Continental First(?) Class

"Bernhard Mayer" wrote:

James Robinson wrote:

The last time I flew short-haul "first class" in Europe, they had a
moveable partition between first and bilge classes that was adjusted

There are NO European carriers with first class on short haul flights.
There haven't been any for years.

Yes, I'm well aware of the names given to various services. They are
simply marketing gimmicks. In both cases, whether you call it first
class or business class, they are the premium services, and are priced
accordingly. There are very few airlines that offer three class service
on short-haul flights.

The point is that a passenger in the premium class on North American
domestic flights gets a full-sized seat, with greater legroom, a meal at
meal times on longer flights, and not just a standard economy seat with
economy legroom, like on European short-hauls.

All you get on short haul flights is business class and carriers like
Lufthansa have a no middle seat policy, which means they will not
assign the middle seat in short haul business class.

Big deal. For that I get to pay an additional 50%, and I could have had
exactly the same seat in "economy" one row back, since the airplane was
only part-full.

Do you actually know what you are talking about?

Certainly more than the original poster.

James Robinson wrote:

Yes, I'm well aware of the names given to various services. They are
simply marketing gimmicks. In both cases, whether you call it first
class or business class, they are the premium services, and are priced
accordingly.

Well, don't you actually get less (e.g. 1.5x milage credit instead of
2.0x) and pay less (based on fullfare ticket prices) in C than in F
class...?

The point is that a passenger in the premium class on North American
domestic flights gets a full-sized seat, with greater legroom, a meal at
meal times on longer flights, and not just a standard economy seat with
economy legroom, like on European short-hauls.

Well, see... the seats aren't exactly the same. Yes, the benches are
the same in the first 20% of the plane, but the crew can reconfigure
the seats in the dedicated business class area.

On an Airbus A320 the economy class configuration is 3-3 whereas it is
2 - 3 in business class.

The will use a handle to shrink the middle seat in the left row making
seats A and C wider (and B unusable, it is not assigned to passengers).
They will use the some space in the aisle to widen the right row,
making all three seats wider. Lufthansa also doesn't assign the middle
seat in the right row.

There is a curtain dividing business class and economy class.

Legroom is usually the same, however.

Meals are better and served regardless of flight time. You get a
business class lounge, flexibility (no show doesn't cancel your
ticket), more carry-on and check-in weight.

Big deal. For that I get to pay an additional 50%, and I could have had
exactly the same seat in "economy" one row back, since the airplane was
only part-full.

That depends on your flight, because on my weekly Vienna to Frankfurt
Monday to Friday flights there are hardly any seats available less than
14 days in advance.

Bernhard Mayer wrote:
James Robinson wrote:

Yes, I'm well aware of the names given to various services. They are
simply marketing gimmicks. In both cases, whether you call it first
class or business class, they are the premium services, and are priced
accordingly.

Well, don't you actually get less (e.g. 1.5x milage credit instead of
2.0x) and pay less (based on fullfare ticket prices) in C than in F
class...?

What has the mileage credit have to do with ANYTHING discussed
in this thread? James Robinson said it all in his single paragraph
above. It's a name. A gimmick, with seats priced accordingly.

In CO coach, some flights/fares get 0.5x milage credit, but it's still
coach. When I fly coach on CO, I get 2.25x mileage credit because
I am Platinum, but the flight is still coach. In short, your 1.5x and
2.0x point is pointless in the light of what James had already said.


The point is that a passenger in the premium class on North American
domestic flights gets a full-sized seat, with greater legroom, a meal at
meal times on longer flights, and not just a standard economy seat with
economy legroom, like on European short-hauls.

Well, see... the seats aren't exactly the same. Yes, the benches are
the same in the first 20% of the plane, but the crew can reconfigure
the seats in the dedicated business class area.

On an Airbus A320 the economy class configuration is 3-3 whereas it is
2 - 3 in business class.

The will use a handle to shrink the middle seat in the left row making
seats A and C wider (and B unusable, it is not assigned to passengers).
They will use the some space in the aisle to widen the right row,
making all three seats wider. Lufthansa also doesn't assign the middle
seat in the right row.

There is a curtain dividing business class and economy class.

Your LIMITED knowledge and experience about CO (which is
universal among those in this and other threads, such as Tchiowa,
and formerly Vitaly Shmatikov, who are NOT familiar with CO
rules, policies, and flight classes!). Vitaly Shmatikov (now
posting as VS) had argued for MONTHS that domestic flights
on CO do not have "business first" or "business first seats",
even after I had given him exact flight numbers of such flights,
until he finally shut up after this post of mine, in Sept 2003:

http://tinyurl.com/9c5ro

So, as counterexample to Bernard Mayer's gloating of seats on
planes that are NOT CO, let it be noted that some CO domestic
First had/have seats that are 2 1 2 that is the SAME as the
International Business First seats in B777 and B767, except
those are the older type of 2 1 2 (fully reclining) seats on B757.

