Complain about a product or service

Continental Airlines

Continental Airlines • Bereavement • Canines • Delays • Luggage • Minors • Overbooking • Rudeness • Treatment of asthmatics

It's beyond sad to see how severely service has deteriorated at major carriers. How is it that jetBlue, Southwest and the other low-fare carriers can offer such friendly, even enthusiastic, service while the likes of Continental snarl and snap at their customers?

Southwest says its secret is that it hires friendly people. Maybe a few of the high-cost, low-service carriers should take a lesson from this.

A few of the more recent complaints ...

Jennifer of Apex, NC September 8, 2009

My husband had a business trip in NJ. We made reservations and because he was using a company credit card and using our personal one for me we had to have separate reservations and they said they couldn't seat us together even though both were made by the same woman on the phone. We still paid the 15 per person for the telephone charge.

We were scheduled on the return at 7:05. My husband found out that he had a half day seminar and we could leave on an earlier flight. I called the 800 number and the first "customer service" rep told me she could not tell me anything without my reservation number. My husband had that info at work and I was at the hotel. She could not look up my name she said. She also could not tell me the earlier flight times. I find these two facts very hard to believe. I was able to find the previous flight by the internet!

I called back and got a different woman. She said that she COULD look up my info my our names. She said that it would be 150 to get on the earlier flight (which was less than 24 horus away at this time) and if we wanted to go on standby it would be 50 per person. It would be in the best interest of Continential NOT to charge that and open up two seats on the 7:05 flight. We had to pay rediculous fees for bags and after this experience, I will never fly Continential again. I have never had to deal with this on US Air or Southwest.

Beverly of yorba linda, CA September 3, 2009

I sent my 5 year old from Orange County , Ca. to Houston, Tx. to visit my mother. We made the reservation and paid the 150.00 for the UA fee and when my son arrived in Texas my mom's id was not checked nor did they have her sign in the right place. My mom told me they had her sign below as if she were a 2nd transfer agent? Seriously, if my mom would have been 30 seconds late to the gate anyone could have picked up my 5 year old boy! So, I called Continental and they said they see no wrong doing and it was not their fault that my mom signed in the wrong place. If the agent would have been paying attention she would have not only checked my mother's id but she would have told her that she signed in the wrong area! I just can't believe that they see no wrong doing! I filed a complaint and the lady told me it would take 30 days to contact me in regards to this "mistake"... Wait a minute I thought Continental saw no wrong doing, why would you call it a mistake? I told the lady well it will take me 1 minute to call the FAA 2 minutes to contact the media and 3 minutes to contact a lawyer and what do you know I got a call 4 hours later? HMMM Sounds fishy to me! To top it off there was no compensation for the minor fee, there was nothing!

Laurie of Bronx , NY September 1, 2009

I would like to file a grievance against 3 Continental airline employees. on Saturday August 15 2009; I, my sister and my 13 month old daughter were due to fly from LaGuardia airport to San Perdo Sula, Honduras, with airline Continental. We arrived a couple minutes to 4am and the line to Continental was tremendously line; our flight was not due for about another 2 hours. As we proceeded to check in we encounter 3 very disgusting employees. They seem to be very flustered and annoyed that the line was tremendously line and they had a lot of work and catching up to do.

As we got closer to checking in, one of the employees (employee #1)separated the line into 3 groups; which were groups of flights time, 5:45,6:30,and 7:30; we fell in the first group. As we were serviced employee #2 asked where was my daughters travel info, and i proceeded and responded that she had to retrieve it from the computer, because i had purchased the ticket on line on travelocity and that i had spoken to a continental airline representive by phone and that i was given a code to retrieve my daughters flight information. She did not bother looking the information up. She proceeded on asking my sister to weighing the luggages.

Employee #2 immediatly got upset when my sister luggage went past 50lbs, and proceeded to say that we had to purchased a continental bag and that she had to pay an additional 65 dollars; as this occured my sister and i turned to look at each other and i asked if she really had an additional 65 to purchase the bag; i guess this annoyed employee #2 even more and she made a comment to employee #1 that we were not ready, because i did not have my daughters travel information(mind you she did not bother looking it up.) and that my sister bag went past 50lbs.

by this time i was very upset because she kept repeating that we were not ready and i kept telling her to look up my daughters information up and she refused to. They refused to solve the problem and continued to repeat amoung themselves that we were not going to travel. Due to the circumstances back i could afford to miss the flight.

