What airline will you never fly again and why?

[bafmrf]

I just got a call today that my flight this Saturday is cancelled to Myrtle Beach....They rescheduled us to the next day at 4:00pm. I've called Delta and they said that all of the other flights were booked. They also want us to stay an extra day. Should they give us some kind of compensation for a hotel stay we did not expect. Can anyone offer some suggestions. Thanks. I'm so bummed.

Martha.

 

[Beverly Lynn]

Continental no longer has any propeller aircraft. they are all jet now. even the commuter aircrafts. http://www.onetravel.com/advisor/AR...0EF&Token=NULL&Lang=English&Style=1&Modules=Y|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y&
you can go to this sight and pull up deltas rules. it should explain the rule 240 etc. they may give you somethign as a good will gesture but I doubt if you will get anymore than that. they are reacommodating you on another flight if this is not acceptable then they may refund your money. but they are really not required to put you up in a hotel unles its mechanical cancellaton or soemthing in that respect on their part. I would suggest calling their customer svc department and speaking to them about it but don't get your hopes up.

 

[Chardo]

Goldenoldie: Don't forget about Pan Am, TWA (soon), National (I know the name is back, but it's not the same), Piedmont, Allegheny, Ransom, Trump Shuttle, Conquest, Western Pacific,....


Imgoingtodisney: Problems with changing planes has more to do with the airport than the airline. All airlines have frequent problems with connecting flights at the busiest airports (O'Hare, Hartsfield, all NY airports, etc.) Airlines that make connections at smaller, less congested airports have fewer problems. Examples: Delta at Cincinnati, Midway at Raleigh-Durham, USAir at Charlotte, Fedex at Memphis.

These airports were designed specifically to be hubs where the planes need to get down, get to the gate, unload, and connect passengers, all as fast as possible. There is very little traffic to those airports other than for the major hub airline, so there are fewer flight delays due to air traffic. If you want proof, fly Delta thru Cincinnati and watch how your luggage is on your next plane before you are. Then look out at the runway and count the non-Delta flights and you'll see why.

 

[bafmrf]

I just got off the phone with Delta regarding my cancelled flights and I have to tell you, they were extremely compassionate and very helpful. They ended up re-routing me into Fayetteville for my original dates, and I have better times too. (My original flight was through Priceline and arrived at 11:35pm now we arrive at 3:00pm) This worked out great for us. I had such a great agent, that I asked to speak to the supervisor and I told him how much I appreciated the agents help. So I take back my original post above. We'll see how they handle the flights but so far I am very impressed.

Martha.

 

[gm]

i meant that continental is terrible for its leg space and
American Airlines proppeler planes are the worst. I could hear myself buzzing with the engine it was so weird. I could not even hear my kids when they asked for something.

Now on the good note: Singapore Airlines are the roomiest and most friendliest I have been on.

And as far as local I vouch for American Airlines regular jet planes. Nice and roomy in coach.

 

[klmall]

We had the absolute two worst flights of our 29 years of marriage last summer with Northworst!

Our travel agent had gotten us a great deal to Denver and when weather delayed our departure it wasn't NW's fault but everything from that point on WAS! No one ever helped any of the 100+ of us get new connecting flights to Detroit and then to Denver. If my husband hadn't walked up to another NW counter and insisted on seats later that day for Detroit and insisted on also booking seats to Denver we would have lost our rental car and motel in Estes Park, Colorado. NW kept saying we would still make our Denver connection and we knew there was no possible way and we were among the very few people we got to Detroit that day and had seats on a plane OUT of Detroit.

But the worst was yet to come. After 3 weeks of wonderful touring out west we were anxious to get home. We sat in the Denver airport and waited for two hours for "crew to arrive" from another flight (no storms anywhere in US this time!). Finally we boarded the plane and still sat for another hour waiting for the "missing crew". By then I was frantic.

Finally we took off for Minneapolis. For once, people actually stayed in their seats as those of us who had a shot at still making our connections zoomed down the aisle. The three of us then found out that we had almost 70 (seventy) gates to go to make our connecting Northworst flight and only 12 minutes!!!!!!!!! Thank god, I overheard two flight attendants discussing a 'shortcut' using a garage walkway. We ran and ran and made it just as they were closing the doors. I didn't even care if our luggage got loaded since we were going home and had our valuables in our hand luggage! (PS - Our luggage did make it somehow!)

We asked about the delay of "waiting for crew" and were told that this is routine and should probably be expected. And no connecting flights were held for anyone on our flight including those trying to get to NYC and overseas. It was extremely depressing. A couple of women were even crying.

Others have told us that NW is not unique in moving crew around like this and delaying flights. Even a direct/non-stop flight would be affected by this kind of tactic.

We've always had much better luck with Delta and USAir.

