"We are unable to answer your call at this time, please call again later"
 

I've been trying to call CO since last night, and each time I get an automated "We are unable to answer your call at this time, please call again later." I keep trying thinking I'll eventually get through, but apparently not. I guess with the storm situation and flight cancellations, the phones are busy. Personally, I am not bothered by not getting through, but I'd assume there are a lot of passengers out there that are frustrated about not being able to reach an agent.

I have been getting the same message since early yesterday evening. While I understand that the hubs are getting a lot fo snow and thier are a lot of cancelled flights and many people are calling, this is not an unusual situation, it happens many times every year. One of continentals main call centers is in houston where it hasn't snowed, and with global call centers they should be able to handle the extra volume.

While I don't expect immediate response I do expect to be able to get through and hold a reasonable period of time and get through to a person. I tried calling very late last night when call volumes are typically very low and got the same message. I also happened to call usair right afterwards (as my flight is on usair metal) who answered the phone without any hold time, and rebooked my flights, now i just need CO to reissue the tickets.

EWR is entirely shut down, any chance you can do what you want online?

BTw when you do get someone, don't yell at them, they can't control the weather. and they will like you a lot more in the end maybe even make a friendly note in your changes ;)

So now isn't the best time to book reward travel? I figured it would be a relief for the agents to get a call that wasn't someone screaming at them about how it's not snowing where they are.

:D :D

I actually did this once, and the agent was very happy to have a call not dealing with rescheduling issues.

I called the Elite line three times last and never waited more than 30 seconds for an agent (even after the line saying it would be a 5 minute wait). Called the Online Support line this morning at 6:45 AM and got to someone in about 2 or 3 minutes. YMMV.

I wonder how many of the calls in the queue are from customers calling back from uncooperative agents on a previous call. Maybe if they had more effective agents, they'd have enough phone capacity to handle it.

No problems getting through on the elite line last night (around 5-8 PM). I had to call twice; once to rebook my EWR flight to Thursday, and then again to process a seat change that would not process online.

When I was calling & calling the Elite line, rescheduling & rescheduling before last week's storm, I never waited more than about 10 seconds. Half the time I reached someone working from home, the other half I heard typical call center chatter in the background. Every agent was helpful, efficient, and friendly... willing to try all kinds of alternatives to get me where I was going. Bravo Continental!

David

This is exactly why I love the Elite line! I never, ever wait more than 30 seconds for an agent to answer the phone.

Just called the 'on-line' help line, was able to speak to someone and fix up my itinerary within about 5 minutes. The general 1-800 numbers are still not taking calls, however..

I am getting the same "we are unable..." message on all options from the continental.com online help 800#. If someone has the online help # that is working, could you PM me? Thanks.

working number?
 

I'd also really appreciate it if someone could PM me a working number. The 800 numbers on the website still aren't working, and I just got disconnected from the OnePass line after a 10 minute wait. Thanks!

Which option are you pressing? This morning when I called, I first selected 2 and got that message. Called back and selected 3 and got transferred pretty quickly... just a couple minute wait.