They didnt care throw us to the side and refused to attend us for 5 hours and put a stop so we would not reserve another flight by phone. my daughter was hunger and all i had was orange juice while we waited to go past security to get my daughter something real to eat; it really hurts me that my daughter had to suffer because of these 3 disgusting females. All this drama was uncalled for and unnecessary.

After about 5 and half hours we were attend by a nice gentleman that had the courage to ask about the current situation and proceeded in helping us and resolved our problem that only took him 10 minutes to resolve. Thanks to him our problem got resolved. I would like for these 3 employees to be investigated and punished for their outrageous behavior. P.S in returning to The Unites States they proceeded to puting a stop on our flight coming back from Honduras on August 25, 2009.

we had to wait an extra 7 hours in houston which resulted in spending extra money in order to eat, my daughter whom is in the tender age of one had an awful reaction to a milk that i had to purchase at the Texas airport because i had no access to her original milk that was in the luggage because the milk i had prepared had spoiled upon arrival to texas. this neglagence also resulted in having to spend an extra 180 American dollars upon my arrival in honduras in order to get to my comfortable home at about 3am which was dangerous at night

James of San Antonio, TX August 31, 2009

Aug 15, 2ØØ9, IAH-CUN (CO 1464) - The flight arrived as scheduled at 3:3Ø pm. However, my bag did not. Tracer was opened. Cancun baggage agents entered my bag claim number and advised me that my bag was not scanned into the system. No telling where it may be. My bag was finally delivered to Tulum 9 hrs later. Everything was explained to me about baggage tracing. But, I had to practically beg for an amenity kit. Airport personnel seemed a little "bothered" by the fact that the upstairs offices were closed and they had to find the key and then had to search for an amenity kit. It almost seems that this simple act was a bother to them. Aug 21, 2ØØ9, IAH-SAT (CO1779) - The nightmare begins. The flight was delayed over 4 hrs. First we were told due to weather, then to crew rest. Complete chaos. Gate agents had no idea what was going on. No reassurance -- kept being told to sit and wait. Gate agents appeared to be "winging it". Gate agents told pax to go to other gates for flights to SAT and see if able to board stand-by. Pax were told they were bringing "carts" (snacks/drinks) to the gate. The carts never came! Flight CO1779 eventually cancelled around 1Ø:ØØ p.m., even though flights had already resumed. Hell broke loose! Gate agents clueless. I kept being told to go to different gates to waitlist for other flights to SAT (which were also delayed).

Once I got to the different gates, those gate agents were most unhelpful. I was told I should have gone to the airport Customer Service Centers for resolution, and not directly to the gate. Keep in mind; I know I was not the only pax affected by this. But ALL pax were told the same thing--to go to the "new gates" and standby for the next flight. Everyone appeared to be passing the buck and no one wanted to take ownership of the situation. The rudeness of the gate agents during this chaotic/stressful situation was quite blatant. I would think that airport personnel have received better customer service training on how to deal with this type of situation seeing as how it is becoming more frequent these days with delays/cancellations and overbookings. This is not an isolated incident. Each time I connect through IAH, I notice that CO employees are not the most helpful. Most IAH employees I have encountered seem to take their job as more of a "chore".

Not once, was I offered a coupon for even a bag of chips or something to drink. I was at wits end. I went back to one of the Cust Srvc Centers and then it happened....ANA (Team Leader)...what a blessing! She never faltered or was "short" with any of the customers. When I got up to the counter, of course she was already aware of the situation and worked ever so diligently to seek resolution to the problems. The same time she took with other pax, she took with me. She finally got me a confirmed seat on one of the last flights to SAT on an aircraft that was going to leave. Of course, I made it to SAT after midnight, but again my bag did not. I checked with the two young ladies who were working as baggage agents in the baggage claim area that night and again my bag was not scanned into the system. I was informed that my bag should arrive on next flight from IAH-SAT, which would be around 1:ØØ a.m. My bag did arrive and I do understand the delay given the situation with flights from IAH on 8/21. Lisa and Ana handled this situation very professionally and courteously…true professionals.

