Czech Airlines
 

While this might be sent to another thread, I just wanted to respond to an earlier question about Eastern European airlines. We flew CSA from Prague to LHR and it was great - nice people, decent meal, quiet cabin, fairly new plane - as somone earlier said, these airlines try harder! And since there was a BA flight at exactly the same time (different arrival terminal) I hope BA is not trying to drive CSA out of business!

Nah...There is no contest between the two on any counts- for a start OK fly to PRG tens of times a week from lots of UK airports...Prices are generally a bit cheaper, onward connections to Central/East/Southern Europe are better and so is their FFP. ^

Of course things are a lot different if you often fly intercontinental premium class...CSA only have 5-6 destinations outside Europe, and their long-haul configurations aren't thought to be the best in the sky (I only travel within Europe tho and haven't had the chance to try them out).

A liitle over a month ago on CSA, I flew from PRG to BUD and back a week later. What I failed to do was look closely at the return ticket, I assumed it would be on a regular jet aircraft, as the outbound flight was, but when the shuttle bus pulled up in front of a tiny little propeller commuter aircaraft, I was shocked, and needless to say, as were most of the passengers.
My curiousity quickly subsided from the moment you sat down in the very small, hard, uncomfortable seat. Ears popping terribly, and bouncing up and down the entire flight, (which took almost an hour longer).>They should have given each and every passenger a bottle of champagne, and it still would have been miserable!
Last time I did that type aircraft was Miami to Key west, only a 30 min flight, rightfully so.
Live and learn, but yes I would say I learned, watch CSA non-major routes aircraft type. IE; CDG-PRG and return always a new enough decent jet.

Footnote, interestingly enough--if you originate your trip in Budapest the same flights are $100 less on both CSA and Malev, the hugarian airline! Lol..

Any comments on CSA from PRG to the US? I'm scheduled to fly back home on CSA non stop to EWR in business class (Delta ticket) in Aug. I've heard mixed reviews about this flight--my alternative would be LH, but that would entail connections, and while LH in C is ok, I wasn't overwhelmed with the service my last couple of trips.

PRG-BUD takes 1:05 on a 737 or CRJ and 1:20 on the ATR. Personally I have no issues flying the ATR on so short flights.

I really find this a bit hard to believe.

CSA schedule some Budapest flights on the ATR-72. This is a 66-seat turboprop, one of the larger ones manufactured. Many hundreds of them have been manufactured and they are in extensive use in the USA and elsewhere. I doubt "most" of the many tens of thousands of passengers who board them every day are shocked. If they were ATR would not have sold over 650 of the ATR-42/72 range (one of the most successful turboprops ever) and it would not still be in production. It is used by a large range of major airlines worldwide.

The scheduled flight time from Budapest to Prague is 1 hour 5 minutes on a CSA Boeing 737 and 1 hour 20 minutes on the ATR-72. Hardly "almost an hour longer". The schedule time for the Miami to Key West American Eagle flight the comparison is made with is up to 1 hour 5 minutes.

It is 255 nautical miles from Budapest to Prague which is a nice distance for a turboprop and probably too short for economical use of a 737 except at high fares. By the way, tickets do not normally show aircraft type.

CSA ATR-72 at Budapest

When I was flying on the KL/OK codeshare route AMS-PRG, I used to hope that it would be a nice OK 735 instead of a manky old KL 734...

My one criticism of their 735s is that, if you can't get in one of the convertible seats (about the front half of the plane - rarely all C), the seat pitch is absolutely abysmal. But that only happened to me once.

Otherwise, I was very happy with this airline.

Hello dr specifics;
What are you - some sort of propeller aircraft salesperson?
I wont argue with your timetable (digging up)--I perhaps shoud have said it FELT like an hour longer on those uncomfortable seats...maybe I should have dug out the old tickets for your benefit..
You--can have your beloved propeller plane--I for one will stick with JET aircraft everytime, to try and argue that a propeller plane "turbo-prop" or not is comparable in any way is simply Ludicrious! Perhaps you haven't sat in one of those seats recently, OR gone through the turbulence we had to, (or) maybe you were on the flight after all.

