uoficowboy

Hi - I mostly stick to AA, but for vacation I flew SEA - MCO and CO was a few hundred dollars cheaper than AA, so it was an easy decision. I connected through IAH in both directions.

The trip just didn't go smoothly. Lots of small things went wrong:

They forced me to gate check my bag in SEA because, though it fit into the bag checker thing, I had to press on it with fairly low force to make it go all the way in, due to my roller's wheels not being flush with the back of the bag (the rest of the bag easily dropped in with gravity, as I as not at all over packed). Nobody bothered me about it on the way back (even though I had picked up a few things and hadn't packed as well, so it was bulging significantly more). It fit in the overhead compartments without any problems.

Bathroom doors had to be completely manhandled to be closed. I encountered this on both SEA - IAH and IAH - SEA (the only times I used the bathroom). The first time I thought it was a fluke, but the second time?

Three of my four flights were delayed:
IAH - SEA by about 30 minutes (no explanation)
MCO - IAH by about 30 minutes (no explanation)
IAH - SEA by about 100 minutes (mechanical issues, something to do with door, had to switch planes and gates)

No complementary movies. On SEA - IAH, IAH - MCO, and MCO - IAH you could pay for the directtv access (I could be remembering wrong and one of those flights may not have had directtv). On IAH - SEA they played a movie on the fold down screens and gave out headphones for free to apologize for the 100 minute delay - but the headphones they gave me were broken (easy fix) and my chair couldn't even get the right channel (hard fix).

edit: forgot to mention one last thing: on IAH - MCO the flight was about half empty, but the FAs were not letting anybody change seats to empty seats. So there were entire bulkhead rows sitting empty. Maybe this is a policy, but that just struck me as downright nasty.

Any of these things alone would not be that bad - but when combined? I really just don't see myself flying CO anytime soon... Is my luck just god awful? Am I being whiny?

sbm12

The rule is that it has to fit in the sizer, not the bin. Enforcement is spotty, but if it doesn't actually fit in the bin - including the wheels - then it is too big. Annoying, perhaps, but that's the rule.

Completely normal. CO is moving to the DirecTV model for IFE on the domestic fleet.

The bulkhead rows are paid upgrades for extra legroom if you are a non-elite. The FAs were in the right to deny access.

I'm not saying you have to like the rules, but each of the situations described above was by the book, so to speak.

bocastephen

SEA has a reputation for going a little overboard (well sometimes completely nuts) over carry-ons. At least they tend to give a 'pass' to F and Elite customers with marginal bags (bigger than the sizer, but not monster sized). Honestly it does not make the boarding process go any faster there - I don't know what it is about SEA, but people there board like their feet are encased in cement and they're clueless about what to do when they find their seat (if they can even find it).

If your bag is marginal and can honestly fit in the overhead lengthwise without taking up space from other customers, let them tag it, then yank the tag while you're in the jetway and take it onboard - but you better make sure it fits properly.

I am glad to hear they were protecting the ELR seats - that was a pet peeve of mine from before. Are you sure they blocked people from changing to *any* open seat, or just the exit/bulkhead rows?

mbluecpa

Specific to the carry-on issue, yes, that's normal for CO at SEA. Not so much elsewhere.

Critic

Some stations are more militant about enforcing the sizer, particularly for elite-heavy hub-to-hub routes. From what I've seen, advance gate-checking of carry-ons is at the discretion of the GA.

I rarely use the lav, but I've never encountered this issue. That said, the Y cabin lav doors take some serious abuse. Without knowing more about dates & flight numbers, it's hard to address this. (It's possible you got the same aircraft in both directions...)

The 30 minute delays aren't at all surprising. CO's hubs in EWR and IAH are extremely susceptible to ATC/weather delays. As for the 100m delay...well, a mechanical is a mechanical. I've had 4-hour MX delays on AA - it happens to every airline.

CO is moving to LiveTV for most of its domestic fleet (the exception being aircraft equipped for TATL/TPAC routes - 777s, 752s and 76Xs), and it's only free in F (although there's a rumor that you also get it free if you pay for an ELR seat). Things could have been worse - because of the Koito debacle, newer pmCO aircraft enters service without any IFE at all. (Of course, that's hardly unique - there's no IFE of any kind on US.)