I know I do not travel enough to truly be of any significant value to Continental, but this experience is making me re-evaluate my choice of airlines. Continental has always been by choice of carrier for travel to family and friends in Mexico and Central America, but after the extreme poor leadership and lack of concern for pax comfort at IAH, I will think twice. Funny thing is, my travel companion flew AA from CUN to DFW and encountered delays as well, but upon speaking about our experiences, he stated that yes, it was chaotic as well at DFW, but AA personnel handled it efficiently and professionally (I am only taking his word for his experience).

Caroline of Forest Hills, NY August 25, 2009

10 hr delay leading to eventual cancellation 8 hrs after departure time. Airline dishonest with passengers regarding the nature of reason flight is delayed. First reports of flight delay were said to be due to weather conditions; passengers were told flight will take off when weather conditions were favorable. Passengers four hours after departure time - 6pm - learn of malfunction of de-icer of the the aircraft. Passengers were boarded despite the severity of the malfunctioning aircraft. Over the loudspeaker, pilot mentions new de-icer was installed, however, after trial of new mechanical part caused smoke to ensue. Passengers logically deplane the malfunctioning, smoking aircraft

Two hours after that - 8pm - Continental Representatives relay to passengers they will be boarding same malfunctioning, smoking plane at a later time - 10:15pm; Upon inquiring about different Continental flights back to Newark, I was told by Continental Representatives I needed to pay an ADDTIONAL AMOUNT OF 80 in order to get a CONNECTING FLIGHT to Houston, TX and then finally to Newark, NJ. The absurdity of paying more money to get to my final destination due to the poor lack of judgement by Continental, as well as the major safety concern led me, as a passenger to choose a different aircraft carrier.

Shielun of Lexington, SC August 17, 2009

Confiscation of the base of the cooker that was in my cabin luggage carrier - there is no specification about the same in your restrictions.I flew on a round trip ticket from Charlotte NC, USA on July 15, 2009 to Mumbai and returned on August 11,2009 by Boeing 777, flight CO49.On my departure date to the US this happenong took place.On being questioned, my first suggestion to the lady was that I could go back to check in and check the cabin luggage too, but she directed me to the policeman who was present.

My second query was that the rules and regulations regarding cabin luggage were not broken by me - according to specifications sharp objects, fluids etc could not be carried in the cabin luggage.When they could not give me a proper reason they finally stated that the cooker was too heavy - my cabin luggage was well within the weight limit.I am a Senior American citizen and I requested them to help me out, since I had no desire to run about too much, since I am an asthamatic patient.We were quite a few travelling back to Newark, NJ.,and for me it was a first experience, since I am a frequent Delta flier.The cost of the cooker was Rs.400/ - a negligable amount, but one cannot get the same quality here in the US.I would appreciate you to look into this matter - if possible, post me a 4 litre cooker at my US residence !!

Renee of Bothell, WA August 13, 2009

My last three flights on Continental have been pure nightmares. I flew from the west coast to the east coast for Easter which was uneventful. However, return flight was the beginning of Hell. I only had 2 hrs sleep and had to catch a 6:20 flight from AVP to Newark. Never got out of AVP 'til 8:00 a.m. because there was...and get this... "NO FLIGHT CREW!" I missed my connecting flight in Newark which meant I had to wait two more flights, on standby, and was then flown to Texas. I forget to mention this was with my husband and child as well. In Texas I then had to wait 2 more flights until they were able to get us on a flight to Seattle. I never got home 'til 1:00 a.m. which translates into a 21 hr. day of pure hell. Oh, and I originally was supposed to arrive home 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time. Had to get up and go to work the next day. Through all of this Continental employees were all miserable and not at all willing to help.

Now let's talk about my most recent flight which took place 7/23/09. My flight was delayed out of Seattle to Newark because of what Continental said was weather problems on the east coast. 15 min. later they actually decided to tell the truth and said it was because of mechanical problems. Okay, so the flight was about an hour late taking off but they assured me that my connecting flight out of Newark was delayed as well and I would be able to make it. Guess what, though it was delayed, I got to the gate 10 min. too late.

