This is a new thread which in someways relates to the EWR Snow thread but that thread seems to have degenerated into war stories about the parties in the PC clubs.

I managed to get home from SFO to EWR on Saturday through my own persistance and a helpful CSR on the CO elite line. I ended up purchasing a cheap Alaska Airlines fare to get to SEA where there was an open seat to EWR. So in the end - no harm no foul. But what should I have expected as a Platinum elite with an H fare,even considering the WX conditions at EWR? I was booked on the 7:00am flight from SFO to EWR Saturday which was cancelled along with all other flights that day except for the red-eye. When I originally got connected to the Plat. Elite on Friday evening (after about a 50 minute hold), I was told I was confirmed for a Tuesday flight to EWR. I asked them to explore alternatives from LAX, OAK, SJC, etc., and came up with nothing.

I realize there were people ahead of me that were cancelled on Friday, but I was really suprised that they didn't protect me on the red-eye or a Sunday flight. Was I expecting too much? In that case, I hate to think how a non-elite on a deep discount fare would have been handled. This is neither a rant nor to I expect anything, but I curious what you all think.

I would assume ( ) that they protected you on the next CO flight with availability out of the original airport (SFO, in this case). Do you know for a fact that there was availability on earlier CO flights SFO-EWR?

It would be good to find out what the "official protection policy" is (paging CO Insider...).

I think the CSR were stretched very thin over the past weekend. With that said, it does not give them free rein on passengers.

I was on a reward seat returning from HNL on Friday. Flight 15 from EWR was delayed. Flight status on Co.com showed this being the HNL-LAX aircraft. Flight 15 later canceled - which cause the cancellation of flight 14. I called CO immediately and after being on hold for 43 minutes, I was told there was nothing they could do to help and that the earliest I can get out would be March 22nd (one week later). I asked if I could be put on the standby list and was told no since I was on a reward seat. I ended up purchasing tickets on Hawaiian Airlines (their Y service is much better than CO from the west coast to HNL) into SAN and US Airways home.

I totally understand that weather happens - but an airlines inflexibility - not even to go standby is simply unacceptable.

Is there any evidnece that Plat provides any benefits at all in these instances?

Other then a special phone number that is...

No benefit that I saw. I was "forgotten" by CO on the other side of the world...until I showed up at their doorstep in JFK. I know it was chaos for CO, and thousands of travelers, but their best customers should come first.

WOW makes me want to "re-think" my wanting to leave AA in Dallas for CO.

Depends on what you expect as a Plat benefit. Hubby & I were coming back from TPA this Sun on the 6:35am flight. At 5am at the airport we were told our flight was cancelled. We were able to wait in the MUCH shorter Elite line, and were given Standby status on the next flight out at 8am--- but we were told we were nos 15 & 16 on an already full flight. CO explained others who had been on previously cancelled flights from the day before were ahead of us for Standby. So rather than take a chance of having to spend that day (and the next and the next) -- seats were only available on Wed flights, we opted to get a refund, and flew JetBlue, which had a couple of seats on their 6am flight to JFK.

I was flying CLE - LGA on Friday 3/16 CO1450 @ 3:25 pm
returning on Sunday 3/18 CO1651 @ 6 pm

I was protected to the 8:25 flight CO1550 arriving at 10 am on Sunday 3/18.

So get to LGA take the bus\train to the upper east side... noon is a best case scenario (cause nothing into LGA is ever on time) to turn around and leave at 3:30 (bus\train is about an hour give or take 15 mins---sometimes waiting for the bus can be worisome) to make it back to La Guardia to get on the 6 pm back to CLE.

So I guess CO did 'protect' me, but how practical is that?

I actually got through on the Silver elite line in about 15 mins at 1 pm on Friday and had them move the flights a week. So I get to see my girlie friend this weekend instead of last.

I tell you this....I work for a software company. We write logistic software for trucking companies.

It isn't that difficult to do a delta on arrival departure times to see if it makes sense. My 49 hours in New York trimmed to 8? Luckily I called and got off that plane so some poor shmuck who just needed to get home to NYC could get there on Sunday.

