A little more on problems with airlines… Which airlines do people hate the most? Have a look at the 7 worst airlines from Christopher Elliott’s blog. The article is here. I am actually surprised that Continental is last (not the worst), I would have thought they would be much lower.
Why do I think this? Well, I stopped flying Continental after going on a trip to Florida with them four years ago. This was not the first time that I had flown with them but it was bad enough to get me to stop all together.
The first bad part was the way there. I could not believe that the flight was over four hours long and we only got a muffin and a drink. That’s it. There wasn’t even any food we could buy- I don’t know why.
On our return we encountered the worst check in person I have ever encountered. First of all she was visibly upset with us that our bags were too heavy. We were a few pounds over the limit and we did expect to pay something- but we were charged for every single pound that she could charge us for and in total it cost us $300. I think that if it was legally possible for her to charge us more she would have.
As if that was not enough, this same representative was totally rude when we asked if it was at all possible to change our seat assignments (I think we had 2 middle seats and we wanted one window). We were told that the computer doesn’t allow it. When I asked nicely if they could check again we were told, more slowly “The computer does not allow it. Do you know how a computer works?”. I could not believe that I was being talked to like I was an idiot.
The result? I fly a lot for business- minimum once or twice every month- and since that trip four years ago I have refused to fly with Continental. There have been several times when company travel agents have initially booked me with that airline and I make sure that they change it.
I don’t know if they have improved since then- and frankly I don’t care. But the point is that airlines should be very aware of how the interaction of their staff with their clients can affect public perception. The worst airlines need to take note…
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