rahulm

Hi!

I am flying to India tomorrow from SFO (SFO-->EWR-->BOM) and due to Irene the continental website shows my flights as cancelled.

I have been trying to call continental repeatedly but have not been able to get through because of the high call volume --> That is if I can even get through (most times when I call the system drops the call after a brief blurb that the call volume is too high).

I was wondering if you have any advice on how I can get my flights rescheduled?

Appreciate the help!

mztery

http://www.continental.com/CMS/en-US...elnotices.aspx

about halfway down the page there is a box
How do I rebook or cancel my reservation?


which has links to make changes online

hope this helps!

rahulm

Thanks! I did try that and I get the following error:

"Continental.com is unable to initiate your flight change request at this time. Please contact Continental Reservations at 1-800-525-0280 to make changes to this Itinerary."

I have been on hold for almost 1.5 hours now and another hour from 8 am to 9 am this morning.

Do you think going to SFO would help? They seem to have a counter there.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

If you're close enough to SFO that it seems reasonable for you to get there, the ticket counter there might be your best bet for changing your ticket. With Continental having a hub at EWR, their entire route network will be swamped with cancellations and their phone and web volume this weekend will be mind boggling.

Good luck.

mztery

they have check in counters but I don't see a dedicated customer service desk. If they are like United, there is one check in desk for ticketing that is often backed up on a good day.

I'm guessing their lines at SFO will be long but have no idea - if you don't mind waiting there (bring a book) it might be faster....

Looking at online news reports it's running about 3 hours to reschedule flights in person at SFO...

good luck.

qwovadis

Go to your nearest CO office

for best shot at re-booking this

with a human being... what I had do do

last year around the Iceland volcano

phones did not work for days

Hope you have trip insurance...

Good Luck!

mztery

qwovadis -= he won't NEED trip insurance if the flight is cancelled and there's a travel waiver.
And in SF the only customer service offices are the ticket agents in SFO.

J62

It sounds like the news about Irene hasn't made headlines on the west coast. That's too bad. Here in the east people have been preparing for days, including rebooking flights days ago and not waiting until the last minute.

mztery

Smug aren't we?

if you were flying to INDIA from the west coast AND they weren't giving waivers yet you'd be foolish to rebook early and pay change fees/penalties.

lcuy

Actually, if Rahulm prepaid for hotels or domestic travel in India and misses it due to arriving late to India, Insurance will cover that.

clevelandbrown

I was in a similar situation with our return from Dublin. From the moment I got the email I called the numbers they gave, and the elite service number I had, without success (unless you define success as exhausting you cell phone battery). I finally go through to the elite service desk Saturday night (Saturday afternoon in Houston) and they spent a lot of time looking, but the earliest they could book me was a Tuesday flight on another airline.

I've been pretty happy with CO service since even before I was exalted to elite status, so I would recommend you keep calling, but anticipate that the flight they will get you will be a few days later than you had planned.