Has anyone flown with Continental?

Hi Irvine,

I happen to work for the ground handling company that handles Continental at London Heathrow, and I have even flown on them myself.

Everthing that ‘sneijder’ says is 100% accurate as far as I can see, and I too would personally recommend Row 7, ABC, but its highly likely that these seats may have already been pre-assigned because unlike other carriers, CO does not charge an additional fee for exit row seats and so they are offered on a first come, first serve basis.

The overwing exit rows (15 & 16) offer a small amount of additional legroom than a normal seat, but defo choose Row 16 as the seats in 15 do not recline!

As for the bags, the $50 second bag fee only applies to bookings made on and after 15th September 2009…so if you can remember when you booked it, you should be able to work out whether it will affect you or not.

Just a piece of advice though if you did book on or after the 15th…it will be better to take two bags and pay the $50 for the second bag rather than taking just the one bag and filling it up to 32kgs, as a bag weighing 23-32kgs would also incur a $50 charge. Why pay $50 for an extra 9kgs, when you can pay $50 for a second bag offering another 23kgs; hope that makes sense!

I have heard nothing from CO to say the $50 charge for a bag between 23-32kgs is going to be reduced!

Hope you enjoy your trip to New York, please feel free to PM me if you want any recommendations as to what to do and where to eat as I have a few to give!;)

PM sent thanks 🙂

Hi Irvine,

I happen to work for the ground handling company that handles Continental at London Heathrow, and I have even flown on them myself.

Everthing that ‘sneijder’ says is 100% accurate as far as I can see, and I too would personally recommend Row 7, ABC, but its highly likely that these seats may have already been pre-assigned because unlike other carriers, CO does not charge an additional fee for exit row seats and so they are offered on a first come, first serve basis.

The overwing exit rows (15 & 16) offer a small amount of additional legroom than a normal seat, but defo choose Row 16 as the seats in 15 do not recline!

As for the bags, the $50 second bag fee only applies to bookings made on and after 15th September 2009…so if you can remember when you booked it, you should be able to work out whether it will affect you or not.

Just a piece of advice though if you did book on or after the 15th…it will be better to take two bags and pay the $50 for the second bag rather than taking just the one bag and filling it up to 32kgs, as a bag weighing 23-32kgs would also incur a $50 charge. Why pay $50 for an extra 9kgs, when you can pay $50 for a second bag offering another 23kgs; hope that makes sense!

I have heard nothing from CO to say the $50 charge for a bag between 23-32kgs is going to be reduced!

Hope you enjoy your trip to New York, please feel free to PM me if you want any recommendations as to what to do and where to eat as I have a few to give!;)

Thanks for that i think im row 21.

I will have to check about the bags i no what the missus is like for buying shoes! lol

Seatguru has it bang on.

I work with Continental and work the gate around once a week when I’m not doing another carrier.

I preseat people for the next days flight too.

7-14 go to Onepass members (they change to Eurobonus in a few weeks)

8 DEF goes to infant families or wheelchair passengers

14 & 15 really are grim.

As per Seatguru, 16 is pick of the bunch and I never preseat people there so get to checkin early and ask for it specifically. However if business is full, 3 seats on 16 go to the cockpit crew as a rest area. Likewise 34 DEF is blocked for the cabin crew so don’t worry about that.

My choice would be row 7, acres of space. It’s by the door so *slightly* noisy and people stamp all over you on their way onboard, you might struggle with the overhead locker space, but you’ll be first off in the dash to beat the rush for immigration.

They change(d) to a one bag policy fairly recently, don’t assume it’s two. If you’re doing some extra shopping an extra bag is $50 at the airport.

HTH 🙂

I flew with them twice.
In may 2006 LAX-SFO on a 738
This year from Newark to LAX on a 738 as well.
Those were uneventful flights. I found theire planes clean and the seats were rather confortable.

Nothing bad to say, the crew were nice and helpful.

Thanks for all the replies, sounds like they should be great and that seating plan was helpfull 🙂

Thanks again

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Continental_Airlines/Continental_Airlines_Boeing_757-200_I.php

just avoid the yellow and especially the red seats!!!

I flew their 757 trans-Atlantic a couple of years ago and they were decidedly average – neither better, nor worse, than the other US carriers. These days I’d chose United over Continental every time if travelling economy, primarily because of UA’s economy plus product that’s available free to their fequent flyers (which includes me then! :p ).

Andy

I’m flying with them in November to New York. Having only ever flew on widebodies across the Atlantic I don’t know what to expect being on a 757, I always just imagine a longer Ryanair aircraft with less of the yellow going on! 😀

I flew Continental in 2004 with one of their 757-200s to Newark, then another CO 757 to Florida and finaly a Beach 1900D to Nassau.
I must admit, I cannot fault the service, friendly cabin crew, always on hand when you ask for water or any other drink. The leg room was fine for my 5, 8 frame.
The food was as good as you can expect from economy. The Chicken dish I had outbound from Edinburgh to Newark was brilliant.

Also, if you are booked on an onward connecting CO flight and you miss it as your first flight was late (as mine was) they reconnect you just as soon as you can show them your tickets. No hassle.

Hi Irvine. I use Continental 3 times a year mainly because they have a year round service from Glasgow. I find them OK to fly with, the seating is average and the meals are generally fine. Your flight should have seatback inflight entertainment available. As for seating, that’s an individual preference as my wife and I tend to take aisle seats across from one another to facilitate our exit. The front of the economy cabin tends to be reserved for their frequent flyers. I also find Newark Liberty a good airport to fly into as their immigration desks are fairly well organised. Have a good trip and enjoy the “Big Apple”