[Catherine Boshoff]

My mother (76) has been nursing my father (81) for a couple of years and we arranged for her to visit my brother in the US for a respite. She booked a flight to Newark for Monday 27th October at 11h00 flying from Gatwick, originally, although the airline later changed the departure venue to Heathrow, necessitating an extra, 50 pound taxi fare.

Although she had requested special treatment as an elderly passenger she was treated as follows (in her own words):

"I had to stagger the entire length of the plane to the back row number 34 where I had been booked in the centre seat. Chris, a polite young student offered to switch. I thought he was being kind, saving me from climbing over him to get to the lavatory which was just behind my right ear. He was being wise. I spent the journey with the din of the kitchen behind me, the pulling loo chains, banging of loo door and my air and vision obstructed by bums and crotches, large and small pushing into the side of my face as the very full plane's clients queued for the loo. Nobody offered water until I made very loud demands because I was very dehydrated by the recent flu.
This happened over again until lunch was served, quite a good chicken dish but my elbow was frequently knocked by the crew and customers squeezing past me on the narrow isle. No room on the wall behind me to tilt my seat back, no space on my lap or on either side. I felt like a battery hen and all I could do was
squawk. The sound system for the films was very faint and I battled to follow the dialogue.
More arm knocking as I tried to fill immigration and customs forms on the few inches of table I had in front of me. The crew 'voice over' told us that we should not make any errors or marks or our forms would be rejected. A very large, kindly, hostess offered to fill my customs form. When I checked it, she had entered my birthdate as 2008! No hot drinks and juice offered only once in an 8-hour day. Finally, we were offered the evening repast which turned out to be a box containing a small packet of crisps and a squeeze item of mustard!! (clearly they had run out of vinegar).The men beside me complained and the crew told us they had run out of food for us unfortunates in the back seat. But they brought the men a plate of something nice from the first class and entirely ignored me, the old lady, at which point I asked who I should complain to. They gave me a form."

I travelled back to South Africa on Emirates the same week and my flight could not have been more different. The service on this airline is superb along with excellent entertainment centres.

[abutterfinger25]

Catherine:

The majority of your mother's complaint seems to be more directed towards poor in flight service and not any "disregard for the elderly". In regards to the enplaining issue, if your mother needed assistance to get to her seat, she should ask to be boarded via the aisle chair. This is a special chair that fits down the center aisle for passengers with any mobility issues.

[msc39nj]

Let's help get Continental to the top of the customer complaint list with the DOT, where we all know they belong. Don't submit false complaints. It's not necessary. The way this airline operates, there are too many legitimate complaints. Here is a great article about the right places to complain, and, unlike Continental's web-site, offers an email address to send complaints, and links to a web form: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/colum...woodyard_x.htm

email: Airconsumer@ost.dot.gov
form: http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/escomplaint/es.cfm