Hahahahahaha! You crack me up!

Is that why Continental picked Delta as it's bed-mate (or should I say, coffin-mate)? Do you seriously think CO's 'full-service' (hahaha) model is that considerably different from AA, NW, UA, US or DL's? Sure, UA and AA may be worse off financially at the moment, but the 'big carriers' have the same flawed idiotic fare structures. So while CO and a few others may weather out the storm, they will eventually be reduced to a bunch of Jungle Jets flying transcons and 757s/767s flying to a few international destinations, while Southwest and Jetblue and AirTran undergo tremendous expansion.

Don't quote me on this - just look at some of the financial analysts' forecasts.

Do they fly DEN-TUL?

Hmmm...

1. CO DOES operate differently from the other majors. CO is arguably the only major US airline that has maintained something resembling a "full-service" product post-9/11; when coupled with the company's industry-leading cost structure, the airline has proven to be a WINNER against the like of AA, UA, DL, etc.

2. Don't believe for one minute that the LCCs won't run into problems of their own. We are already beginning to witness the rise of serious labor discontent at Southwest, as their employees now want industry-leading pay AND workrules for industry-leading financial performance. It might be okay to overwork for low pay at first, but over time, employees at the LCCs will demand legacy carrier pay and benefits, and that will wreak havoc upon the fortunes of low-cost carriers.


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Continental Airlines - One airline CAN make a difference.

Setting the OnePass program itself aside (which is a good program), I'll have to agree with you that CO has done a great job maintaining something resembling a full-service product.

I'm a NW WorldPerks FF, but fly both NW & CO for my US domestic flights. The NW FF program meets my needs slightly better in some ways, but the standard of service on my CO flights lately (including CO-x) has been better than the others in general.

As an example, I flew IAH-SDF this past Sunday night which is a CO-x (ERJ-145) flight of about 2 hrs in length. It was well past a meal time (7:00pm departure/10:17pm arrival), yet I was pleased to not only receive a full beverage service (with several passes through the cabin), but a small snack. The snack wasn't anything to write home about (small turkey sandwich, chips, candy bar), but it hit the spot for a 2 hr flight.

I don't know of any other full service carrier that provides service like this on a two hr flight. While I feel the service on NW is good, in several ways I find CO much better whether in FC or coach or on a CO-x flight. Small things like a simple snack, IFE, etc., make a big difference. I'm even getting used to the ERJ <sigh>, which I absolutely hated at first.

Hopefully any changes to OnePass will be for the best. I still use my OnePass when flying carriers where CO has an affiliation and NW doesn't. I would hate to see CO (or NW) go the way of Delta. Delta used to be my primary carrier -- but like many others, I dumped them.

Best,

SDF_Traveler

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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin

I think we should also add, for emphasis: CONTINENTAL AIRLINES HAS ALREADY GONE BANKRUPT TWICE.

And much of CO's "success" has been related to having a low cost structure, which resulted from going bankrupt.



Steve

Try getting said snack on 2-3 hour mealtime mainline EWR-TPA/FLL/MCO! Surprise , 'full-service' Continental will be happy to supply you with all you can eat pretzels and hard liquor to wash them down with, in FC...

And as far as deluxe COEX service is concerned ... well, let's say that there are nice small regional airlines like SkyWest and Comair that have much more consistent good service. The fact that you can now fly from RIC to PSP on an ERJ and from FL to NH on a CRJ (I will do that myself in Nov!) is a chilling reminder to the future of 'full-service' (it may be crappy, but it's full) airlines!

Oooohhhh! wouldn't it be cool if you could do a RTW on long skinny Jungle Jets!

Oh NO! Not the coveted luggage priority tags. They are the biggest joke in the onepass elite program. When I watch them unload my luggage at EFD I can only laugh as I watch my bag with its 'priority tag' shoved and pushed to the side as the unloaders grab all the ones surrounding it. Once I was literally the last bag unloaded. If that's the only change, I'll be happy.

To give at booking upgrades to Y/H fare elites makes great sense in my book but why doesnt co take it a step further with the idea and increase the offering of YUP/HUP fares to attempt to bring in non elite last minute travelers as well.Co needs to make changes that are pro high fares but also pro-customer in general by not joining DL in the changes they made.If co makes the changes to elites buying Y/H fares I think that is a good move by co.As far as lounge access it is about time that plat benefits fall inline with other airlines as far as lounge access for top tier's on international trips
-howie

Back in '93 OnePass introduced "unlimited" elite F/C upgrades at time of ticketing for Y and H fares. At the same time standby upgrades for elites on discounted fares were eliminated. The plan was to encourage travelers to pay a premium fare in order to obtain an assured upgrade. At about the same time CO eliminated meal service (including F/C) on all flights scheduled less then 2 hours 30 minutes, or about 90% of domestic flights. (funny, there were an awful lot of flights scheduled for 2:29)

Those marketing dudes are always dickin' around with the program tryin' to squeeze a couple more bucks outa the rubes.

Is history gonna repeat itself?

Maybe Gordo and his marketing VP's oughtta jump into a Jungle Jet and come down here to my local cantina, where the bartender knows the value of a little "lubrication" to inspire the customers to blow the cobwebs outa their billfolds.

[This message has been edited by snake (edited 09-04-2003).]

Aren't most of these upgrades free?

With regard to priority luggage, I have to say that most of the time it really works and my bags are among the first off the plane.

Scientific tests have proven that priority luggage tags guarantee that your bags will come out in the first half at least 50% of the time.

No more free upgrades = immediate platinum challenge on AA. No question asked, no looking back.

Dupe that.