continental for international flight
 

Hi, I have never flown Continental really anywhere. Just a little commuter plane, which was great. I am looking at the prices into Milan out of Rome. They have the best fare by far. Is it worth the reduced fare? I am just a bit hesitate to use Continental, I have read some pretty bad things, but I am sure there are bad things about every airline. Just wanting some feed back. Thanks for any help. Jer

What bad things. It's probably the best run US carrier.

Going to/from Italy, you'll be on a widebodies 767 or 777. So, you won't be on a narrowbodied 757, which may be what you've been reading about.

$5 for beer, wine and alcohol and 31 inch seating are the negatives. But if you don't drink and your not overweight, you should be ok.

767s to MXP and FCO are 32" pitch.

The CO 767s are pretty comfortable, and perfectly acceptable for coach. You won't be blown away, but it will be okay. I would book them without hesitation if they were the cheapest.

I find the 757s pretty tough to take for international flights, though, so some of the negative comments may have been about those planes.

If CO's fare is best by far, then that's the airline I'd take. There's nothing about Continental service or safety record to make that much difference.

As CLE is one of my home airports I use CO often. They are one of my favorite airlines.

Thanks guys for the information. It is by far the cheapeast. That was one thing that kind of scared me!

When they're not the cheapest, then others will complain their price is not competitive. :)

I live in Houston, so I fly Continental for business and personal travel. I've never had a bad experience. I fly overseas several times a year, and have always had a great flight. I wouldn't hesitate to book your flight with them.

Echoing the previous posters - unless you are on one of the dreaded 757's it should be fine. The major complaint about the 757 is that it is a single aisle craft. Seat pitch on the -200 configuration is 31", same as the 777, but the single aisle makes it much less comfortable. On the 757-300 the pitch is same as on 767 (32") but still single aisle.

I don't understand how having two aisles rather than one makes a plane far more comfortable. You can only use one aisle at a time, or are you running laps.

I don't mind the 750 series planes, as using them opens up far more destinations than if only the 760 and 770 were used. I think there is a little more convenience for a couple in the 760 because of the 2 3 2 seating, so you are unlikely to have to climb over a stranger to get to the aisle, but you have that problem in the 3 3 3 seating in the 770 series, and no one ever whines about how horrible that is.

Its not as though one plane gave a rougher ride than the other, so for tourist tickets, I'll opt for the convenience of more flights over the asserted superior comfort of fewer flights using only the 760 and 770.

I've had consistently good experience with Continental, which is why I remain in their frequent flyer program.

To those from CLE, a 757-200 is a jumbo jet!

:p Sorry, clevelandbrown, I can't pass on this one.

<i>but you have that problem in the 3 3 3 seating in the 770 series, and no one ever whines about how horrible that is.</i>

I whine about it. I really dislike the 777 in a 3-3-3 layout. I much prefer taking a 767, A330/A340, or even a 777 in a 2-5-2 layout. The 747 with 3-4-3 is also no fun when full. And the 787 will be the worst of them all, once they cram 3-3-3 into it - might even challenge the 757 for miserableness.

And, all that aside, the 777 is still better than the 757, as it is brighter, less claustrophobic, and has 33% more aisle seats as a % of total seats.

I flew CO internationally for the first time this Christmas (CLT-EWR-LIS). That's a 757. By checking in on-line the day before the flight, I was able to secure exit rows both coming and going and was relatively comfortable. The food going EWR-LIS was bad even for airline food, but the return flight LIS-EWR was palatable. The flight attendants were good although one was flirting with the three single women seated across the aisle from me the whole flight over. Phone numbers were exchanged.... (Or were they all flirting with him? ((H)) )

It wasn't so much the plane or Continental that bothered me as it was that five-star museum to the best state in the country, Newuhk Airport. They just need to nuke that airport and start over from scratch. Among other things, on the flight back home EWR-CLT, the pilot came on the intercom while we were taxiing and said something that made the whole plane groan: &quot;Ladies, and gentlemen, I have some bad news [if the pilot tells you up front that there's bad news, you know it's really bad]. We are currently #25 for departure. It will be at least an hour before we take off.&quot;

clevelandbrown - having two aisles means more interior room and in flight mobility. Even if the seat pitch is equivalent, a larger plane with two aisles feels more spacious. In addition, with one aisle passengers have to do battle with service carts to get to the rest room or just get up and move about the cabin. For shorter flights it may be tolerable, but on transatlantic routes it is a major PIA and subject of lots of complaints.

Love Continental international schedules, flights on time, TV in every seat. Flew RT from San Francisco to Switzerland and Israel.