flying with continental

[cloudskimmer]

hi all im flying with continental from manchester in april ,i pressume it will be a b767 to ottawa via newark.. .i am flying economy and i wonder if any of you have flown with them as i have heard there not all there made out to be... . p.s. dont tell me i should of stuck with air canada

[World Traveller]

Well in my expereince CO have been OK, and at least on the 767 there is seat back IFE, which there wasn't on the 757 and DC-10 I have used. By no means is Y class as 'lavish' as, say, VS, or even BA, but I don't have a huge problem with that (as I'm booked on CO in March). Never had any hige problems on CO - an irritating 3 hour weather delay at Newark and a silly tech 757..also at Newark. (Watch out for tail# 58101, its a banger!). Mind you, considering I tend to pay the cheapest prices, I'm happy with a seat!

CO positives: very rewarding FFP (OnePass), and they have Samuel Adams beer on board!

WT. .(slightly bemused at calling Y class lavish!)

[chrishowley]

Continental MAN - EWR flights are served by a 777 not a 767. I believe the 777 replaced a DC10 on the route. Flight numbers 20 and 21 from memory.

And yes having Sam Adams on board is a very good reason for flying CO as its just about the only half decent beer you'll ever get on an American carrier! (whines.. longing to a pint of Timothy Talyors Landlord!)

OnePass is indeed the best of the frequent flyer programmes.

[ 14 February 2002: Message edited by: ExiledTyke ]</p>

[G.C.PERK]

Hi,. .You will be flying on the 767-400ER as I believe they are planning to switch from the 777 March 16th. Well this is how they are selling it anyway!. .Having flown with Co a fair few times now I can honestly say they have been fantastic! <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[World Traveller]

The funky ability to preselect your seats when booking on continental.com show a 777 for my outbound 14Mar02 and 767-400 returning on 17Mar02. I believe it is the 16th that they change. Excellent, 2 new types to fly on.....

Now, can we have something decent down here in Birmingham please?

World Traveller. .Nah, Coach Class

[cloudskimmer]

well thanks for that all..... .i am looking forward to it anyway i have window seats on all my journeys and i will try out the beer you on about....once again thanks

is the connecting flight from newark to ottawa a embraer 145 ???

[World Traveller]

CO4082 STD 1500L is an Embraer RJ, yes.

If you're so inclined the entire CO timetable is downloadable. So i did.

WT

[World Traveller]

BTW Cloud Skimmer, Sam Adams is

1) better on draft (those Yanks ain't got much of a clue about beer but this one hits the spot...)

2) available in Majestic Wine Warehouses, £24 for a crate of 24. Just enjoying one now in fact...

On CO, its a screw top bottle, so don't embarass yourself asking the FA for a bottle opener....like I did....

WT. .nah, BusinessFirst....

[knobbygb]

One thing to watch on your return journey...

When flying back to MAN (or anywhere else) from EWR, allow plent of time for connections - the last 3 times I have connected to flight 20 the connecting flight arrived in plenty of time, but we then sat on the tarmac for anything from 20 mins to 45 mins waiting for a gate! On each case we had to rush straight to the departure gate and had no time to grab refreshments, duty-free etc.

For what it's worth CO seem pretty much the same as all the other transatlantic carriers I've used - not brilliant but no complaints - you get what you pay for. One thing I noticed which was good is that they seem to come through the cabin about every 30 minutes with water etc. - good idea on long haul (particularly with all that beer you'll be drinking).

Enjoy your trip.

[chrishowley]

Good to hear that you can get Sam Adams in the UK. Now could you kindly tell me where I can get: Theakstons, Black Sheep, Marstons Pedigree and Timothy Taylors Landlord in New York???

[Pax Vobiscum]

Can't help you there Mr T - you can get Boddies, but it's under gas (and it's never been the same since they left Strangeways). Do you know Keen's Chop House (72 W 36th St)? It's the nearest thing to a British pub in Manhattan (though the locals all think it's Irish - sigh) and they have Brooklyn Ale which is drinkable.

There's also a pub near the South St Seaport which has a good range of bottled beers.

P V

[chrishowley]

Thanks for the advice - don't actually know the places you refer to. Best places I've come across are the Ginger Man (36th street ish) and DBA (2nd street ish) couple of other decent places but as you say anywhere that reckons its British or Irish seems to have Bass, Guiness and Boddies - not quite what I'm after. But nowt travels well anyway so why bother - will just have to go back home!

Agree that Brooklyn Lager is probably the best of the American beers and we have to be thankful for that - was in a hotel in Florida recently where the darkest beer was Heineken - ugh!

[cloudskimmer]

thanx all . . i feel much better and am looking so forward to it

[chrishowley]

Apolgies for the digression CS but I hope a quick chat about beer is allowed.

About to digress again - currently holding a reservation for EWR-MAN at the end of March (so presumably this will be a 767 service) with (extremely luckily) an upgrade - anyone tell me what the buinessfirst is like - I've flown BA business and CO domestic first but wondered how they compare on international routes?

[malanda]

I got upgraded on MAN-EWR once back in the DC10 days. It was a very pleasant experience; certainly better than BA Business. I don't remember what beer they served, but the wine did the trick. I can't speak for CO domestic First, but I'd guess the transatlantic offering is better. (On Delta, the domestic 'BusinessElite' compares poorly with the transatlantic version, but is still better than First)

ps. Have DL scrapped domestic BusinessElite now?

[chrishowley]

thanks small em.

Looks like Delta domestic no longer has Business Elite and they just call it first. If this is the case it copares to CO who have domestic first and international BusinessFirst.

Was offered a decent upgrade fare on the CO flight so I think I'll confirm it finally get back to blightly <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[World Traveller]

Hi all,. .. .Back from EWR: B777 out was OK, B767-400 back is a more comfortable airplane (in Y), as there is 32" pitch compared to 31" on the Triple. Seat back IFE worked well, if all-American, FA's courteous and professional as usual, Sam Adams available, as usual, food still crap, as usual. CO still rock.. .. .The biggest problem will be the length of security queues at Newark! Talk about incompetent....I will NEVER criticise BAA ever again! I thought BAA had some interest in EWR, however they didn't share their experience in reasonably efficient security processing (even if EWR is building loads of new shops!) Too many jumped up kids with too much power and too few brains there! Notably all employed by some private security company far too irrelevant to remember the name of.. .. .The new rail link to manhatten seemed to work well, though the Sunday service needs improvement.. .. .Regards. .. .World Traveller

[chrishowley]

Excellent info World Traveller - thanks. Fly ewr-man next week on CO - will be no longer exiled!!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" />