Caution: This a little bit of a rant. Although I'd almost give my left arm for CO, some things they do just irk the poo out of me.

I just a great weekend in Las Vegas with the guys and upon leaving, I invited my friend to come with me to the President's Club. He is flying US Airways and this time I'm flying Southwest. I walk up to the CO counter and ask for a security pass for my friend and I to get through D security so we could proceed to the lounge. The first guy looks at me like I'm stupid and asks me questions like what airline I am flying. I politely told him we were flying another carrier today, but that I would like a pass to get through security. He says he can't do that and that I'm not eligible to go to the lounge unless I pay $45. I told him again politely that as a President's Club member I was entitled to go with up to 2 guests. He gave me so much nonsense that I cannot even remember what he said. I then realized he was a contracted employee and asked to speak with an actual Continental employee. I spoke to her and within two minutes we both had gate passes to go through security. So here I am sitting in the PClub, but it was ridiculous trying to get here.

Continental- Listen Up! Train not only your employees on the rules, but the people you contract out to do your work. Quit hiring idiots that don't know their A$$ from a hole in the ground and barely speak English. It is a shame when I as a freakin' passenger know more than your own employees. I made sure he knew he was wrong. How dare try and charge me when I pay $375 a year to go the club.


Now that the venting is over, I'm going to get a budlight and head to my Southwest age C-21. Have a good day everyone.

**P.S. On a positive note, this is my first visit to this lounge and I must say it isn't bad.

....And if I wasn't so lazy today, I'd print out a copy of the rules regarding my situation and go out and hand it to him (The bozo who tried to charge me and told me I couldn't go in being a President's Club Member).

gg checkpoint line 53

Ok, I understand your rant but those people are just the bag shaggers (Tag your bag) they cannot access the computer and look up anything in shares. Its kind of a shame on him for even trying to answer your question instead of saying, wait I will get a Continental rep for you. They are trained to respond that way but clearly he didnt. Continental DOES tell their vendors behind the counter to not attempt to answer questions that they obviously do not know the answer to. I will ignore the barely speak english part and other ramblings because its uncalled for. But it was a rant..

In general and not specific to CO, while I understand your frustation its also a problem for the employee to remember the never ending list of rules /exceptions/ special cases

"a person can check 2 bags free of charge......unless his ticket was issued before 'x' in which case then the rules are 'y'.......if he is elite....then 'z' rules apply......if he is travelling with another one person the same rules may or may not apply (* see restrictions), not so if they are in separate PNRs, unless of course its a reward reservation, in which case the number of bags inherits the 'status' of the account where the miles came from , not necessarily the one that the flyer has......and so on and so forth blablabla"

Its similar to my rant about access to affiliates lounges or even then, access to a lounge of the airline where you are flying.

the KISS principle seems to be something from a different galaxy.

and on a similar note.....'everyone knows' that you can't (well now you REALLY can't but before you could) fly domestically without showing id ..and similar 'security' principles are so ingrained in the collective mind by now that its yet another surprise in the making, yes Virginia...people CAN get through security if they are not flying!

did you just say poo??

As a NW WorldClub member I have had mixed luck getting gate passes to get into a PC if I'm not flying (usually seeing someone else off at AUS). Until recently it was no problem but I tried twice in the last month and CO said no, and that I should get a pass from NW (now DL). The DL agents wouldn't do it since it's not a NW or DL club (plus they generally go out of their way to be unhelpful on all matters). In theory should I expect to be able to get a pass from CO in this situation?

My comment about speaking English was called for. This is the United States of America and I should be able to clearly understand what the person at the counter is saying.

I believe so, but since customers can't see what GG CHECKPOINT states starting at line 53 we'll have to wait for someone at CO to confirm this.

I totally agree. I wouldn't move to Russia and not expect to become fluent in the language.

Indeed. Everyone should be required to speak the official language here. Oh, wait. We don't have one.

Did the guy not speak any English or was he just mumbling and unintelligible? There are plenty of native American English speakers who fall into the latter category.

Thats your view, but the US is made up people from all different cultures and language backgrounds. Back to the topic since this thread is about security passes to the P-club, sorry Xyzzy I was going to try to help you out with what it specifically states but the page has sensitive information.

It is this section:
53 * NON-TRAVELING PRESIDENTS CLUB MEMBERS AND THEIR GUESTS.

maybe something sensitive under it, but this is the header and rules area

Another staff in the past said:

Absolutely back you on that.

Interesting... for someone who 'barely speaks English', he was able to tell you that you could not get to the lounge unless you paid $45...

He did not know the rules, fine, he is a contracted employee. But the 'barely speaks English' comment is uncalled for. And even if such was the case, that would not make them 'idiots'