[Walla Walla Sweet]

In May 2008 my colleagues were scheduled to fly from San Francisco to India on Continental Airlines. My colleagues missed one day of business seminars they were presenting because of erroneous arrival date information emailed by Continental Airlines. They had purchased two business class tickets, costing over $10,315.00 as well as rented lecture halls, paid for advertising, hired caterers, and other expenses. The actual expenses for the missed meeting were $4000.00. They had a difficult time recouping the lost business due to missing the seminar. As a consideration of financial losses I requested two free business/first class tickets anywhere Continental flies.

Over the course of a year I was in contact with Ms. Self-King at Continental Airlines. I provided advertising and seminar invoices for the missed seminar, a copy of the seminar advertising, and Continental Airline’s confirmation with the incorrect arrival date. Because one of my colleagues was a frequent international business traveler with Continental Airlines, I assumed Continental Airlines would want to keep a valued costumer. I provided Ms. Self-King with his Continental Airlines OnePass Gold Elite number as well elite numbers for other airlines that he would have used when flying Continental. I indicated that in the last year (at the time of the complaint) that he flew to India 6 times (4 of the flights were on Continental). He also made numerous trips to Central America, a large portion of the flights were on Continental in Business Class.

Several times over the course of the year I requested the free tickets as a consideration of the financial losses. Ultimately my colleagues were offered travel certificates for $500.00 each or 30,000 bonus OnePass miles if they singed an indemnity release. They did not agree to these terms.

Our last contact with Ms. Self-King was in May of 2009 when my colleague emailed her thanking her for the offer but indicated that our expenses and business income lost were excessive. A $500 travel voucher did not come close to compensating the losses. They did not agree to sign the indemnity release with the offer Continental presented.

Continental Airlines lost loyal customers. It is now company policy to only use Continental Airlines as a last resort.

I have filed a complaint with Consumer Affairs and the Aviation Consumer Protection Division. I also plan to notify the airline that I've posted this complaint.

[jimworcs]

You need to sue in small claims court. You have proof of conseqeuntial damages... the reason they asked you to sign an indemnity release is because they know they are in the wrong. I would pursue this.. they will eventually settle before it gets to court...

[HoustonFlyer]

I'm having difficulty accepting the facts of this complaint. First of all what email would it be that Continental sent you the arrival time? When you first book, you are automatically sent an email confirming the itinerary. Did this email carry the wrong date? Unless you had an issue requiring intervention of an agent, these emails which confirm itinerary are computer generated and it is difficult to believe that the computer got it wrong.

You say they gave you the wrong arrival date. I presume since you don't complain about the departure date that means they got the departure correct. If your colleague had flown to India 6 times that year, it is also strange that he would not know how long it takes to get to India and not know what date he was going to arrive. Continental flies that journey via Newark and then east to India. So there is no crossing of the International Dateline to confuse anyone.

Why are you and not your colleagues complaining?

Even if you did have a valid complaint, the limitation period for your claim in court under the Montreal Convention is two years so it expired in May 2010.

[jimworcs]

Just call Houstonflyer Hercule Poirot.... I think I agree... this complaint could well be bogus, which could explain why they didn't sue. On the other hand, it is peppered with odd details.... it will probably remain a mystery!!

[Walla Walla Sweet]

I have documented proof for what I stated. This documentation was supplied to Continental Airlines.

In regards to your specific questions:

“First of all what email would it be that Continental sent you the arrival time?”

The email I’m referring to is the email that’s automatically sent confirming the itinerary. The arrival information was incorrect. Continental Airlines did acknowledge their mistake when I sent the airline a copy of their automated email.

“If your colleague had flown to India 6 times that year, it is also strange that he would not know how long it takes to get to India and not know what date he was going to arrive.”

-As you correctly stated, "it is difficult to believe that the computer got it wrong." It IS expected that the travel itinerary an airline provides is correct. The burden does not lay with the passenger to double check an airline’s calculations.

-The flight route/travel time for my colleague to get to India that year varied depending on the point of departure, the final destination in India, layover times and whether routing through a specific country for business meetings was necessary.

-The confirmation email was forwarded to our contacts in India responsible for hotel and travel arrangements in India as well as the meeting arrangements (advertising, lecture hall rental, hiring caterers, etc.). My colleagues had a conference call with our Indian contacts hours before the flight departed. It was during this call that they realized Continental Airlines had provided the wrong arrival information. Upon reaching India my colleagues needed to catch a domestic flight to reach their final destination. No domestic flights were available that would get them to the meeting on time.

“Why are you and not your colleagues complaining?”

Because I filed the complaint with Continental Airlines and worked with Ms. Self-King to try to reach a satisfactory resolution.

