The "What Could Continental Improve?" Thread
 

Overall, I think CO fields a solid product. However, we're FTers, and nitpicky about flying to the point of borderline neurosis. From your perspective, what is it that CO could do that would make a large (or small) positive difference to you when traveling with them? Doubtless, many of these complaints or suggestions have been fielded before. However, certain bones of contention here on the CO Forum (filling middle seats from the rear of the Y cabin, for instance) have been trotted out again and again, seemingly without meaningful action/response by CO. Here's my impromptu list of suggestions/peeves/what-have-you:

1. Fill those middle seats from the rear. Do whatever it takes training and operations-wise to get it done.

2. How much longer will we have to wait for Elite-prioritized standby? We've heard it's coming for some time, and this is a no brainer.

3. Thin the herds within the President's Clubs (am at C South IAH right now, and it's a total zoo). Dump Amex Plat admission, add more clubs at hubs, increase the membership fees even more...do something! (but don't charge for booze, as that would be ridiculous)

4. Bombay Sapphire and Jack Daniels (or real Bourbon such as Knob Creek) at the President's Club. If not free, at least offer a premium booze program like the premium wines.

5. Carry at least one decent micro-brew aboard CO aircraft (and in the PCs). How is it that NW can carry Firebrick Ale, and CO can't manage more than Heineken and Fosters?

6. Allow one-way reward redemptions.

7. Footrests (not legrests, as they're likely too heavy) in the domestic F cabin.

8. Better integration of CO & Skyteam partner computer systems for the purposes of easier searching and online booking of partner award inventory.

9. Elite luggage tags (perhaps for Golds & Plats only)

10. A meaningful incentive to continue flying CO beyond 75,000mi in a year.

11. More reward availability.
12. Waive change fee for elites.

13. Seats in coach with more than 1mm of padding.

Fill the middle from the rear

Offer a product similar to E+ that United offers in the economy cabin

Better award availability

I have been happy with CO for the most part,but when upgrades don't clear domestically and all international,it's hard to argue with the advantages of UA,especially for those of us who must travel in coach due to employers constraints

1. BF check in at EWR is not up to snuff. The lines can be waaay too long for a $7k ticket, and the reception/ treatment from the staff should be much warmer. for me, it's the worst part of the trip.

2. offer a separate BF lounge at EWR, IAH and CLE. even US does this at PHL, for crying out loud.

3. improve wine selections on BF flights. It ranges from p*ss poor to passable.

4. BF concierge service should be a lot more interactive and consistent. some are great, and some are invisible.

What could CO improve?
 

...the attitude of many of its EWR staff.

coach seats are miserable

BF checkin looks like an afterthought - still

food in the PC is terrible. Bring back the good donuts. how much of that crummy cheese can you eat?

plat awards with no capacity control

Agreed!

235. Post-75k incentives.

236. Lifetime recognition (i.e. "million miler")

237. Dump that really gross "cheesesteak pizza" fat delivery device.

238. Put more than iceberg lettuce in the Y salad.

(I actually don't mind the Fosters. Beats the heck out of Miller or something like that.)

Some kind of economy plus (especially on transcons and long haul TATL and transpacific).

More pitch (1-2" would be nice)

Pasta in Y. Sounds like a strange request, but they have so much bread already (cheesteak, pizza, chicken sandwich, etc.) why not give us something that does not contain grade F+ or soy meat.

Fix the "elite" lines at EWR. Don't merge them on "slow" days.

More than 31" pitch in coach. I hate to say it, but even WN has MUCH more comfortable seating in the non-exit rows on its 737 fleet than CO does. Less firm seat cushions would help, but figuring out how to put in even one extra inch of pitch would be wonderful.

And my own personal gripe, which has caused CO to lose some business from me... a LBB-IAH flight that leaves at 6:00 PM or later. 4:07 PM doesn't cut it for those of us who have to work until nearly 5:00. Even places like TYR, CLL, AEX, and BPT have later connections to IAH. I'm sure the Hampton Inn Lubbock appreciates the fact that I frequently have to spend Thursday night there, but I'd much rather get home from my frequent Lubbock trips on Thursdays without resorting to flying WN or AA. I'd be willing to fly a Cessna on that route if CO flew it around 6:00 PM.

