kalunchi

Last year when I flew Continental, I had a flight out of HNL at 9:15pm, when I got to the airport at 8pm, they told me they canceled the 9:15pm and put me on the 11:30pm, the staff was extremely rude and not willing to accommodate. It's like, "too bad!" Nobody bothered to contact us during the 4 months taht we booked the tickets too. how irresponsible was that?
Then this year, I booked myself a flight in August out of HNL at 11:30pm, guess what? they canceled the 11:30pm and put me on the 9:15pm. I'm furious, b/c I have an interisland flight that brings me into HNL at 9:35pm meaning I'm going to miss their flight. And guess what the customer care supervisors/mgrs told me? "We can't do anything about it."
I was in awe when I heard it. I didnt know how to respond. They're not going to do anything about it. Is it Continental in general or just their flights to Hawaii?
I've already filed a complaint to the better business bureau, I was so mad, they put me on hold for 5 hours (not continuously, I had to call them 5 times, an hour wait each time).
Guys, if u ever fly continental, pray there is no problem, b/c when u have to deal wtih customer care, they're poorly trained, definitely dont expect any kinda of compensation.
Well, right this moment, I still don't have a flight from Hawaii back to NY. Tehy won't do anything right now. I think it's ridiculous. I hope the BBB can help.

janiebelle

Not that this helps you any, but we have had tickets for this July, since last August.........our flights have changed 6 times during the past 9 months. My husband (a VERY FF) keeps a close check on them. I don't know that it is really unusual for an airline to change a flight time, but I think it is very unbusiness like of them not to inform you.

Hope you get this worked out.

Ryan

First, I think you should know that the Better Business Bureau has zero real authority. Their only real power comes from their ability to flag problem companies vis-a-vis customer service issue. Other than taking your complaint and maybe calling someone on your behalf, I don't know what regulatory powers you think they have.

If you're going the "call a regulator" route, your only real option is to call the FAA.

However, airlines change their schedules all the time. I believe every reservation at every airline informs you that "Schedules are subject to change."

I believe Continental's policy on schedule changes is to allow you to refund your ticket, even if non-refundable. Perhaps that is your best bet if it is impossible for you to get another inter-island flight.

I should caution you that EVERY airline is susceptible to the same issue you claim Continental has. So, try Delta or United. But, I'm sure if you do a search on this site you'll find an equal number, if not more, complaints about both those airlines.

rkkwan

Booking a interisland flight to get in at 9:35 and connect to a different airline that leaves at 11:30pm, months in advance, is asking for trouble. Period. Regardless of airlines.

And the airlines will not notify you individually. It's your responsibility to check your itinerary online or off, regularly. When a flight changes, there will be red letters on continental.com highlighting the change, and it'll ask you to click to acknowledge it.

Not saying the airline shouldn't do more, but unfortunately that's the name of the game. I don't think CO is doing anything much differently from other airlines.

LoveItaly

Well, even though I have never been a big fan of Delta, when I made reservations to fly with them in April I got a recorded phone call advising me of a time change in my flight time returning home. It was not a big change, but I sure appreciated the phone call.

SuzieTrue

Airline schedules always change. Whenever I buy my NW tickets online, they ask for an e-mail address. I then get updates whenever there is a schedule change. Sometimes it is the time, sometimes the flight number.

I've even had airline personal call when a flight in the evening didn't arrive, changing my plans for the next morning. This happened when headed to HNL. Had to add an additional stop but still made the original flight MSP-HNL.

travelinwifey

As mentioned in earlier messages, all airlines do this. A friend is visiting us in Las Vegas this weekend from Hawaii and his redeye flight home was cancelled and now he's departing at 5pm. He only became aware of this last week, I don't know if the airline contacted him or not. So he lost 1/2 day visiting unfortunately.

girlonthego

We had a flight on USAir booked for the Bahamas and I chose the airline for the early morning flight. It was cancelled and we arrived late in the day. This was a long weekend trip and I was very disappointed to have lost a day.
We also had our flights change to SF on Delta. The actually put us on flights that did not connect. Our first flight would arrive after our second flight took off. It is a good thing I checked, because the flight was almost completely full when I got us back on track.
Now, I will always check sporadically to see if changes arise.

pspercy

Yes - now !

Continental called, Houston-Maui direct flights cancelled "in your timeframe" #39;(

... so it's now changed to go thru' Honolulu - so will get to stop by Stinger Ray's after all

The Continental agent was most pleasant and helpful too

Oh, and this is for a freebie ticket using FF miles.

kalunchi

Today I got a call from Continental's corporate office in Houston, the lady was extremely extremely extremely friendly. She was able to accommodate me with hotel in HNL while I connect to a flight the next day, offered me breakfast/lunch/dinner vouchers, and a travel voucher. This is what I call good customer service. She apologized for the poor service I received. This made my day. =)

pspercy

kalunchi
Good news, thanks for the update and for closing the loop.
Have a great next trip