Steve, Nice use of the quote button. Now if you would read what you copied, perhaps your reply would be different. As I mentioned, I will be Plat on CO again this year ( I have been Plat or the highest level on CO or some other airline for the past 18 years) I do not "hate" CO, but the personal attacks on the OP that originated this post were out of line in my opinion. I think that CO has some of the best employees in the industry, and the VERY best is in Aus. While I read this site a few times every week and enjoy it, I found the attack on the OP in this thread over the top and attempted to state my opinion, which resulted in an attack on my opinions and my use of the ins and outs of the quote button. I am not a FT expert, but I believe the poster who mentioned that I needed to learn how to use that feature is a CO employee.
I knew when I initially defended the originator of this thread that I would open myself to the same abuse that she did, but it is what it is. I just did not expect CO employees to ridicule me for posting my opinion of the situation.
You also mentioned that I should find another way to get there, which I do in many cases. However, just because there are a few employees, or those whose usernames indicate they are employees, have no customer empathy, is not in itself enough to drive me completely away from CO.

Finally, some good news in this thread,,, Gadfly is sleeping

concierge, is far far more than an airline name, this is a travel related site....most people are not employees. He is not, and your continued insistence is really :rolleyes:

Probably the best advice to take away from this other than what others have put less eloquently (but still rightly so). OP got so many breaks from CO and got shafted by so many uncontrollables, I read this as a CO is awesome thread.

Well, there is now diet coke all over my laptop's computer screen. At least I missed the keyboard.

Not entirely OT, but many will know why this is funny. I'm traveling to Florence with two friends in July, and yes, Virginia, there are SaverPass awards to Europe. When we made the reservations last August, we had a perfect, really, a perfect itinerary: AUS/IAH/CDG/FLR/CDG/MSP/AUS. Connecting time was just right.

Unfortunately, since making the reservation in August, AF has dropped its late flight from IAH and on the return DL is now flying the NW flight with different equipment (trans. I lost my seat). Anyway, my friends decided they didn't want a "long layover" (four hours) at CDG. They jumped ship from a non-stop AF flight to AZ CDG/FCO/FLR with a ninety minute connection at CDG so they could get to Florence an hour ahead of me. They still haven't figured out what I think is so funny about that.

Back on topic, I had to change my return to CO through EWR with a tighter connection than I am comfortable with and I'm already growing an ulcer. The three times I have connected through EWR I've had bad experiences, though none the fault of CO. Two were because of "real" bad weather in EWR (terrible summer thunderstorms) and the other because of some kind of major problem with customs and immigration at EWR. Fortunately I had read on FlyerTalk about the secret of exiting the terminal and coming back in to check my bag at the counter.

This is really a budget trip, and if I have to overnight at a hotel in Newark, I could well spend more in one night on lodging than for the entire two weeks I will be in Tuscany. What I don't think a lot of FTers realize is that the expense of having to do this is quite a hit for some people. I'm crossing my fingers that if I misconnect because of a late arrival, CO will put me up in a hotel since I will be coming in as a BF passenger.

Oh. To the OP: CO really DOES NOT STINK although it sounds like things could have been handled better all the way around with your situation. As Our Lady of BA :D said, CO really is at the top when it comes to airlines in the US.

Angel - I have been called many things (most of which are unrepeatable here let alone in anywhere remotely sacred!) but never Our Lady of BA. I will tell my husband. I am also very sorry if your were drinking (at least I presume that you were drinking it!) Diet Coke when reading my post. I should be more careful in future.

Now, even though I fly for a living when I am on my own ticket I base my travels on several assumptions. Firstly in aviation the Law of Aerodynamics plays second fiddle to the Law of Murphy. I try never to connect that same day unless it is on the same carrier. If the flight is late then they can sort out the mess. If I am connecting elsewhere then I leave very good gap - even overnight if time and cash permit. I swear by the Marriott at EWR right opposite the Terminal and Priceline and the website themselves do very reasonable rates. When I am a passenger I have some very serious Champagne consumption to accomplish and I do not want that spoilt by worrying over things that I cannot change. There are so many factors that can ruin a flight - and weather is one of them. Aircraft can and do develop technical faults. It happens. We all know this. EWR is of course a victim of geography with not one but two very busy airports within a few moments. Taking off is not quite as heart stopping as it is from SNA when the throttles go back to tiptoe past the neighbours but one does seem to roll around quite a bit on some of the departures. Storms affect us all. Twice I worked one of our 767 services that do a latish arrival into EWR. We ended up once in PHL and once in JFK due to congestion due to storms.

