Now that I live in Florida, Continental is the only airline that appears to have the most destinations with the most options. Most of my family and friends still live in New York and New Jersey, and it is the only Airline from our local airport (Fort Myers, FL) that has non-stops to New York or New Jersey.
In general, the stewards and stewardesses are extremely friendly, polite, knowledgeable and want to satify their customers. For example, they canceled a flight, their last flight to New Jersey for the evening, and I had a coach seat. They put me on the first plane in the morning in First Class. However, the seat I received had a loose spring in the seat so I sat extremely uncomfortable the entire ride there. I made the steward aware of the problem and he said he would make sure that Continental would take care of me... OK, I said. I wrote a letter when I did arrive home to let them know of the problem. I did receive a response back within 2 weeks. They told me they not only got my letter, but the steward had sent a message to corporate when the plane landed with my information and the problem. They added 10, 000 additional frequent flier miles to my account. I could live with that. Considering I was supposed to be sitting in Coach, not First Class.
Of all of the airlines, my best experiences have been with the service and availability of Continental Airlines. If anything is wrong, they will fix it. Although it must be my dumb luck that all of my flights have always been delayed for weather related issues...
Although I can’t speak for First Class seating, the Coach seating is ample, although for those who are not a size small and weigh 100 pounds, they could be a little more roomier. Their new planes are much nicer, with individual movie screens on the back of the seat in front of you. Even has a remote control that is attached by a cord to your seat. You can watch movies, the news, reruns (tv) or play games. You can even watch the map of your plane enroute to its destination! I guess I am a kid at heart.
Airline food on Continental isn’t that bad. Compared to 10 years ago, I used to eat at one of the airport restaurants before getting on the plane for fear of what they might serve me. Now, I do admit, they now serve snacks, or small meals that are more portable than sit-down, but they are decent, and its ’’real food’’ rather than those unidentifiable meals of yesterday (I am sure you all remember those...). I would rather get a small sandwich, with a packet of mustard, a cookie and an apple. Hold you over until you land (depending on the length of your flight.)
All in all, Continental has best served me on almost every occassion, and has more availabilities to more destinations than most airlines. And their prices are reasonable too.