amazing nj

I used to be ignorant. I did not even know about miles. I sat wherever the seat assignment gods put me. I sat in the worst seats and did not know what life was like in the front of the cabin or in the front cabin. Then I discovered miles. Then I discovered miles from credit cards. Then I discovered FlyerTalk.

I had tons of miles. I had tons of upgrade certificates from priv packs. I traveled mostly for vacations and usually with my wife and 2 kids. I planned months ahead. I had an angel in a local city ticket office. I bought really really cheap seats and upgraded using those miles and certs. If I had to use miles for an award I always had flexibility to find flights with standard awards. I used my Platinum AMEX for entrance to the Presidents Club where I always used the private family room. And in the rare occassions where I was not upgraded prior to the flight I was especially nice to the ticket, gate, or Pres Club agent and was able to sweet talk my up to first or at least into the bulkhead seats. Continental employees and especially flight attendants treated us really well most of the time. When there was a delay, cancellation or problem the CO employees were empowered to give meals, travel vouchers, hotels, phone cards whatever. In those few times I traveled in coach (usually on short EWR-FLL-EWR) flights I ordered Kosher meals. I even sign up for the Elite Status promotions when they offered, mostly so I can travel with two suitcases each over 50 lbs rather than three, which is much harder to fit in rental cars.

Well, my miles are mostly depleted (since I put all my points in SPG), the upgrade certs long since expired, my angel gone, CO does not allow upgrades on cheap seats anymore, and even where you can upgrade it costs 30k (times four equals 120k), no more kosher coach meals on short flights, and all Elite promotions are expired.

I traveled Oct 9 EWR-MCO and returned the 16th. Going down my wife's Elite status allowed us to have two luggages at 60 lbs each. It expired 10/10 so we knew we would have to pack differently on the way back. I had arranged for bulkhead but due to a last minute plane change we wound up in row 24 or something on a full flight but at the gate two of us got moved up to bulkhead and the other two to row 10. The flight was short and early but the meal was that ridiculous 1 bite turkey sandwich but at least it came with 1/2 once of potato chips. At the Pres Club one person was sleeping in the family room so we hung out in the TV room and even though it was early morning the very nice bartender gave the kids tons of chips to take on the plane.

On the return we got to the airport at 10:45 am for our 12:39 flight but the 11:23 flight was still available and we asked if we could get on. Yes, but we had to go the counter where they weighed our three bags. 25 lbs, 48 lbs, and 54 lbs. Uh oh, we were told we would have to pay a fee or move some clothes around. Good grief. But we did and no charge was imposed. The 11:23 was a 757 with 34 rows.

I was handed boarding passes with 34 DEF and 31 C. Oh well, we would be home earlier but after years of first class and bulkheads I finally landed in the last row. By the time we got through security we had to rush to get on and then the doors were closed and we pushed back. For a short flight it wasn't that bad, but there is no way I could sit there on a transcon or international flight.

But now despite my miles, despite my knowledge the rules of flying have changed. If I want the cheap seats I am going to sit in the cheap seats. I am glad for all the first class flights I had (read my trip reports for some great memories) but I truly went from worst to first to worst. The only difference is now I know whats up front and I am sure going to miss it. Oh well, the only question I have to ask myself is: if I am going to be in coach, does it make sense to fly CO anymore? Hmmmm. I'll have to think about that one long and hard.

avek00

Well, you can take another carrier and not have to worry about being served food at all...heck, you won't have to worry about service period, as that word is not in the vocabulary of the SkyNAAzis and Prison Matrons...

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Nice day, isn't it?

It is if you're flying a carrier like CO with a good business model rather than one of those bankrupt carriers run by executives who don't know what they're doing.

dallasflyer

Welcome back Avek00, See that you are wasting no time.

Back on point. Yes many of the rules have changed. Try AA as they seem to be giving out miles and upgrades on the cheapest of fares. Where their is a will their is a way.



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dallasflyer, Let's put the fun back in FlyerTalk!

IMStill4Travel

I have just one suggestion...learn how to pack!! Way too many lbs of clothes.....****.

chemist661

I thought his suspension was for 30 days. Today only 24 days has passed. I haven't seen any posting by Randy saying the banned ones can post before their time is up. If I was banned for 30 days (hopefully never in my case), I would not post until the 31th day. If Randy gave him an exception, an apology is in order. Otherwise, he shall honor the 30 day ban.

snake

Oh joy, avek double 'aught is back.

