After a not so brief hiatus, i finally picked up the pen keyboard again. A lot has happened since then and more posts should follow shortly. Earlier i had written that i have dropped British Airways as an airline of choice for my visits to the US and had decided to try Continental. Well i did a Delhi to USA round trip on it and have been more than satisfied. Its pretty much decided that i have a new airline of choice for that sector. I waited for my experience on both the legs of the trip before i came to my decision. The long flight was certainly an issue for me as i cant sleep on a flight, so keeping myself occupied is always a challenge. The entertainment system is a big factor in doing that and so are other things i bring along on my laptop (On that topic, the latop has also changed, i am on a Mac now but that post will come later).
I was apprehensive about the 15hr long flights but now that i have lost my long flight virginity, i must say thats probably the best thing to happen since human beings took to the air. Flying is not a very happy experience anymore, even more so, the flying into/out of or within the US is actually quite a painful process now with all the extra security and the extremely affable (NOT) TSA agents. Not having to go through an extra round of security due to connecting flights gives extra points to the Continental non stop flight. The Newark airport where it lands was also not a bad deal, it was a little sparse but a good airport in my opinion. In contrast, the present face-lifting of the Delhi airport is now getting worse although they finally have a nice big lounge on the upper floor, it is truly world class, but lets not digress, this post is about the Continental flight. I must say i was pleasantly surprised by the seats, they were WIDE. While they didn't lie fully flat horizontally, theyt were flat at an angle and i didn't mind that much. The wide space of the seat made up for the non horizontal approach. In contrast the new BA flat beds are flat but really narrow and i am not a big guy but still find it uncomfortable to move around while lying down in it. Once of the factors where Continental scores big in my book is the attitude of the cabin crew, they were quite pleasant and friendly, a real contrast from most US airlines. So Continental joins my list of US airlines with friendly crew along with Jetblue and Southwest ,both of which i like a lot. One thing i noticed about that plane was that the toilets were fairly large, can easily accommodate a couple of people (prospective mile high clubbers take note). Even small things like announcements were well managed, they had pre-recorded announcements in place of the live ones used on most flights. The recorded announcement were obviously sounding very clear and professional, i feel it shows the airlines attention to detail. I liked the food too, but i might add here that i have liked the food on most of my flights anyway. I like the pre-set trays with everything one would need, and somehow the portions are just right. The taste of the food is a very specific thing so while i liked it, some people may not.
All in all i found my overall experience with the round trip very satisfying and i will certainly be flying Continental again.
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