cigarman,

And I still like CO!!!...when they fly where I'm going at a somewhat competitive price, and when there is a reasonable chance for an upgrade!

But, as you know, a west coast flyer frequently has to go through gyrations to fly CO...indirect routings through IAH or EWR, or island hopping through the Pacific to get to Australia. And these flights are often substantially more expensive than more direct flights on another airline.

Yet, even with all those obstacles placed in my way, I'm still willing to hang in there in order to fly my favorite airline! But, when CO then makes it near impossible to get the upgrade, I start to feel like I've been "had." Failing the upgrade, my "valued customer" elite status gets me crammed into one of the stinkiest economy seats in the industry, with some of the sorriest food in the skies...food so bad that my mouth starts watering for tri-colored pasta!

But what really hurts CO more than anything else is the lack of a strong alliance. Yes, NW and HP fill a couple of the gaps in CO's route system...HP in the west, and NW in Asia. But IMHO, both are substandard airlines that I'd really rather not fly at all. And even with them, there are still serious gaps in world-wide coverage.

Even UA and AA can't fly you every place. Both are weak in central and eastern Europe, the Middle East, and much of Asia. And, as dguruswamy mentioned, UA is weak in South America.

However, both are members of strong alliances with excellent airlines. And if they can't fly you there, their partners can! And you get status miles with their partners, unlike CO's psuedo-partnership with QF. It seems that all the best airlines have been grabbed up by either oneworld or * Alliance. And CO partners with the leftovers...airlines that no one else wants!

For all their talk about being "the fifth largest airline in the U.S.," CO is still for the most part a regional carrier with some fairly good coverage in western Europe, South America, and some small Pacific Islands, but lacking any kind of a serious world partnership to cover the many areas of the world that they don't cover!

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In Economy...no one can hear you scream!
http://www.denycontinentalthefreddie.com/