Some posters here can be a little harsh and quick to judge. OP has every right to complain about the treatment she received from the agents. Weather happens but agents should be sympathetic. They don’t have to be rude and uncaring. I used to fly AA to Tokyo years ago. I had AA top tier elite status for several years. One day on my way back from Tokyo as a top tier elite flyer on a business class ticket, weather happened. DFW was a mess due to weather. I would have been happy if the agent said: “I am sorry and we will get you on the next flight out.” Instead, I got the hate fill (exhausted) look and a “there nothing I can do” statement followed by turning her attend to the person behind me. She made no effort to even pretend to help. I switched to UA (that was before Continental had non-stop Tokyo service). It has been many years. I still make every effort to avoid AA and DFW. Non-stop flights are the way to go. Love Continental because IAH is a hub.

Recently, I have to fly through EWR to DUB. You guessed it. Weather delay. PC agent wanted over $1,000 to reroute. According to the PC agent my other options were to come back tomorrow to try my luck again or to take my chances at EWR. She even made sure that I understood I will be on my own should I miss my connection at EWR. This time I am a plt on a discounted coach ticket. I expected a more sympathetic agent especially a PC agents who is less overloaded than agents in the Customer Service counter or gate agents. In the end I decided to take our chances with EWR and got lucky. My connecting flight was delayed by weather as well. Only with luck and certainly not with help of a Continental agent, I got to my destination on time. If I don't live in Houston, this type of treatment would definitely motivate me to give another airline a try.

These days I am a happy flyer when I have non-stop flights. If I have to connect through EWR, I budget one night hotel stay just in case I miss my connection due to weather. That means leaving a day early so that I won’t miss that important meeting or conference because I can no longer expect airline employees (Continental included) make an effort to get me to my destination.

And if you are connecting through EWR, expect ATC delays and have plan B ready!!!

Also a phrase the OP should bear in mind for the future "I want, does not get."

Honey gets you much more than vinegar.

Later this year. WN's addition of LGA was carefully planned from a schedule perspective to avoid IRROPS and systematic delays. Starting June 28th things will be different in the big apple.

some thoughts:

1. If I absolutely have to be somewhere at a certain time, I don't take the last possible flight of the day.

2. EWR is a mess and I would not take a flight through EWR on the last flight of the day if I was connecting somewhere else.

3. CO has held plenty of flights for me without even asking, plus they've protected me on the next flight in the event I don't get out. I've also had them put me on other airlines without asking.

4. If flying on business, why not just take a limo home from IAH rather than have your poor spouse drive 6 hours roundtrip?

5. I was treated a lot worse on US even when I had CP status.

6. There is no need to be rude or disrespectful--whether you are a customer or employee.

I was so wrapped up in my first response that I completely forgot to go after the OP's grammar. I'm embarrassed that I let something like that slide.

Tis shocking, isn't it? You catch more flies with honey than you do with an outdoor bug zapper.

In other news, did someone not close the lid on the box of troll food?

Because if the husband refused, the tirade in the OP would look bush league compared to what that poor guy would have been looking at. :D

If you liked Airline you need to check out the original series "Airport" by the BBC. Set at Heathrow. You can watch it on You Tube. Just Brilliant!

According to the website, OP's flight was scheduled to depart at 530 pm (actual departure 534 pm). According to the initial post, OP reached the gate at 520 pm. Doors can close ten minutes before takeoff. Based on information provided, CO did not "leave" early. Given ATC conditions at EWR on any given day, much less with bad winds, I can understand why CO needed to get the plane out and did not have the luxury of waiting for connecting pax (I assume that given weather delays coming in, OP probably wasn't the only connecting passenger.

My sympathies are certainly with the OP's frustration, but the situation hardly warrants the rant, IMHO.

That series made me avoid flying through Heathrow long before I discovered Flyertalk and the constant bashing of T5 in the BA forum.

I think the second part of your complaint is valid, Continental could have done more to help you. But for the first half of your trip and part of your second, weather and Air Traffic Control were to blame.

I still do not understand how calling a CO agent for your DTW-AVP flight was going to help any.

But you have to admit it made great TV!

Perhaps the OP should have called WN?

:rolleyes:

Because we all know the closest WN could get you to AVP is Philadelphia.

But then she could have called her husband to drive her from PHL to AVP.

You must be very lucky then. I have only flown millions of miles on I don't know how many flights and have had much worse experiences--not to minimize your worst experience ever. I am curious, though, how do you reach a zillion flights? What is a zillion? What kind of perks do you get for Zillion-Mile status?