Con threw us to the dogs

[davisark]

It was another horribly miserable experience with Continental (1498 and 2800 on 6/24/11). We arrived at the Cozumel airport 2 hours early, then stood a line in the lobby for 1.5 hours as 2 or 3 Con people checked in an airplane full of international travelers. The passenger next to me was 11 pounds overweight for his one free bag, so he was charged $200. But that's only the beginning of the Con. There are no pretzels, but a snack pack is available for $5-6 and a can of beer for $7. There's not an in-flight movie, but DirectTV is available for $6 if flight is less than 2 hours, $8 if more than 2 hours--this flight was 2 hours 2 minutes, so $8. There's the leg room squeeze for $39.
We arrived at Bush International in Houston 5 minutes late, then sat on the runway for 20 minutes waiting for a gate to open. We rushed to the gate for Con flight to Fayetteville, AR, only to find the times continually pushed back so that the plane ultimately took off at midnight rather than 1930. It had been held in El Paso because the temperature was 107-the Embraer was rated to take off at 104 or less. The Con staff said that most other planes are rated to take off at higher temperatures. The temperature in El Paso the day before had been 107--what to expect in El Paso in the summer. Con flew the Embraer to El Paso and threw it's customers to the dogs.

 

[Bear96]

So you were a couple of hours late on an airline trip, and had to pay for food / drink / entertainment while on the cheapest fare available on a leisure route, much as you would have had to do had you chosen any other transportation alternative.

This is making you angry enough to post on the internet about it, call it "horrible" and claim you were "[thrown] to the dogs" (whatever that means in this context) . . . why, exactly?



(BTW, how was your trip from Fayetteville to Cozumel?)

 

[ContUNITEus]

It was another horribly miserable experience with Continental (1498 and 2800 on 6/24/11). We arrived at the Cozumel airport 2 hours early, then stood a line in the lobby for 1.5 hours as 2 or 3 Con people checked in an airplane full of international travelers. The passenger next to me was 11 pounds overweight for his one free bag, so he was charged $200. But that's only the beginning of the Con. There are no pretzels, but a snack pack is available for $5-6 and a can of beer for $7. There's not an in-flight movie, but DirectTV is available for $6 if flight is less than 2 hours, $8 if more than 2 hours--this flight was 2 hours 2 minutes, so $8. There's the leg room squeeze for $39.
We arrived at Bush International in Houston 5 minutes late, then sat on the runway for 20 minutes waiting for a gate to open. We rushed to the gate for Con flight to Fayetteville, AR, only to find the times continually pushed back so that the plane ultimately took off at midnight rather than 1930. It had been held in El Paso because the temperature was 107-the Embraer was rated to take off at 104 or less. The Con staff said that most other planes are rated to take off at higher temperatures. The temperature in El Paso the day before had been 107--what to expect in El Paso in the summer. Con flew the Embraer to El Paso and threw it's customers to the dogs.

Everything that you have described, with the exception of the hot temperatures, happens every day at every airline in the US. Phoenix can at times have temperatures above the threshold of the handling capacity of the runways. Not taking sides, but this is normal. What is not normal is that they did actually come forward and were honest when they told you that the plane is not able to handle those types of temperatures for take off. I think you made out excellent, considering that most airlines would never tell you half of what is actually going on.

So, be happy and accept it. And before I forget, under staffing happens everywhere.... Need a job? My international airline is desperately looking for Qualified people. Understaffed by 5 right now at the airport.

 

[Bob Owens]

It was another horribly miserable experience with Continental (1498 and 2800 on 6/24/11). We arrived at the Cozumel airport 2 hours early, then stood a line in the lobby for 1.5 hours as 2 or 3 Con people checked in an airplane full of international travelers. The passenger next to me was 11 pounds overweight for his one free bag, so he was charged $200. But that's only the beginning of the Con. There are no pretzels, but a snack pack is available for $5-6 and a can of beer for $7. There's not an in-flight movie, but DirectTV is available for $6 if flight is less than 2 hours, $8 if more than 2 hours--this flight was 2 hours 2 minutes, so $8. There's the leg room squeeze for $39.
We arrived at Bush International in Houston 5 minutes late, then sat on the runway for 20 minutes waiting for a gate to open. We rushed to the gate for Con flight to Fayetteville, AR, only to find the times continually pushed back so that the plane ultimately took off at midnight rather than 1930. It had been held in El Paso because the temperature was 107-the Embraer was rated to take off at 104 or less. The Con staff said that most other planes are rated to take off at higher temperatures. The temperature in El Paso the day before had been 107--what to expect in El Paso in the summer. Con flew the Embraer to El Paso and threw it's customers to the dogs.

Did you price out how much it would have cost and how long it would take to drive there? The fact is the flying public has gotten spoiled. You want first class service at subway fares.