Well, after 5 years of Platinum (or Gold, when Gold was the highest tier), I'm done with CO. I will make Gold for next year (barely), unless CO comps me the Platinum, but I'm not counting on it. I started flying CO in 1997, after not flying them for many, many years after a number of incidents with them in earlier incarnations, mostly during the "meatball" period.

I gave them a chance, and was pleasantly surprised with their coach product, and blown away by my first BF trip in 1998 or whereabouts. Since then, I have witnessed an inexorable march towards lowered standards, nickel and diming, difficulty getting awards and upgrades, unreliable CSR performance, and general deterioration of the CO flying experience. Mind you, it is not as bad as the days of the flying meatball, but it gets closer to it as time goes on. Kind of like boiling a frog, by the time the frog has noticed that the water has gotten hot, it's too late.

My first year back with CO (1997), I flew 80K miles with them, or so. 1998 it was 140K, 120K in 1999, 100K in 2000, 80K in 2001, and 53K this year so far (and over). The amount of flying with them closely correlates with my satisfaction levels.

I am now VS Gold (thanks to them, once I flew the CO/VS UC seatblocks, and decided to pay VS instead of CO), and US Silver (don't know how, only flew 20 segments and they were all BOS-LGA scuttles).

I've made my arrangements for 1Q 2003, and it is all AA, BA, or CX, paid F. I still have a bunch of miles in CO, which I will use for awards and upgrades, until I'm down to zero, and that's it.

If CO had not disappointed me, a large chunk of that travel would have been with them.

I just had to tell the folks here at FT, because Mrs. Pickles doesn't give two bits about this, and I had to get these thoughts off my chest.

Thanks for listening.


[This message has been edited by Pickles (edited 12-23-2002).]

Pickles:

Thanks for sharing. I think many here on the CO board will echo your sentiments. I myself have found myself leaving CO after flying them exclusively for the last decade.

Hopefully things will change back to the way they were, but I wouldn't count on it.

CO should stop hiring "Mrs. Pickles"es of the world at HQ.

Pickles,

I've been flying Northwest more and more (no paid Continental flights since March) and loving it. Of course, I'm a low-yield traveler. Since you're a high yield guy, you've certainly made a wise decision. oneworld is a fairly good thing for those flying at higher fares (not as good as Star, since the BA/AA transat linkup hasn't happened). I hope I'll continue to see your posts around the boards. While you've never posted in great quantity, you've always added good quality.

Well guys, I switched this year from UA to CO, and I have only been impressed. I was very leery after reading some of the posts here, but I think there are a number of whiners here. I get my upgrades (83% as a GOLD), They've never lost my bag, the counter reps, gate agents, and FA's are always friendly and professional. Sure, they did some cutbacks (like charging $$ for alcohol) but get your head out of the sand gang - - the airlines are hurting.
UA will not make it. I predict they'll be out of the friendly skies within 6 months. That's when we will all start missing these incredibly low fares we've all enjoyed for the past 10 years.
CO give me value for my $$. Switching from UA to CO was like taking a breath of fresh air.

CO is better than UA...that is a sad sad comparison, my friends, alas, I agree...

I do, however, prefer to fly NW whenever possible

MLBump -

Of course you've had the good experiences. You've told us that you are exactly the customer CO wants. Full Y fares, as per your contract, right? They'd really rather not fly those of us on the Q fares, let alone upgrade us. I'm not knocking your travel habits, just pointing out that you play the game the way CO wants all of us to!

------------------
Check out the truth about OnePass at www.nonepass.com

I left Continental in the past year. I was a GOLD but I have had so many problems with Continental, that I ABSOLUTELY refuse to fly them. Now almost all my business goes to AA about 145,000 a year and 60,000 to Delta.

Why, simple.....

I had a flights on Continental after 9/11 but the project was cancelled. I got the run around on finally using the one ticket, but Continental kept wanting to charge me a cancelllation fee even when I sent them a copy of the email notifying me it was waived.

Another ticket they ABSOLUTELY refused to honor, even though their own website says it was paid. (Continental said that the website was in error and they do not show me as having paid for it). I sent them copies of the documentation twice but they said it was never received and kept asking me to send additional copies. My attorney has recommended that I take them to small claims court.

My son tried to travel on them back in July and they got the run around as they had his name misspelled and it did not agree directly with his ID. His name is Geoffrey and the reservation was under Jeff. To fix the record they tried to charge me an extra $126, which I successfully disputed.

Any way, I spent over $51,000 in 2002 on airline travel and almost all of it went to someone other than Continental.

The problem with Continental is that NO ONE CARES and I got tired of that attitude.


------------------
AA member since 1981.

You are right Pickles. You should definitely fly another airline. All of the other airlines seem to be flourishing in todays economy. They probaly have not had to cut back or change any amenitys. Good Luck!

I'd say 75% of my travel (by number of segments, not miles flown) is international, mostly to places where CO is an option. From my experiences in the last year in VS, BA, and CX, it appears that it is possible to retain a modicum of respect for the traveler, and a can-do attitude even in a lousy economy.

If given the choice between EWR-HKG in BizFirst or JFK-YVR-HKG in CX F, I'll take CX every single time. No, some airlines have NOT cut back. CX is one of 'em.

Regardless of cuts, there are airlines that do not believe that "the customer is the problem". It is always better to avoid CO if you don't want to be made to feel like whatever it is, it's your fault.

Good decision.

Nor has QF. I recently read an article that said QANTAS is adding food and other amenities to domestic Australia flights in order to differentiate themselves from the low-fare/no-frills Virgin Blue. Compare that to the USA model which seems to be "offer Southwest service at Continental prices". I don't understand how the "Big 6" can ask us to pay more, when the product clearly isn't worth it anymore.

That's just what I would do, support the Asian Airline economy. I would never think of flying a US airline to help our slumping economy.

To quote Gordo the Liar,

{he's doing} "...the right thing for the taxpayers and for competition by letting the marketplace determine winners and losers."



[This message has been edited by NJDavid (edited 12-24-2002).]