Continental opinions?

[Salsa Dancer]

I just found a big price drop for Michigan (GRR) to Barcelona on Continental ($753 pp/rtrip).

 

Frequent fliers: How do you feel about this airline?

[spongerob]

With any airline it depends on the aircraft, your itinerary, and other factors. I like CO and feel that they do a good job. I'm very concerned about changes that might occur as a result of the merger with UA. Apparently working for the two airlines is a night and day difference.

 

I have to say, CO is one of the few service providers anywhere where I've taken the time to compliment employees on their customer service. They do seem to have a lot of people that go above and beyond.

[mjesf]

With any airline it depends on the aircraft, your itinerary, and other factors. I like CO and feel that they do a good job. I'm very concerned about changes that might occur as a result of the merger with UA. Apparently working for the two airlines is a night and day difference.

 

I have to say, CO is one of the few service providers anywhere where I've taken the time to compliment employees on their customer service. They do seem to have a lot of people that go above and beyond.

 

I switched to CO to escape UA.

[Mr. Click]

I will echo what Spongerob said. I have been in their elite program for 20+ years so I have seen the bad times under Frank Lorenzo when no one cared about anything, especially the customers and the good times started by Gordon Bethune when they ousted Lorenzo. My most recent interaction came when I found out the fare on my EWR to SJU had dropped two weeks after I booked it. I called customer service and they refunded the difference for 4 of us with a smile and then asked what else they could do to help. Yes, I worry about the merger but the good news there is CO is the buyer, even if they are keeping the UA name. Grab those seats while you can.

[njhorseman]

I will echo what Spongerob said. I have been in their elite program for 20+ years so I have seen the bad times under Frank Lorenzo when no one cared about anything, especially the customers and the good times started by Gordon Bethune when they ousted Lorenzo. My most recent interaction came when I found out the fare on my EWR to SJU had dropped two weeks after I booked it. I called customer service and they refunded the difference for 4 of us with a smile and then asked what else they could do to help. Yes, I worry about the merger but the good news there is CO is the buyer, even if they are keeping the UA name. Grab those seats while you can.

 

Not so...it's a merger of equals, neither bought the other, and it's really unclear how it will shake out in the end. I would say the good news is that the CEO is coming from CO.

[6rugrats]

Not so...it's a merger of equals, neither bought the other, and it's really unclear how it will shake out in the end. I would say the good news is that the CEO is coming from CO.

Exactly; thanks for pointing this out.

 

OP - I honestly don't think there is a big difference in coach between any of the legacy carriers. I prefer UA because I like Economy Plus. I had a flight last year, EWR-MAD on CO in a 757. That plane was so small and the seats so tight (I am not a large person), that it was very uncomfortable. The crew was also awful. On the way back, I had an exit row seat, a better crew, and it was much, much more pleasant. Don't think I'd book a TATL on a 757 ever again.

[kenish]

I recently flew both UA and CO...service was very good on both considering the rock-bottom fare I paid. The safety video on both airlines started with a message from the CEO. It was the usual pablum about "synergy", "enhanced customer experience", etc. etc. On all 3 flights there were snickers and chuckles among the huddled masses. :)

 

Have to say I was impressed with 2 things....our UA flight from SFO-HNL was ready for pushback from the gate. The captain announced that a display on the flight deck was not booting up and they had to remove power from the aircraft. They can't do that with passengers aboard (some safety systems are disabled). We had to disembark with our carry-ons, in case of an aircraft change. In the gate area they promised updates every 15 minutes and did exactly that. Sometimes there was nothing new to report; other times they gave a fairly technical update. I appreciated that since I'm a private pilot and also in the avionics industry. Long story short they replaced a power panel and the total delay was only 1 hour. Kudos to UA for being very proactive.

 

The second impressive thing was the LiveTV system on the HNL-SNA leg, a CO 737-700. The realtime feeds didn't work until 200 miles from the mainland due to licensing issues, but the canned video was great.

[AZjohn]

As has been posted, UA and CO are merging as we speak (one didn’t purchase the other). But the CEO and his upper staff of CO will be managing the merged company eventually and would guess they will run the airline like CO does now.

During this merger this coming year there is going to be a lot of equipment swaps (between CO and UA aircraft). So I’m not betting if I’m booked on a UA 757 in economy plus seats (like 6rugrats and I enjoy) it will stay that way and may end up in one of those cramped seats in Y (economy) on a CO bird.

 

Needless to say, it will be an interesting year ahead for those of us flying UA and CO during the merger.

John

[kenish]

During this merger this coming year there is going to be a lot of equipment swaps (between CO and UA aircraft). So I’m not betting if I’m booked on a UA 757 in economy plus seats (like 6rugrats and I enjoy) it will stay that way and may end up in one of those cramped seats in Y (economy) on a CO bird.

 

Until COA and UAL get a common FAA Operating Certificate, they must be run as separate companies where aircraft, crew, training, maintenance, etc. are concerned. That will probably happen next fall. In the meantime the only way a COA aircraft can be substituted on a UAL flight is if the crew are COA crew because cross-training is very expensive....essentially COA is operating the flight for UAL; sort of a "silent codeshare". In this type of situation I believe the flight number, flight plan filed, and the radio calls will all be "Continental". It took awhile for AWE and NWA flights to disappear.

[Fattony]

You'll be fine. I can't think of any reason to avoid them and take another carrier, if the price and schedule suit you.