Y product:
- The seats need serious help. As it stands they could be used as
part of the CIA’s “advanced interrogation methods”
- I like the pasta idea for Y meals
- E+ type product would be great. In lieu of this, an extra inch of
seat pitch would be great (and easier to implement).

F product
- I’m pretty happy here

OnePass
- Incentive for flying over 75k (a new “level” to increase upgrades,
not just incremental SWUs)
- Dump the “service charge” for international mileage upgrades (or
perhaps reduce it based on elite status)
- Allow mileage transfer between accounts
- Delta upgrades

Presidents Club
- Food (CO owns a catering company, you’d think someone would find
a way to get some of that food into the PC)
- More clubs or less people

Routes
- ONT – EWR
- ONT/SNA – CLE
- So Cal Asia hub

1) Rather than ban Amex Plats, expand existing clubs or add new clubs in hub airports to allow greater capacity and maintain profitability for CO.

2) More comfortable seats in coach - do something about the lack of padding, at least. Another inch of pitch would not hurt, either, but we all know that will never happen.

3) Re-introduce higher-quality liquor at the Presidents Clubs. Presidents Club membership rates are increasing, yet CO has reduced the quality of beverages being served. (I'm not a big liquor drinker; it just irks me that quality has gone down while prices have gone up).

4) Offer some food options in Presidents Clubs other than cheese and crackers.

5) Dedicated BusinessFirst lounges, or at least dedicated areas of P Clubs for BusinessFirst passengers.

6) Improve BusinessFirst wine selections.

7) Some sort of post-75k EQM incentive.

1-10: 100% EQM's on DL and NW discounted flights.

11: Ear wings in all Y configurations.

12: Please lower the fees for BF upgrades.

13: Increase the maintnence on planes, it seems every flight I have been on has had a broken tray table, or recline function.

I think the thread wants things that are realistic :) Folks in that part of the world simply are not very "Southern" :)

1) Improve PC's in the ways mentioned previously.

2) Improve partner integration

3) Improve website to include connections to other airlines, to allow for travel to currently unavailable destinations

Seat Pitch. There is only one reason I book on other carriers - when I can't find flights on which I can reserve exit row or bulkhead coach seats on CO. At 6'6" I simply can't fit into 31 inches. Otherwise I'm happy with the product for price paid.

1. Seat pitch.
2. Seat pitch.
3. Seat pitch.

CO may not want to expand it, but it is a make or break for me on longer flights. Once we burn through the wife's voucher with our Thanksgiving flights, I will never set foot on an international CO plane in Y again. Well, I shouldn't say never, but I'll fight to avoid it.

Or hey, what about some premium economy? I'm leaning long and hard toward just switching full-time to BA for precisely this.

On second thought, don't touch the web site. We're still suffering from "improvements" introduced a year ago!

One and only wish to make hours in coach more tolerable: keep Elite seating elite. Do away with this free-for-all seating at 24 hour check-in. Fill front only when needed. Other airlines can do it, why can't Continental!

That is beyond absurd. :rolleyes:

Quality of wine in F and BF. It's pretty sad, compared to other transcons and international J products.

As something of a 'newbie' on this forum:

1. What is "BF"??, how about just tell it like it is: "B"
2. Add E + and make it higher priced/available for elite upgrades
3. Condense that really weird "Upgrade Reward Chart" to about 3 categories.

Also like the idea of serving pasta in Y. I don't really understand CO's obsession with low-quality beef. Most other airlines favor chicken or pasta.

1. Keep a P Club in BOS
2. More standard reward/mileage upgrade availability
3. Gate standby for BF upgrades (the no-upgrades-within-24hours, we'll-fly-with-seats-empty rule is awful)
4. Introduce Y+ product on TATL/TransPac routes (especially since CO will be cramming 3-3-3 into the new 787s)

I'll disagree with Otter, the OP, on at least two items:
1. Keep us AMEX Platinums in the P Clubs
2. Have some real food in the P Clubs and if it means a small charge for booze in the clubs, so be it.

