Read about discounted J fares to Europe on CO and thought I'd give them a try. I'm a long time DL Medallion flyer (125K this year to date), but had never flown on CO. Since they recently joined Skyteam and I can get DL Skymiles and MQMs; and having heard that CO Business First is great, it was an opportune moment.
Flew LIT-IAH on CO Express on 11/22; bad thunderstoms in IAH area force diversion to Alexandria, Louisiana. We were on the ground there for about 4.5 hours before continuing onto IAH. When we initially landed at AEX, they put us in a glassed in cubicle with restrooms for about 1.5 hours before people started demanding restrooms. Finally, they let us exit the secure area for the restrooms. In the 4.5 hours we were in the AEX terminal, there was ONE single announcement about our status (at one point, they announced that it would be another one hour delay). I know the weather was bad, but they could at least have given us occasional announcements letting us know what was happenining, even if nothing was happening. By the time I got to IAH, the London flight had long since left. They rebooked me on the same flight the following day. Initially, they were not going to provide hotel because it was a weather delay. DL policy is also no hotel for weather, but for Platinum they usually bend the policy and put you up. Finally, after talking to a supervisor and telling her that we were literally locked in a glass cubicle in Alexandria without restrooms, she agreed to provide a hotel. I asked about my luggage, she said to check at the luggage desk. The lady there said that they would check my bag on the next day's flight. I asked if I could get it that night; she absolutely refused to get it. She said that they were not getting any bags for any customer with a missed connection.
Next day, I flew to LGW in Business First on CO34. It was a very nice flight with great service. The things I've read about BF on CO are right, it rivals the business class service on non-US carriers. Flying back, I was on CO11 from Paris. Again, great service, good food, lots of food, a decent J class seat to sleep in, good entertainment.
Connected to CO Express for the IAH-LIT leg. Again, a bad experience. Flight left from gate B84B. I know that some of you know this, but gates B84A-E are basically a bus terminal. The place was a zoo, extremely crowded. Time came and passed for my flight. Finally, about 15 late, my flight is called, we go out and get on a bus and are driven to the plane. We load onto plane and sit for another 25 minutes while they bring another bus with passengers. Pilot comes on PA to apologize for the delay saying "they are trying to get 12 flights out of here in 30 minutes with only 4 busses". Fly to LIT. At baggage return, the CO flight is not listed on the monitors. Wait 45-50 minutes before bags finally come off on a return that shows a NW flight. Still no signage indicating that the CO bags were on that return.
Overall, the CO BF was wonderful. It is better than Delta BE and NW WBC in my experience. But, in my limited experience of only 2 flights, CO express is to be the worst regional carrier of any I've experienced. Since CO express is the only CO service at my LIT home, I doubt that CO will get any more of my business. I'll stick with DL and NW.
Flew LIT-IAH on CO Express on 11/22; bad thunderstoms in IAH area force diversion to Alexandria, Louisiana. We were on the ground there for about 4.5 hours before continuing onto IAH. When we initially landed at AEX, they put us in a glassed in cubicle with restrooms for about 1.5 hours before people started demanding restrooms. Finally, they let us exit the secure area for the restrooms. In the 4.5 hours we were in the AEX terminal, there was ONE single announcement about our status (at one point, they announced that it would be another one hour delay). I know the weather was bad, but they could at least have given us occasional announcements letting us know what was happenining, even if nothing was happening. By the time I got to IAH, the London flight had long since left. They rebooked me on the same flight the following day. Initially, they were not going to provide hotel because it was a weather delay. DL policy is also no hotel for weather, but for Platinum they usually bend the policy and put you up. Finally, after talking to a supervisor and telling her that we were literally locked in a glass cubicle in Alexandria without restrooms, she agreed to provide a hotel. I asked about my luggage, she said to check at the luggage desk. The lady there said that they would check my bag on the next day's flight. I asked if I could get it that night; she absolutely refused to get it. She said that they were not getting any bags for any customer with a missed connection.
Next day, I flew to LGW in Business First on CO34. It was a very nice flight with great service. The things I've read about BF on CO are right, it rivals the business class service on non-US carriers. Flying back, I was on CO11 from Paris. Again, great service, good food, lots of food, a decent J class seat to sleep in, good entertainment.
Connected to CO Express for the IAH-LIT leg. Again, a bad experience. Flight left from gate B84B. I know that some of you know this, but gates B84A-E are basically a bus terminal. The place was a zoo, extremely crowded. Time came and passed for my flight. Finally, about 15 late, my flight is called, we go out and get on a bus and are driven to the plane. We load onto plane and sit for another 25 minutes while they bring another bus with passengers. Pilot comes on PA to apologize for the delay saying "they are trying to get 12 flights out of here in 30 minutes with only 4 busses". Fly to LIT. At baggage return, the CO flight is not listed on the monitors. Wait 45-50 minutes before bags finally come off on a return that shows a NW flight. Still no signage indicating that the CO bags were on that return.
Overall, the CO BF was wonderful. It is better than Delta BE and NW WBC in my experience. But, in my limited experience of only 2 flights, CO express is to be the worst regional carrier of any I've experienced. Since CO express is the only CO service at my LIT home, I doubt that CO will get any more of my business. I'll stick with DL and NW.
I'm was a 1stimer to CO BF/international last week and share the same views. Good thing is that my step down from BF was relatively gentle: FC on a 752.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=376042
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=376042