trip to Europe and Continental managed to lose all our luggage for 6 days! We were in a party of 7 persons and they lost all 7 pieces! and to make it worse, the luggage has been sitting at the Continental lost bags section all the time and no one bothered to check.

I have tried to complain to Continental head office but I encoutered nothing but stonewalling and kept being transferred from one department to the next…. they simply do not care.

If you are ever thinking of air travel in the future, please avoid Continental at all costs… otherwise, you’ll spend your valuable vacation time chasing ghosts and you’ll regret it.

… and the funniest part, if there was one, the main phone line to Continental is 1-800-WE-CARE2 !

By: Sandeep

Sandeep — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:06:51 +0000

I think continental is the worst airline.we booked the ticket on time.suddenly they reduce the prices drasticaly.Customer service is the worst.They are completely non helping.i wish they pay for all this one day for scamming customers.

By: Kenneth Dobb

Kenneth Dobb — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 04:46:00 +0000

I fly from Newark frequently.Their service, especially the check-in part, has been so bad. Once my suitcases were missing because the attendant was discussing her late-night party with her colleague when she was doing my luggage tags. My luggage ended up with another passenger’s tag and I am sure his/her luggage was lost too.
Another time an attendant even said “Go away” to me during check-in. Her boss apologized to me on scene but she refuse to offer the same. I filed complaint via email but their reply said they found nothing wrong.
In general, all airlines are bad. They took Sept. 11 as an opportunity to get government funding, jack up the ticket price, reduce customer service and enjoy their record-breaking profit. Now when you try to reschedule your fight or miss a flight, $100 please!
Act now, passengers!