I was forced to gate-check my small carry-on luggage just before walking onto the plane. I didn't think it was possible for them to lose a bag for 72 hours in this way.

It's not a good idea, for sure. But, when you aren't PLANNING to check you bag, and your flustered, and holding up boarding, and an agent is yelling at you to check your bag on the plane...all that "what you should do" goes out the window. Have a little empathy, I know it's a difficult thing to muster in keyboard commando mode.

Minors can't typically check into hotels like adults can, so they're a bit more difficult to deal with.

No, I'm upset this happens enough that they have specially designated rooms to handle minors who get lost.

What are they supposed to do with unaccompanied minors on connections, unexpected delays and overnights? They have a room for them to wait in for this purpose.

I think the point here is that the Parents paid a fee to have their kids chaperoned.

“We purchased tickets along with a chaperon service to go from Ontairo, Canada, to Phoenix,” Jason Varsch said.

When their mother dropped them off, a representative with Continental said there was a problem.
"They asked her, 'Can you pay another $200 for the chaperon fee?' She said 'It has already been paid.' and they said 'Alright, we’ll take the kids.”

Quote:
Originally Posted by AUSshouldbeahub
Ugh, this one's even worse. There a FREAKING ROOM FOR STRANDED MINORS?
Please tell me this isn't real. What 15 year old doesn't call or text her dad/mom or bff when she "doesn't know who to ask where to go?"

Newark can be an intimidating place for the novice flyer, let alone kids. I get confused instructions from the staff there, when I ask a simple question! So How can someone like a parent or BF who does not know the airport supposed to help. CO dropped the ball plain and simple.

What 15 year old couldn't figure out what all the monitors in the airport were for??? Seriously, its not rocket science. The sheltered nature of today's kids is shocking. Seems like CO dropped the ball but I would be more worried about my kid's intelligence than the airline if these were my kids.

A follow up to the story. I called the Pres Plat line and talked to one of ladies there. They said they would take care of it. I just called the Pres Plat line this morning because I needed to change flights for a trip today. The operator who answered my call wasn't the same one that took my complaint yesterday but she brought it up to me and was well versed in the problem and told me the steps they took to correct it. I am back on the Continental bandwagon again. Its amazing how just a little customer service can reinvigorate you.

Hmm, let me give it a shot...
Princess: Dad, I'm at the airport and I'm lost
Dad: What gate are you supposed to be at.
P: No clue, LOL, how do I find that out?
D: Look on your boarding pass.
P: Oh, ROFL, It says gate 12
D: What gate are you at?
P: IDK, how would I find that out?
D: Look on a sign for a number.
P: K, BRB,...it says 28.
D: Ok, go to 12
P:Ty, but how do I know which way that is?
D: You could either ask a human that is walking around there, or look on a sign that has arrows on it.
P: K, I think I'm good, ttyl.
D: If you can find it, call me right back.

Don't get me wrong, CO certainly has some fault there. But the kids have to have some culpability there. How long was their connection? What were they doing? I mean were they sitting there surfing on TMZ or were they really walking around looking for the gate and NO ONE could point them in the right direction or even notice they were lost. Probably not real smart to put unaccom minors on the last flight of the day. Were they Amish and have never seen electricity before?
Believe it or not, I remember being 15 and this story shocks me.

This is one of the reasons I have stopped flying CO for the most part. The IDGAF attitude some of the agents have shown me in the last few years has been breathtaking. When I fly by myself without any luggage to check, no big deal. But when I travel with my wife and kids and we have checked luggage, then that attitude gets old quickly.

My last such event was at LAX in January where the agent at the check-in counter for F denied my request for her to check our bags and give us our boarding passes. It would have been helpful for me because we were on three separate itineraries with a party of four traveling. In AUS, BKK, HKT we had no problems...until we got to LAX. I then had to check us all in separately, and it took forever. What could have taken 2 minutes ended up taking 15 minutes.

So the father pays $200 for the kids to be chaperoned by CO to their connecting flight in EWR. Then CO pockets the money and does not render the service this family paid for, and it's the girls' fault (who are 15 and 13 and have never flown before) that they missed a flight? And is it also the girls' fault that CO refused to give them more than a 10 minute call to their father? How much does a minute of airtime cost these days for a CO rep at the EWR airport? Probably nothing.

Total lack of compassion, professionalism, and common sense on CO's part. Would it have been nice for the kids to be sharp enough to figure out this situation on their own? You bet. But there's a reason the father paid for the chaperone service....

I am not excusing CO here. I think they should get a full refund and flights for life. Its just unfortunate that a 15 year-old needed a chaperon. CO gave them a 10 minute phone call? Why didn't they have a cell phone?