sgtdub

03 August 08,
I'll share more about my trip in another post. I wanted to dedicate this post to the folks at Continental Airlines. Now, this was my first experience with this airline company. I originally chose Continental out of necessity as it was the closest flight to what my time line needed to be. The price was comparable to the others. I arrived at the Tucson International Airport on Thursday afternoon and the first leg of my flight was running about 10 minutes late. Really, no big deal, I was headed home. We board the plane and fly to Houston, where I have to change flights. When I landed in Houston I looked at my ticket and thought my arrival time here was my departure time for the next leg. I raced across the airport and made it to the gate to discover my flight was in an hour. Ok, good, I didn't miss anything. I waited at the gate and they announced our flight was going to be about 30 minutes late. Um, ok, I can handle that. I called Mrs. Dub and informed her, she wasn't thrilled as it meant she would have to stay up a little longer, but was excited to have me home. Well, the flight ended up being about an hour and 1/2 late pushing me from arriving in Oklahoma City at 10:35 pm to 12:15 am. What was funny at the time we finally boarded was watching the commercial provided by Continental Airlines about how wonderful they are and how they have a great satisfaction rate from their customers, mainly us. I got a chuckle out of this and continued with my trip. I always assume something can go wrong and now and then isn't a bad thing.
We enjoy our weekend and now it's time for me to head back to Arizona for school. I arrive at the airport in Oklahoma City an hour and 1/2 before my flight, get to the gate and am notified that the our flight to Houston will be an hour late. Really?! Is this every flight with Continental? Well, since I'm heading back to Tucson and have given myself leeway, it'll work out. We finally get on the plane, which just came from Houston. The pilot makes an announcement as soon as we are all seated, "Folks, don't blame us for the delay, we are the new crew and have been waiting for this flight just as long as you have". Ok, I can live with that. Now, we finally take off from OKC and head to Houston. I'm watching the time and wondering which gate we will land at and how far it will be from where I need to be. The gates of course change when you have such a tardy flight like ours. I arrive at Houston, grab my next ticket and see that I need to be at the next gate. I get inside the terminal and realize that I only need to walk 30 yards to the next gate but that I'm looking like I'm about 10 minutes late. I think to myself, " Well, Continental hasn't had an on-time flight yet in my experience, so I have a good shot at this." Well, I found Continentals' only "on-time" flight and it was the one that left without me. Good Grief! How hard could this be? Well, I walk up to the employee behind the desk where my flight was suppose to be and talk with Alisa. I tell her I just arrived from Oklahoma City and that our flight was late because the flight from Houston was late. She confirms this and reschedules me for the 6:15 pm flight. So, that's where I've been for the last 3 hours. We had a lightening storm roll through which delayed some more flights. I still have 45 minutes before I'll know about my flight. I don't see where I'll try this airline again. I'll let you know if I make it out of here, and if you find yourself in the Houston Airport, look me up.
Be safe and have a great day.