Henwurst

A few months ago Continental offered really good prices from Sweden, so I decided not to fly star alliance as I usually do, and booked a ticket to Seattle, via Newark on September 8, and returning on December 5, in X.

There have been quite a few minor schedule changes, which haven't really bothered me, until now when they cancelled the leg EWR-ARN on the 5th and rebooked to the flight on the 6th.

When I called them they gave me two options:

1. Cancellation of the ticket with a full refund.

2. A hotel voucher for New York.

I asked if they could reroute me through Paris or Amsterdam, but I was told that was not possible in my booking class.

I am only allowed to remain in the states for 90 days, and with the schedule change I am within that limit, but I would be more comfortable if I had some margin. Also, for the price I paid, I don't want to give up the ticket. Basically, what I want is to fly out of the states on the 5th.

Do you think it is possible to get routed via CDG or AMS if I just complain more? If not, does anybody know what kind of extra compensation might be reasonable to ask for since I am being stranded in New York and coming home too late.

I am also wondering if I should just leave it and hope for more schedule changes? After all, I have had quite a few allready...

Thanks for any comments.

Bonehead

Any chance that flying into OSL on the 5th would work for you? If so, you might ask CO about that possibility.

boxinbull

They should of put you on the first flight to get you to arn on any airline or class of service either coach, biz or first.

sbm12

Why? Other than because that's what you would want, why?

CO cancelled the flight. They offered the next available flight, including a hotel in NYC or a full refund. That is pretty typical of what happens when a carrier cancels service. I'm guessing that the OP could probably get a different answer if they call and ask about the re-route again, though they are going to be at a disadvantage since part of it is going to have to be AF/KL metal. Still, they might get an agent that would make that change. Or they'd probably let you switch to the flight on the 3rd if you're really worried about over-staying the visa.

cmdinnyc

Welcome to Flyertalk!

I doubt you will get any more compensation for this than the hotel voucher. Likewise, from what I've seen posted on this board CO is pretty difficult when it comes to moving travelers to other carriers for schedule changes known in advance like this. You can always try but I would not expect much.

hughw

As someone else indicated, call back one or twice more. You'll get a different agent and you may find them more willing to route you though Paris or Amsterdam.

ijgordon

I say - continue to badger them about alternative arrangements.

Henwurst

Thanks for all the replies. I ended up finding a reasonably priced ticket on star alliance carriers so I had the continental ticket cancelled. It cost me a bit more, but I can't have my flights changed all the time (as continental had done 4 times allready) so I think it was worth it.

When I called the swedish number they said it would take 6-8 weeks to get the refund, and that I had to call the refund office in London. A bit annoying that I had to make an international call, but people were polite, everything went smoothly and in the end it only took 4 days for me to get the money

pbarnette

Glad to hear things worked out. FWIW, I am disappointed in CO's response and inflexibility toward working something out via AMS or CDG. Why are they in ST if they aren't going to take advantage of it!

Penny wise, pound foolish if you ask me. Too much of this sort of stuff and CO will have trouble competing in markets like ARN and CPH where customers don't have any reasonable way to cope with schedule changes or the like.