"Elite" status? HA
 

Hi friends...well here I am again with another heart-wrenching story about my "favorite" airline. I recently got elite status on day of travel...which means my bags come off first, etc. etc. Yeah...the agents at Colgan (Continental Connection) put the "Elite" tag on both bags at the Killeen, Texas airport. On arrival in Tuscon today, one bag was close to the last one off...and the other didn't make it. As I discovered later, it wasn't even boarded on my original flight. Lucky me, I get to wait until close to midnight before my bag is delivered. U. S. Airways handles Continental's bag complaints in Tuscon The poor lady at U.S. Airways is probably still wondering why I was quite humored over the whole thing. I have to laugh at Continental's ineptness. At least I'm at the point of expecting Continental to screw something up when I travel and I don't get too exercised. I have the choice of putting up with it and only travelling three miles to our local airport, or driving to Austin, which is 70 miles away. I'm thinking Austin is looking better. http://www.airlinecomplaints.org/ima...ons/icon10.gif

Follow up
 

When you pay extra for the privilege of priority bag handling, it means that your bag is the first one to get dumped/lost. When I further investigated the problem, I was told that my bag was removed from the airplane due to weight/balance issues. The bag had a yellow tag they put on that stated "Elite Access". Ah yes...let's have some fun and take off the bag belonging to the "elitist". That'll show him! The bag missed the following two flights and didn't get boarded until a later flight. We might get it at midnight. What I have learned is that employees of Colgan Air are probably not very intelligent and are no doubt poorly paid. Add to that, their website that had my bag information stated that the bag connected on flight 2386. Flight 2386 originates in El Paso and goes to Houston. Sigh. I am once again amazed at the stupidity of Colgan employees in Killeen, Texas.

I can only speak from my own experience in this matter. I attempted with every effort to unload the priority bags first. I don't know how big CO (Colgan) is in TUS but our operation at the last place I worked, we had 4 baggage carts. 2 were used to unload the plane and 2 were used to load the plane. So at any one time, we usually only had 2 empty carts.

This type of luggage (priority tagged) is supposed to be loaded last so that it is the first off in the next city (on bulk loaded planes) When they just throw the luggage on with no care for the bag in the upline city, it makes it very difficult to sort this on the arrival. When I saw a priority tagged bag come off in the middle of unloading, I would put it off to the side and load it on the cart near the other priority bags later. This didn't always happen so many times the bag(s) ended mixed with the non-priority tagged bags.

Now, the plane is all unloaded and it's time to drop the bags in baggage claim. Many times, the person who loaded the carts is not the one who goes to baggage claim. They should know anyway where the priority bags are on the cart but sometimes either they don't know or care. Alot of these guys are making fast-food money and really can't be bothered in what order they unload a cart. To quote Metallica......sad but true.

Sorry for the long-winded response but this is my experience and I'm sure there are other reasons as well but no need to make this any longer than it is.

Watch out Judge.
 

That "rock band" may sue you for using their name without permission.

I remember loading and unloading bags and many of my coworkers did not ever have to go to bag claim or even deal with the passengers first hand so they really did not care. Not too mention that the local station manager never enforced or educated what the policies were. Those special tags aren't worth the paper they are printed on in many places.

I always thought it was unfair that I got the same pay as the others who did not have to bother with passengers and I took the initiative to expand on my career possibilities. Over time the lack of reward caused me not to care either. A long as my manager looked good, she would walk over any employee who "tried to go the extra mile."

There are so many airline employees that do not get the recognition they deserve for a job well done. That is a shame. Try to go the "extra mile" and all you get is worn out shoes.

Got the bag!
 

Can you believe it? My bag showed up just before 3AM today. The "rush" tag showed that it was routed on a flight out of Killeen TWELVE HOURS after my original flight. It had been sitting in Killeen all day. Now...here's what totally angered me. I phoned Continental's bag tracing office about two hours after my bag was to have arrived in Tuscon. I wanted to check on its status. I talked to some idiot named Argentina who told me my bag did not arrive and she has no clue where it is. Further, she said my bag couldn't have been checked "elite access" since I do not have elite access status. She apparently is too stupid to know that I had elite access on days of boarding since I am a Pres. Club member. But I guess I'm a liar in her eyes. She must be a former Delta employee.

Really, it is utterly disgraceful. You are paying for a service that hte airline knows it cannot consistently deliver. In any other business it is called fraud. The Attorney's General tried to get the law changed so that they could enforce normal commercial law but have so far been unable to get it passed. They are just thieves, masquerading as service providers.