So, if I were you - I would invest in a room overnight if you are able. Whilst you are booked AZ or AF if you are flying in and out of FLR with its STOL runway it can only fly the F70 or some such. Is it being flown as by "wet lease"? AZ may well be handled by Air One or Meridiana who as I recall had a big presence at the airport.

No, I do not rate CO badly at all - there are far far worse. Flying is about as enjoyable as any bus ride to a supermarket with intrusive security for good measure.

And every airline has perks and problems. WN doesn't goto AVP, so the fact that their planes leave on time and their systems allow them to fly when others are grounded in mild-to-moderate bad weather doesn't help much.

I've been a big WN fantard for a long time, but CO has always been my other airline because it does have quality service.

Legacy airlines have the shared legacy issues and the second-gen airlines like WN have their own. Can't goto some places on a second gen, can't expect a hub to be pleasant during irrops on a legacy.

Que sera sera.

Priceline is a great idea for EWR I hadn't thought of--"forest for the trees." Thanks. I might even go into Manhattan for the night if I get stuck. If I can keep an overnight under $100, I'm okay. I'll enjoy BF much more knowing I have a backup plan. The irony is that my share for a bedroom and bath for two weeks in Tuscany is only $170. :)

Yes, AF uses CityJet for the hop to Florence. I actually like flying them. If you sit near the galley, the FAs keep the champagne flowing! What is funny to me is that my friends think by changing to a double connect on AZ--CDG/MCO/FLR--(earlier than my non-stop on AF) will get them to Florence before me. I'm not sure, but I think they are on a real jet to FCO connecting in Rome to AirOne or Meridiana for their connection to Florence. They may never see their luggage again. :D

My airline? That might be close to accurate if I worked for CO. I certainly did care about my customers and clients when I had a job, which by the way was not at CO. And as for my "smart" post: it was all in good fun.

Some parting advice for you:

1. Please read carefully. Thinking that I'm a CO employee and attacking me for such does not make you look like the shiniest screwdriver in the toolbox.

2. Pausing for effect is accomplished by using periods, usually no more than three, as in ... - lots of commas just indicate that you are not paying attention as you write. I take it that point #1 did much to drive that assertion home.

3. Quotation marks are not used to offset words in a sentence that you feel are in need of attention.

4. The correct spelling in that context is "little care for those who ensure their paycheck". You used insure. So in addition to a refresher in reading comprehension, Grammar 101 might also come in handy.

5. This is FlyerTalk, not AirlineCrew.net. Though there of probably lots of us who grew up and wanted to be pilots (myself included), airline crew are a distinct but extremely valued minority around here. Posters like sfogate, pptp, LukeSkywaiter, and doobierw just to name a few make great contributions and let FTers know what it's like on the proverbial other side. Having said that, your attacks on people whom you perceive to be CO employees are incredibly inaccurate.

Say hi to Deltalina for me.

I'm a little mixed up on all the various itineries you threw out including MCO-FLR - I didn't know you could fly from Orlando non=stop to FLorence. But I gather that in reality they are connecting to Meridiena in ROme and then on to Florence. I've been debating a similar connection and decided that between the connect time, the flight time, possible delay, etc., and most of all anxiety about the connection, to rent our car at FCO and drive to Tuscany instead of at FLR. The trip is around 3 hours for locations south of Florence. If I was going to Lucca or north of Florence, I suspect I might stay with the connection. And going back to the original thread, the OP could have driven from EWR after her late arrival in 2 hours (111 miles). Chances are that the drive would have been less time than the connection time + flight time to Scranton + time to get from AVP to her final destination.

I knew when I defended that OP that it was going to cause me ridicule, which is why I normally do not post on this board. I will continue to enjoy reading as this is a very informative and entertaining site, but will limit my posts to topics that are positive for CO and that I agree with. Good luck with the job search.

I didn't read through this whole thread but it seems like there was a whole lot of wrong to go around.

FT is one of the most entertaining sites on the interwebs and is frequented by some highly intelligent and witty individuals. There is a ton of great information to be found here, along with the occasional land-mine. For whatever reasons, passions run high and people take things very personally on here. When I see the red flag being waved, such as this thread, I stay off to the side. I learned a long time ago that you can't fight crazy.

I would encourage everyone, even the OP, to continue to post on here and learn from the wealth of knowledge your fellow posters have. It is a good community for the most part. Just like in the non virtual world, pick and choose which dark alleys you want to walk down.

How long is this thread gonna go on? It is making my brain hurt. Lock it and let it fade into the ether already. :)

I agree with you.