Nov 1st, 2009 at 7:00PM: Continental Airlines finally made its big move to the Star Alliance last week, a long awaited, much talked about transition from its former partnership with Delta and Northwest Airlines. It's a move that will affect the way that you earn and spend frequent flyer miles across the board, but what does it mean immediately to the every day traveler?
On the surface, not much. Continental will remain ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Continental posts
Continental moves to Star Alliance -- your impact as an everyday traveler
Nov 1st, 2009 at 7:00PM: Continental Airlines finally made its big move to the Star Alliance last week, a long awaited, much talked about transition from its former partnership with Delta and Northwest Airlines. It's a move that will affect the way that you earn and spend frequent flyer miles across the board, but what does it mean immediately to the every day traveler?
On the surface, not much. Continental will remain ...Continental sham divorces pass court test
Oct 21st, 2009 at 1:00PM: Back in May, Continental Airlines sued nine pilots for getting sham divorces. The marital splits were part of a play for pension benefits, with the "ex" collecting while the pilot keeps earning. It's good cash if you can find it, but Continental wasn't thrilled at having to bear that extra cost. On Monday, a federal judge told the airline to live with it, ruling in favor of the pilots. Regardless ...Congress to end long flight delays
Sep 9th, 2009 at 1:00PM:
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/travel_places/Congress_to_end_long_flight_delays'; The business travel community is siding with Congress on a new law that would address flight delays on the tarmac. The Business Travel Coalition, which represents the travel departments of 300 companies, is announcing today that it supports a new law that would give passengers some elbow room when a plane's stuck on ...Airline fees continue, necessary evil
Sep 6th, 2009 at 8:00AM: Yes, you've heard about this all year, and you'll probably hear about it for a while to come. Airlines are still looking for ways to pull every dollar they can out of your wallets, but the reality is that they have no choice. Seven of the nine largest airlines in the United States had a rough time in August, making these measures more important than passengers might realize.
The second bag, ...Rochester tarmac delay: "lack of common sense"
Aug 22nd, 2009 at 3:00PM: "There was a complete lack of common sense here," U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said in a statement released yesterday. "It's no wonder the flying public is so angry and frustrated."
When 47 passengers were stranded overnight on the tarmac in Rochester, Minnesota, the pilot repeatedly asked for permission to deplane them. All the pilot wanted was to get the passengers off the plane. ...Airlines and social media: dialogue waiting to happen
Aug 21st, 2009 at 4:00PM: Social media means that airlines just have another place where they can be raked over the coals. We complain to ticket agents. We complain to gate agents. We complain to customer service reps. And now, we can complain to the world, thanks to the likes of Twitter. I, for example, follow @DeltaSucks, though there hasn't been any action on it in several months. I don't just listen, though. When I'm ...Plane Answers: Pilot asks, "Is there anyone on board with internet access?"
Aug 21st, 2009 at 10:00AM: It just might surprise you to know that when sitting on the ground, waiting out a line of thunderstorms, we don't have access to depictions of real-time weather updates. We can fire up the radar and look ahead for 40 or so miles, but there's just no way to know if a re-route offered by ATC is going to keep us out of the weather or create more problems further into our flight. Cessna 172s have ...Few solutions offered for passengers trapped on plane overnight
Aug 10th, 2009 at 3:30PM: Even Gilligan used his creative wits better in crisis. The 47 people on-board a Continental flight last Friday night found themselves on their own "three-hour tour," a la Gilligan's Island. Rather than taking three hours to fly from Houston to the Twin Cities, they were stuck on the tarmac in Rochester, Minnesota for nine hours overnight, not even leaving the aircraft. The flight, operated by ...26 hurt on turbulent Continental flight
Aug 4th, 2009 at 1:30PM: On most flights, turbulence is a minor inconvenience. You have to return to your seat and buckle in, and you may have to wait a little longer to get your next vodka and cranberry (oh, is it just me that needs a cocktail, or three, to relax on a plane?). Planes are generally able to avoid the worst of the bumps, thanks to radar and reports from other planes in the area. But sometimes, turbulence ...Continental Airlines flies ten year old girl to the wrong airport
Jun 15th, 2009 at 1:30PM: About a month ago, we wrote about an airline serving an unaccompanied minor a large cup of coffee. If you thought that was reckless behavior, you are going to be outraged by what Continental Airlines did to a minor traveling under their supervision. The airline had been paid to accompany a ten year old on a flight from Boston to Cleveland, a pretty simple task, especially since this is just a 45 ...Continental pilot pension scam, nine disappointed pilots
May 24th, 2009 at 12:00PM: Continental Airlines is looking to cash in on pilots who cashed in on a divorce scam. The pilots used sham divorces to divert more than $10 million to their ex-spouses. Post-divorce, the exes cashed in on retirement benefits, and the fliers could stay in the sky – and keep earning.