[QUOTE=WHBM]I really find this a bit hard to believe.
youre words:---
" I doubt "most" of the many tens of thousands of passengers who board them every day are shocked. "

Well now, I have read this reply again and must protest, and am a little bit hot now.-

IF YOU are going to "quote" me, PLEASE DO NOT put words in my mouth!

What I SAID was: [quote]-
but when the shuttle bus pulled up in front of a tiny little propeller commuter aircraft, I was shocked, and needless to say, as were most of the passengers.
Does this sound like "tens of thousands of passengers" ---dr specifics??

You also said; " It is 255 nautical miles from Budapest to Prague which is a nice distance for a turboprop and probably too short for economical use of a 737 except at high fares. By the way, tickets do not normally show aircraft type."

HOW do you know WHAT I paid for tickets?

I CAN tell you that in comparison for such a short flight [ in american distances], the price was OVER $500, an outrageous sum for the same distance in the states! [NOT UK]
YES, this was booked 3 months in advance, [ I can only hear your next specifics..]

so kindly refrain from mis-quoting people, thank you.

:rolleyes:

[QUOTE=imwilldu]It's as outrageous in Europe (assuming you are talking about an economy class ticket). In fact CSA offer PRG-BUD r/t in Q class for $197+taxes. It's not very likely that all the cheap tix were gone 3 months prior to departure, therefore be careful next time you book! :rolleyes:

Csa Us-prg
 

I flew CSA last year from JFK to PRG, and it was fine. Not stellar, and not bad. The plane was an A310 with plenty of room. The only surprise was the 2-3-2 configuration in biz class, but I had an aisle seat so this was not an issue for me. Food was a little simpler than DL or AF, but good. No in/at-seat video, though, if that's important to you (I tend to sleep on overnights so I can work the next day). Crew was very friendly (actually a nice change from surly JFK airport (non-CSA) staff on the ground). The Prague airport is nice, and smaller than I expected, so it's very easy to get in and out of.

I also flew CSA from PRG-MAN. They use the Eurpoean standard 2-3 for biz class, and I got a 2 side to myself. Like most of the other European airlines, CSA's short-haul service puts US airlines to shame. Good planes (737 I think), great crews, and full (hot!) meal service even on short flights. CSA manages to have full meal service (hot in front, cold in back) on flights that DL just has fast-break.

I think the best analogy for me is that CSA feels like DL 20 years ago, in good ways and not so good. The decor is a bit simpler, the biz class seats aren't state of the art, and there's no in-seat video. But the food service is high quality and the staff is great - like DL before Leo. I actually liked it at least as well as Delta - I wouldn't hesitate to fly CSA.

And the most 70s-80's element? The Carpenters muzak on board, which I later discovered was fairly common in PRG. Felt a bit like I was back in high school.

CSA is great!
 

You won't believe how great this airline is! As a corporate travel manager for one of the large travel management companies, I requested CSA to move on of their flights by a few hours so that our customers could enjoy a better city-pair connection. A few weeks later, the flight was moved!!

Unbelievable.

WELL MY GOOD FRIEND;

I CALLED DIRECTLY to the ONLY office I could find in the US, that would ACCEPT OVERSEAS RESERVATIONS NOT ORIGINATING IN THE US--
THAT IS THE NEW YORK CSA OFFICE -HELLO CZECH AIRLINES- IF YOU KNEW ANYTHING, YOU WOULD KNOW THAT YOU CAN-NOT-CAN-NOT- BOOK TICKETS ONLINE THAT ARE NOT-NOT- ORIGINATING IN THE USA!!!


WHAT IS WITH ALL THESE SARCASTIC, KNOW IT ALL REPLIES??

HATE TO TELL YOU THAT IF YOU HAVE A BETTER WAY OF BOOKING TICKETS, THEN IT IS POSSIBLE TO DO SO WITH OUT BEING AN IGNORANT SARCASTIC KNOW IT ALL.....

Totally agree! CSA IS GREAT, .. WITH the exception of the bud-prg prpeller flight; fly at least twice a year, cdg-prg and back, never had a problem, in fact the connection between that flight and air france to lax is spectacular, they have a shuttle bus waiting to transfer you to the air france flight, and takes no more than 10 minutes to board.

Did not realize the "firestorm" telling an actual true story about any airline would create!!

Well too bad if the truth hurts, .....