If we handled stuff like CO did we would be out of business.

I was booked on the 7:35am CLE-DCA on Monday only to find that even though the inbound bird arrived 10 minutes early and no other flights into DCA were cancelled that morning, mine was for "Air Traffic Control" reasons.....

"Protection" for me meant a 4:45pm flight in.

I'd love to know why ATC decided to stop a bird from Cleveland while the EWR bird and all of DL, UA and US's flights were on time.

I realize irregular ops happen, but something smelled on that one.

No. I'm assuming that there was no availability, at least when I spoke to them on Friday evening. What the avilability might have been at the time my flight was cancelled, I have no idea. But my original question still stands. Despite the weather, it seems pretty callous to "protect" one of your better customers on a relatively costly ticket with a three day delay.

What would you have CO do...bump another paying pax who had reserved a seat already (perhaps months in advance) on one of the flights that you mentioned? I guess I don't understand what you want here.

1. I don't think an elite get preferential treatment when it comes to rebooking right now on CO. Whether they should be, I don't know. I guess the answer depends on whether you're an elite.

2. To me, the word "protected" means the airline rebook you on a later flight with a confirmed seat. It means you don't have to standby each and every flight along the way. It means you will get to your destination some time. It does not mean putting you on the next available flight. It does not mean bumping other people to put you on any flight.

3. I have problem understanding kennynbabes complain. If CO automatically rebooked his return flight two days after his original flight and give away his seat on that flight, I wonder how furious he will be. CO cannot read mind. They can't tell if you want to come back at original time, one day late or two. That's why they let you change your plan for free, once. I don't know what's there to complain.

Edit: Let me add the next point:

4. During a major weather problem like last weekend, you're very late in rebooking if you wait until your flight has been canceled. I believe CO put out the bulletin about "travel reaccommodations" at least 24 hours before the weather hit. During that time, many people have travel plans have already rebooked on the remaining seats for the next 2-3 days. Act early, act fast, and you save yourselves a lot of time and trouble.

Personally I think a Platinum should be protected on the next Continental metal flight peroid. If they cancel your flight at 3pm, yet the 4pm, 6pm etc are all full, etc, I think your should be protected onto the next flight whether it is full or not. In this example, you should be on the 4pm flight. Why should the person with no status or loyalty on the 4pm flight be given priority over the platinum ?

What is boggling my mind is that a seat paid for with miles is considered lesser than one paid with money.

Those miles are hard earned and most definitely paid for and people travelling on awards who encounter irregular ops such as the EWR fiasco last week should not be treated any differently than money-paying passengers.

Because they booked and paid for their ticket and seat in good faith and don't deserve to be removed to accommodate another customer just on status - and I am speaking as someone who had this very thing happen in my benefit during the last wave of south florida hurricanes.

Once the standby order ranking system is fixed to give priority to the right customers, I think the protection policy should be 'officialized' to do the following:

1) if the flight is delayed/canceled/forecast-to-misconnect, then the Elite Desk should be able to rebook the customer on the next available CO flight with any open seat. The customer should also be able to hold a 'protected segment' without having to make a permanent change to reservation. I know a few other forum members already reported having this option.

2) if the CO flight is full, then the customer should be placed on the standby list - Delta's system orders the standby list not just by status, but also factoring in missed connections and delays, so a Plat with an irregular op situation would be cleared before a Plat who just wants to fly out earlier. CO should engineer their list clearing mechanism in the same manner. The customer can opt to go on the standby list for as many flights as they wish, while at the same time holding a confirmed seat on the next flight with open space. Whichever clears first, off they go - and the remaining protected segments/lists would automatically cancel.

3) if the passenger cannot be accommodated on CO metal, the customer should have the option of rebooking on a codeshare flight if available - unless the delay/misconnect/cancel is due to circumstances under CO's control (not weather, ATC, etc), in which case the customer should be rebooked according to the old Rule 240 tradition - the next open seat on any carrier. All without having to go to the airport or run between terminals/counters.