FlyetTalk ain't been the same without you, kid.

squeakr

FYI

Randy did let the moderators know he was ending the bans 6 days early due to some travel, and he wouldn't be around when the 30 days were up.

Arcolaio99

Welcome back Avek. Oh joy!!!

Flying Buccaneer

Thanks for relating your experience with us, amazing. I know that some will think of you the same way that Gordon Bethune does--a bottom feeder who really isn't the type of passenger that CO wants.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I bet that there were quite a few occasions where you chose CO even though someone else offered a lower fare. You chose CO because you had status and the chance to upgrade. There's nothing wrong with that. However, those days are over. As one CO agent told me, "Things have changed; these aren't the good old days."

She was right. Things have changed. Every airline makes mistakes, and one of the reasons that CO went from worst to first was because they listened to their loyal passengers. They treated their employees with respect, and in turn, their employees treated their passengers with respect.

But things have changed. CO doesn't listen to its loyal passengers anymore. That comes about because of complacency, believing that you can't make mistakes. There are a lot of airlines that provide safe, timely, affordable transportation. However, many of them do it with lower fares and more comfortable seats than CO does. Anyone who defends CO's "service" in economy has not suffered the 31" seat pitch. That's less than WN and B6.

CO's enhanced business model may attract a few new passengers who'll hang with them until someone else makes a better offer. However, they are alienating a lot of people--like you--who have been loyal for years. Any company that really knows the meaning of "customer service" would not do that.

However, CO probably doesn't even realize that they are alienating their loyal customers, because they don't listen to them.

BackOfTheBus

I see a lot of your travel is on New York-Florida routes. I highly recommend AA's MRTC non-stops from LGA to Florida or JetBlue's frequent FL departures ex-JFK.

With AA you will get an airline that appreciates coach flyers and gives them extra legroom on most planes, as well as airline miles WHICH YOU CAN ACTUALLY REDEEM.

With JetBlue you will get great service, in-seat TV, better drinks/snacks than CO on FL routes... and lower fares, in most cases. Soon, you will also be getting AA-style extra legroom.

To me the switch is a no-brainer. Ditch the (b)itch! and move on.

R&R

I learned the 'game' back in the 80's and 90's, but the Airlines kept getting merged. I learned what was up front and how to get there! Now, I will not sit in back, unless it is a short trip and no upgrade comes through!
Will upgrade with miles, rather then take a chance in coach on a cross country trip, which I have booked as far forward as Sept 1, 04. That is the perks for having studied hard and worked hard, since age 13.
It is easier to ride the horse in the direction it is going, then harping about all the changes taking place!

ClueByFour

Hmm. I'm around 50k miles on AA this year and around 64k thus far on the UA/US combination. With this in mind, I find your characterizations to be inaccurate. I think this is probably due to a desire to lob troll-bombs at those who don't worship the Cult of Gordo, but could simply be from lack of flying the two carriers that I think you are referring to.

So, how about you name those carriers, and share with us how many miles to date this year you have flown on both? I'd hate to think you are (yet again, IIRC) saying nasty things about airlines you don't fly by choice.

Your signature is somewhat inaccurate--Continental has been bankrupt two or three times. I bet I could find a monkey who likes cheese on his pizza to run a company with some degree of success after a few bites at the Chaper 11 apple.


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Don't feed the trolls.

B747-437B

With all due respect, the agent who said that was probably a newbie. No longtime Continental employee would ever refer to the "old days" as having been "good".

sllevin

I'd be interested as well. It would be nice to know if this characterization is coming from someone who has flown 3-4 legs on UA/AA, or 30-40.

Because, bluntly, in my experience (and last year I flew 65,000 miles on AA), I would argue that it's the CO product which is inferior (although not massively so).

Steve

Flying Buccaneer

You make a valid point. Perhaps CO does have newbies working its Elite Priority Line. After all, it's been reported that CO doesn't even have a dedicated line for its Elite members.

Nevertheless, I think it's fair to conclude that an airline with an agent that tells a loyal passenger that "things have changed" and "these aren't the good old days" is not as dedicated to customer satisfaction as it claims to be.