continental airlines

[grangrad]

just returned from our orlando trip, will give a full report on the the trip reports heading but word of warning stay well clear of continental airlines.

we have flown regularly over the past 25 years first trip this year with continental and will be the last - never again. not so much on the outgoing trip but the return was a living nightmare.

rude, arrogant staff both flight and ground crew, delays, missed departures the lot.

take my advice and think twice also stay away from newark airport the only plus point was that our holiday was excellent and accomodation (villa)superb, shame abpot the transport............

[Clare R]

I shall be returning from Tampa to Bristol via Newark in two days time, I hope I don't have a duplicate of your experience. I fly this trip three times a year and have never had any problems with flights, crew or any member of staff.

[SDJ]

My husband flew over to Orlando from Bristol with Continental last Friday. His flight was on time and he said the crew were fantastic. We have flown with them before and not had a problem. You may have caught them on a bad day[msncry]

Glad you enjoyed your holiday in Florida though[msnwink]

Sandra

[Katys Grandad]

I find Newark to be the best of the 3 major New York airports. La Guardia is outdated and chaotic and JFK is almost as bad as Heathrow.

[KarenScott]

we will be flying continental April 08 for the first time, hope that your experience was a one off[msnembarrased] everyone can have an off day, not that they should being in the service industry but it happens[msnembarrased]

[pieman790]

It can be an isolated incident. We have flown with Virgin, BA, American, BMI, United, US Airways, Lufthansa etc and you get different standards on every flight. The crew on the Virgin flight from Manchester last November were very disappointing but on the return leg they were totally different.

[Rhosyn]

Have flown Continental many times from Bristol- Newark- MCO or Tampa. New had a problem have always found staff to be helpful. Hope this was a one off.

[ellie]

Unfortunately any airline can give you a bad experience - our experiences with Virgin have been 80% poor, 20% good - so maybe you were unlucky with Continental. My son has flown with them with no problems, but it is always possible to strike unlucky.

So much depends on flight crew - some are good, some are bad, some are indifferent. We had delays on both legs of our Orlando flights with Virgin from Gatwick - the return journey was over 2 hours with no information given which was very frustrating - especially as the aircraft was sitting at the gate -all we got were rumours about technical difficulties which can be a bit worrying. Our Miami to Heathrow flight was also severely delayed last March, again, staff were very unhelpful, bordering on the downright rude.

The one thing I would say about any flight is that it is a means to an end. It is only a very small part of your total holiday experience, and I would rather have a less than perfect flight than a less than perfect villa - after all, you have to spend a matter of hours on a 'plane, but 2 or 3 weeks in a villa!

I have yet to be put off flying with any airline - as long as it gets me to Orlando, one way or another, then that's ok with me. Rude crew - well unfortunately you have to expect it - so it is nice when you have a great crew who make you feel that they are pleased to be serving you.

[edlea]

"but word of warning stay well clear of continental airlines."

"first trip this year with continental and will be the last - never again."


IMHO it's always a dodgy thing to make sweeping generalisations on the basis of one experience.

Our son joined us on the Gulf Coast this year flying Continental MAN - RSW (Fort Myers) via Newark. His experience was so enjoyable he has recommended Continental to anyone who will listen ever since : planes on time, fantastic air and ground crews, great in-flight experiences and no problems at all at MAN, EWR or RSW.

So using ONE experience as a basis for a sweeping generalisation, [msnwink] , ergo Continental is the best airline on the planet. [:O]

[Mo Green]

We flew with Continental in July and, although the planes were not the newest around, could not fault the staff or service. We did have delays at Newark going out due to weather problems and arriving on the Friday afternoon before July 4th when many people are trying to get away for the holiday but coming back was fine.

All companies have their bad days and I think you were just unfortunate to hit one with Continental.

Mo