Legroom is usually the same, however.

On those domestic CO First, which Bangkok idiot Tchiowa spewed:

Tchiowa To all the true Second Rate airlines in the world, I
apologize.
Tchiowa Continental is not Second Rate. Continental is pathetic.

The fully reclining 2 1 2 seats that are found in SOME (granted,
not all, and not many) domestic First in CO have more leg room
and body room than Tchiowa can use even if he is stretched to
his full length by a medieval torture machine because of his size
commensurate with his mental midget mind. :-)


Big deal. For that I get to pay an additional 50%, and I could have had
exactly the same seat in "economy" one row back, since the airplane was
only part-full.

That depends on your flight, because on my weekly Vienna to Frankfurt
Monday to Friday flights there are hardly any seats available less than
14 days in advance.

And for YEARS (the first 5 1/2 of my 7 years as CO Platinum Elite
member) I had 100% upgrade record on domestic CO flights, from
coach (even the cheapest fare) to FIrst. In fact, I have NEVER
purchased a single First Class ticket OR International Business First
ticket during all those years, because (a) I always had complimentary
upgrade to First on demestic, Mexican, Canadian, and Caribbean
CO flights, and (b) for internaitonal flights in which there are only
Business First (without complimentary upgrade), I always had
enough FF miles to upgrade the CHEAPEST international coach
ticket to Business First (before CO changed its upgrade policy
circa 2004).

For those of you knocking CO without knowledge or experience
about the ENTIRE OnePass Program, the fairest and the most
polite understatement of the thread, was said by Jay Hacker,

JH I think you're a bit unfair to Continental.

-- Bob.

John R. Levine wrote:
That's true. But Continental's First Class service is a joke. No TV at
all? No music stations at all? Seats that only recline a couple of
inches?

That's domestic first class these days. CO's is no worse than anyone
else's. I flew across the country on AC and back on US in first a few
weeks ago, and they wre equally mediocre. I walked through the F
cabin on a connecting UA flight (not long enough to matter) and it was
just the same.

I have, at various times, flown First Class domestic on TWA, Delta,
United, Pan Am, Continental. Continental is the only one that did not
allow domestic First Class passengers to use the lounge.

TWA? Pan Am? Pan Am doesn't have a lounge at their hub in Portsmouth
NH. Oh, you mean the old Pan Am that died 15 years ago? Any chance
that perhaps your info is a wee bit out of date?

Continuous for nearly 2 decades. I flew Pan Am in the early 90s. I flew
TWA throughout most of the 90s. I switched to Delta in the late 90s and
United around 2000.

I agree with you that the First Class domestic seats are nothing to
write home about. But the Continental seats were ridiculous. I have
flown in Coach on better seats. These weren't "short hop" flights from
Detroit to Cleveland or from small cities to other small cities. New
York, San Francisco and Houston, their hub.

I don't know any airline that gives domestic passengers lounge access
unless they have a paid membership.

Again, United, TWA, etc. (all from above) did when I used them.

Tchiowa wrote:
John R. Levine wrote:
That's true. But Continental's First Class service is a joke. No TV at
all? No music stations at all? Seats that only recline a couple of
inches?

That's domestic first class these days. CO's is no worse than anyone
else's. I flew across the country on AC and back on US in first a few
weeks ago, and they wre equally mediocre. I walked through the F
cabin on a connecting UA flight (not long enough to matter) and it was
just the same.

I have, at various times, flown First Class domestic on TWA, Delta,
United, Pan Am, Continental. Continental is the only one that did not
allow domestic First Class passengers to use the lounge.

TWA? Pan Am? Pan Am doesn't have a lounge at their hub in Portsmouth
NH. Oh, you mean the old Pan Am that died 15 years ago? Any chance
that perhaps your info is a wee bit out of date?

Continuous for nearly 2 decades. I flew Pan Am in the early 90s. I flew
TWA throughout most of the 90s. I switched to Delta in the late 90s and
United around 2000.

Then by your own admission, you had NO experience with Continental,
have you, Tchiowa?

That's why we wonder why you picked out Continental as the one
to highlight your mockery apology:

Tchiowa To all the true Second Rate airlines in the world, I
apologize.
Tchiowa Continental is not Second Rate. Continental is pathetic.

That pretty much said it all about your LACK of credibility, Tchiowa,
in the same manner you had palmed yourself off as knowledgeable
about flying Qantas and getting Australian visa, and only to be
exposed by JF that your postings were all based on OBSOLETE
information since you hadn't obtained any OZ visa since 2000!

