The Twilight Zone
 

I think I have led a charmed existence - at least until yesterday - because I can't recall ever missing a connecting flight. Yesterday we flew LAX to JAX connecting at IAH on Continental. Our flight from LAX was late. We thought we might squeak by (because the original delay was supposed to be 30 minutes - we got an email alert and that was the delay posted after we had checked our luggage and arrived at the gate). But - for some reason - the crew was 90 minutes late (it was some kind of problem with our plane coming out of EWR - but I never did get the details). So we missed our connection to JAX (last flight out). Many other people on our flight also missed their connections. Note that the only possible reroutings out of LAX on Continental and other airlines were red eyes through places like EWR (I had to call Continental and a friend - who did a search for me - to find this out - because the single agent dealing with this at our flight had a line of about 30 people trying to find the same information).

Anyway - at IAH - the agent says not to worry - here's a hotel voucher and a meal voucher and a toothbrush. He said to forget about our checked luggage - it would meet us in Jacksonville the next day. I said no way. So we "found" our luggage. Took about an hour. I will note that the baggage people were very nice - and as efficient as possible under the circumstances.

The hotel for which we have a voucher is a "brand X" - and sounded like a dump. So we try to find a room on our own. No luck. Everything close to the airport is sold out. [Note to people at IAH - since the baggage area is in the process of construction - please move the hotel call-up kiosk to an area that has less noise than a Blue Angels Air Show.] It is now almost 10 pm. So we call for the hotel pick up. They say the van can be there in maybe 30 minutes. We decide to take a cab. The hotel is supposed to be minutes away from the airport - 2 miles. Maybe as the crow flies - but not by cab. It's a $20 cab ride. We arrive at the hotel - and find a long line of passengers from our flight "checking in". Eventually - we get assigned to a room on the second floor - and then discover there's no elevator - or bellman. Because we're over 60 - my husband has a big leg brace - and we have a lot of luggage - the desk clerk (she was nice) winds up giving us a handicap room on the first floor.

The room is (thank goodness) clean. But it is no Four Seasons (where we spent a week in Los Angeles). It isn't even a Holiday Inn Express. After a 5 minute shower - the clogged tub brings the water level up to about 10 inches.

We have a meal voucher - good for up to $12/person. And the hotel has a restaurant where just about everything costs - you guessed it - about $12. It's lucky the hotel has a restaurant because there isn't a place to eat within miles. The small restaurant is filled with the our fellow LAX/IAH passengers - a twilight zone type reunion for lost travel souls. Since we're all zonked - it strikes us as surreal. We'll know for sure we're in the twilight zone if we're there again the next night. Thank goodness for small favors. The food is edible. And the bartender pours a very good very large martini. The staff mentions that almost no one leaves tips (almost all of their guests have the $12 voucher) - so we leave a very large tip. They smile - and ask me to request everyone on Flyertalk to leave tips if they have to dine there (I told them I was going to write a message).

The reality of the room doesn't set in until the next morning - when I get up at 6:15. Luckily - I am not in the room long enough to make a detailed list of its flaws. We catch the hotel airport shuttle - which is a disgrace. Dirty ripped upholstery. My husband fastens his seatbelt. It is broken - and he is unable to unfasten it when we arrive at the airport. The driver appparently knows about the problem - and motions my husband to pull the straps loose - and wiggle out of it. Which he manages to do.

I guess we're lucky. Since we're paying passengers - and going to JAX - we have managed to get the first flight out to JAX (which had open seats even though it was a small commuter jet). We met other passengers who couldn't leave until later today - or - in some cases tomorrow - except by flying standby. So - since I'm home at my desk tonight - I have managed to avoid the twilight zone - thinking like Dorothy did in the Wizard of Oz - there's no place like home :). Think some of our fellow passengers weren't as lucky.

Anyway - is this kind of typical of what happens when an airline puts you up in a hotel overnight when you miss your flight and it's the fault of the airline? Or are the experiences sometimes better - or worse? Robyn

You should consider yourself very lucky. Continental rarely pays for meals/hotels when the error is on the part of ATC/Weather. I'm glad to see CO is getting better at dealing with IRROPS.

Upon reflection - I'm still trying to figure out why our flight out of LAX was so late. When we left our hotel in Los Angeles - I checked - and the status of the plane we were supposed to take out of LAX - well it had left EWR and was over Arizona. Could have something to do with rules regulating how long crews can fly - but I really don't know. Robyn

Well - this definitely didn't have anything to do with the weather. In fact - IAH had a lot of storms yesterday - and we were hoping our flight to JAX would be delayed by them. No such luck. Apparently not an ATC problem either. We did hear someone mention that it took the crew in EWR 2 hours to get a plane. If that's true - it was probably a maintenance issue.

What is an IRROPS?

So I guess you're saying we were lucky - in the sense of staying in a crummy place for free - as opposed to paying for it :).

We met someone in the hotel shuttle this morning who was traveling on a "buddy ticket" (which I got the impression was some kind of free ticket for family members of people who work for Continental) - and he said he'd been on standby for the last 2 days on a trip to Guam as a result of a missed connection - paying for a few rooms for him and his family). Robyn

Two things determine flight status: the aircraft and the flight crew. These are not always the same and flight status is keyed to reflect the aircraft's arrival time. Someone else watches the crew's arrival time and will manually change the flights departing time to reflect the new/delayed time.

