I'm sure this has been discussed ad nauseam, but I feel compelled to share my thoughts.

I just completed a round-trip EWR-DEN on Continental in F. I have to say, that I'm impressed.

Luggage handling -- At check-in, my bags were tagged with the "premium" tag. When I arrived at DEN my bag was the 3rd off the carousel, and back in EWR it came out among the first 10. Timewise my skis took long to come out in DEN, but they were the 2nd to come off the ski racks, and in EWR they were already out by the time I got to the oversize luggage section. ^

Planes -- both legs were on a 737, albeit a different model. The seats were ok. The plane was in pretty darn good shape and was clean and inviting. No IFE on the flight there, but a movie shown on overhead LCDs on the return. No power ports.

FAs -- they were friendly, personable and helpful. In short, everything you want from a FA. At one point the FA doing the F service went back on the plane to help out. I pushed the call button to ask for a drink, and he practically ran back up to the front to ask me, with a smile (genuine, too), how he might be of help. ^

Meals -- a meal of some sort was offered (I think a soup with a sandwich or salad), but I didn't partake. Cold salted nuts (cashews on the flight to DEN and mixed nuts on the return) were offered as a drink snack at the beginning of the flight. After the meal they baked cookies for the F cabin. ^

Boarding -- The "Elite Access" boarding lane let me get on board the plane without waiting in line in the middle of general boarding. I think this is a fantastic approach to this. It's just a blue carpet with the words "Elite Access" on it, and when you get up to it whoever is doing the boarding takes your boarding pass before going back to handling the rest of the crowd. ^

I think AA could definitely learn a thing or two from its competitors.