 

[Ted and Holly]

Pan Am is convenient and cheap for us, but it is SCARY! When we flew in December, their one plane out of NH was delayed and then the inner windshield shattered mid-flight. We had to make a scary emergency landing, complete with rescue crews, and then waited for over 6 hours in North Carolina for them to find another plane for us to use. They put us on another plane, served a limited amount of beverages (no food, no alcohol) and did nothing to make the situation up to us. On our return flight, same vacation, they were delayed three hours because their computers were down. They are famous in our area of lengthy "unscheduled maintence" delays, and the local paper is always reporting "Pan Am makes another Emergency Landing" Basically the planes are falling apart. They went out of business once because many of their planes crashed... it's only a matter of time.....

 

[caitycaity]

CONTINENTAL!!!

ugh. It's my policy to give airlines 2 chances to really screw up. I'm a reasonable person, and I know weather is not their fault. I don't even get that upset over delayed luggage, as long as it's not a regular occurance and they end up finding it!

here are my 2 continental stories...judge for yourself!

The first time I ever flew continental, I did so b/c of a great fare. I got to the airport 2 hours early as usual. Checked in, no problems. I went to the gate that was printed on the ticket I recieved 5 minutes earlier at the desk. After sitting there for 30 minutes, they changed the town listed on the check in at the gate. hmmmm... no announcemnet made. so i went up and asked. sure enough we had been switched to another gate in another section of the airport. still, no announcemnet was made. so i went to the new gate and waited. it was then announced that only people without connecting flights would be allowed on the plane (apparently there were some weather concerns at cleveland, which was where we were flying to). well, i had a connecting flight, but i decided it was early enough in the day, and i'd rather be in cleveland (their hub) where i have family and where i'd probably have a better shot of getting on a plane to my final destination. if not, no worries, i'd just call up my relatives and spend the night. so when they called boarding i got in line and tried to board. the man taking tickets took my ticket and then refused to let me on the plane. i argued with him for about 1 minute and then figured, ok, maybe this is some policy i've never heard of. i was about to tell him just to forget it and go bac to the counter when he took my tickets and RIPPED THEM into about 4 pieces. I was staring at him and he seemed to think nothing of it. He wrote me a code and some other stuff on a SCRAP piece of paper (no letterhead or anything) and told me to go to the counter.

So after waiting at the counter for about 1 hour I finally got to the front of the line. I gave them my scarp of paper and explained to them what happened. she looked in the computer and was going to try to put me on a usair flight. then she sent me off to the usair counter, scrap paper in hand. i waited in line there for another hour, and got to the front. well, needless to say there were some problems with the paper i had. the gate agent wouldn't take it as a ticket and had to get her manger. after calling continental and about 30 minutes later, it seemed that everything was taken care of. now what about my luggage i had check with continental. well, continental claimed that since i now had a usair ticket, they were not responsible. as a matter of fact, after they were supposed to pull my bag, they apparently didn't and it was now sitting in cleveland. the continental guy informed me that i would have to go to cleveland to get it, or usair would have to handle it. well, usair showed me the ritten policy that says if you have checked your baggage on an airline it is their responsibility to get it to you no matter what (actually this whole experience convinced me of how great usair was, they were so helpful, eventhough it wasn't their problem). i eventually got to my final destination, and many aggravating phone calls to continental and about 3 days later, so did my luggage.

it was the trip from hell!!!

the second instance was en route, while we were in the air, continental went on strike. me and about 2000 other passangers were stuck in newark, b/c none of their planes were flying to the NE. they could only send about 1 plane every 2 hours b/c they didn't have enough crew. Ok, I understand that strikes will happen, but they refused to make any allowances for us. I ended up being stuck in the newark airport for 24 hours. They wouldn't put any of us on another airline, they wouldn't put us up for the night, they wouldn't even give us food vouchers!!! Once again, my luggage was missing and it took them 1 week to find it. UGH!!!

 

[idontknow]

That's strange....I won't fly thru CLE anymore because of Cont! they made announcements for gate numbers and they were not correct. when I went to the gate to ask if they had changed it, they said no and I was in the right place. After I told them that the announcement was wrong, the gate attendant went nuts saying she said the gate I was standing at. Ok, my hearing is going, I figured, and delt with it. then the rest of the passengers came over and ask the SAME THING!!! the gate attendant wents nuts trying to tell them that she was right, she had announced the right gate. Another gate attendant came over and apologized saying she told the other woman the wrong gate. But the first attendant was still swearing she said the right gate. It really didn't matter, but if she would have said "oops, my mistake" and reannounced the correct gate, everyone would have been happy. Nope, she stood her ground after the other attendant admitted to telling her the wrong gate number. I wrote Cont a letter saying how nasty the gate attendant was just so they knew what had happened. (didn't want anything, just letting them know) they sent be a box of mints. LOL I thought it was funny. but I won't fly thru CLE anymore because of it.

