SkyHog
Touchdown! Greaser!
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- Feb 23, 2005
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- Castle Rock, CO
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Everything Offends Me
So I just got back from New Hampshire....listen to this story, see if it irritates you anywhere near as much as it does me.
My sister, my father, and myself flew on Continental Airlines to New Hampshire for my cousin's wedding. Our flight went from ABQ-HOU-CLE-MHT and the return was MHT-EWR-ABQ. The last few times I've flown commercially, things went pretty well, so I was very optimistic on this trip. After the first leg, not a single thing went right. Not a single thing.
In Houston, we sat around, waiting for our flight to board to go to Cleveland. The original departure time came and went, and the board still showed an on time departure. After about 30 minutes of waiting around and hearing "No, no, we're still on time," the board was changed to show the next flight, leaving for Los Angeles. People flipped and started walking up to the counter, where they were met with statements like "Well, we're still telling everyone we're on time so that we can avoid fines from the FAA." I took a picture of the counter and the updated information just in case they continued trying to pull this, but they eventually caved and put our flight back on the board, with a delayed departure time. To the best of my knowledge the flight was delayed because of the LARGE number of handicapped people coming off the flight. Can't blame Contintental for that one, but I do blame them for the attempted deceit. We then boarded and arrived in Cleveland....
My father left Houston to catch his connection in Newark (he took a different route than we did because he booked at a later time). His plane was delayed because of mechanical issues. Continental eventually replaced his plane with a different one, and RUDELY kicked everyone off that plane from the previous flight, saying things like "You're not even supposed to be on this plane, get your bags and get off or we'll escort you out of the airport." My father said the people weren't even putting up an argument at all. Pure hearsay on my part.
For my sister and I, in Cleveland, we now had 7 minutes to get from one gate to another to catch our flight. We ran and just made it in time to hear them say "Look, I don't know how it took you this long to get here, but you need to be seated immediately, you're lucky we held the plane for you!" We had no control over it, we were stuck on their delayed plane. But the plane left and headed to Manchester, NH.
My father, now in Newark, had a 2 hour layover whittled down to a 30 minute layover after the delays. He rushed to his gate, where he was told his flight had moved to a different gate. Upon arrival at the different gate, he was told that the flight never moved gates, and he had to return. He ran back to the original gate, to be told that they were delaying the plane for an additional 10 minutes. 45 minutes later, he was told about another 10 minute delay, and then was not updated for 2 and a half hours. They finally boarded, without explanation, and the plane pushed back and sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. Finally, they taxied for takeoff and made it to Manchester at 3am. His original arrival time was to be 11pm.
The trip in New Hampshire was awesome, as always. I love my family there, and really, really wish that I could be with them more often. It was very relaxing, and I'm very proud that my cousin got married.
But....then came Monday, the 11th. It was time to fly home. Turns out, almost every family member in New Hampshire was flying back on the same flight to go home. For my father, my sister and I, we were to fly from MHT-EWR-ABQ. Simple flight. For my Uncle Jim and his entire family, it was MHT-EWR-LAS. We arrive at the airport to find that the flight from MHT-EWR was canceled due to nasty weather. Understandable, the weather SUCKED. My uncle, standing in front of us, tries to get rebooked, and is told he'll have to leave to Boston, as there are no more flights leaving Manchester that will get him to Las Vegas that day. Also, he's told there is no shuttle and that he'll have to take a cab for $150 to Boston to get there. Since its a weather issue, no compensation. He's livid, but we all calm him down by explaining that it is not an airline issue, its a weather issue.
So he leaves, and my father, sister and I decide to rebook as well. We're told there's a flight leaving here to Newark that leaves in an hour (2 hours before our scheduled flight), and its practically empty. We jump on it, and book ourselves. While standing outside so that my father can smoke, we see about 30 shuttles come and go, each one saying "Manchester to Boston shuttle, $19.99 a group!" Then it occurs to us that my Uncle could have gotten on the same flight as us. Continental has thoroughly screwed my uncle (his cousin went in and tore them a new one, but that's a different story...so proud of him).
So - we're sitting outside, and the flight is listed on the board as leaving at 3:30pm. I look at flight aware and see that they've filed for 6:51pm. I keep figuring they're going to update the board, but they don't. So we figure I'm wrong and we head in, through security, and walk to the gate. They say the flight will leave on time. I ask why they filed the flight plan for a later time and am warned that I am violating security protocol by looking at FAA records, and regardless, I'm wrong.
3:30 comes and goes, and there are no updates. I hear families, with children, trying to decide whether or not they should get food for their kids, but can't decide because we're being told we will leave on time (its past time already). This is the funniest part here: They line us all up to board at around 4:15, they check tickets, get people halfway down the jetway, and then realize there is NO plane parked out there. Yes, they were trying to get people to board a non-existent plane.
I go up again and tell them "Look, why did your dispatchers file the flight plan so late if we're leaving at 3:30? Its 5:10 now. Give us an update." Angry, the lady at the gate calls someone, and then announces to the crowd: "We will now be boarding at approximately 6:15." She looks at me dirty, and away we go. The flight leaves at about this time, so all is good, finally (and I'm still confused on why they withheld this information from everyone).
We arrive in Newark, and sit around waiting for our next flight to leave, we check, and it turns out that the plane is super, duper late anyways. The weather is fine by now, so I have no idea what's going on, but we board, and we arrive in Albuquerque at around 2:30am.
