How Continental Airlines ruined my Christmas

Posted Wed December 22, 2010 12:00 pm, by Kenneth W. written to Continental Airlines

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How continental airlines ruined my Christmas - below is the message i submitted into your system but have yet to get a response.

On saturday December 18th my wife and I planned to travel from PHL to MCI on flights 5929 & 2409 with our 4 yr old and 1 yr old (on lap); however, unforeseen circumstances turned a 20 minute drive to the airport to over an hours ordeal in traffic that caused us to miss the checkin in timeframe for checked baggage (since we were travelling with an infant we were not allowed to checkin online).

Before the flight departed (about 45mins before flight left when realized the situation) I called continental reservations to notify them of our problem and desire to still travel to MCI. The service representative found a flight for the next day stating that the fare difference would be over $400 (i don\'t remember the exact amount) and $150 for the change fee. Since the representative was not very helpful and did not provide other alternatives I begrudgingly agreed to the charge, which i assumed we be close to $600 total based upon what the representative quoted me.

Much to our shock and surprise we later discovered after we took the rescheduled flight that the representative overcharged us. It looks more like the figure he quoted me was for each member of our family vice total charge for the reservation, at no time did the representative that this quote was anything other than a total figure, and at time did the representative ask for verbal confirmation from me to charge me this grand total. The flights were not full in the slightest with rows empty - we took the 5.30am flight to Houston and 9.30am flight to MCI on a sunday.

Especially given the time of year, Continental has gouged my family for money we could not afford to spend and ruined our Christmas plans. If the representative had been upfront and truthful about the charges and requested expressed permission to charge my debit card for that amount, I would have declined and instead canceled our holiday trip to see my family. Based on the events stated above I demand a refund of all but the amount I approved (this can be verified from the tape recording of the conversation) or else we will stop payment via our credit card and demand they investigate your companies unethical practices. Our record locator xxxxxx with original cost $828, quoted change cost around $550 to 600, actual change cost $1657.50 for a total of $2464.50 round trip to missouri from Philly! Further more we never received a confirmation email of the changes as promised by the representative so only found out via our bank account days after when the charge appeared. Strangely our infant was not placed on the revised reservation either so had to go through the paperwork at the airport which I deliberately like to avoid, otherwise the trip was great with really friendly staff at checkin and onboard both flights.

Refund the funds which we did not authorize them to take. To change a flight one way to the midwest when your flights have lots of capacity and try and charge $1657.50 instead of $600 we had agreed to is incredible not withstanding the time of year so we are depleted of funds for xmas presents.

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Re: How Continental Airlines ruined my Christmas by Cynical Erik Posted Tue December 28, 2010 @ 5:46 PM Count your blessings. My Christmas was ruined by some green furry guy who broke into my house Christmas Eve night and stole all my stuff. He even got my last can of Who Hash, the jerk. Reply Re: How Continental Airlines ruined my Christmas by petalmom Posted Sun December 26, 2010 @ 6:57 AM They didn't "overcharge" you as you claim. The fare quoted was per ticket. You paid the change fee plus the increased fare for EACH ticket. The fact that you did not understand that is puzzling to me. The airline owes you nothing and you will get nothing, sorry. Reply Re: How Continental Airlines ruined my Christmas by batmoody Posted Sat December 25, 2010 @ 1:51 PM "Since the representative was not very helpful and did not provide other alternatives I begrudgingly agreed to the charge" What other alternatives? They found you the next flight the next day. Just because you didn't like the charge or the terms, doesn't mean they weren't being helpful. Thats what insurance is for. You said they told you "the fare difference would be over $400 (i don\'t remember the exact amount) and $150 for the change fee" and "i assumed we be close to $600" I would have asked for the exact amount that was going to be charged. A fare charge could very well be just one fare. You assumed fare meant fares. At the moment you assumed, you should have asked to be sure. How is the employee going to know that you don't get it? You agreed to the terms and they got you there. By telling you the fare increase they were talking per ticket. It doesn't make sense that it wasn't important for you to ask the total at the time. You were ok with assuming a round about figure...But now after the fact, it's suddenly important? I don't beleive they owe you a refund. Buy the insurance next time. Reply Re: How Continental Airlines ruined my Christmas by Agilipuppy Posted Fri December 24, 2010 @ 12:16 PM Hm. You missed your flight. You probably didn't buy the flight insurance, which covers you if that happens. Buying airline tickets the day before you leave costs a premium. While the costs were high, I don't think Continental did anything wrong in this case, except the rep should have told you the EXACT amount when you bought the new tickets. Reply I agree by Lisa H. Sat December 25, 2010 @ 2:44 PM Re: How Continental Airlines ruined my Christmas by radar12 Posted Fri December 24, 2010 @ 12:02 AM It's not even Christmas yet - How can it be ruined? Reply Re: How Continental Airlines ruined my Christmas by LadyMac Posted Thu December 23, 2010 @ 4:05 PM So you took the flight and NOW want a refund. It's called having your cake and eating it too. Reply Re: How continental ruined my Christmas by RedheadwGlasses Posted Thu December 23, 2010 @ 12:56 PM Also, I'm guessing you called them while you were DRIVING (which I do not condone), when perhaps it should have been your wife making the call, so the person making the call could properly absorb the info and ask the right questions. Reply How do you know... by hussyinterrupted Posted Mon December 27, 2010 @ 12:49 PM His wife wasn't driving? Rather odd assumption on your part... Reply Because I play the odds by RedheadwGlasses Mon December 27, 2010 @ 6:15 PM Well... by hussyinterrupted Tue December 28, 2010 @ 12:41 PM Hey, I totally hear you by RedheadwGlasses Tue December 28, 2010 @ 1:01 PM or by Lisa H. Thu December 30, 2010 @ 10:58 AM That, too by RedheadwGlasses Thu December 30, 2010 @ 11:13 AM Re: How continental ruined my Christmas by RedheadwGlasses Posted Thu December 23, 2010 @ 12:55 PM And this is exactly why I get to the airport two hours early for a domestic flight. Even if my 15 minute drive to the airport became an hour, I'm still there more than an hour before my flight. Reply Re: How continental ruined my Christmas by Harleycat Posted Thu December 23, 2010 @ 12:40 AM Calls may be recorded..it is never said that all calls are recorded. This may be a situation that what was said was totally misunderstood. I don't know, I was not on the call but it was you who missed the flight. The time of year has nothing to do with it, this is how the airlines work. I hope they can come to a solution that is mutually agreeable. Reply i've only had one time where it said calls "are" recorded by PepperElf Mon December 27, 2010 @ 8:03 AM