“Even if you did have a valid complaint, the limitation period for your claim in court under the Montreal Convention is two years so it expired in May 2010.”

-Regardless of whether legal action was taken or should have been taken, Continental Airlines has the opportunity to rectify the situation for a previously loyal customer (a OnePass Gold Elite member).

[jimworcs]

If it is a lie, it is quite convincing... I am all over the place on this one!

[HoustonFlyer]

Do you mind sharing with us
(1) The date and time of the departure from San Franscisco
(2) What city in India you were flying to on Continental
(3) The erroneous date and time of the arrival in India as emailed to you
(4) The true scheduled date and time of arrival in India
(5) What was the final destination in India, that is after the domestic flight
(6) The expected arrival date and time at the final destination
(7) The date and time of the meeting scheduled in India ?

Thanks

[jimworcs]

Don't you think it would also be useful to know the inside leg measurement of the OP?

[HoustonFlyer]

Jim, I'm not sure why you are interested in knowing his pants length (or should we say trousers since I know you guys understand "pants" to mean something else), but I decided to stay with asking for details of the facts given by the OP which were lacking in detail. He is expecting a reader to this board to believe that Continental's computers generated the wrong date which he knows is an unlikely event. Generally, the more unlikely the event, the more detail one needs before believing it.

They arrived in India (a very big country) but he does not say which city. It only surfaced in his second post that to get to the meeting they had to take a domestic flight. It is possible that they themselves got the dates wrong for their arrival at the final destination, but this will become clear if he cares to fill in the blanks. He says he has the information so it should be no trouble to provide the details.

[Walla Walla Sweet]

I understand that you're having a difficult time believing that a computer-generated email could contain inaccurate information. I don’t assume to understand airline computer systems, how the information is input into the system, the role of humans in inputting information, what laypeople refer to as a “computer glitch”, etc. Thankfully I did not face a battle getting the airline to believe me regarding the itinerary, as I was able to provide the airline with a copy of the itinerary.

I notice that you are a former airline employee. The necessary details and documentation have already been shared with Continental Airlines. If an appropriate representative from Continental Airlines contacts me and would like to know more specifics I'd be more then willing to provide any necessary information.

My biggest battle was getting the airline to accept responsibility for the information it provided. As a former airline employee perhaps you can provide some insight into the situation. I have been unable to find a relevant written statement regarding an airline’s responsibility for the accuracy of flight information it provides to customers. Is the airline responsible for the accuracy of the information it provides? Is the customer responsible for not noticing the airline’s mistake? Does the customer’s travel experience play a role in this responsibility? Excluding weather and mechanical delays (and other unforeseen delays), if an airline provides erroneous arrival information resulting in a customer losing business, missing an event, missing a flight on another carrier, etc, should the airline be held responsible? If not fully responsible then partially responsible? In this case it was a business event that was missed but could have been a cruise or other group excursion. Putting aside your disbelief that the airline’s computer system could provide erroneous information, I would appreciate your insight.

[bilingual]

I am not sure I understand, are you claiming there was a difference between your printed e-ticket and the actual flight? - if that is the claim, it should be no problem for you then to show the evidence in a court.

[alenaw]

our confirmed flight from Grand Cayman to Houston for Fri Jan. 7th was cancelled and postponed one day - for Sat. Jan 8th without giving us a previous note by phone (cell phone number was quoted) or mail!
We would have never accepted such a schedule change as we came two days later home and to work - school.
We had to stay another day in Grand Cayman, to pay our hotel, the taxi from and to the airport as well as the meals ourselves.

We have been complaining to Continental's manager Mr. Phil Ebanks, one day before to an assistant who tried to help us at the Continetal desk, on phone from Germany, via form in German (we were told to write in German), but nothing has happend until now.

[HoustonFlyer]

My experience in the airline industry was before the days of internet booking and email confirmations. Nevertheless my experience is that passengers often make mistakes in dates and times of travel. One common one was that the departure time of 0530 is marked on the ticket and they would turn up at 5.30 p.m. and find that the flight left at 5.30 a.m. In your case where there is a whole day difference I think you were the one who made the mistake. Flights to India are typically about 24 hours in duration. With the time difference you may leave San Francisco at 7 a.m. and arrive in India a day later at 7 p.m. If your email confirmation was wrong and it said you were arriving in India the same day at 7 p.m. you had to know that this was wrong. If the airline really did that, they would be responsible for any direct damages you suffered as a result, relating to flight changes if any were needed. However for consequential damages like loss of business and missing an event, even if the airline told you you were arriving at a time which effectively is the same time as the time of departure, you were at fault for going ahead and planning a meeting based on that time.

