Continental

Check the other Contential threads here but I'm afraid we all seem to have struck out with this airline (they changed their no pn policy in early 1999 and at that time they would only honor requests for no pn for flights booked before a certain date).
Since then they have treated any requests with a beligerent attitude. I have started a thread in the "TAKE ACTION" forum to try and get this changed. Good luck with your flight.

We just returned from a round trip Continental flight and they were very accommodating. We are frequent fliers of their airline, but I would hope this was not the reason for the helpfulness. When we make our reservations, we explain that we'd like to request a peanut free flight for our young allergic son. We usually hear their speech that they cannont guarantee a "peanut-free flight as they cannot control what other passengers bring on to the aircraft." We say fine, but please make it a pretzel only flight. The day of the flight, we call to confirm that the request is in the computer. At the gate (this is Key) we speak directly with the gate attendants who are really the people who complete the request. This past weekend, we even had a flight attendant ask 3 different passengers to please put away their personal snack which contained peanuts...they were fortunately all agreeable. As I said, the flight attendants/gate personnel are truly the key. Any flak we have received was usually from the reservationist who is totally removed from the situation. Hope this helps.

pentecost-Do you have any information on who you talked to, what department, or advice on how to get to the right person? I talked to two people on the phone today, one who was pretty matter of fact, and one who was quite pleasant, but both told me it was not possible to request a flight where they would not serve peanuts. The pleasant one said that some flights serve peanuts and some serve pretzels, but they cannot know ahead of time which will be served. I got tickets on Continental because it was the only one with a direct flight CA to OH, the cheapest, and the best times, and my son has never had a reaction on a plane. But I am a little nervous and would like to keep trying to get him a no peanut flight. thanks

Yeah. I'm glad you had a good experience with Continental, but they do not have a cohesive policy. More than once, their customer service dept. has told me that pa is an illness and I cannot fly until I am well again (I've often wondered if they say the same to the wheelchair-bound!) You're greatest hope is the flight crew; they are the ones who will be faced with the emergency if it occurs. Good luck with your flight.

Any advice for dealing with Continental? I seem to be at a deadend. I emailed customer care and got an out of the policy manual I'm sure answer, "Our dinning service department cannot assure that the flight will be peanut free." I explained that I wasn't as worried about peanut products in the served food or peanut products brought on board by the other passengers, but asked if our flight could be a pretzel flight since they serve pretzels instead of peanuts on some of their flights. It took three days for them to respond to my first email, so who know when if ever I will receive a response to this one. I'm sure I know what it will say anyway. I suppose since consensus here seems to be that Continental won't remove peanuts, I should give up, but Pentecost has given me hope.

All else failing, talk to the flight crew... Go early & tell them at the gate, board early and tell them as you board. Friendly but firm. This works some of the time on short flights. It depends on the crew. I flew Continental fairly regularly for a brief time in late 1999 (commuting between Boston & NY w/o a car) because it was a 45min flight and they were the only airline to fly that route. They were always accommodating leaving Logan; 50-50 shot out of Newark. It's worth a try.
Of course, I recently had one mild reaction on a "peanut-free" flight & I may never fly again, but in terms of peanut policy, Continental is the WORST. I'm glad somebody had a good experience; that's hopeful. Do the best you can (but I would choose another airline in the future.)
Have a safe trip! I'll think good thoughts.

I changed our flight to an early morning flight. I had thought of this earlier, but two different Continental agents told me they could not guarantee that even an early morning flight would not serve peanuts. However,one of the two people I emailed in Customer Care emailed me that she had checked with the director of dining services who assured her that peanuts are not stocked on flights before 10am. Out of the probably dozen Continental people I had spoken/emailed with, finally one made an effort to help me. Then they allowed me to switch my flight without paying. So, even though Continental is at the bottom of my airline list (every other airline I called-American, Delta, USAir, Southwest, America West, TWA- were all willing to remove peanuts from my flight), at least a couple of Continental people helped us get on a plane that is not serving peanuts. Now if they serve peanuts on that plane, after all the time I have spent on this I will probably go berserk.
Sillyfeline-thanks for your thoughts

We have flown Continental with success. I had also tried reserving a peanut free flight and met the same silliness. However, I have learned that asking the gate attendants and then checking again with the flight attendants as we board has helped. They even took boxes of peanuts off the plane for me. And booking early morning flights is a real help. We have never been on one where they served nuts, only breakfast (which my son doesn't eat-we pack his own). Good Luck to you! (We are flying again in July - keeping fingers crossed!)

Okay people. I flew Continental from El Paso to Pittsburgh, via Houston, with my sons (the 5 1/2 yr old is PA). No, the people on the phone were not very nice and of course they could not guarantee my child's safety. HOWEVER we brought our own food, Benadryl, Epi-pen, and surgical masks in two styles. The folks at the gate were more than understanding and helpful, but unfortunately there were only peanuts loaded that day. Alec wore his mask and had a slight reaction --- "itchies" around one eye --- but nothing more. On our return flight we were just as prepared, and they served pretzels at our request. No mask, and no problems. CHEERS to the folks at the gate who literally ran to alert the flight crew about Alec's allergy. CHEERS to the flight crews who were so kind to us on every leg of our flight. And praising God for a safe trip all around! *A word of caution: the pretzels served were processed by a nut company, so I wouldn't chance it.
[This message has been edited by RitchiesGirl (edited June 14, 2001).]