I've never NOT had it on continental either

On UA First... towel only probably 25% of the time

The aircraft is a 737-800 which leads me to believe the screens come down from overhead and there is no Direct TV. In response to the poster who told me to go to CO website, I did, and did not find the answers to my questions THAT IS WHY I CAME ON HERE. I want to thank everyone who responded to my questions.

The first 738 is converted to LiveTV and others are following. There are a lot of planes to convert so you won't really know until the aircraft for your specific flight is assigned.

That member was actually pointing you to something specific on the CO site - the in-flight ammenities feature. It tells you the actual details of what is offered on your flight. Just put in your flight number for today's travel date and you'll get a very good estimate (99%+) of what you're likely to experience on your flight.

It was actually a reasonably valuable suggestion. Did you try it or just assume that it was worthless?

sbm,

I was referring to the poster who began with "um"

Gotcha...that wasn't particularly helpful or friendly at all.:)

The FL-hub flights are definitely dysfunctional when it comes to meal service. FL-EWR used to get the downgraded service, while the slightly better choices went to FL-IAH.

I've been flying to/from IAH at meal times almost exclusively and every time we get soup/sandwich, cookie packet and no choice. I thought EWR would be the same, or even worse....but...

Last week was my first dinner flight to EWR (CO1800) in a couple of years - and lo and behold, we received an entree choice of chicken wrap or beef tips with soup, salad and plated dessert.

Needless to say, the beef tips was one of the best meals I ever had on CO. Melt-in-you-mouth tender, flavorful and perfectly cooked - even the mashed potatoes retained texture and flavor and the asparagus remained green and slightly crisp. It looks like they just sliced off the edge of the not-always-so-good BF Sterling Steak, and slow cooked it until it softened up into tender flaky goodness.

So - whereas it would be easy to call the OP's lunch flight as "soup and sandwich", they might be surprised with a choice of two hot entrees or one salad and one hot option.

If the flight is a 738, it will be overhead video with the Continental Comedy Channel (after getting through MIA, you'll need a good laugh).

It's weird. I fly MCO-EWR (and back) and usually receive full meal service at meal times in F. I am not sure what makes other FL markets so wonky (the idea that most people who travel them are leisure fares?), but, aside from the boatload of screaming kids - MCO seems to get decent service.

In my opinion, things were a little better just a few years ago (not necessarily the Golden Age of Flying!), when the legacy carriers were doing all they could to take the LCCs head on - i.e. DL using Song as a competitor for Jet Blue on MCO routes. It seemed like the legacies made a push to use aircraft with IFE and meals to differentiate themselves from the likes of Jet Blue and Southwest.

Then, they all went into survival mode. And, that was that.

I think in 10 years, I haven't had it once, maybe twice. The best, though, was a flight from SFO to IAH back when the sundaes were still around. The FA "skipped" the towel service before the meal and brought it after the sundaes. Several of us commented that this was pretty clever and appreciated! :cool:

I prefer my cognac at room temperature. FA's sometimes heat it; sometimes not; I've never had one ask my preference. Once in a while, when I order a "cognac", they say "What?". I translate to "Courvoisier" and they say "Oh, OK".

Coffee with Baileys is also a nice FC perk.

bocastephen,

Your last comment made me laugh :) Is MIA that bad? I have only flown out from MCO in the past.

Sort of like a version of "It's a small world"... from hell.

This year, I've flown CO almost exclusively and enough to make Platinum. I've been in F probably a third of the time. Any time there has been a meal, there has always been hot towel service. I don't understand while others haven't received similar service.

They make the benefits sound better than the really are. the preflight drink isn't a guarantee, the seats don't always work well and the padding on most of them is seems to be gone. You also DO get complimentary Direct TV in first class while coach has to be $6, which is a ripoff in my opinion.

Two Words: Gin & Tonic

^^^