It's like this - if you are taking a flight from New York to London and the airline gave you an arrival time of one hour after the departure and you go ahead and book conference rooms in London based on that wrong information, the airline will not cover the consequential damages. It will rebook you if necessary without charge, but you ought to have known that the time had to be wrong. For you to have been mistaken by the date, the airline will not cover this loss.

I think your colleagues and your people in India between them got the date wrong and you planned your meeting for the wrong date. I am fortified in this conclusion by your refusal to provide simple information which cannot possibly be too confidential to be disclosed on this forum, the flight having taken place over two and a half years ago.

I would suggest that even if you can't disclose it here, look back carefully at those times I asked for and you will see that the mistake was on your side.

[jimworcs]

Houston...
Your faith in the infallability of Continental's computer system is touching... but severely misplaced. However, I suspect that hidden in the depths of their Terms and Conditions will be something which states that the airline are not responsible for failure to provide accurate information..and a get out of jail clause for the consequential damages. However, I have decided that I believe Walla Walla on the grounds that the detail provided is too obscure not to be true.

[HoustonFlyer]

Jim, I very clearly contemplated that the airline could have sent the wrong information. You must have missed this:

Originally Posted by HoustonFlyer

If your email confirmation was wrong and it said you were arriving in India the same day at 7 p.m. you had to know that this was wrong. If the airline really did that, they would be responsible for any direct damages you suffered as a result, relating to flight changes if any were needed.

However on considering it on a balance of probabilities, the probablity that Continental's computer was wrong or the probability that passengers who decline to go into details could have got it wrong, I opt to conclude that the probability that the passengers got it wrong is greater. I have seen too many situations like this where the passenger complains then when he himself looks at the details in the ticket in his own hands, he realizes his mistake. I was trying to get him to condescend to give particulars, but he declined.

[Walla Walla Sweet]

I’d appreciate any help in finding a written statement or regulation that governs the situation I’ve posted on. I’m currently wading through the FAA’s website…

The email confirmation WAS wrong. It was not misread or misinterpreted but wrong. This information was shared with several people who relied on the information to make meeting and travel arrangements. The airline’s error WAS caught by my colleagues, but was caught too late. It’s unfortunate the error was not caught earlier. That said, it’s unfortunate that Continental Airlines didn’t provide the correct information to begin with. One assumes that the information an airline provides on an itinerary is accurate. One hopes that an airline will work with a loyal customer to find a satisfactory resolution.

At this point I’m interested in where I can find written accountability of an airline to provide accurate information. I appreciate any leads you can provide.

[bilingual]

Originally Posted by Walla Walla Sweet

I’d appreciate any help in finding a written statement or regulation that governs the situation I’ve posted on. I’m currently wading through the FAA’s website…

The email confirmation WAS wrong. It was not misread or misinterpreted but wrong. This information was shared with several people who relied on the information to make meeting and travel arrangements. The airline’s error WAS caught by my colleagues, but was caught too late. It’s unfortunate the error was not caught earlier. That said, it’s unfortunate that Continental Airlines didn’t provide the correct information to begin with. One assumes that the information an airline provides on an itinerary is accurate. One hopes that an airline will work with a loyal customer to find a satisfactory resolution.

At this point I’m interested in where I can find written accountability of an airline to provide accurate information. I appreciate any leads you can provide.

so far so good... So your email confirmation was wrong, but it was folllowing the actual flightplan? - in that case, you need to find out whether you, your travelprovider or Continental has booked for you, and who are to blame.
In any case you reacted far too late.

[jimworcs]

CO shall not be liable for any punitive, consequential or special damages arising out of or in connection with carriage or other services performed by CO, whether or not CO had knowledge that such damage might be incurred.

Page 41 of Continental's Terms of Carraige, which is a PDF document from their website.

I think it is also out of time... but if you have been fighting all this time, a lawyer might be able to find a way out, but is it worth it?

[Walla Walla Sweet]

The flight was booked directly through Continental. The email confirmation was wrong. The flight followed the actual flight plan. Continental was contacted almost immediately upon discovering the error. I have over 3 pages of notes of my communication with the airline from May 2008 to May of 2009 as well as copies of all email communication. The process was exhausting and didn't result in a satisfactory resolution. Recently I've come across more information and advice on where to file complaints. I'm following that advice. As I stated in another post "Regardless of whether legal action was taken or should have been taken, Continental Airlines has the opportunity to rectify the situation for a previously loyal customer (a OnePass Gold Elite member)." In addition other travelers have the opportunity to learn from the situation. Don't assume the itinerary an airline provides is correct. Always double check! If I find any regulations that govern the situation I'll post them for the forum - after all, knowledge is power.

[Walla Walla Sweet]

Thanks for the quote. Ultimately it's not up to me to decide if a lawyer is worth it... I'll keep you posted.