Continental

Flying with an American airline isn't that great, sadly enough. Or maybe you're spoiled when used to Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, etc. Anyway, Continental is maybe not the worst, yet still very bad.

Have tried to fly with them six times. How many times have I arrived on time, on the flight I booked? Not once. This is how the story goes:

1. Oslo - Philadelphia Jan 5, 06: Delayed from Oslo, late arrival Newark. Flight to Philly already departed when I get through Customs and Immigration. Have to wait in line at the dedicated re-check area for 1h20 mins, to get a ticket for the next train to Philly. When did the last train leave? 20 mins ago. When is the next train? 1.5 hours. Arrival Philly: 3 hours late.
2. Philadelphia - Oslo Jan 11, 06: Flight to Newark cancelled. Back to central Philly, train to Newark. Arrived in Oslo pretty much on time (surprise, surprise).
   
3. Oslo - Philadelphia Feb 17, 06: Delayed 50 mins from Oslo, arrived on time to Newark. Looking good! Flight from Newark to Philly cancelled. Yeah! Which means standing in that terrible queue again, to get the train ticket. Only an hour in line this time, so I made the earlier train.Arrival Philly: 1.5 hours late.
4. Newark - Burlington, VT March 3, 06: Try to do the train straight to Newark. Train 40mins late. Arrive Newark, see that flight is delayed 1h15, supposedly due to late arriving aircraft. Board, then sit for 35 mins before plane starts moving to the runway. Arrive Burlington, VT 1h45 late. Then have to go pick up rental car and drive for 45 mins. Arrival Stowe, VT: 2 hours late.
5. Burlington, VT - Newark March 5, 06: Arrive airport with plenty of time before departure. Guess what: flight delayed 1h05mins! Eat dinner, go through security. 7:25pm - the new departure time: no plane at the gate yet. That finally arrives, we depart. Arrive Newark 2 hours late. Last train to Philly that actually stops at the airport left 10 mins ago. So have to catch a train in the wrong direction to get on the next train to Philly. Arrival Philly: 1 hour late.
6. Philly - Newark - Oslo July 19, 06: Flight from Philly to Newark actually operated by Amtrak. But is the train running on time? Of course not? The track is too hot. But have plenty of time to catch the connecting flight at Newark. Or maybe not. Arrive at the check-in area at Newark 65 mins before departure. Multiple check-in areas with long queues, so ask Continental guy where to go to make sure I catch my soon departing flight to Oslo. He looks around and points towards to nearest queue and reassures me that I won't have any trouble catching my flight. 57 mins before departure I reach the check-in kiosk, and have another Continental guy try to help me check in. But I have a bag to check, and bag check cutoff is 60 mins before departure... Continental is happy to rebook me on the next day's flight, but say it's my fault that I missed my connection... and offer no compensation, hotel or anything. So after a long argument I tell them to get lost, and refund my ticket. S is flying Lufthansa, and they're happy to sell me a reasonably priced ticket on the same flight as her. And I even got upgraded to Business class on the return flight...
   

So the flights may be cheap, but the queues are long, the flights late and the system and people incredibly inefficient. Don't even get me started on the check-in process at Newark airport.