Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Since this was MY thread, I'll just nonchalantly mention that I'll be using miles for a free First Class flight to Asia this year. That's what Continental will give me for my 15-plus years of loyalty and untold thousands of dollars spent flying their airline.
Originally Posted By TDR_Fan I'm also using my miles for a free flight to Japan this summer More money for me to splurge on fancy dining and a balcony room in the MiraCosta!
Originally Posted By Mr X I'd love to hear how first class on Continental is...I've flown thrice now Tokyo to Newark (coach class), and found it to be one of the better airlines out there (United was the worst in my experience, horrible food and service!).
Originally Posted By The Goddess Mara Too bad, Mr X, that you had a bad time on United. I fly United exclusively and have been around the world about 30 times.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN I use my seniority to get to the parks and get paid for it in the process, so I guess I freeload too, in a sense LOL!!
Originally Posted By The Goddess Mara No matter how hard we work, we are all "freeloaders" on the highway of life.
Originally Posted By Mr X Mara, do you find it okay in general? I only had one experience (one way, from Detroit (maybe...I don't remember) to Tokyo). So, I shouldn't paint it all with one negative brush I suppose. I will say this though, I can choke down just about any food...but the "meal" I was served prior to landing was literally inedible. I took only one bite. The stewardess was like "what, you don't want it?", and I was like "I'm very hungry, but no I can't eat this". Reminds me of a great story though...we were flying business class on ANA, I was with a colleague who was sitting a few rows in front of me. The choices for breakfast were rather weird, there was some kind of beef curry thing as the "Western" meal, and the Japanese meal was a typical Japanese breakfast (I can't do that stuff in the morning!)...so anyway they asked me what I wanted and I just said "no thanks". Well, the ANA folks couldn't take "no" for an answer so they brought me an awsome bacon, eggs, pancakes etc. meal from first class. When my colleague asked if I had the curry or the fish, I replied "bacon, eggs, and pancakes" and MAN was he pissed! lol.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I'd love to hear how first class on Continental is...I've flown thrice now Tokyo to Newark (coach class), and found it to be one of the better airlines out there (United was the worst in my experience, horrible food and service!).>> I can't comment on US-Asia flights since I've never been. But I fly Continental about 90% of the time and probably fly in First Class about 3/4ers of the time. I've also flown them FC to Europe. I find their service, for the most part, to be excellent. Great seats ... especially the sleepers on the 777s ... a varied entertainment offering, wonderful and plentiful food and a sundae cart! Service is usually professional, but not overly friendly. My only other FC experience has been with Delta and NW both domestically and I would choose Continental over those airlines any day. My only FC complaint with Continental would be the ocassional lack of ANY food service on say a flight from Fort Lauderdale or Palm Beach to Houston or Newark. Yes, the flights are only 2-2 1/2 hours. But that's immaterial. You should always have food in FC ... always. I also don't like the fact you can no longer get wide-body service on any cross country flights on Continental, but I realize that is an industry trend. But internationally, I can't imagine any US carrier offering better service upfront than Continental.
Originally Posted By Mr X The only first class flights I've been on have been short jumps (Detroit to Boston, Chicago to Florida etc...) and nothing special. This was on several airlines. There was food, but nothing to rave about. In fact, I'd say that domestic first class is not worth much at all, hardly different than coach (yeah, slightly bigger seat...big deal). Long haul, different story (of course). I've enjoyed Northwest and ANA business class to Japan, and I'd give the slight edge to ANA overall BUT, having a very western palate, I liked Northwest's food choices a little better (the first class breakfast notwithstanding lol).
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<The only first class flights I've been on have been short jumps (Detroit to Boston, Chicago to Florida etc...) and nothing special. This was on several airlines. There was food, but nothing to rave about. In fact, I'd say that domestic first class is not worth much at all, hardly different than coach (yeah, slightly bigger seat...big deal).>> I'd say you've never flown Continental from Newark to LAX. The food is great complete with a menu with numerous choices. The seats are terrific too. If you're taking a 737 on a 2-3 flight in the USA, even in first you're not going to get much more than a few extra inches of leg room, all the free booze you can consume and maybe a meal. <<Long haul, different story (of course). I've enjoyed Northwest and ANA business class to Japan, and I'd give the slight edge to ANA overall BUT, having a very western palate, I liked Northwest's food choices a little better (the first class breakfast notwithstanding lol).>> I've heard that many of the Asian carriers put US carriers to shame with food, service etc ... hopefully, I'll get to experience that myself. But my first flight to China/Japan will be on Continental.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN I highly recommend Continental Airlines for most travel around the World at least of the US airlines out there. Excellent food and service. Besides that, I would fly Cathay, ANA, Singapore and Qatar. Other than that... most airlines are crap. Excellent food and service. ..And speaking of crap, AVOID like the plague: any chinese or russian careers, British, NWA, AA, and most low cost carriers, except JetBlue.