Clearly it's all a matter of location for anyone.

My office is two blocks north of Penn Station, so the train options to EWR & JFK are about the same (although personally I prefer the LIRR's schedule to NJ Transit's + I think the JFK AirTrain is much better than the EWR monorail).

Regarding cabs, the problem with EWR is crossing the state line. Although the metered fare from the West Side of Manhattan is less to EWR than to JFK, you have to add $15 and pay tolls in both directions, while the NJ cabs on the way back from EWR charge you their metered fare plus two-way toll and then all the crazy nickel-and-dime extras for bags and any location in Manhattan not directly at the exit of the Lincoln Tunnel. I have found that the average fare I pay for an NJ cab back to Manhattan is about $60 plus tip.

Of course, you can always take a car service, which is fine on the way to the airport but I have found that car services can be notoriously unreliable on the return leg from EWR, especially if the arrival is delayed.

In the old days when you and I used to fly TWA, JFK was the absolute worst (who can forget the chaos at the arrivals door at T-5?) But the airport has undergone a huge improvement and one of the big improvements is in how cabs are dispatched.

Now when you land, cabs are dispatched to your terminal. I have never waited more than 5 minutes for a cab at B6.

And what's nice about JFK is the flat fare of $45 to Manhattan. Of course, the traffic on either the Van Wyck/Grand Central or the Belt can be murder, but I have similarly experienced hellacious delays at the approach to both the Holland & Lincoln Tunnels on my way back from EWR.

Regardless of geographic locations, I think both EWR and JFK are quite good airports which both have their problems. EWR Terminal C is, in my mind, excellent: It's modern, spacious, easy to figure out, check in is usually quick, security is never slow, etc.

At peak times, though, I find that traffic leading up to the terminal C curb can be very congested, while the hodge-podge terminal set up of JFK means that cars are less concentrated in one terminal (especially since they completly rebuilt the roadways to each terminal).

Finally, speaking of TW out of EWR, I used to love the civilized experience of TW out of Terminal A with the great old Ambassador's Club on the level above the gates. Ahh, the good ole' days...

Ohhh, and my residence (not my office) is in NYC (but also not Manhattan) in the fine Borough of Brooklyn... :)

I cant comment on working in Manny as I did so for all of 6 months once some 26 yrs ago. Lived in Brooklyn once for 14 yrs before I left some 14 yrs ago. Never flew from or to my office when there was one, its usually from/to my home. grew up (cant really say I have) out on Long Island.

Oddly my favorite Airport is LGA if its for afew days. As I usually find street parking and the hoof it over the BQE to the Terms or if going on DL grab the internal bus just the BQE. usually Im able to get a ride on a Hotel or Rent-a-Car van. For a week its not possible as ill get a tkt for parking on the wrong side of strret that day. I usually leave LGA on a Sun morn and park where its Not allowed on Fris, and I usually get back either Thurs night or Fri morn before the No-Parking goes into effect. thats if I flying up or down the East Coast. Now with JB out of EWR , I see less flying out of LGA

LGA is also my favorite NYC airport, hands down, with the only exception that the train access from Manhattan is not nearly as good (7 train to Q surface bus). Of course, since you are not a Manhattanite, I can understand how this isn't an issue for you.

The LGA Central Terminal was renovated in the 90's and has one of the best food courts of any airport in America.

The US Airways terminal is also pretty new and eerily under-used. The plus side is it's very pleasant and easy to navigate.

My least favorite terminal is DL/NW, which can be a madhouse early in the morning and again around 7:00 PM, but it's OK, too.

And while LGA is an NYC airport, it often has the feel of a small-town airport, If you avoid the crush which occurs in the mornings and around 7:00 PM every it's rarely very congested.

Please note that, if you're flying jetBlue, they fly to FLA out of LGA as well.

I think I too can take advantage of what Star Alliance has to offer. I have five or six trips to Zurich yet to take (I think I can get the 1.5 Q-miles deal) and one to London. Even if I have to take a middle seat, I will forego JetBlue and take AA instead LAX to EWR. I have read the warnings about AA's domestic offerings. :(

I hope AA isn't worse; I haven't been as successful as I had hoped this year. I have pretty much bought H and sometimes Y fares almost exclusively. I don't have the information here, but I would say of tickets that of coach tickets that I have bought, I have probably received an upgrade about 30% of the time max. I am diligent about the online check-in and am number 1 over half the time. I'm Platinum too. I buy coach tickets and get good seats; that works. I do feel I have to chime in on the upgrade issue: I don't get them as much as I used to. I have also changed my buying habits to higher margin tickets: it hasn't helped. I have mentioned before that if I have less than 24 hours to plan a trip to the east coast, sure I will look at co.com, but I have pretty much switched over to JetBlue. I would use Continental, but not in a middle seat. (Note: IMHO, the middle seat guarantee is really an assurance of a middle seat and miles, unless Continental can do better. ;) )

Long and flavored with a little rant!
 

