CO 1548 SEA-FLL (1 stop in IAH)

[NWgoldelite]

I was scheduled for a 6:20 AM departure on Jan 15th on Continental airlines flight #1548 from Seattle-Houston-and then continuing service to Ft. Lauderdale. Since I was under 15 traveling alone I would be going as an unaccompanied minor. I was in first-class and was looking forward to it.


Continental Airlines #1548 SEA-FLL (with 1 stop in IAH-direct flight)
Sch Departure: 6:20 a.m.
Act. Departure: 6:15 a.m.
Sch. Arrival: 12:25 p.m.
Act. Arrival: 11:55 a.m.
Meal: Breakfast
Equipment: 757-200
Seat: 1A
Gate: S11

CHECK-IN: I arrived at the check-in desk at 5:10 a.m. and proceeded to the first-class line. There was 2 people in front of me, but since the agents weren't busy I didn't have to wait at all. I was checked-in by a very nice and friendly agent who joked around with me. We did the unaccompanied minor paper work and she handed me my boarding card for 1A. Instead of giving me a boarding card for SEA-IAH then IAH-FLL it was on one boarding card that read SEA-FLL.

I went through security with my sister, which was uneventful and took the train out to the south satellite. It's strange that Continental has started to use S10, and S11 gates. They usually only use the B gates. Anyone know why they recently started using S gates? Some planes I saw on the ground in Seattle were, Northwest DC-10-30 for HNL, 2 Hawaiian 767-300's, one bound for HNL and one for maui, and I saw a Northwest 757-300 bound for MSP at 9:00 am. I also think I noticed that the worldclub wasn't open. I thought NW had a 6:40 a.m. to MSP. How come the club wasn't open?

I arrived at gate S11 at about 5:35. Boarding commenced on-time at 5:45 a.m. but I boarded a little late because my sister had to use the bathroom and I needed to say good-bye to her. By the time I boarded they had already begun boarding the middle of coach. I stowed my luggage in the overhead bin and I found my seat. Most of the passengers in first-class were already seated. I was not offered a drink right away because the F/A was busy serving drinks to other rows. After she served drinks to some other passengers she asked what I would like. I ordered an ice-water and settled into my seat. First-class was configured in a 2x2 configuration with 6 rows. First-class was full. Before push back, the flight attendant took our breakfast orders. The choices were, a cheese omelet, or a bowl of cereal. I chose the omelet with a cranberry juice. I was surprised our orders were taken before take-off and not after.

For those of you that have never been in Continental's domestic first seat it isn't anything special. It is a large black leather seat with moderate leg room. The new seats also have adjustable headrests which help. I was sitting on the left side in the bulkhead. I highly recommend sitting here because of the cut-out in the wall for your feet and storing bags. The bulkhead row across from the left side does NOT have a cut-out. The seat also has a little lever that you can push up or down for lumbar. The lumbar isn't very comfortable though.

We taxied out to the runway and we were number 2 for take-off, right behind an Alaska 737-400. The engines roared as we rolled down the runway. After take-off we began our turn to the southeast for Houston. They showed a preview for the movie that they would be showing, SwimFan. Hot towels were handed out, followed by linens. The meal service began and the meal was served in courses.

(NOTE: THIS IS NOT A MENU JUST A DESCRIPTION OF THE MEAL)

TO START: We were served a fruit plate, which consisted of 2 orange slices, 2 grapefruit slices, a strawberry, 2 pineapple slices, and 4 pieces of melon. It was a good way to start off the breakfast. I enjoyed the fruit. While we were eating that she came around with a basket of cinnamon rolls, and biscuits. She said we could have both, but I decided to only have 1 cinnamon roll. It was delicious. It tasted freshly baked. The fruit plate was cleared away, and then the main meal was presented to me.

THE MAIN MEAL: Since I chose the eggs, I was served a plate with a cheese omelet, 2 sausage links, a piece of ham, hashbrowns, and a mini Belgian waffle with syrup to pour on. This was all very good. I was upset they didn't bring the bread basket around again because I wanted another cinnamon roll . My seat mate didn't even touch her food. I was a little surprised because the catering was very good. It was some of the best catering I have ever had. I give it a 9 out of 10.

