The state of the airline industry is a travesty. Today United announced that they are joining American in charging a fee for even the first bag of checked luggage. Combined with the ban on liquids that makes it hard to carry on anything, you are forced to pay up. This is on top of the already jacked up prices and fuel surcharges they are already charging. They also charge if you want to fly stand by now, extra for exit seats, aisles, etc, etc. It is not one airline worse than another, they are all pretty bad.
Today's travel nightmare though comes courtesy of Continental Airlines. I rarely fly Continental because in coach I find their seats are to close together and my knees get crushed. But flying home from Denver today, they were the cheapest so I booked the flight.
I was scheduled to be on a 4:50 flight out of Denver into Houston. An hour layover, an 8:55 flight from Houston to Ft Lauderdale and I would get me home around midnight. Long day for sure. So I finished up my meetings and stuff early in Boulder and saw that Continental had a 2:30 flight from Denver to Houston and a 7:10 connection to Ft Lauderdale that would get me in around 10:20pm. I left StillSecure HQ around noon and was at Denver airport by about 12:45. I went to the Continental counter and asked to get on the earlier flight. Because I am a platinum medallion member of Delta, as a Sky Team member, I am an elite plus level passenger on Continental. In days gone by that would qualify me for same day ticket changes for free. Not anymore it doesn't! I don't understand what the price of fuel has to do with charging me for same day ticket changes. Anyway, they said I could fly stand by for free until June 17th, when even standby is going to cost an extra fee (again they blamed it on fuel costs).
So they put me on standby and told me my luggage would go on the earlier flight. I then went to the 2:30 flights gate and waited. The ticket counter agent told me about 20 minutes before take off that they only had me as a silver medallion and due to my low status I was far down the list and would not make the flight. My luggage would though. OK, so I will hang at the airport and work a few hours. Just before the plane takes off they call my name and tell me to wait at the end of the jetway. They are checking the plane and if there is a seat I can take it. I get the last seat on the plane, a middle seat.
I arrive at Houston and proceed to the gate for the 7:10 flight to Ft Lauderdale. I check in with the agent and she tells me the folks in Denver only put me on standby for the Denver Houston flight and I am not on stand by for the Ft Lauderdale flight. She can put me on and I will probably make it, but my luggage will be going on the later flight. Now mind you I can see the plane I just got off of out the window and could have gone to the jetway and told the guys unloading the luggage to grab my bag. Not wanting to wait two hours in Ft Lauderdale late at night for my luggage to arrive and not wanting to drive down the next day to pick it up I say thanks, but no thanks and decide to wait another two hours for the later flight that my luggage will be on.
I board my 8:55 flight as scheduled and we take off headed for Ft Lauderdale, due to land at 12:15 or so. The plane is hot as heck and about a half hour into the flight the pilot says that we have a pressurization problem and am turning back to Houston! We turn back and upon arrival near Houston, he tells us we have too much fuel to land and will have to fly around to burn it off. We have no air conditioning, it is hot as can be and they are telling me how much they charge because of the cost of fuel that they are now flying around in circles to burn off!
We land in Houston, they find another plane and we finally take off from Houston around 11:45 or so. I am writing this on the plane and am due to land about 2:30am. If I find my luggage came on the earlier flight I am going to kill someone. In the meantime, I have had enough of Continental for a while and they won't see me on their planes very soon.
End of story, we landed around 2:45 and my luggage was waiting for me, having arrived on the earlier flight. The Continental employee at the baggage claim will remember Alan Shimel for a while, as I gave him a piece of my mind.
