Continental Passengers Beware

[dwelty]

I am a loyal Continental Customer and fly often for work and to WDW. I have a trip booked over Thanksgiving week, and just happened to check my reservation today. I noticed that an entire leg of my flight was missing! I called Continental and they said there was a schedule change. I received no email or call about this. Im wondering what would have happened if I had shown up at the Airport and found out then. We are a family of 4 with two children. The representative could not explain why that leg was not rebooked and we were not notified. Long story short, I was able to rebook a different flight out of another local airport. just wanted to get the word out to anyone else flying Continental or United, as the problem could be related to the merger. This flight was a continental booking on a United flight out of LAX.

 

[macraven]

i've had that happen with united/continental before.

what i did was change the notification online.


after i did that, i recieved the notices in advance.

i prefer the phone messages over the emails.

 

[dis_guy]

ITA especially now that the merger between United and Continental is fully underway. We have flights for Dec 31 and Jan 7 and there have been many changes to the reservations. We have had to reselect our seats but luckily we have not lost a flight or had any drastic time changes. At one point there were 4 different flight numbers leaving MCO at the same time with the same destination. We had no idea which one was ours as our flight number matched none of them. That has now been sorted out, thankfully.

And just a reminder for anyone flying one of the legacy carriers, watch out for equipment changes that may occur close to your dates of travel. United and Continental often switch from A320/B737s to B757s if they have a lot of demand. This can mess up your seat selections, too.

 

[WonderlandsMostWantd]

We had similar problems... we had more than 15 individual changes made to our reservations over the course of about a month and a half... and our trip isn't even until October! the last time, they had us leaving our layover airport TWICE in the same day with no flight from Orlando back home. Ridiculous.. when I called AGAIN and asked what was happening (politely, I wasn't rude, angry, etc, nor did I ask FOR anything) I was told I could have a full refund of my fare and book with another airline, because, in their words, they couldn't tell me why I kept being moved/bumped/etc, and they could offer no assurance that it wouldn't continue to happen.

I was stunned for about 30 seconds, then just opted to take the refund. I'd rather be confident that I'm goint to make it TO Orland AND back home, without getting stranded at any airport between here and there. This merger is greating an absolute NIGHTMARE in their reservation system, and the poor customer service reps (who have all been fantastic, helpful and wonderful) are stuck dealing with the consequences.

I urge everyone with United/Continental reservations to check them, at least weekly. They seem to make the most changes over the weekend.

 

[kochmd1]

I have booked with Continental since June going in and out of Tampa for August and no changes whatsoever. Maybe only flights from MCO are affected?

 

[ancestry]

I have noticed that when most airlines have flight changes they don't notify people far in advance. Often they don't notify you until several weeks before your scheduled travel date. Continental probably would have notified you but perhaps not until late September or October.

 

[safetymom]

Once you book you should check your reservation on a regular basis. Chances are you aren't going to hear from the airline with any changes. The sooner you spot it the sooner you can make any changes. This is with all airlines.

 

[luvdisney00]

I got an email this morning about a change for our flight on 8/24. It was flight # and aircraft, but still at the same time. A long time ago(Jan) when I booked the flight I was wishing that I had gone a day earlier and a friend of mine told me that if they make changes to the flights, they will allow you to make changes for free based on availability. Is this true? I was toying with the idea of calling and asking if I could switch this flight for the day before. I'm afraid if I call and they say YES then I'd have to scramble to see if a night could be added to our Disney res (and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't add another night of FD) or figure out if I want to move hotels after one night. Of course this is all speculation. I was just wondering if anyone has heard of the airlines doing this?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Im wondering what would have happened if I had shown up at the Airport and found out then.

I don't understand how someone who says they travel often wouldn't know to check their flight status well before they leave for the airport.

Flight schedules change. You should be aware that you can't count on an airline to always notify you about them in a timely manner.

I got an email this morning about a change for our flight on 8/24. It was flight # and aircraft, but still at the same time.

If you are saying the only thing which changed about your flight was the flight number and/or aircraft type, then no, you aren't entitled to make a free flight change.

 

[dwelty]

I don't understand how someone who says they travel often wouldn't know to check their flight status well before they leave for the airport.

Flight schedules change. You should be aware that you can't count on an airline to always notify you about them in a timely manner.
.

The problem was not that the schedule changed. This happens to me all the time. The issue here, and why I posted a warning, is that their reservation system DROPPED an entire leg of my flight. I would have had no way to get home. The continental rep told me that this has been happening with their system and it was due to the merger. perhaps you should read the post a little more thoroughly before posting your replys.
While I am a frequent flyer (with Continental Elite status) not all the people reading the boards are. This is why there is a transportation thread. So we can help each other out.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

The problem was not that the schedule changed. This happens to me all the time. The issue here, and why I posted a warning, is that their reservation system DROPPED an entire leg of my flight. I would have had no way to get home. The continental rep told me that this has been happening with their system and it was due to the merger. perhaps you should read the post a little more thoroughly before posting your replys. [SIC]
While I am a frequent flyer (with Continental Elite status) not all the people reading the boards are. This is why there is a transportation thread. So we can help each other out.

I did read your entire post, however, the advice is the same, whether the schedule changed or a leg was dropped. You should always check the flight status before you leave. Good advice for anyone and I believe helpful as well.

 

[danceintherain]

I got an email this morning about a change for our flight on 8/24. It was flight # and aircraft, but still at the same time. A long time ago(Jan) when I booked the flight I was wishing that I had gone a day earlier and a friend of mine told me that if they make changes to the flights, they will allow you to make changes for free based on availability. Is this true? I was toying with the idea of calling and asking if I could switch this flight for the day before. I'm afraid if I call and they say YES then I'd have to scramble to see if a night could be added to our Disney res (and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't add another night of FD) or figure out if I want to move hotels after one night. Of course this is all speculation. I was just wondering if anyone has heard of the airlines doing this?

Usually, they'll cover the change if they change the flight time more than 90 minutes.

 

[momtonandz]

Same exact thing happened to me! I thought it was just a glitch for me....crazy!