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< The only first class flights I've been on have been short jumps (Detroit to Boston, Chicago to Florida etc...) and nothing special. This was on several airlines. There was food, but nothing to rave about. In fact, I'd say that domestic first class is not worth much at all, hardly different than coach (yeah, slightly bigger seat...big deal). >>> Continental is about the only carrier to still have free food domestically, either in coach or first. The seat is the most obvious advantage of first class, but then there's also free drinks, a pre-departure drink, hanging up of your coat, a smaller passenger-to-lavatory ratio, and getting on and off the airplane first. They all add up to make it a more pleasant experience, although it's perhaps not so important if you don't travel a lot. But you're right - the long-haul flights are a completely different story. <<< I find their service, for the most part, to be excellent. Great seats ... especially the sleepers on the 777s ... a varied entertainment offering, wonderful and plentiful food and a sundae cart! Service is usually professional, but not overly friendly. >>> Continental's BusinessFirst service (which is their only premium cabin, marketed as "first class service at a business class price") is the same to Asia as it is to Europe, except for the expanded meal service. Since the flight is 12 or so hours, there are three meals served: dinner upon departure, lunch mid-way, and breakfast before arrival. The Japan flights also have two extras not found on other flights: sushi on the appetizer cart, and bathroom slippers for your feet.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Of course... even the crappiest food and seats can be an enjoyable experience if you have a decent crew that cares about their job... and also if you fly a carrier that cares to properly staff the cabin with enough crew members to deliver the service quickly and efficiently... AND with a smile. But airlines' management (in the USA especially) has single-handedly sabotaged those principles of great service by cutting back staffing, and taking away 20-40% of the hard earned wages from the crew. Concidering crew members have to put up with bad manners and complaints about things that are out of their control, sick passengers, lousy maintenance practices, crammed spaces, ever-changing work hours and reschedulings, and simply *putting their lives in the hands of God everytime they take to the skies* ..while short-staffed in those broken down flying machines...while managing to administer CPR or first aid, or delivering a newborn child every so often... or being vomited on by sick kids... Well... the point I am trying to make is that is easy to B*** and Moan about airline food and seats when you haven't got a clue about what the inflight cabin staff has to deal with... with a smile of course
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< I also don't like the fact you can no longer get wide-body service on any cross country flights on Continental, but I realize that is an industry trend. >>> Continental is also flying 757's (which are single-aisle narrow-body aircraft) from Newark to many of the smaller destinations in Europe! <<< ..And speaking of crap, AVOID like the plague: any chinese or russian careers, British, NWA, AA, and most low cost carriers, except JetBlue. >>> Your recommendations are interesting. I see where you're coming from as far as Chinese and Russian carriers (especially those still operating Russian-built aircraft), and I'm assuming that you're not excluding Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, which is widely regarded as one of the world's best airlines. For me, I rather like AA's service, so I'm curious as to why you'd not recommend them. Since AA still has three-cabin service (coach, business, and first) instead of a single-cabin premium hybrid plus coach, you get the benefit of a seat that can go completely flat and horizontal if you're in first. If you plan on doing a lot of sleeping (not unreasonable for a 12-hour flight), then the flat, horizontal seat is the way to go. The quality of the crew between CO and AA is about equal, and I've never had a bad experience on either. And how can we have this conversation without bringing up the topic of freeloading (also known as redeeming frequent flyer miles)? Unless you plan to spend an arm and a leg for a first class ticket or have a way to have someone else pay for you, most people are probably not going to fly in first class on AA unless they use miles. AA first requires the same amount of miles as CO's business, and it's generally easier to get a ticket on AA. But TDLFAN, you would have been proud of me: on my recent trip, I flew on a full-fare business ticket on all segments. My freeloading was reserved for my nights at the Sheraton.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>and I'm assuming that you're not excluding Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, which is widely regarded as one of the world's best airlines.<< Re-read my post. I do not consider Cathay to be a 'chinese' airline. heck, I do not even concider Hong Kong to be a chinese territory. Too much freedom to be chinese there.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< But airlines' management (in the USA especially) has single-handedly sabotaged those principles of great service by cutting back staffing, and taking away 20-40% of the hard earned wages from the crew. >>> I think there are the twin factors of bad management and globalization at work here (and whatever you'd call a domestic-only version of globalization). What's interesting is that people often blame the worker for poor quality, whether it's a manufactured good or a service, as that's the most visible direct cause. But I think that poor quality in the end is ALWAYS a management problem, both in that it's caused by management and can only be fixed by management.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Re-read my post. I do not consider Cathay to be a 'chinese' airline. heck, I do not even concider Hong Kong to be a chinese territory. Too much freedom to be chinese there. >>> Yes, my mistake - you did mention Cathay. And the Chinese definately kept their promise of "One Country, Two Systems" when the British gave back Hong Kong.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>But I think that poor quality in the end is ALWAYS a management problem, both in that it's caused by management and can only be fixed by management.<< That is why you can never become a manager perse.. you *UNDERSTAND* that very simple principle. But you also have to place blame on the part of the advisors those CEOs are getting from some twit employed to give them. ("Suck them employees dry to the bones and stuff your personal coffers, Sir!! BTW... the bill for my advisory services is $1,254,989 please") Yes, those corporate wh*r*s do cost them management as lot of money as well that should have been invested in better services and happier "payrolled" employes.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< That is why you can never become a manager perse.. you *UNDERSTAND* that very simple principle. >>> Well, perhaps I could never become a BAD manager - the good ones understand this principle!
