I wish the IT folks at Continental.com made the site a little more friendly for those traveling over the Date Line in the Pacific.

I'm thinking about visiting SPN and GUM from the mainland next month and don't want to deal with HNL. To say the least, trying to build out an itinerary online is difficult when going to/from GUM via HKG or NRT. As an example, to maximize mileage, a IAH-EWR flight I want leaves before the NRT-IAH flight departs, even though the NRT-IAH flight lands at IAH first.

On my first trip through Guam, I relied on a phone agent ...who ended up booking my connecting flight in HNL a full day after I arrived. (And more bizarre, the ticket counter agent was confused by my itinerary --he was surprised to see a GUM-HNL passenger continuing on. You'd think in HNL and other locations in the Pacific, Date Line through-traffic would be more common.)

I did an extensive mileage run last year to SIN on a ticket purchased from continental.com with stops in GUM in both directions. So I don't embarass myself too much I won't give all the details but needless to say my lack of forethought about the international dateline resulted in unexpected layovers in one direction and a very abbreviated layover in the other direction in no small part to how the itinerary read. Also for the same reasons outlined in Weatherboy's post, I ended up with a night in IAH on my way home that I wasn't expecting...DOH! .

Actually, CO knows about this issue. I live this issue for every booking since I'm on the island hopper route and it crosses the dateline. It is impossible to book on line for 956 or 957 in my location for turn around trips. Going from Asia side to Mainland the computer system will pick up and understand the take off / landing in HNL just fine and give correct flights. To do a multiple stop reservation it seems to work pretty good around the dateline but will not pull up all flights that are possible. I would NOT call CO as every time I call them up for a booking (as I said our web site doesn't work for us) the agent on the phone gives me a hard time telling me the flights are impossible and I have to explain to them about the dateline.

They were working on some improvements for the web site booking supposedly for release on the 1/12/05 update. However I just got back today from a trip and haven't checked out the existing problems we face with the web site from out here. The dateline issue was supposed to be addressed but last communication I had was that it probably wouldn't be worked out right away for this update.

Email them and voice your concerns as well. The more we bug them the better it will be for us. It took a while until I got a hold of a senior software analyst but if you pepper them they will respond to you.

The only suggestion I have for you, is try to reach the OnePass Service center location in GUAM, they are much better then HNL or Houston based agents when it comes to Pacific region bookings. Guam has a regional one pass center for the Pacific region and is the hub for CO Mic which all the flights are.

I'm sure if folks from the mainland brought up the issue, it would be resolved more so than if it were brought up by a person from the islands. Being from Guam, I haven't really ever had difficulty getting to and from the mainland, even when I book online. I haven't used an agent to book for years now, and I never really have overnight layovers. I think Continental has actually tried to get flights out of Guam good connections in some places especially in HNL and IAH. It seems that any issue brought up by mainland folks is taken more seriously than those brought up by those living in the Pacific islands. It might just be me, but that's the way it seems.

You're 100% correct and it pisses me off. It took me months to get them to believe that their web site didn't work if you live in Micronesia. How quickly they forget that CoMic bailed them out of their hole in the 90's and was a 30% of their revenue (might still be I haven't checked lately). Lately they've worried about IAH / EWR / Europe and Mexico while ignoring the Pacific region. And I think they're gonna lose a lot of opportunities in Asia and those routes will be more profitable then Europe or Mexico.

That's why I suggested others email them about these things as well. I'm hoping to go to the meeting proposed by Cigarman, if not I atleast hope someone from this region goes and brings things like this up to Larry.

I hope CO will fix their computer software someday.

CO pays less attention to Micronesian concerns because of their monopoly out here. The complaints will have to come from the mainland to be effective.

If you want to spend your own dime, perhaps with free internet phone calling, the SPN local reservation number (which rolls over to CO Guam reservations), is 1 (670) 234-6492. I'm sure someone can post the direct GUM number.

Keep in mind, Chamorro Standard Time is sixteen hours ahead of Central Standard Time.

With that lead-in, I was expecting a punch line!

Dang you beat me to it ! I was looking for the same thing.

The last info I have on the Guam One Pass Service Center number is 671 649 7659 and the Continental Airlines at the airport is 671 642 8701