My mom flew HOU-EWR-HKG 11/8. She tried HOU as there's double-mile bonus, and HOU is closer to our home than IAH. I brought her luggage to the counter, and took a look at what's going on there. We arrived 6:30am, and her flight left 7:45. [CO 1446 leaves 7:15, except on Monday, 30 minutes later.]

- Since she's flying international, no on-line check-in. She also needs to check luggage.

- There were 4 "counter space" at CO's check-in counter. An eService kiosk at each.

- No First/BF/Elite line. In fact, there's no line of any sort there.

- There "appear" to be check-in agents working at the two outter counters. The two inner ones seem to be unmanned, and the sign up there says "closed".

- All 4 kiosks seem to be operating, but there's total confusion among the about 12 passengers around there. Do people need to line-up? No line-up? There seem to be some sort of a "semi-line" close to the two other counters, but people are totally confused if they can just walk pass the other people standing to use the kiosks in the middle that are not in use.

Anyways, my mom was flying on an e-ticket issued by a consolidator. It is a "V" fare, and should earn 100% miles and EQM. The itinerary is posted on continental.com under her log-in. They have flown the same fare before, including this year. She showed her Silver Elite card, but apparently the agent didn't put her FF numbers in, and it wasn't shown on her boarding pass. And miles haven't been posted, 3 days past. I'll need to file an online request for her in a few days.

So, in short, an extremely poor experience at HOU. I'll tell them to resume flying from IAH.

You've just described pretty much every CO small station checkin.

These smaller stations tend to get such a small percentage of international, and they're under pressure to force people to use the kiosk checkin, that it's hard to get the attention of someone if you legitimately need the help of a person.

Even on consolidator tickets, isn't it possible to call up in advance and have one's One Pass number entered telephonically by the reservations center?

I consider the inclusion of my frequent flyer number in a Passenger Name Record to be too important to leave to harried airport agents.

Good point. I mistakenly thought that the FF# was already in the system, as I have linked the itinerary to my mom's continental.com page (after logging in). Apparently, I still need to add that manually. Mistake on my part.

Although HOU is much closer for me- its seems to be more like a bus station inside then an airport.

It's a shame that they stopped serving EFD. Living in Galveston for a couple years, EFD was a true lifesaver. Sure, it only had one counter, but there was only a single jungle jet / turbo prop at any time and the benefits of no-cost parking, coming only 30 minutes before departure, etc. far outweighed the hassles of only a single counter / kiosk and the line to check in.

"CraigS - Although HOU is much closer for me- its seems to be more like a bus station inside then an airport."

You mean like Terminal C at IAH?

I'm confused. If you had to use the kiosk for check-in, why didn't you put the FF# in yourself? It always gives you that option when the FF# is not in the system. And you could have used your mom's Silver Elite card as the ID to activate the kiosk as well. Did the agents not want you to use the kiosk?

The OP mom could not use eservice because HOU has not had their kiosks retrofitted yet for int'l check-in. Currently only IAH and mid-level by door six at EWR have the passport readers where Mexico markets check-in. Of course if someone was astray going to another int'l city they are welcome to utilize eservice there as well.

As an FYI for the EWR flyers out there the int'l check-in lobby on the 4th floor should be remodeled as a state of the art facility by May 05.

Thanks exit13a for answering the question for me. Basically, we always use online check-in and no luggage for all our domestic travel, so we hardly use the e-kiosks ourselves. I did use the counters at PHL a few months ago, but didn't notice the confusion among travelers like I saw at HOU the other day.

Internationally, we've always used IAH. Dedicated Elite International desks, and dedicated security line. Never any wait in the morning hours when we depart for HKG, and no wait in the afternoon for CDG last year either. The experience is so superior to that at HOU the other day that it's worth the extra 15-minute drive, as we don't have to get to the airport that early.

I'd like to add that in many of the smaller locations here in Micronesia (Majuro, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap, Palau), CS does in fact have lines and does in fact have seperate check in stations for Elite/Business Class as well as coach. In an area where the use of technology is still scarce, I'm surprised to see that the Micronesian Locations surpass their equivalents (like HOU) in the states.

Hmmm....

• State-of-the-art ear-conforming headsets (image rotating headset)
• State-of-the-art headrests with adjustable wings (imagine reclining man moving his head)
• State-of-the-art check-in terminal
• What's next?

Joking aside, thanks exit 13a for your continued insight! ^

Amen to that. Plus the max of 50 pax checking in and flying, can't beat the security line. Though I never figured out why the TSA had staffed that location with 3-5 people. Seems CO staff seemed to do with with 2-3.

I did read an article in the Chronicle stating that the HAS (Houston Airport System) is getting some additional Federal funding and that they plan on having more commercial flights out of EFD in the near future. Would be a great idea since Galveston is doing well with the cruise industry. I still hear that COEX may get SkyWest back into EFD.

I'll believe it when I see it...meanwhile trying to navigate my way around IAH. Seems like they change the roads everyonce in a while. Glad the construction will be finished in early 2005.

When did SkyWest fly into EFD?

Should have said...get SkyWest into EFD.