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-   -   Continental Airlines (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/continental-airlines-310282/)

quebec Apr 24th, 2003 09:01 AM

Continental Airlines
 
Has any one ever flown them to Europe? What did you think of them? Thanks

Queenie Apr 24th, 2003 09:11 AM


Flew Continental 'non-stop' Zurich-Newark and back last week.

Leaving Zurich, we pulled from the gate 30 minutes before departure time. About 20 minutes after take off, we started descend to - Geneva.

Scary thing was that none of the passengers boarding in Zurich knew about the stop in Geneva; many clearly being distressed. It put us into Newark 2 hours late, and we missed our connections.

The same event happened on our way from Newark-Zurich. I understand the need to consolidate unsold flights, but to not inform the passengers of this is inappropriate.

I would check your flight schedule diligently before leaving.

Other than that, its pretty much as any other american carrier. $5 per drink. Typical plane food fare, limited legroom, 4 or 5 movie selections on the seat back screen in front of you.

Seamus Apr 24th, 2003 09:25 AM

CO is my favorite airline. Zurich is a relatively new route and I've not flown it, have flown CO to London, Frankfurt and Paris on several ocasions. Their 777's are terrific. If you can upgrade to BusinessFirst, by all means do it. They pioneered the concept and offfer excellent service. Each traveler has a favorite carrier, often related to accruing and using FF miles with an airline based close to or with frequent service in their home area. If that's not the major concern and you are more interested in service level, CO is hard to beat overall. The way they went from the worst conceivable airline in the early 90's to their current consistently award winning service is by paying attention to what customers want.

kismetchimera Apr 24th, 2003 09:32 AM

I like flying Continental for overseas travel..The plane is modern, with computer games and tv in every seat. Normally when I go to Paris is the airline that I use the most for convenience, it has a non stop route Houston to Paris...However, in June I will be flying to Rome with AA via London..The fare was great, especially for an open jaw type, coming back I will fly out from Paris to Dallas and then take another plane to my city.

BeachBoi Apr 24th, 2003 09:57 AM

CO is a wonderful international carrier.Very dependable and enjoyable.I used to them of them as only domestic.But then my TA gave me a history lesson and its absolutely amazing!!I try not to "judge" any airline--you nevah know when you might just HAVE to fly them.But I'm impressed when travel professionals respect and airline,particularly in these trying times.I would not hesitate to fly CO on any international route.HTH

ErinS Apr 24th, 2003 10:59 AM

Another CO fan here! :) 4 weeks ago my mother, my 21 month old son and I flew CO from Newark to London (4th time flying CO international, once to London, twice to Brazil). Flights were uneventful (and because the war just started, flights were relatively empty). Flight Attendants were very nice...gave all the kids on board contraband chocolate cookies from the FC cabin. Great choice of movies (Antwone Fisher, Harry Potter, Far From Home, most recent Absolutely Fabulous episodes). We've flown other carriers to Europe (BA, Virgin, Alitalia, Iberia) and have found service to be spotty...but CO has been consistant.

jeri Apr 25th, 2003 05:47 AM

March 2002 flew CO to Ireland--on the way back they were way overbooked. We voluntarily were bumped for 3 days. They put us up in a wonderful hotel, all the food we wanted + my husband and I came home with $3000 worth of flight vouchers! Watching CO's sales we have used the vouchers for tickets to Italy (Dec), England (May), and next December we go to Paris. We think CO is great!

buffy888 Apr 25th, 2003 01:48 PM

We recently flew them for the 2nd time from Houston to London. I do not have any complaints. Attendants were nice, food was okay, leg room was standard, etc. Maybe nothing stellar, but nothing bad either. A few people mentioned the in-flight movies. If individual seat-back monitors are important to you, verify that you will be on one of their 777s as those are the ones that offer the monitors. Their other planes flying to/from Europe may not. They were overbooked on our return flight and were listing our options for different departure date/destination city and mentioned connecting through Cleveland. That would have been on a smaller plane (767 maybe) and she mentioned it would not have the monitors.
They have reduced the number of flights to/from some cities - that may be changing when travel picks back up a bit more.

Hiroshi Apr 25th, 2003 01:56 PM

Frequent business travellers, some of which fly coach, post a lot on www.flyertalk.com > FT Miles > Continental Airlines.

Continental is nothing special. The 777's have personal video screens and normal coach seating.

travelerone Apr 25th, 2003 06:49 PM

All Continental 777 and 767 aircraft are relatively new and all have individual TV monitors on each seatback with multiple program selections. Up thru my european trip late last year, headsets were free on international flights and one was encouraged by the flight attendants to keep them.
In flight service was excellent. Of course, coach class is coach class.
One thing I like about Continental is that their overhead bins seem to be larger than on other airlines since my "full sized" carry-ons fit easily.
With reference to flyertalk.com, there is a small group of "business"? travelers regularly posting (or is it trolling?) their complaints about ridiculous status stuff (like upgrades, $10 fare difference refunds, etc.),

mari3 Apr 25th, 2003 07:06 PM

Having lived in Houston 25 yrs.(the hub) we have taken Continental several times to Europe and they are fine.
--Now we have retired and moved 200 miles away and have the choice of American or Continental. Both have 777's to Europe , but American Airlines' is configured with 2 people on each side, which we like...AND they have a couple of inches more leg room. Continental has 3 on the side, as do all the other airlines who have 777's.
But having said that....Continental is very good for overseas travel, or it always has been in the past.....They have a good frequent flyer program..One Pass......though as with most all airlines, it it sometimes very difficult to get dates one wants to fly for free tickets....and they don't usually have many of these tickets per each flight.

Maira Apr 26th, 2003 05:36 AM

I flew Continental RT to Madrid from Newark. Very pleased with the service; this was on 2001, the year when they were selected best customer service by an airline. They do tend to overbook, so getting to the airport very early is extra crucial with Continental. Their after 5pm overseas flights get very crowded; discuss ahead of time if you/companion would be willing to take vouchers and stay behind as Continental offers are very tempting. When I flew to Madrid, they offered to anybody willing to give up their seat a later flight (4 hours later) to Madrid connecting in Zurich plus a $400 travel voucher. It was funny to see people sprinting to the counter.

SantaChiara Apr 26th, 2003 09:28 AM

Add me as a Continental fan. They have redefined customer service, and fly them for that reason alone. Plus they upgraded me once.

As others have said, airplane configuration, food and all of that are pretty standard industrywide, at least with the top carriers, but for me CO's customer servise outstrips any other airline.


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