[MassClyde]

History - We scheduled a flight back in January for a flight on Continental to take us on an April cruise. I suggested that we get there a day early, but the boss said that it was April, not January, so we don't have to worry about snow. We were to go from Boston - Newark, then onto Fort Lauderdale.

A friend told me that EWR (Newark) was always late and that we could have issues. After looking at Flightstat.com for a couple of months (driving myself insane), I saw that the Continental flights out of EWR were often late, but that they would still get to FLL in enough time for us to make the ship.

The day of flight - I checked the flightstat.com the night before and saw that they were going to be 20 minutes late out of EWR (still ok).
I checked the next morning at 0530 and saw that the EWR - FLL flight was still 20 minutes late, no problem...
Then checked that the BOS - EWR flight, it was delayed by 1:45 due to Mandatory Crew Rest. I called Continental and asked if they could find another flight for us. None available that would get us onto the ship on time. The customer service guy was nice but could not help.

While I was on hold for the first 30 minutes, I saw that Jet Blue had 5 openings, then 3 openings a few minutes later. Screw it, I booked it... The guy got back on and he said that he could get us to FLL at 6 pm... DUDE, THE SHIP LEAVES AT 5!... I told him that I needed to book with another airline due to their issues.

He then told me that me return flight would be cancelled. WHOA, I paid for the flight! WHAT!?... Give me a supervisor right away. Thankfully, the super bent the ridiculous rules and "checked" me in for the first flight that they had issues with and we woud be OK for the return, which we were.

We caught the Jetblue flight and made the ship. We had a great cruise...

Today - I called today to see if anything could be done. Even a "Sorry, our crews were overworked and screwed up your plans".. What I got was a surly customer service rep, who thought he should be a lawyer, spouting their procedures rather than servicing customers. I asked him what he would have done, I got a redirect, of how he can't comment on what he would have done, but only on the policies of Continental. He then said, "is there anything else I can help you with today." I said, "so there's nothing you can do for me?" Him, "you were the one that was unable to travel with us. We went to Fort Lauderdale, you were lucky that the supervisor allowed you to fly on the return trip.".. Then silence.. I said, "Are you sure that you want to pursue a career in customer service?", he diconnected..

My Lessons - Take direct flights. Get there a day early and don't fly with Continental.