Just try to discuss something that you DO know, about travel.air,
Tchiowa.

You can bluff your way in alt.culture.thai about YOUR flying, but
you are not going to get away with it here, in rec.travel.AIR.

-- Bob.

Reef Fish wrote:
[lots of blabla]

wow, Reef Fish, that should secure yourself a nice CO christmas bonus.
Treat yourself to something nice.

Bernhard Mayer wrote:

Reef Fish wrote:
[lots of blabla]

wow, Reef Fish, that should secure yourself a nice CO christmas bonus.
Treat yourself to something nice.


Yeah, he could use a new tank...

--
Best
Greg

Bernhard Mayer wrote:
Reef Fish wrote:
[lots of blabla]

wow, Reef Fish, that should secure yourself a nice CO christmas bonus.
Treat yourself to something nice.

Bernhard, I am afraid you haven't been around long enough to know
that I own no CO stocks, have no business relation with CO, and
does not benefit financially, directly or indirectly from the business
of Continental AIrlines, Inc.

I use CO solely for our recreational flying throughout the world.

Unlike many of the traveller in this newsgroup whose air travel are
part of their JOB and they smooched their tickets from their
employers or clients, I fly 100% for my own recreation in ALL
the years I've had my Platinum status (since 1999) and I paid
for 100% of my CO tickets out of my own pocket, without a
single penny deducted for business related use!

So, what kind of CO christmas bonus do you think I secured?

Thanks for your thoughts. I WILL treat myself and my wife
something VERY nice, from our bank account and the profits
from my stock investments in NON-airline related industries,
solely owned and controlled by myself. :-)

-- Bob.

Gregory Morrow wrote:

I am at the Cleveland Presidents' Club sitting out a 5+ hour weather
related delay.


GOOD - hope it turns into a _500++++_ hour delay...

Only 6 hours. Gave me plenty of time to catch up on internet browsing
and kicking a few morons like you in the vacuous head.

Plus which you'd better be careful there REEF FISH, as a cold - blooded
piscine you don't want it to get much below freezing....

...BWAHAHAHAAAAAA...!!!

You need to learn how to do your idiotic BWAHAHAHAHAAAAA babble
more efficiently. Let me teach you something you should have learned
as long as you've been making yourself a pest in ngs.


First you need to learn how to FUC someone like you:

http://www.ivydene1.co.uk/doug/nedfuc.htm

Then just say FUC 6.3 on Greg Morrow, and it reads, in Sec. 6

6. Onomatapoeic Outpourings:

3. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... ROTFLMAFRRRRRRRRRHASAGDI

or FUC 6.4, for

4. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA, tough shinola home boy!

save wasted keystrokes.

To you Greg, from da Feeesh: FUC 5.1, 5.2!

-- Bob.

In article . com,
Reef Fish wrote:

The fully reclining 2 1 2 seats that are found in SOME (granted,
not all, and not many) domestic First in CO have more leg room
and body room than Tchiowa can use even if he is stretched to
his full length by a medieval torture machine because of his size
commensurate with his mental midget mind. :-)

I've been CO Platinum since they instituted that level (1998?) and was Gold
for a number of years before that. I've never seen 2-1-2 seating, on either
Domestic or International premium classes. I just completed a booking
EWR-LGW, where Businessfirst is configured 2-2-2. I've occasionally caught
lucky in getting International BusinessFirst seating on a domestic flight
(usually CO369, LAS-EWR overnight). The seats are definitely superior, but
the entertainment and meals associated with international first class are
absent (not even a snack on that 5-hour flight, and TV sitcom reruns on a
single channel rather than multiple feature films on the in-seat screen).

And for YEARS (the first 5 1/2 of my 7 years as CO Platinum Elite
member) I had 100% upgrade record on domestic CO flights, from
coach (even the cheapest fare) to FIrst.

Yeah, then they cut the number of domestic first seats available in half on
many domestic flights -- their 757-300 flying bus -- and took many of the
remaining upgrades away from their elite passengers to give them to
higher-fare passengers, mainly one-way tickets. I almost never missed an
upgrade before 2004, now I only get them on red-eyes and other disfavored
flights.

For those of you knocking CO without knowledge or experience
about the ENTIRE OnePass Program, the fairest and the most
polite understatement of the thread, was said by Jay Hacker,

JH I think you're a bit unfair to Continental.

Sure. They're not flying because they were divinely called; they're in
business to make a profit, and they've altered their policies in ways that
they believe will be more profitable (or, given fuel prices, less
unprofitable). By sharing information on their policies and implementation,
we, as passengers and prospective passengers, can make better decisions
about which airlines to patronize.

--
Randy Hudson