Apologies, I do not know if this is in the correct place, it is a half CO/half LH problem. It's only my 2nd post, but I am hopeful somebody out there has an idea of how I can move this situation along...

I was booked to travel home to the UK on 16th May from MCI - EWR - BHX, which was the last day that the ash cloud reared its ugly head. Checked in online the previous day with no problems, and nothing mentioned of ash disruption expected for the following day. Travelled to MCI and dropped bags, asking the check-in staff if they knew of the situation up at EWR regarding transatlantic services. They said that as far as they were aware they were running, but were subject to delay and/or cancellation.

I made the flight up to EWR (CO3092) and upon arrival, everything to the UK/Eire (with the exception of SNN) was cancelled due to the ash. After having got in the airside customer services queue, and then moving to the landside customer services queue, I found myself at the transfer desk down by carousel 9. Eventually I was seen by a representative, and rebooked to LHR (CO18 I think) on 19th May as that was the earliest I could return to the UK, though I was also placed on standby for CO26 for 17th May. The representative was understandably not running through all codeshare/*a partner options due to the sheer volume of people needing assistance. I went and booked myself a hotel for three nights and prepared to spend a day in NYC on the 17th.

Next morning (17th May) I was on my way to NYC via EWR on the hotel shuttle bus. I reasoned it would be a good idea to speak to the transfer desk again as the queue would be smaller than the previous day. I spoke to the very helpful representative there, and she, after much digging, found a routing to BHX via BOS and FRA, flying CO1111 to BOS, then LH423 to FRA, followed by LH4902 to BHX arriving there at 1225. I was happy with this, although I had little time to return to the hotel and check out/retrieve my luggage. Nevertheless I checked in with 45 minutes until departure, obtaining all three boarding passes and through-tagging the suitcase to BHX. Helpfully, my seat on the plane above the hold door meant that I knew my baggage was on board.

I arrived at Boston and made my way over to Terminal E. Upon checking with the ticket counter regarding the status of LH423, I was informed that it was overbooked and that I was being removed from the plane. The best the (extremely sarcastic) representative could offer me was the flight to Munich (LH425) at 2020, that was in any case delayed until 2245 (6 hours after LH423 departs). I asked him how I could be removed from the flight when I was already in possession of a boarding pass and had luggage through tagged, and he gave me a patronising explanation of the overbooking process. By taking this Munich flight, the only connection he could then offer me to BHX was at 2140, arriving BHX at 2240. I told him that this was unacceptable, and that I was expecting to be home a full 10 hours earlier than that. I asked about routing to LHR or MAN instead, and he said that as my ticket said BHX that was where he had to send me. He continued that in any case, Continental dump all their problems onto LH and expect them to sort them out. If I wanted to go elsewhere in the UK, I would have to see Continental to get them to reissue the ticket, but that he would not be able to confirm I would still get on the MUC flight if I did not reserve it now. I did so, and then made my way back to Terminal A to speak to the CO Representatives.

When I did so, the agent was extremely helpful. She understood that the wait in MUC would be unpleasant after a long day at BOS and an overnight flight. She checked direct flights to LHR with both VS and AA, and then after a long phonecall to LH to get them to return the ticket to CO to allow them to reissue it to LHR, she provided me with a seat on LH4756 that got me into LHR at 1415. I made my way back to Terminal E and gave the ticket to the agent at Lufthansa who made some snide comments that he thought I would get my ticket reissued. Once onboard the rest of the journey passed without incident.

I have written to Customer Relations regarding several points, yet all I have received is the auto-response saying they are busy, yet they have had my e-mail for three weeks:

1. I collect my miles from CO into my VS Flying Club account. I have received credit for CO1111 from EWR - BOS, but those miles from CO3092 MCI - EWR have not arrived, I guess because I did not "complete" the full itinerary back to BHX as originally booked before the cancellation of CO26. I no longer have the boarding pass as it got lost in the sea of paperwork at the transfer desk that original night in EWR.
2. I would like the mileage for EWR-BHX crediting despite my not flying the route. Although CO did their best to get me home as quickly as possible, the fact that I was comprehensibly messed about at BOS for nearly 11 hours by LH was unacceptable, especially if, as the LH agent suggested, I was issued with a boarding pass for a flight that was known to be oversold before I left EWR (by a CO agent).
3. Should there not have been further assistance forthcoming at BOS when I was removed from a flight for which I had a confirmed reservation?

I appreciate the Ash Cloud is not CO's fault, but I would like somebody in the whole process to take ownership of what happened that day in Boston. I know that it is likely that CO will say "not our problem, talk to LH" and that LH will say the same in reverse. I am not after any cash compensation, just the appropriate mileage for the EWR - BHX sector.

Interestingly, all the UK airports had reopened by the time the bank of overnight transatlantic flights would have landed, which just rubs salt into the wound.

Any suggestions regarding this are gratefully received!

Thanks!

I was in EWR on the 16th as well heading to DUB, I agree it was irritating that DL out of JFK was running their TATL flights albeit delayed and that CO's Customer Service Handling could have been much better, the reason that you encountered frustration and difficulty is because CO sent out a memo to all of it's employees citing that if passengers were delayed or canceled due to Volcanic Ash, they would be re-booked onto the next available flight to the destination or somewhere in Europe but THEN you were on your own getting to the final destination.

In our situtations CO failed to follow their CoC on Reaccoms (In Sonic look GG REACCOM) and Star Alliance has a mandatory policy for all carriers to comply with as well (http://www.starallianceemployees.com...cketing.1.html)

I was traveling in a party of three, and we almost got screwed over in LIS if not for my proactive rebooking on BA but CO never issued us FIMs so we had to come back the next day before our "scheduled" flights on BA...It took three hours but CO relented and gave us our FIMs from LIS to DUB as they should have but called it a "Gesture of Customer Service" which is a complete joke.

We have wrote to CO's We Care to let them know about our disappointment in their irregular operations handling from the Reservations to the Airport Experience and they wrote us back three days after sending the e-mail which is considerable speedy for We Care. So I hope that Customer Relations will be prompt and speedy with a tangible resolution in your favor.

and remember, no one loves you or your money more than Continental!

Sounds like these aren't really CO CS issues at this point.



If you flew it, this is a VS issue (or at least one VS needs to deal with). Always request mileage credit from the mileage program itself.



This is gonna be tough. You would probably have to ask VS and see if they'll credit it as a courtesy.


LH should have given you cash (or a check) for involuntarily denying you boarding. If they did not, you will need to pursue it with them, or the DOT.

Thanks for everybodys help. I spoke to Virgin this morning, who basically said "tough luck", and I have just sent a complaint to LH regarding the overbooking, citing Regulation (EC) 261/2004 - I shall see where that goes.

One other comment I will make ti this is when you did the customer complaint form on CO.com did you check the response box? They do not automatically reply personally to every comment made. I always make sure that my concern is check for wanting a response as I want to know that someone actually read the concern good or bad.