It's really pretty simple. A couple divorces. The pilot assigns all pension benefits to the ex-spouse. Then, ...Wine flights taking off in Newark Liberty's Terminal C
May 5th, 2009 at 2:00PM: I tend to be a little anal-retentive when it comes to getting to the airport on-time for a flight. As such, I end up arriving a good 2+ hours before take-off. The upside is that, in all of my travels, I have only missed two flights because of my tardiness. The downside is that I've had to kill a tremendous amount of time in airports. Despite the fact that they are made for waiting, airport ...Continental's Restaurant Week could increase revenue
May 1st, 2009 at 8:00AM:
On its face, Continental Airlines' participation in International Restaurant Week seems like just another promotion. Think harder, though, and you'll see that it's really a way for the airline to bring in a little extra cash. Since passengers with a bit of extra girth may be charged for an extra seat, it only makes sense to fatten up fliers and reap the rewards.
A dozen New York restaurants ...Extra seat charges: big bias or svelte snobbery?
Apr 28th, 2009 at 8:00AM: As airlines are scrambling for any shred of extra revenue they can find, some policies are getting more attention than others. The so-called "fat passenger policies," which govern the accommodation of passengers who require more than one seat, have attracted the ire of the NAAFA. Never heard of it? It's a new one on me, too: the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. On the other hand, ...Making sense of the airline industry
Apr 27th, 2009 at 4:00PM: The situation is currently grim for airlines, having gone from "bad in January to ugly by March," according to USA Today, mirroring the U.S. economy as a whole. But, some feel that the worst is behind us. At the same time, a decline in business traveler traffic may suggest that we have a long way to go.
That's why I love USA Today ... two perspectives for the price of one!
Let's make one thing ...Woman paralyzed after bad turbulence on Continental Airlines flight
Apr 21st, 2009 at 5:00PM: Turbulence just claimed another victim - this time the victim was in the bathroom on Continental flight 511 when the plane hit some turbulence and a sudden descent. The sudden drop threw the woman against the ceiling of the bathroom, fracturing her neck. Doctors spent 6 hours operating on her, but her injury left her paralyzed from the neck down. The incident also injured one other passenger and ...Continental #1 in Fortune mag
Mar 3rd, 2009 at 4:00PM: Okay, the competition couldn't have been all that stiff. Continental Airlines was rated the top airline in Fortune magazine's annual list of most admired companies. Its score of 7.71 was not good enough to push the company into the top 50, though. This is the sixth year in a row that Continental has taken the lead spot in the airline category. Somehow, Southwest is listed as #7 on the full list, ...Man who can't work cell phone sues Continental Airlines
Feb 26th, 2009 at 2:00PM: Saquib Fatah of Houston, Texas, is suing Continental Airlines because he can't work his cell phone. Confused? I'll break it down: 1. Fatah gets on airplane in London with his new cell phone. 2. Captain makes the usual "turn off all electronic devices" announcement and the plane begins to taxi. 3. "BEEP BEEP BEEP!" from Fatah's phone. 4. A stewardess asks Fatah to "kill the phone." He appears to do ...9/11 widow dies in Buffalo plane crash
Feb 13th, 2009 at 5:30AM: Beverly Eckert, widow of 9/11 victim Sean Rooney, perished on Continental Airlines Flight 3407 last night. She was on her way to Buffalo to celebrate what would have been her husband's 58th birthday. While in town, she had also planned to participate in the presentation of a scholarship award at Canisius High School. She had created the scholarship in honor of her late husband.
The crash of ...Travel gems and hidden secrets from Concierge.com
Feb 11th, 2009 at 1:30PM: The winners of Concierge.com's Million Mile Contest have been announced and their essays are posted on the website. Some essays offer a unique angle about a place where people might miss certain details if they didn't know where or how to look.
The winner, Elizabeth Dwoskin of Brooklyn, New York wrote about Parque Lage, a jungle park in the middle of Rio De Janeiro. Within the reserve is my kind ...