I went to Customer Service and the only solution they had was to get me on a flight from Newark to Scranton the next evening at 5:30 p.m. Please keep in mind that it is 9:30 p.m. Thurs and they are now telling me they cannot get me out on another flight until 20 hrs later!!!!! I asked for a hotel voucher or reimbursement so that I can rent a car and they would not provide me with either. When I told them I would never fly Continental again, the person's response was "that's okay, we'll all be out of business soon." What great employees Continental has! Needless to say, I was so pissed off I rented a car, one way, and drove 2 1/2 hrs. to Scranton. Cost, 191 one way for 24 hrs. Thanks Continental.

Now let's visit what happened on my return flight. Scheduled to leave Scranton, Aug. 10, 2009, at 3:55 p.m. the flight was delayed. I ended up missing my connecting flight in Newark, was put on the following flight that was to take off for Seattle at 7:15 p.m. We boarded almost on time but then spent 3 hrs on the runway, no drinks, no food, no movie, little to no air and a staff with a shitty attitude. HAVE I LEARNED MY LESSON? Oh, and once again, I was supposed to arrive home at 9:30 p.m. but instead got home 2:00 a.m. only to have to get up for work at 5:30. Maybe with the attitude I had after only 3 1/2 hrs sleep I should have applied for a job at continental; I would have fit in perfectly!

Kelly of Claypool, AZ August 11, 2009

Recently flew on Continental Airlines for the first and the LAST time! Stranded overnight at Newark Airport going and then again upon return because our connecting flight left early - we were then yelled at by Continental employee that it was our fault because we weren't at the gate 15 minutes prior to departure! We weren't there because our original flight was delayed over an hour by Continental! Waited in "customer service" line 3 hours to be treated like dirt absolutely the rudest, worst people I have ever encountered! Abusive and hateful. Stewardesses were no better. Without exception, one of the worst experiences of my life. DO NOT FLY CONTINENTAL! I personally will walk first!

Mary of Honolulu, HI August 7, 2009

My family and I recently moved to Hickam A.F.B. HI and bought a ticket for our family dog through Continental Petsafe to fly from S.C. to HI. Our Pet was supposed to be cared for and tendered to include a temperature controlled environment (A/C). Shortly after arrival in Honolulu our pet began having seizures. We took our pet to an emrgancy vet that confirmed the seizures were happening because she was suffering from a severe heat stroke. Our pet later died.

We have tried relentlessly to work with Continental Petsafe to resolve this situation, however, we are basically being ignored. I have already reported this to USDOT, USDA and PETA. I have also been trying to obatin legal advice to help us try to hold Continental Airlines accountable. Our pet flew from Myrtle Beach S.C. to Honolulu, HI on May 30th. Any assistance your agency can lend will be sincerely appreciated.

Our Pet died, due to their negligence. We paid 682. for the flight--165 at the Honolulu airport for a HI pet entrance fee--and 1474.93 in emergancy vet bills.

Vince of Westampton, NJ August 6, 2009

LEt me start out with the booking. I am a vegetarian, my wife is a vegan. When I booked the ticket there was no option/feature to select a meal. It just said snack served. We figured it would be the normal chips/peanuts/soda/other munchies routine. When we got on the plane, they served COW, in other words cheese burgers with a piece of chocolate and dry salad which did not even look fresh. I asked the hostess is she had anything vegetarian other than salad and "leaves" even a pirece of bread or cheese. She said no.

I was surprised that that durring booking there was no notice or warning that the light snack (which the cheese burgers to me were a meal) would be non-veg. I was hurt and dissapointed. IT was an early morning flight and restaurants and food places were still closed at the airport, so we did not even have a chance to purchase at our own added expense.

We asked for chips, peanuts or even pretzels. The hostess said there isnt anything else and not enough food, its a full flight. I felt like continental generalizes their customer base.... I wish they stop going cheapo and just charge a few extra dollars if they need to and not lose their dignity and respect. Miserable employees/staff=miserable customer service.

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