The crew on this flight was phenomenal and were very courteous. They worked very hard and you could tell they enjoyed their jobs at Continental.

The movie was playing all through this time and I watched a little of it but I had already seen it before so I wasn't so interested. I slept for most of the flight, and unfortunately I slept through the freshly baked cookie service before landing. The captain announced our descent. We touched down at about 11:45 and taxied to gate C-43.

I was not picked up from the gate, even though I was going unaccompanied minor. They told me to sit down right next to the podium so the agent could watch me. I had a coversation with her that was interesting.
"Did you know your a Gold Elite?"
"Yep"
"Wow, you fly a lot"
"Yes, every month between my mom and dad"
"(she smiled)"

CONTINUE OF CO 1548 IAH-FLL
Sch. Departure: 1:25 p.m.
Act. Departure: 1:21 p.m.
Sch. Arrival: 4:48 p.m.
Act. Arrival: 4:36 p.m.
Meal: Snack
Seat: 1A
Equipment: 757-200
Gate: C-43

I don't know exactly when boarding began because they boarded me a bit early since I was going unaccompanied minor. The crew was different from the last flight. I was boarded and this crew welcomed me aboard. I went to my seat 1A and the flight attendant-in a squeaky voice-asked me if I wanted a drink. I ordered another ice-water. She also handed me, and only me, 2 cookies from the flight before. That was very nice of her, and I got to try the cookies. The cookies from the last flight turned out to be chocolate macadamian. They were also very good. Boarding didn't take that long and we pushed back. Again, first-class was full. I spotted a few planes on taxi, a CO MD-80, CO 737-900,-800, 4 CO CRJ's, and 2 AA fokker-100's. Again the captain said we were second for take-off. It was strange because I saw a 737 take-off, and I expected us to go next, but instead a CRJ took off, which made us 3rd.

After take-off we were offered a cold plate. She described it as having a grilled chicken breast, and shrimp, with a cranberry rice salad. I decided to try it, and ordered a coke with it. Hot towels were handed out followed by our drink order. This was accompanied by a package of mixed nuts with, cashews, almonds, pecans, and macadamian nuts. The tray containing the cold plate was then given without warning. I had to take my tray table out very quickly. It contained a small sliver of chicken, a small thing of "cranberry rice salad", a warm dinner roll with unsalted butter, 2 carrots, and an almond delight for dessert. No shrimp like she described. The plate was pretty disgusting. Especially the cranberry rice salad. The chicken was ok and the roll was pretty good. I wasn't really expecting that much though due to the short flight.

Something a little odd happend. During the flight I had to use the bathroom. When i approached the restroom, as a nice gesture, the flight attendant opened the door for me. And what was behind that magical door? A man standing in front of the tiolet. I guess the guy had never heared of locks before. I wasn't really embarrased because I wasn't the one that opened the door, thankfully.

The staff was very courteous during the flight. They topped off drinks and were hospitable. Again, great staff on Continental. The rest of the flight was spent watching continental visions and sleeping. The captain announced our descent and we landed 12 minutes early. We taxied to gate C-1.

A Great flight on Continental. They will be seeing a lot more of me. I think that Continental is better than Northwest and I prefer to fly them with my NWgoldelite card since they are partners.

[dbaker]

Great trip report -- thanks. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed the Continental service so much.

Why did you decide to fly via IAH instead of EWR, as usual?

[NWgoldelite]

Well, the UM service fee($40 as opposed to $75) is cheaper if it's a direct flight. The only direct flight CO offers is through IAH. I'll also be going through IAH on March 1st but returning through EWR. And as for this return, I'm going back through MSP.

[NWgoldelite]

I also forgot to add something. Before we went through security, the lady who was checking boarding passes didn't speak a word of english. She almost didn't let my sister accompany me, even with her gate pass. I thought they were threw hiring illegal immigrants.

[Nugget]

Great trip report!

I always order a coffee to go with the "almond delight" to tame the sweetness -- those things are damn sweet!

[NWgoldelite]

Now that you mentioned it, I had never really noticed the sweetness of the almond delights. Your right they are very sweet. I like the pecan one's a tad better.