And the Coup de Grace Want Is...
 

Allow elites to designate which year their EQM's/EQP's fall into, for November and December travel. ^

Many of the above and
Better service in coach on International routes.

Well I guess this gives the execs who are doing the panels on Saturday 9-29 at the DO plenty to be prepared for.

I have requested Hub OPerations (ie RUDE EWR employees) and Product Enhancements as my panels of choice. Looks like mostly everything above are good topics for those panels.

Actually I agree with everything (almost) except banning Amex. Plat. from the PCs. That is the main reason I have an Amex. Platinum

Cheers

1. Elite priority standby and interrupted trip priority standby like other airlines
2. more comfortable seats on RJ's
3. 100% EQM on all fares like other airlines (yes, i am subject to company travel agency)
4. fill center seats from back
5. boarding by elite level, use zones like other airlines
6. actually have elite tagged bags first on the conveyor

Add moisturizer/lotion dispensers in PC restrooms and aircraft lavs.

With TSA restrictions, it is very difficult to carry lotion in your carry-on bag, and flying tends to dry out the skin.

1. Take away the "Offer subject to change without notice." fine print regarding 100% eqm for discounted fares purchased on co.com. Make it permanent.

2. Access in contract lounges for platinums flying coach (e.g. OSL, ARN, CPH).

I also would like some option for premium liquor in the PC and better wines in flight. It is odd that you can get good wine at a price in the PC but average/low quality liquor but pretty decent liquor inflight but not so great wines. It doesn't make sense.

Can't agree with number 2. If I'm hungry and want real food, I go to a restaurant.

1. I'd like to see CO subtitle all their movies in-flight.

2. CO needs to stop trying to shaft it's Plats by increasing fares + change fees when I want to do the three hour standby thru Houston instead of Newark as it gets me home 2 hours faster than my ticketed flight.

3. It would be nice to see the Presidents Clubs get more "interactivity, I just feel cold in these PCs at Houston except for Term E.

4. Perhaps Chelsea needs to get a spanking or a scolding and tell them to cater better food ;)

1. As someone mentioned, fix the security lines at EWR. It's insane that the lines get merged at the end and then the folks at Gateway Security can't figure out to prioritize the Elites vs the regular line. If the lines are merged, it's faster to run through the non-elite line then the elite line.

2. I echo the statements of filling the plane from the back forward. It's just wrong that the front half of Y is packed while the back half has seats open.

3. I disagree with the original poster about the Amex Platinum. That's the main reason I have it, to get into the P-clubs.

4. Transcons. As someone who spends most of their time on transcons, the lack of F availability 2-3 weeks out is problematic. At the first DO Larry recognized it was an issue, but nothing has been done about it. One can hope that the 739ERs have 24 seats (or more would be better :).

5. Recognition beyond the 75k mark.

There actually is no difference, rice/corn swill. And made in Canada BTW.

Beer is my #1 wish list item.

First Class Increase
 

Since the two previous DOs CO has to our benefit increased the number of first class seats in the domestic fleet for a number of the aircraft that they fly. It may be the case that the routes that you fly are still flying with the same planes with the same size cabins on the trans-cons.

How about something competitive with Aairpass?

Unedited movies as planes are transitioned to AVOD. That's the point of AVOD, isn't it? Personal choice.

The decision to simply make the PC at BOS disappear with the move to Terminal A should really be reconsidered carefully.

Bos Pc
 

I can understand everyone not wanting to lose a PC but this may be also part of the reason that they are opening the new PC in Las Vegas sometime next spring. The economies of scale dicate the change. Hopefully they will rethink at least to the point where they do something similiar to what they did in ORD.

Well, in some cases I do see the new aircraft. But, even with the increased seats there is a serious shortage. I personally believe that I should be able to buy a F seat a week out, but that's very hard in and out of LAX and SFO. In the secondary west coast markets like SAN and SJC it's not so bad. I can't speak about SEA or PDX as the only time I've done either of those is the 777 last week to SEA and that hardly counts. :)