If someone were to ask me to name the first three images that come to mind when I hear the word “torture,” my responses would undoubtedly be George Bush, airports, and cotton balls. Last week, I was able to combine two of them into one frightening experience. En route to a weeks stay at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, my Continental Airlines flight to and from COS was broken up by a layover in Houston, TX at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport. I had never landed at this airport before and can’t remember the last time I flew Continental, so it had never occurred to me that Houston was the Continental hub.
When I flew into Houston last Monday, my arrival and departure gates were both in Terminal B, so my experience that day was relatively painless. As I deboarded the plane, I was thrust into a narrow hallway which connected my gate to the central pod of Terminal B. The hallway was eerily similar in size and construction to a single-wide trailer and went on for what seemed like miles. While Terminal B had a decent selection of eateries, its appearance can only be described as dirty. I picked up a copy of the Wall Street Journal and sat down at the bar of Chili’s Too while waiting for my connecting flight to begin boarding. All in all, it was a seamless transition.
The same can not be said for my Houston connection four days later. As before, my plane arrived at Terminal B, but this time my connecting flight was departing out of Terminal A. Having never been to this airport, I had no idea that Terminal A was in a completely different building. As I followed the signs pointing towards A, I navigated my way through a maze of single-wide trailers and down an escalator which dead ended into a sliding glass door leading out to the tarmac. Unsure of what to do next, I hesitantly approached the doors when all of a sudden I was grabbed by an airport employee and forced into a line off to the side. A hessian sack was then placed over my head and I was lead through the doors and onto a tram of some sort as we proceeded to drive for what seemed like a solid 5 to 7 minutes (although I may have been force-fed a sedative and blacked out). Once the tram stopped, I was pulled off the vehicle and the sack was removed from my head as I continued down another single-wide hallway. Luckily, my gate was just inside. I’m curious to know what exactly it was that the Houston Airport did not want me to see.
While the airport itself did not meet the standards that my life of privilege has caused me to grow accustomed to, the actual flights themselves were not awful. The flight attendants were very friendly, although one of them snickered at me when I asked her to fetch me some hot tea and point me towards my room. Much to my amazement, the flight to Colorado Springs included a complimentary ham sandwich, Fritos, and a small Kit Kat bar. This sort of thing is unheard for passengers sitting in coach, but I was a little shocked that they would offer ham in the midst of the Swine Flu epidemic. I saved one slice of the ham in case I needed to fend off any terrorists that may have been aboard my flight. A free meal nowadays is truly an expected joy, but it was bastardized by the fact that I had to pay $15 dollars each way to check a single piece of luggage.
It was recently announced that Continental Airlines will be leaving the SkyTeam Alliance sometime this fall. While the possibility of a free meal will be missed, at least I will be able to avoid George Bush Intercontinental Airport. This travel experience was a mixed bag and gets a Spork rating of…
1 comment:
I have been a loyal customer of Continental Airlines for many years. I have always experienced efficent and friendly service. But apparently that has all changed since the merger with United. I had a flight booked a couple of weeks in advance (IAH to BNA) and I had also upgraded to premium seats on both flights. I checked in on-line several hours before my scheduled flight and paid for my checked bag on-line. I arrived at the airport 2 hours early to drop my bag and get through security. When trying to use the automated process at the kiosk I kept getting a message that it was too early to check in. After waiting in line at the service desk for check in - I had to endure the agents complaints about her being unable to take her break - I was told my flight was cancelled. I was put on a stand by list for the next flight 2 hours later. Of course everyone from the original flight was also on this list. And of course we couldn't get on that flight either. I opted not to be included on the next flight satnd by that was 3 hours after the first stand by. I asked the person at the service desk what my options were to get to Nashville and was told they could get me to Memphis the next day. I asked when I could get to Nashville from there and was told they didn't service Memphis to Nashville. Which was follwed by a blank stare. There were so many people all over the airport that were angry and complaining to employees that seemed completely unconcerned. There was a young teen that had been cancelled on the same flight that was getting no help from the service desk or personell and looked scared and lost. Felt sorry for her and hope she is alright and wasn't abandoned. I have been assured the entire ticket price is to be refunded and so I wait for that to happen. When leaving the airport I try to get my bag back and was told it had been sent to Nashville. I have tried many calls to the baggage sevices but so far (the next day) no one seems to be able to locate my bag. It would be in anyones best interest to find another airline because Continental is just not worth the poor service and poor attitude and sour mood of it's employees.
Post a Comment