 

[ballgame]

Since Boston does not really have a "hub" airline, we have a wonderful choice of airlines (all of which are delayed by Boston traffic). Having flown Delta, United, USAir, Northwest, American, and TWA, I can honestly say that I try to avoid USAir at all costs. Now I know that the airlines can't always be held accountable for weather delays, but I have yet to have an incident free flight on USAir. I have several horror stories with this airline. My flights have never arrived on time, and my luggage has been significantly delayed (> 1 day) 80% of the time. The straw that broke the camel's back happened about 1 year ago. I was flying from Boston to Savannah, GA through Charlotte. We were delayed leaving Boston to the point that the pilot said all connecting passengers must get off the plane and rebook (which is apparently cut off at only 1.5 hours). So I got off the plane and waitied for 1.5 hours at the ticket counter. The counter agent then proceeded to scold me for getting off the plane and said that I should have stayed on the plane as Charlotte was delayed as well (the original flight was taking off at this time). When I explained that I was "ordered" off the plane, he grudgingly rebooked me for the next day, but said that he could not and would not try to locate my bag and it was likely going to Charlotte. Needless to say my flight the next day was delayed (it landed on time but waited for 30 minutes in Charlotte for a gate) and I had to dash across the airport to my connection. My luggage arrived two days later (it apparently had never left Boston, but nobody had recorded that it was taken off the plane.) Since then, I have tried to avoid USAir.

 

[adamak]

US freaking AIR. Never ever again.

Last year we have 3 parties flying down to FL, from Boston, from Baltimore (2 different times). We're supposed to arrive in MCO all within an hour. They re-arrange ALL of our flights without *ever* calling us or mailing us. Luckily one of us found out, and we all end up calling.

The Boston party was re-booked on a 10 hours later flight. Mine was bumped up 2 hours earlier. The other Baltimore flight was 7 hours after my flight.

You can imagine the chaos trying to meet up that day. We end up cancelling all dinner plans, travelling back and forth from MCO / WDW picking people upm and losing one whole day of fun.

I don't mind no leg room. I can somehow tolerate bad service. I can make myself understand bad flight connections. But this?? Come on. They cancel flights because they don't have a full flight. And they did it well in advanced, but not calling us until we found out 1 week before we go. And they don't even appologize.

Really bad company. Because they DON'T CARE ! I wish them bankruptcy.

 

[The Hunt]

So here's the list so far (I omitted foreign carriers):

Air Tran
American
America West
Continental
Frontier
Northwest
Pan Am
Spirit
USAir

Interesting that although there is another thread about how bad United is, nobody listed United here.

 

[ducklite]

I won't fly anyone but the "Big 5". And of those I won't fly Untied. Emergency landing in 1990 because they didn't load enough fuel... 'nuff said.

Anne

 

[Poohbear123]

I never Fly! I take the train! It's a lot safer and I know where my luggage is!

 

[Raysplus1]

America West

Not that I would never fly with them. I have flown with them about 5 times and have been delayed at least 2 hours each time I have flown with them. If the price is right and the times are right I would fly with them again. I just make sure I have time between flights to allow for this.

Mike

 

[Baileymouse]

Continental! I will never fly Continental again!

I've had more than one bad experience with them. They have a huge hub at Newark, so they dominate the area. In the mid 80s we used them to fly to Colorado. It was awful, both times. The second time we landed in a thunderstorm, even though the ground information said that we were being diverted to DC. My parents were terrified for me and my sister, and they didn't know where to get us. Ground people were extremely rude.

Over the years we've had to fly them again and they have the worst leg room (I'm 5'3" and I'm complaining - imagine how my 6'2" DH feels). His knees were in the seat of the kid in front of us. The staff tends to be much more rude than any of the other flights out of EWR. Our last flight was this past January and as we (all 7 of us) deplaned we all made a pact - NEVER AGAIN!!!!

Most of the planes to MCO from EWR are cattle cars. Delta has good rates and keeps up with Continental on those runs so I go with them. Seating isn't too much better but the flight crews seem nicer. I will never fly any of the budget airlines - they come and go too quickly and the prices are about the same.

 

[lynaaron]

If you like being treated like cattle or sheep then you will love SW. I hate not having assigned seats, especially with a family. I guess it's fine for short trips but not more than an hour. I will also never fly on Corsair again, but that probably won't be a problem since I probably won't go to Tahiti again either.

 

[frannn]

I have flown ATA (ugghhh!), Delta, and TWA (long delay). I was not overly impressed
with any of them. It kills me that after booking early with Jetblue, all the airlines
lowered their fares. We are going in Oct, and are paying 662 for 2 adults, 2 children.
I think I would deal with questionable customer service and small delay, but not being
bumped & not long horrible delay. Should I be breathing a sigh of relief with Jetblue,
or kicking myself about the price? (We would have saved about 80 total with new
sale fares on other airlines)