So, here's a recap' of my recent adventure: flying from LAX to ZRH.

I bought the ticket in late May. I decided to forgo a discounted fare at ~$900 (I think it was a U fare) and spent just over $2,000 on an H--hoping to upgrade to BF by "paying miles." I didn't actually call about the upgrade issue until two or so weeks ago, when I found out that the list was closed; I heard this information again at FLL when I checked. I called last week to change the return date by one day. I decided to change the return from an H to a Y (I would have changed the outbound to a Y to, but the upgrade list was closed: I believed the answer at this point). It wasn't a big deal at the time; I got a good seat on the 767: 19L.

The outbound was LAX/EWR/ZRH; the new return is ZRH/AMS/IAH/LAX. As I said, I changed the return to have a better chance at the upgrades. In the process the price of this ticket has gone from $2,000 to $3,500. I now think I should have spent $900 and returned as planned. I could have rescheduled the Wednesday meeting (the day I was originally planning to return) and taken another round trip next week.

Let me run through what has gone wrong so far. I am doing this more for me that the FT readers. I tend to forget problems--they have to be really bad to have any sort of an impact on me. If I put everything down in writing here, I can read it later and fume a little. ;) By way of background, I am platinum on CO.

Issue 1: trying to get a Y upgrade
When I changed the return, I made sure I had a Y ticket. I put myself on the waitlist for BF, spending the requisite 10,000 miles. My new flight from AMS, 47, continues to LAX with the same number, but different equipment. I then checked co.com and found out that on my flight, CO 47, from IAH to LAX, "Y upgrade" seats were available. So, I called CO to find out why the domestic leg doesn't clear immediately. The first answer I was given was that it can't clear because I am on a waitlist for first. The answer didn't make much sense, so I asked to speak to a supervisor. The person told me he'd connect me to customer service. He did;the phone started to ring and I hung up.

I called back and found out that the answer was complex. Since the flight number from AMS to LAX didn't change at IAH, though the equipment did, the inventory that shows up is AMS to IAH--that's what I understood the issue to be. The lady that I worked with was really helpful, but it did take about an hour on hold to fix the problem. I got the upgrade. :) Yep, the problem was silly; I had to spend about an hour and a half doing QC for Continental; I also met a CSR who didn't seem to want to help and certainly didn't want me to talk to a supervisor, but it did get fixed in the end. So, not strike against CO for this one.

By the way, I did manage to get an upgrade on LAX to EWR on Saturday: kudos to Continental on that one!

Issue 2: I couldn't check in online :(
I talked about this one before. In fact, this is the issue that triggered my defection to AA for the rest of this year. It's the first post in the thread. I did discover something interesting yesterday. When I went to the desk to show my passport, I asked the lady to make sure that the old (passport) number wasn't in my profile. To make a long story short, when I said "profile" she looked at my itinerary and the old number wasn't anywhere to be found. So, I have asked seven (actually now eleven) times for the old number to be expunged, but I think on four of those occasions the person understandably thought I was talking about the record for the itinerary and not my overall profile! FWIW, I have deleted the old passport number once, but I checked on Friday evening and it's still there. I e-mail CO to get it fixed.

I don't understand why co.com adds an expired passport into an itinerary. It should check. If you think this request is unreasonable, try paying for a ticket with a canceled or expired credit card. ;)

Strike 1

Issue 3: Bedlam at LAX
This issue needs to be fixed. The Elite/BusinessFirst line at LAX doesn't work. Thanks to OLCI, I rarely use the physical check in at LAX, but there are real problems there. (i) The line moves too slowly. (ii) Regular passengers cut into the line. I've seen it happen. Complaints don't help. A lady joined the line behind me; she realized here mistake, but the group in front of me assure her that "no one checks." Attention Continental: Fix this problem.

Strike 2

Issue 4: IFE didn't work--yet again!
The IFE issue is a pet peeve of mine. On about 50% of fights (rounding down :eek: ) on 767 and 777's, there's either a problem with the audio or video. Audio problems are often a hum on different channels. Video problems include issues with the vertical hold or a scrambled picture. On flight CO 78, the games at my seat didn't work. [There was a vertical hold problem on two channels] Let me tell you, the crew was excellent.

I mentioned it to an FA when drinks were served; even though I asked her to mention it to someone when she finished serving the drinks, she rushed off immediately to get the problem fixed. I re-cradled the handset, waited about 20 minutes until dinner was served; the problem persisted. I mentioned it to an FA: same deal, he left immediately to try and get the problem fixed, even though he didn't have to. After dinner, the lead FA came by and asked me to check the games--not working--so he told me he was going to reset the section as others were having problems. Overall, the FA's were exceptionally helpful, concerned and professional. I think that they had a technical problem that outsmarted them. I checked before we landed and the games were still not available.

