Continental First(?) Class

VS wrote:

Clearly and Succinctly why Tchiowa has aroused the deserved bashing
from everyone in this group.

The post by VS (Vitaly Shmatikov) has my stamp of strong approval
because VS (for a couple of years in the 2003 time frame) almost
played Tchiowa's present role in CO bashing, and VS had been clubbed
on the head more than a few times by me for his misinformation (back
then -- all in the archives), and VS knew infinitely more about CO even
back in the early 2000s than Tchiowa does now!

-- Bob.


In article .com,
Tchiowa wrote:

These polls are dime a dozen, by the way. For what's it's worth (not
much), Continental was voted the OAG Airline of the Year in 2005.
SQ was only a runner-up. CO also got the OAG award for the best
international business class, also ahead of SQ. Of course, these
polls don't mean a hell of a lot, especially considering that CO and
SQ don't compete on a single route (except maybe NYC-FRA).

And don't mean a lot since CO uses a hybrid first/business class so a
direct comparison can't be made.

I agree that these polls don't mean a lot, yet you keep referring to
the Conde Nast poll as if it were some kind of airline bible. You also
keep comparing CO's *domestic* first class with SQ's *international*
business class, even though they are completely different products for
completely different markets. I understand your knee-jerk desire to
bash Continental (Bob Ling has that effect on people , but you are
going about it in a ridiculous way.

Continental is not the worst airline I've been on. A couple of Aeroflot
spin-offs get that award. But they are might close.

Boy, you really need to travel more. I have flown on a bunch of
African and Asian airlines that are much worse than Continental.
Of course, European carriers are the worst. On Air France or KLM,
the intra-European ``business'' class is simply economy with marginally
better food and maybe middle seats blocked off. BA's intra-European BC
is not nearly as good as CO's domestic FC. And I am not even talking
about European discounters, which are truly the bottom of the barrel.

And, again if you look at the beginning of this thread, this was about
Continental's first class.

No, it wasn't, actually. You were comparing your international flights
on SQ and LH with your two domestic flights on CO, and deriving the
conclusion that CO sucks as an international airline. I don't know
what's the point of this comparison.

VS wrote:

Clearly and Succinctly why Tchiowa has aroused the deserved bashing
from everyone in this group.

The post by VS (Vitaly Shmatikov) has my stamp of strong approval
because VS (for a couple of years in the 2003 time frame) almost
played Tchiowa's present role in CO bashing, and VS had been clubbed
on the head more than a few times by me for his misinformation (back
then -- all in the archives), and VS knew infinitely more about CO even
back in the early 2000s than Tchiowa does now!

-- Bob AKA Pond Scum

Another post of warmth from Professor Nice. What a ****ing asshole.

I am an asshole, but I claim everyone else is, and therefore I win.

Bob, trust me, old friend, you ARE a ****ing asshole, and worse, everyone
knows it, except you.

Buh Bye, Booby.

Larry

"Tchiowa" wrote in message
oups.com...

VS wrote:
In article .com,
Tchiowa wrote:

Further, the Conde Nast poll was for all airlines. Continental *does*
fly internationally. It's international service is not even in the same
league as SQA or Cathay.

Pardon me for asking, but... have you ever flown CO in international
business class?

Yes, long ago. Of course they have since done away with it and replaced
it with their hybrid class.

I've flown CO's old international first class, their old international
business class, and their current Business First product. I've found it top
calibre in all respects and definitely competitive with most of the
international competion. Since they haven't offered 3-class service in
about 10 years now, I think the OP's comments are out of date, to say the
least.

I didn't think so. FYI: it is *very* different from
their domestic first class.

The same holds true for every airline. But there are certain minimum
standards that one can assume even for domestic first class. And
Continental didn't come through.

Compared to the other U.S. carriers on similar stage length flights, CO
holds its own. I've flown less-than-transcon first class on AA, CO, DL, HP,
NW, UA, and US, and would rank CO's domestic first at least competitive.
UA's service IMHO might be a tad better, but I think CO is still better than
the others (which isn't saying much in view of the current state of U.S.
airline domestic service).

Not the greatest, but substantially better
than LH or QF, about the same as VS and BA, worse than NW or KL (just
talking about the airlines I've flown lately in BC).

These polls are dime a dozen, by the way. For what's it's worth (not
much), Continental was voted the OAG Airline of the Year in 2005.
SQ was only a runner-up. CO also got the OAG award for the best
international business class, also ahead of SQ. Of course, these
polls don't mean a hell of a lot, especially considering that CO and
SQ don't compete on a single route (except maybe NYC-FRA).

And don't mean a lot since CO uses a hybrid first/business class so a
direct comparison can't be made.

CO's Business First is priced at, and competes with, Business Class, not
first. Since many other carriers, such as Air Canada, BMI,
Delta, Northwest/KLM (I lump them together because their international
"World Business Class" is essentially similar), US Airways, and Virgin
Atlantic, just to name a few, also have gone to what you call a "hybrid
class," you can't hold that against CO.

I just did a quick search in my FF data base (I use it to keep track of
FF miles so I can make sure I get everything). 1,031 flights on 45
airlines including 15 on Continental. Roughly 2.5 million miles.

Continental is not the worst airline I've been on. A couple of Aeroflot
spin-offs get that award. But they are might close.

Again, it is your privilege not to like any particular airline, Continental
included. But they clearly aren't the worst out there, and compared to
their domestic competition, they are generally considered to be one of (if
not) the best.

And, again if you look at the beginning of this thread, this was about
Continental's first class. And it is, beyond any comparison, the worst
I've ever been on. Domestic or International. Even Business Class on
Air Afrique or Merpati or Air Niguini were much better.

And I suspect that Air Afrique, Merpati, or Air Niuini probably charged
higher fares per kilometer/mile as well.