Here's the reply I got via email from Continental.
=======================
Thank you for contacting the Continental Baggage Resolution Service Center. On behalf of Continental, I apologize for the delay of your luggage, and all inconveniences you may have experienced.

You are a valued customer to Continental, and your feedback is important. Your e-mail correspondence has been forwarded to the management staff within the Baggage Division as we continue in our efforts to improve upon the service you expect and deserve.
As compensation for the delay, I can issue one travel certificate in the amount of $50.00, or deposit 2,000 miles in your Continental OnePass frequent flyer account. Please let me know if this is something you would be interested in.
Again, I apologize for all inconveniences you may have experienced as a result of this incident.
====================
My reply to them was that I was not interested in either the certificate nor the miles.

A paltry voucher.. it is pathetic! Phxflyer is back, and Continental are his favourite airline... perhaps he can explain this! lol

Thanks for the endorsement Jim! And yes I'm back! Here's my take on the situaton.

countrynewsman - I'm sorry for your baggage frustrations. I have experienced similar problems when flying home to Phoenix and Tucson is is a similar outstation for CO. The baggage handlers are contarct employees. Therefore the baggage is delivered regardless of the "priority" tags added for elites. I've often had a good laugh as I have been "Platinum" on Continental since 2003 and more often than not if I have a checked bag when I get back to Phoenix my bag is often amongst the last to arrive on the baggage claim belt.

Why didn't you tell me that you were in Tucson,
countrynewsman? I would have made a point of driving down and buying you a drink!

CO has been handled by US Airways for many years in Tucson. They recently contracted with Expressjet, effective April 1, I believe, so US Airways will not be their handling agent any longer. US Airways recently terminated their own ramp agents and are replacing them with contract workers, so until the change actually occurs the US Air rampers probably couldn't care less.

WOW! Let's see if I get this right. Colgan Air handled my bag at the origin...Killeen. U.S. Airways handled it at destination...Tucson. The two planes I flew were Cogan and ExpressJet. Hell, I didn't even deal with Continental! LOL.

Ok, so your take is that

and you point is what? The airlines charge to provide a service and fail to deliver it. The fact that they have contracted out part of their service is irrelevant.

I must be having a sense of humour failure, because when I have paid for a service and it is not delivered, I usually don't find it that funny.

You go to a restaurant and order food, you wait 3 hours and then they tell you the chef has gone home and you are out of luck, by which time it is too late to go anywhere else. Would you laugh in that situation... and if not... why not?

PS: Welcome back

Jim. The "priority" tags we are speaking of is a perk for Continental elites. We don't pay for this service and the first checked bag fee is also waived for CO elites. The way it's supposed to work is that bags tagged "priority" should be off-loaded and sent out to the baggage claim area first. This only seems to happen regularly at CO hubs and where CO employees are handling the bags. Here in Phoenix the baggage handlers are outsourced to a third party company. They aren't even airline employees. United, Alaska and Continental share the same terminal here and also share the ramp service employees and baggage handlers. The only airline employees are those at the ticket counters and gates and the mechanics. The people who offload the bags could care less about providing priority service to customers because they don't work for Continental and probably could care less.

Oh now, you most certainly do pay for it. If you are an elite customer, you have paid for this service and then some. However, the airlines prefer to designate it as a "perk" so when they fail to deliver it, no compensation is due. It is all nonsense.

I am also not buying the contract employee stuff. They are contracted to do a specific job. The airline should monitor and quality control their contractors. I audit contractors who work on behalf of my company to make sure they are doing the job properly. It is just basic good management.

I have to agree with Jim. I have, in fact, paid for this perk and I do expect it...contract employees or not.

Bad news, countrynewsman. I did not realize this was the case but found the following on Continental's website:

(second emphasis mine)

How's that for "fine print!" Since neither of your flights was on a Continental mainline aircraft the "priority" tags essentially mean squat!

Well...I guess my question is: Why were Elite tags put on my bags in the first place?