CO uses alot of hotels in the surrounding areas of every city. We don't know the condition of the rooms but make selections based upon room availablity, cost and shuttle service. If CO is paying for the rooms, don't expect more than a clean basic room near by.

IRROPS is irregular operations.

I would be happy to have that voucher deal you had. When delayed at London Stansted, I got a 5 GBP voucher only good in a restaurant where *every* food item cost more --when I would have been happy with the same for Burger King (at least I would not have had to tip).

That said, at least I was just late in the morning and did not have to overnight like you did, so the experience overall was still much more favourable for me than you. . . .

Thanks for the explanation. If I had to guess - our plane was there (I saw it from the time I arrived at the gate) - but - because of the slight delay out of EWR - we needed a new crew (I'm not sure what the "in flight limits" are - but I recall they're about 8 hours - and a trip from EWR to LAX and then to IAH would be cutting it close - a slight delay on EWR/LAX would push it over the limits). So arrangements had to be made for another crew arriving from another flight to take the LAX/IAH flight.

If you are from Continental (you used the term "we" - so I suspect that) - I can tell you this place was clean and basic (I usually travel in luxury hotels but I think I can recognize clean and basic). The hotel was the Baymont on the Beltway 8 (something like that) - and since stranded travelers paying with airline vouchers apparently account for a lot of its business - I would insist on replacement of the hotel van (probably cheaper than making everything like the seatbelts work and sewing up all the foam popping out of the seats). I would also suggest cleaning the hair and other debris out of the tubs more frequently (although perhaps our room had this problem and others didn't).

Also - I would make sure the staff - especially in the restaurants - makes a living wage. Although I am pretty much a luxury traveler - I am also pretty sensitive about the working poor (who - these days - can be the working destitute). Many travelers who are stranded these days aren't used to staying in hotels - or dining in restaurants - or tipping (and - even if they are - many of them have been squeezed by economic conditions too). Many are also PO'd about being stranded in the middle of a trip - not in the best frames of mind. I realize the people who work in these hotels aren't your employees - but I hate to see people who are hard working and pleasant winding up with one or two tables tipping when they're serving 20. I know that airlines aren't doing so great these days - but there aren't many airline employees working for $3.50/hour plus tips.

Finally - it's funny that this was our first domestic CO trip in a while. Last trips were to Germany and Japan. Really nice - and not a missed connection in the lot. Go figure. Robyn

to robyng
 

It sounds more like you were in the Gong Show then the Twilight Zone. I think you made the best of a bad situation. I wonder how many travelers are displaced on a daily basis. IMHO, I think that CO handles these situations better than other airlines. Thanks for your story.

Yes I am a CO employee.

It's too bad that our customers, using vouchers, do not see the need to tip the restaurant employees.

You should write directly to the hotel or hotel chain management about their shuttle van and the condition of your bathroom.

I hope that you will continue to fly CO for your domestic flights.

We are much more fortunate than most travelers. Although we are 60+ - and my husband is slightly disabled - we are ok financially - and able to weather travel problems more than most people. Because money helps a lot in a lot of situations. We were stranded in mid-town Manhattan on 9/11 - and many people who couldn't get out of Manhattan had to worry that they had paid for X nights - and couldn't afford to pay for X+1 nights. They had to take out payday loan advances because they couldn't leave the city. And - when they were able to leave the city - they didn't know how they'd get home (we wound up renting a car and driving home to Florida).

Writing and chatting in this thread has been a good exercise for me. Because when I remember the really bad things that have happened to me (like when my mom died) - and to other people - this seems like relative nonsense. Still - if anything I say can help future travelers to have better experiences - it's worth recounting the experience. For example - as a minor point - because the hotel didn't have an elevator - we watched a young couple with 2 young children and lots of baggage (you can't just pick up the toothbrush when traveling with 2 toddlers) having to lug everything up a flight of stairs. A voucher hotel should at least have an elevator IMO. Robyn

Sounds like you took it all in stride.....which is kinda what you have to do when you travel and stuff happens. Too bad not all stranded travelers are like you.

It's too bad you could not have stayed another night at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles, and flown home the following AM. :D

You lucked out and made the most of it. ^

I encountered a similar situation last month -- was put up in the same hotel-- and had to pay out of pocket. After doing a LAS-IAH-LGA-IAH-HNL-IAH-LGA-IAH-LAS mileage run, it really sucked to miss the last flight back to Vegas. Your review of the hotel is generous; I refer to it as a hooker hotel. Spartan furnishings, poorly lit, dirty carpeting, etc.

The staff also mentioned to me that they rarely receive tips and I made sure to take care of them even though I didn't get a meal voucher either. :rolleyes:

We were on a stay two nights/get one free package - and that last night at the FS would have been free. So I guess if I were going to get mad about anything - it would be the email alert and other flight notifications from CO telling me our flight was 30 minutes late - as opposed to the 90 minutes late it turned out to be. If I knew right off there was no way we'd make our connection - I would have made other plans. Hanging out in Beverly Hills for a day is way better than a night at a voucher hotel at IAH :D. FWIW - I did get an email alert (sent after takeoff and picked up after landing) that said we'd miss our connecting flight :rolleyes:. Robyn

We could use some of that attitude over in the EWR EliteAccess thread. :)