Continental - anyone flown them with kids? good/bad?

[EldonAve]

I am trying to sort out a trip to the US and continental are significantly cheaper than Virgin

Anyone tried them recently with kids?

anyone?

We have flown continental pre-DS as it was more convenient. I would not fly with them with children. We now fly virgin for longhaul even if it means a longer journey. The service, the food, the legroom on continental are not much better then easyjet, it's like flying budget without the prices. You don't get your own entertainment like with Virgin. I would not do it longhaul if I had a choice and would definitely avoid with kids.

Continental is a bit like being on a bus. I would never take a child on their flights as there wasn't enough entertainment for me let alone youngsters.

Virgin are worth the extra money IMO.

Thanks
I think we may chance Continental - it will cost 3x more to go Virgin

We often go with Continental (to various US destinations). Just lower your expectations, as all US based airlines (in my experience) have pared everything back to the bone to keep costs down. They really are fine. Food's Ok, entertainment system fine etc. No children's goody bags, but I've never been a fan of all that tat, preferring to make up my own to keep the dc entertained.

I think if you plan well enough, and take things for your dc to do, then you'll be fine. Staff are always helpful when asked, but tend not to offer without prompting.

You can also check online which plane it is, as the newer ones have on-demand video entertainment/ games etc.

At the end of the flight, you'll still feel as cr*p if you fly Virgin or any other (done all airline combos possible!), but I prefer to save the money to spend on the holiday itself.

Thanks BlueCow

Flew with Continental a few years back, would never do so again and especially with children. Would never generally use a US based carrier to fly transatlantic. Cheap is not always cheerful.

DH just piped up that Continental has far better food than any other airline he's been on!

[dc are now 8,6,2; we've been doing transatlantic for the last 10 years]

Thanks Attila & BlueCow

I don't really understand the pricing but I can get a virgin flight out, then continental internal flights but if I pick a virgin flight home then the price goes up £4K

I think coming home I can live with a crappy flight

4k!! which website are you using?

continental

Hi EldonAve,

Where are you flying to btw?.

Continental and Virgin actually code share some of their flights. You'd be better off looking at either Virgin or BA (for some routes BA come in cheaper than VA) for the transatlantic leg of the journey and using continental or another US based carrier for the internal leg. US internal flights though are not cheap either; you certainly would not see Ryanair or Easyjet type pricing.

going from LHR to LAX then IAH then MSP then back to LHR

Continental are also supposed to code share with Northwest and KLM but their website never offers me the NW/KLM direct flight from MSP to LHR

I might try calling Virgin on Monday and see what they can do

Not sure if the price change is due to Continental joining Star Alliance so maybe their code share deals change?

Your proposed current routing is going to come to some serious money whichever airline you use. These also seem one way fares which will also put the cost up. Also flying into one US airport (in this case LAX) and leaving from another US airport (MSP) transatlantic will send that overall cost sector skyrocketing.

The internal US flights as well are going to be expensive. You'd be better off as well looking at each airline's website direct (KLM as well tend to do more flights out of Amsterdam).

Do you actually have to fly into LA or can you forego this?. If so BA fly direct into Houston (not just to say LAX and they codeshare with AA). You should be able to get an internal flight between Houston and Minneapolis/StPaul even if its via Chicago.

Have you tried somewhere like Trailfinders; they're usually good at these sorts of routings and they may be able to come up with something for you. You need a specialist group like them to cost this properly.

Thanks Attila, we are in LA for a week and I'd rather fly there direct

I spoke to Trailfinders last week and their airline deals meant that they couldn't do a codeshare flight with Virgin/Cont so it was much more expensive than what I could get online

I tried routing it LAX/IAH/MSP/IAH/LAX but it didn't get any cheaper

"I tried routing it LAX/IAH/MSP/IAH/LAX but it didn't get any cheaper".

Not unfortunately all that surprising; US internal flights these days are v expensive and discounts for children are not readily granted.

You need to completely separate this into two distinct parts; the transatlantic routing and the US internal flights routing.

Would not just use Continental for the whole routing if this is what you are planning as this may be more expensive all told.

How are you going to fly into LAX?. Are you now looking at other carriers for that route?. One thing that will keep the price down is to keep the arrival and departure airport into the US as one and the same.

MSP is not directly served by many airlines; the ones that fly there usually fly there via somewhere else first. We flew to MSP from Chicago (we obtained a direct flight from there).

Am not at all certain whether you would get a direct flight between Houston and MSP. It would probably be on American or United/TED and it would likely go via Chicago as well. Any route like this as well would push the price up as would be flying first thing in the morning.

Its a great routing and I hope you pull it off, I'd like to do something like this myself again.

FWIW - some of the cheapest internal US flights are to be found on a no-frills airline called Southwest. No idea though if they have routes to cities you need.

Maybe do as Attila suggests and go Continental for transatlantic and buy separate tix/try Southwest for US internal?

Thanks Attila and Earlybird

I will try splitting it and seeing what prices I can get

Look at www.kayak.co.uk, they're really good for trying lots of options.

Glad to help.

You must go directly to the Southwest Airlines website, as their flights don't feature on any of the online discount sites.

One other tip if you go Southwest - you can print out your boarding pass 24 hours in advance of departure. I strongly recommend you do this (as close to 24 hours ahead as possible) for an easier/more pleasant flight. The airline has no seat assignments and those who have 'checked in' first online get to board/choose seats first.