EliteAccess Baggage Handling: EliteAccess tags will be placed on all Elite members' luggage when they check-in to ensure their baggage is among the first delivered to baggage claim. (Available on flights operated by Continental Airlines and Copa Airlines only.) (second emphasis mine)

How's that for "fine print!" Since neither of your flights was on a Continental mainline aircraft the "priority" tags essentially mean squat!
__________________
I have a major problem with this explanation. The reservation was made on the Continental website on Continental flights. The two airplanes I few had the Continental logo. I was given Continental boarding passes that said "Elite Access" on the top. If it looks like Continental, waddles like Continental, quacks like Continental...it's Continental. I don't look online to see who they contract with. Maybe their bags are handled by U.S. Airways and their lavs dumped by Delta...but as far as I'm concerned, I flew Continental.

Window dressing? Perhaps it's because if one checks in for a Continental Express or Continental Connection flight they may be connecting to a mainline flight at the hub so tagging all eligible bags "Elite Access" is probably just SOP.

All "express", "connection", etc. aircraft will carry the livery of their contractor but they are, in fact, operated by a different airline. ExpressJet used to be majority owned by Continental but that share was sold off several years ago. As far as booking on CO's website, the information on contract carriers is there. I reproduced a booking from Kileen to Tucson and here is what was displayed rigfht under the itinerary information:

As an elite on Continental the "priority" baggage handling is a perk I really don't expect with any regularity. I like the ability to choose roomier exit row seats in advance, getting upgraded when space permits and being able to board first ensuring overhead space. Getting my bag first when I do check a bag ranks pretty low on my list.

Here's the response straight from the horses mouth...Larry Kellner.
=====================

Dear Mr. Watters -- I'm sorry we failed on our baggage delivery.
I respectfully disagree with your characterization of our Elite Access card -- while I realize you didn't get your bags -- based on your summary it sounds like a weight and balance issue vs. an Elite Access issue. I also realize we have to earn your business and we created an expectation that we didn't deliver on.
I apologize again for our service failure and wish you well on future travels realizing they will be on a competitor.
Best
Larry

One more thing...what I found interesting is that Kellner didn't even respond to our one bag that was among the last to arrive at bag claim...again, a misrepresentation of their agreement.

I can't believe it! I just got a call from the head of Continental's baggage service. The CEO basically told me to go fly a kite, but this guy sounded interested in my complaint. He agreed that my bag shouldn't have sat all day at Killeen airport. He was going to take this issue up with the Killeen manager. That's what I want! No stupid voucher...just get this problem handled!

Nice to hear that there are still people who take accountability seriously.

At the airport I work at, our rampers, and half the other employees, as well, are lazy, and it is amazing if they even show up to work many days. We have many rampers that literally have over 30 instances of showing up to work late, sometimes by hours, or just not showing up, at all, with a "no call-no show". Our manager does nothing about it, and really couldn't care less. We have supervisors, and lead agents, who play favorites, and don't do their jobs, either.

In our last shift bid, which occurred several months ago, I was given one of the ticket counter shifts. I am up there, everyday, on time, doing my job, having to deal with the passengers, face to face. The rampers do not see the passengers, and do not care. Guess who gets chewed out, and cursed out, by the passengers, when things like this happen, and passengers are inconvenienced? ... ME! ... one of the only people their, doing their job, trying to look out for the passengers.. I can't tell you the number of times I've run out on the ramp, bringing people's bags to the plane, because the rampers were too lazy to do it. Otherwise, they wouldn't have made the flight. Or, the number of times I have run out, to marshal in an airplane, that has been sitting at the gate, waiting to be parked, for 10 minutes, because no rampers are anywhere in site. Guess who then gets the snide remarks from the pilot, or from the passengers? ...ME! ... the person out there, DOING SOMEBODY ELSE'S JOB! It has gotten to the point, where I don't care anymore, either, because it is clear that nobody else does. I am good friends with one of the supervisors (the only one that cares, and does his job). We have gone above any beyond, and are so burned out, that we literally have lost any desire to care anymore, either ... which is ashame! We have have reported this stuff to higher ups, within the company. One actually came down to our station, the other week, to talk to everybody. Guess what, even with that, nothing has changed. I can assure you, where I work, is far from the only case of this. This is going on at airports, and with airlines, across the country.

The problem is that the airlines pay crap wages, so they get crappy quality employees (most of them), who don't want to show up to work, and when they do, they don't care about their jobs, or doing it correctly. Elite tags don't many anything to the majority of the employees, and managers/supervisors don't care enough to inforce the rules and policies. Many of the managers work, purposely, understaffes, so they save on their man hours, and budget, thus they get a bigger bonus. It is one big game, and it is employees like myself, actually doing their jobs, and the customers, who suffer.