[thtecc]

I purchased a flight from Santa Ana CA to Cologne/Germany w/ return to Santa Ana on 9/20/2008 to visit family and go altogether on vacation.

Today I receive a call from Continental that they will discontinue the flights to/from Cologne as from 9/6. Instead they offered me a flight from Frankfurt.

When I asked customer service that they had to also cover the leg from Cologne to Franfurt they said they are not going to do it. They offered instead to cancel completely the flight and fully refund me. I tried to explain to the agnt that at this time of the year all flights to/from Europe are fully booked and it would cost me a lot more to purchase a new ticket, if I were to find an identical one. If I were to accept the refund, I was risking not to find one at that time that I have planned vacation with my employer which would mean complete cancellation and not be able to visit my family !

When I tried to tell them that had I make any changes myself to the ticket, Continental would charge me a fee & therefore by the same token they are obliged at the very least to cover the expense of the train ticket from Cologne to Franfurt they refused that too !!!

Then the agent connected me to the supervisor Mr John K on 7/10/08 ~ 9pm PST who in a very arrogant manner and with an attitude told me that this is it and they have nothing else to discuss or offer and he hanged up on me as soon as I attempted to complain.

I wonder is either anything I could do about it. I just can't believe the attitude of the Continental superisor and the fact that Continental can dishonor tickets just like that and get away with it.



T H

[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

If Continental ("CO") offered you a refund, you're probably screwed as far as getting CO to take you all the way from John Wayne Int'l. ("SNA") to Cologne. Chances are, if you read Continental's contract of carriage (on their website) there is, most likely, a section that lets them do this.

If you haven't, already, re-booked, and CO's refund offer still stands, for $2,000, Lufthansa ("LH") will sell you a ticket from SNA to Cologne ("CGN"). On this ticket, the SNA to San Francisco part is with United Express, and the Frankfurt to CGN portion is with Deutsche Bahn (rail.)

LH is one of the few airlines which reported a profit this year. In-flight, their attitude is worlds apart from any US-based airline. On the phone, they can be as nasty as American or any of the low-life US guys.

[jbuddenh]

My recent experience (June 25, 2009) with Continental Airlines customer service in Houston has convinced me that they will screw customers whenever they can. It is no coincidence that their customer complaint record is one of the worst of all airlines.

My solution: I will pay more to fly with any other carrier.