Converting all time to Eastern time, we arrived at the airport at 10am. We arrived in Albuquerque at 2:30am. Unbelievable. I am never flying Continental again, ever ever ever. And I'm writing letters tomorrow.
My sister, my father, and myself flew on Continental Airlines to New Hampshire for my cousin's wedding. Our flight went from ABQ-HOU-CLE-MHT and the return was MHT-EWR-ABQ. The last few times I've flown commercially, things went pretty well, so I was very optimistic on this trip. After the first leg, not a single thing went right. Not a single thing.
In Houston, we sat around, waiting for our flight to board to go to Cleveland. The original departure time came and went, and the board still showed an on time departure. After about 30 minutes of waiting around and hearing "No, no, we're still on time," the board was changed to show the next flight, leaving for Los Angeles. People flipped and started walking up to the counter, where they were met with statements like "Well, we're still telling everyone we're on time so that we can avoid fines from the FAA." I took a picture of the counter and the updated information just in case they continued trying to pull this, but they eventually caved and put our flight back on the board, with a delayed departure time. To the best of my knowledge the flight was delayed because of the LARGE number of handicapped people coming off the flight. Can't blame Contintental for that one, but I do blame them for the attempted deceit. We then boarded and arrived in Cleveland....
My father left Houston to catch his connection in Newark (he took a different route than we did because he booked at a later time). His plane was delayed because of mechanical issues. Continental eventually replaced his plane with a different one, and RUDELY kicked everyone off that plane from the previous flight, saying things like "You're not even supposed to be on this plane, get your bags and get off or we'll escort you out of the airport." My father said the people weren't even putting up an argument at all. Pure hearsay on my part.
For my sister and I, in Cleveland, we now had 7 minutes to get from one gate to another to catch our flight. We ran and just made it in time to hear them say "Look, I don't know how it took you this long to get here, but you need to be seated immediately, you're lucky we held the plane for you!" We had no control over it, we were stuck on their delayed plane. But the plane left and headed to Manchester, NH.
My father, now in Newark, had a 2 hour layover whittled down to a 30 minute layover after the delays. He rushed to his gate, where he was told his flight had moved to a different gate. Upon arrival at the different gate, he was told that the flight never moved gates, and he had to return. He ran back to the original gate, to be told that they were delaying the plane for an additional 10 minutes. 45 minutes later, he was told about another 10 minute delay, and then was not updated for 2 and a half hours. They finally boarded, without explanation, and the plane pushed back and sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. Finally, they taxied for takeoff and made it to Manchester at 3am. His original arrival time was to be 11pm.
The trip in New Hampshire was awesome, as always. I love my family there, and really, really wish that I could be with them more often. It was very relaxing, and I'm very proud that my cousin got married.
But....then came Monday, the 11th. It was time to fly home. Turns out, almost every family member in New Hampshire was flying back on the same flight to go home. For my father, my sister and I, we were to fly from MHT-EWR-ABQ. Simple flight. For my Uncle Jim and his entire family, it was MHT-EWR-LAS. We arrive at the airport to find that the flight from MHT-EWR was canceled due to nasty weather. Understandable, the weather SUCKED. My uncle, standing in front of us, tries to get rebooked, and is told he'll have to leave to Boston, as there are no more flights leaving Manchester that will get him to Las Vegas that day. Also, he's told there is no shuttle and that he'll have to take a cab for $150 to Boston to get there. Since its a weather issue, no compensation. He's livid, but we all calm him down by explaining that it is not an airline issue, its a weather issue.
So he leaves, and my father, sister and I decide to rebook as well. We're told there's a flight leaving here to Newark that leaves in an hour (2 hours before our scheduled flight), and its practically empty. We jump on it, and book ourselves. While standing outside so that my father can smoke, we see about 30 shuttles come and go, each one saying "Manchester to Boston shuttle, $19.99 a group!" Then it occurs to us that my Uncle could have gotten on the same flight as us. Continental has thoroughly screwed my uncle (his cousin went in and tore them a new one, but that's a different story...so proud of him).
So - we're sitting outside, and the flight is listed on the board as leaving at 3:30pm. I look at flight aware and see that they've filed for 6:51pm. I keep figuring they're going to update the board, but they don't. So we figure I'm wrong and we head in, through security, and walk to the gate. They say the flight will leave on time. I ask why they filed the flight plan for a later time and am warned that I am violating security protocol by looking at FAA records, and regardless, I'm wrong.
3:30 comes and goes, and there are no updates. I hear families, with children, trying to decide whether or not they should get food for their kids, but can't decide because we're being told we will leave on time (its past time already). This is the funniest part here: They line us all up to board at around 4:15, they check tickets, get people halfway down the jetway, and then realize there is NO plane parked out there. Yes, they were trying to get people to board a non-existent plane.
I go up again and tell them "Look, why did your dispatchers file the flight plan so late if we're leaving at 3:30? Its 5:10 now. Give us an update." Angry, the lady at the gate calls someone, and then announces to the crowd: "We will now be boarding at approximately 6:15." She looks at me dirty, and away we go. The flight leaves at about this time, so all is good, finally (and I'm still confused on why they withheld this information from everyone).
We arrive in Newark, and sit around waiting for our next flight to leave, we check, and it turns out that the plane is super, duper late anyways. The weather is fine by now, so I have no idea what's going on, but we board, and we arrive in Albuquerque at around 2:30am.
Converting all time to Eastern time, we arrived at the airport at 10am. We arrived in Albuquerque at 2:30am. Unbelievable. I am never flying Continental again, ever ever ever. And I'm writing letters tomorrow.
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