The FA's handled the situation well, but this problem should not occur.

Strike 3

Issue 5: giving an upgrade to a non-revenue passenger before a revenue passenger! :mad: :mad: :mad:
This one really, really ticks me off. Here's what happened

CO 78 was delayed on Friday--the plane was late getting to the gate. I left the Presidents Club and waited at the gate. I decided I'd see if the old passport number was still lurking in my profile (what I was talking about ealier in this rant ;) ). I also wanted to get "checked in at the gate (let them look at the passport)," so I could go back to the PC. CO 78 left from 102a, so I had a great view of N67158 as it rolled up to the jetway.

So, some CO employees showed up and I moved down to the desk for gate 102a. There were two people ahead of me. One was a CO employee for sure. He was yacking away to the people behind the gate, the following words caught my attention "I am confirmed in coach, but I want to see if I can get into first." (It's not a verbatim quote, but the main elements of what he said are there). I thought, fat chance getting up to first, since I paid $3,500 and couldn't even merit a position on the waitlist. I was really surprised when I boarded and there was the CO employee sitting in seat 5D. Now, I am pi$$ed at Continental. Right now, and this feeling might pass, but not only am I kind of excited at the prospect of trying to become an "elite-for-life" on AA, I am kind of looking forward to leaving CO.

I don't know what is going on. If you're going to upgrade an employee before a fare paying customer, at least let me get on the wait-list. Humor me. And, CO should tell its employees never have their employee badges dangling from their lapels for the entire duration of the flight, particularly when seated prominently in BusinessFirst. The badge was clearly visible for all to see. :( Nice job Continental. Way to bolster customer morale. :rolleyes:

Strike 4

I've done right by Continental this year. Continental hasn't been good to me. Last year, I flew at or near to Continental's cost, paying about 8 to 9 cents per mile. This year, I have flown at 18 cents a mile. I am an idiot. By mid July, I will have flown 77,500 air miles and clocked up 111,000 EQM's on Continental. On July 5, I have my first flight on AA. I have one more BF (Z fare) flight on CO to Europe on July 9, then I'm done for the year. Bye-bye Continental, and thanks for slamming the door.

What I saw witnessed on CO78 should not have happened. If the airline wants to upgrade non-revenue employees before passengers that pay $3,500, at least do it discreetly, so that people like me can't find out.

On a more positive note, I am excited to move to AA. I think I should be able to hit Executive Platinum this year. Next year, I probably will have to travel the same amount, which means I should be able to hit Platinum on CO and Executive Platinum on AA. If I am happy with AA, I will do what people suggest and divvy up the travel putting high margin on AA and low margin, domestic on CO. It's a win/win--for me. ;) I am still confident that Continental will change and focus again on customer service. I beginning to realize that the airline has a lot of work to do in that direction.

My airline grades: AF C; B6 A; BA A-; CO B+; KL C; NZ B+; UA D-; WN A

ContinentalFan,

I love your airline grades!

Again, please make sure to post your impressions of your big switch.

Good luck!

The grades are, of course, subjective. They're my opinion of how well a given carrier measures up against the expectations it creates for its customers in terms of advertisements and PR. WN doesn't offer much and lives up to expectations--it grades well.

Good Luck with the change. I am flying WN exclusively for trips that don't involve MSP. I should say I'm racking up a decent amount of $$ and will provide a list to CO at the end of the year (not sure they'll care, but that is the plan). Since the switch it's about $8500 on WN. All my international travel I've moved to AF (Europe), VS (LHR) and NW (Asia). I have a trip to YVR in a few weeks and am booking the NW metal vs. the CO metal (same price). Let us know how AA is. I'm hoping that CO will regain their customer focus when they get their books to settle down, until then, from the posts of "insiders" on this board, they clearly don't need my pittance of revenue. As an e-mail from CO said to me "Our product/price mix is not for everyone".

GOOD LUCK!

In fairness, I have noticed recently that the product/price mix works very well for Continental employees paying next-to-nothing to fly in BusinessFirst. My recent experience is it doesn't work as well for customers willing to pay H or Y fares. ;)

To the contrary, I've been a CO Silver for nearly 5 yrs now and have a domestic upgrade success rate in excess of 90%.

REALLY?????? Where/when do you fly????

Mostly from EWR to points along the East Coast and Midwest, using both CO and NW. I avoid the flight times that are likely to be packed with Elites, and generally clear by check-in. Of course, I run into flights were I just can't win from time to time, but IME, no magic or rocket science is required to maintain a high upgrade percentage.

I am impressed. Kudos to you!

Wow!! I'm obviously flying the wrong routes at the wrong times. I'm currently 0 for 26 (OP Gold) on CO domestic. I primarily fly on the least expensive ticket available but at least 4 of those 26 legs were on H (including one time where I ended up in a middle seat LAX-EWR).

Glad to hear someone is doing better than me!