As for the malfunctioning seat controls - since CO is in the middle of two seat issues (finding a replacement for the Koito seats and deploying LiveTV), I wouldn't be surprised to find the maintenance of the existing IFE controls to be a secondary concern.

The bulkhead rows are considered ELR rows and are reserved for elites or for pax who want to pay an upcharge. The FAs were correct in enforcing this policy. (You'll see a similar policy in place on UA's E+ section.)

As someone who isn't used to CO's policies, I can understand your complaints, but I think maybe you just got hit by the air travel equivalent of Murphy's Law.

uoficowboy

The overhead bins on the SEA - IAH flight were about 50% empty. I was among the last to board (they started boarding about 45 minutes before the flight, which caught me off guard) - but I imagine they were gate checking people right and left.

I love your idea about yanking the tag. I may have to do that in the future. (though sometimes, at least on AA, they make you leave your bag in the terminal, so that wouldn't be an option) I have had too many checked bags damaged. The thing is though that the bag wasn't even marginal - it was fairly small by checked bag standards. It required a small push and popped right into the size checker. The push was for the sake of the wheels.

I only saw people aim for the bulkheads. I figured it was to keep people who had paid for those fancy seats from getting pissed. Glad my intuition was accurate.

BigPoppaCO

That skinny blonde GA doesn't mess around

uoficowboy

It was a chubby brunette who made me gate check. Maybe the blonde has been training the rest?

uoficowboy

You asked about my exact itinerary - here goes:


Sat, 19MAR11 CO1766 (SEA) 11:00AM (IAH) 5:05PM 737-900
Sat, 19MAR11 CO1586 (IAH) 6:50PM (MCO) 9:54PM 757-300
Fri, 25MAR11 CO1487 (MCO) 11:50AM (IAH) 1:28PM 757-200
Fri, 25MAR11 CO767 (IAH) 3:25PM (SEA) 6:01PM 737-800

I'm pretty sure the first time I used a lavatory in the back, and the second time it was in the front. Both of them had door locks that I had to muscle to get closed (and though I'm not the hulk, I'm also not a stick). They seem to be broken in the same way, whatever that way is. I do not think an older person would be able to lock those things.

I'm used to delays. But I'm not used to 3/4 of my flights being delayed. Yeah I have a small number of samples here (4), but that did not look good for CO.

I guess maybe what bothered me the most was that nobody at CO seemed to care. There were no apologies, except for a headset that was useless due to my broken seat.

Oh well. I'm cheap enough that if there is a huge price differential again I'll probably fly them. But whereas my old cutoff was around $50 (as in I'll pay an extra $50 to fly AA), I think my new cutoff for CO is $100 (as in I'll pay an extra $100 to not fly CO).

uoficowboy

I thought I should update this thread... I wrote in to complain to CO on 4/18. on 4/21 I got an automated response saying that they got my message. Today (05/02) I got a generic e-mail response with a generic apology and a $75 voucher for future travel good for a year.

No answer to any of the problems I mentioned - just a generic we're sorry. Bleh. I really don't want to deal with the GA again, so I probably won't use that voucher. But we'll see.

boat9781

In my opinion that is more than I would have expected CO to compensate you. Perhaps CO is going the UA route on this...

uoficowboy

I would rather zero compensation and them actually addressing the gate checking crazy GA, rather than generic response and $75 voucher. But yeah - I was surprised that they offered anything.

channa

It's not that they don't care, they do. It's that they don't realize they did anything wrong.

You can't expect them to easily identify a deficiency after 20 years of management filling their heads with how great they are.

qoodoo

I've actually seen a FA make an elite move out of a bulkhead seat after the plane took off. I was 7A and he sat down on 7B. She politely asked for his boarding pass and told him to return to his seat. He was a Silver Elite. I was actually glad because 7C and I were looking forward to 7B being empty.

Although rare even if you are elite if you didn't change your seat prior to boarding they may boot you from ELR.

Halo117

Stuff happens, but the things you mentioned are minor to the things AA did to make me leave. Good luck on their non IFE MD80s. IAH is better than flying through DFW or ORD. The seats are more comfortable, but you have a better chance of the mad dog going mechanical. TEHO but I feel the compensation for the one time CO traveler is pretty good considering. The best AA would do is offer miles to a non elite.