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Stuck in Newfoundland: Thanks, Continental
Well, despite my best efforts to get off "the Rock" as this big island of Newfoundland is called, I am still stuck here. Not that I was desperate to leave, mind you. It has been a wonderful vacation, and I stand by my position that we Americans are indeed vacation-deprived. If it was a voluntary matter, I'd stay here for another few weeks, continue exploring the fascinating nooks and inlets of this brutally wonderful place. But I do have a real job to get back to, and today Continental Airlines decided that they were going to be as unhelpful as possible in helping me get home.
I arrived this morning to the airport at St. John's only to discover over the PA system that our flight had been canceled. The weather, we were told by a woman's stentorian voice (if such a thing is possible, which I assure you it is), was so bad in Newark that the flight would not be able to leave. Hmm.
"OK, so how else can you get me home?" I inquired of the cloyingly friendly woman behind the counter.
"I'm afraid you have to stay here until Monday," she informed me.
"Monday?! Impossible. Is there a flight tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Why am I not on it?"
"Well, the computer determined which flights people were put on."
"And I drew the short straw?"
"I'm afraid so."
"So if I'm stuck here for two days. Are you paying for a rental car? Are you paying for a hotel?"
"I'm afraid that's not our policy." she said and smiled the most annoyingly apologetic rictus I've ever seen.
Well, after pitching a fit that I won't recount here verbatim, I managed to get us on a flight tomorrow, but Continental was about as unhelpful as any company I've ever experienced in working to get us home and helping us figure out what to do in St. John's for another night. Turns out hotels and B&Bs in town are completely booked and it took more than two hours to find a place to stay for another night. Continental did NOTHING to help us find a place, nor are they offering to pick up the cost of the room or the $25 cost of a cab. Is this the way all airlines who have cancellations treat their customers?
Maybe it's just me and I've had a very fortunate time over the years traveling, but this has been one of the worst experiences with an airline I can remember having. Here I am stuck at my own expense to the tune of about $400 and all Continental offered was a lousy smile. Thanks, Continental.
Filed under: Airlines
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Paul Isel Jul 22nd 2006 4:10PM
Erik,
I feel your pain. I'm stuck in Halifax, Nova Scotia for the second day waiting on Continental to get me back to L.A. only to have my flight outta here today turned back to Newark. The only consolation for you is, that if I get out of here today, I'll be struck in Newark overnight, you'll still be in Canada. (Better food and hotels, if you get a room.)
The problem with Continental's personnel in these Canadian airports (I go to Ottawa every month)is that they are contract employees from other (Canadian) airlines who do not work for Continental and are not supervised by Continental, so they could care less about Continental customers. But, I now get the same second rate service at LAX, IAH (Houston) and EWR (Newark).
Continental won number two in Customer satisfaction last year, but I fail to see why. I'm Platinum elite with 99K miles on Continental last year (5th Platinum Elite year) and the service only gets worse. No more upgrades, and at LAX, there are no, or scarce, elite services the counter, at security, and sometimes not even in the boarding line.
I'm spreading my miles this year with United, which gives you economy plus even at it's lowest level of Premier, and has real personnel at the check-in counters, not just skycaps and touch screen check-in. An no grumpy counter supervisors. ("What do you want me to do?")
Erik Olsen Jul 22nd 2006 7:15PM
Paul, what a great and informative comment. Yeah, I honestly can't beleive the service. Sure, it's Saturday and I suppose I can afford another day here, but what if I'm posponed until Monday? And you, what if you had some important meeting to attend to. The airlines are getting sloppier, or at least the big ones who have felt the hurt from the JetBlue's are cutting everywhere they can to stay afloat, and in the end, the customer is getting screwed.
Anyway, my rant. Great comment and thank you.
Paul Isel Jul 30th 2006 2:24PM
Erik,
I hope you got back ok. Unfortunately, I have to eat my words about the Continental contract staff in Halifax. (But, NOT my comments about Continentals frequent-flyer program.) After I wrote my submission, we were put on the plane, only to be returned 2 hours later, flight canceled. The contract staff got extra help, processed us for flights trhe next day, and put us up in a wonderful hotel near the airport. They were not required to give us the hotel and meal vouchers, because airlines are not required to do so when flights are canceled because of weather.
And, as if someone from Continental was watching my message to you after I typed, I got complimentary Elite upgrades all the way back to L.A. But still, the One Pass program continues to deteriorate. Continental is allowing airport staff to reduce due to staff attrition. (Related top me by a "Red Coat"--supervisor--at LAX.) Special security lines, expedited ticket and boarding lines for frequent flyers are being ignored. Airport staff morale is down. Yet, Continental ranked #2 in customer satisfaction last year. Go figure.
I've started to spread my frequent flyer miles (125K per year) on to other airline systems since expedited lines are the only real benefit. United has a decent program (if they survive) where even the basic Premier level gets "economy plus" seating (extra legroom for coach seats in the front of the plane). Plus, at checkin, you can buy upgrades, when available, for 10 cents a mile, a bargain over biz clasas ticket prices.