Finally the day has arrived that I take a planned trip to Amsterdam. This is my first trip to Europe so I thought Amsterdam would be a good place to start. I found a reasonable BusinessFirst fare to Amsterdam awhile back and decided this is the only way to go, as I am 6’5 I didn’t want to be stuck in coach. I also took my girlfriend along for the trip, I have heard all about taking her along instead of one of my buddies, but none of my friends had the cash to go to Amsterdam at the time. This is also my first time up front on any aircraft so I am very excited to experience BusinessFirst on Continental.

This is also my first trip report in a long time so be nice.

May 23, 2004
MCI-IAH
CO Express Flight 3348
Departure Time: 4:00pm
Actual Departure: 4:10pm
Arrival Time: 6:01pm
Actual Arrival Time: 6:15pm
Equip: RJ145
Seat:4B&C

Arrived at MCI about 3 hours early as I wanted to do some a little bit of spotting. I am from Wichita and our airport there is extremely boring to spot since it is a small airport and mostly RJ’s. Went to the north side of the departing runway, I was able to spot here before without any incidents. About 30 mins of spotting I was ran off by Airport Security. Upon asking the officer about a better and approved spotting location I was rudely given a answer of “No there isn’t anywhere you can spot around here.” He then jumped in his Blazer and with lights and sirens on speed away. Oh well. We then went to the economy parking lot and took the shuttle to Terminal C where Continental operates. Went to the Elite check-in, no one else in line. Took about 5 minutes to check in and it went without a hitch. Waited until it was close to boarding time and went through the security checkpoint at the gate. MCI has security at the gates instead of one main security checkpoint due to the layout of the airport. Security went without a problem and we waited for the flight to board. The arriving plane was a little late but the turnaround on a RJ is very quick. Flight to Houston was uneventful and pretzels and a full can of drink was served. Landed at IAH and proceed to Terminal B. Found our gate and we were let out of the plane.

Upon arrival I checked the status of our flight to Amsterdam it was pushed back to 8:50pm from the original departure of 7:20pm. I was disappointed because now we would have to spend more time in the Presidents Club..oh darn. The terminalink at IAH is under construction so we had to take the transfer bus to Terminal E. This didn’t take very long and once at Terminal E we went straight to the new PC. I wasn’t impressed with the snacks offered, crackers and cheese. Went to the bar and ordered a rum and diet coke for myself and a amaretto sour for the lady. After some drinks and watching aircraft, mostly CO, takeoff boarding was announced for Amsterdam and we proceeded to gate E7.

May 23, 2004
IAH-AMS
CO Flight 46
Departure Time: 7:20pm
Actual Departure: 8:57pm
Arrival:11:55am May24th
Actual Arrival: 1:00pm May24th
Seat 2A&B BusinessFirst
Equip: 767-400

We arrived at the gate and noticed that boarding hadn’t started and of course there was a mass of people in front of the boarding area. We found a seat and waited. Once BusinessFirst boarding was called we went to the boarding area. Since the mass of people, coach passengers, were in front of the boarding area it wasn’t easy making it up there. People would not move out of the way, I actually had to get vocal with an individual because attempts to say excuse me didn’t work. It was at this time that gate agents made the announcement, “Please everyone clear the boarding area to allow BusinessFirst customers to board.” Both of us are young, 23, and of course we received the “What are they doing in BusinessFirst?” look from the masses. Not sure if this is why we had a hard time boarding or not. By this time I was already at the blue carpet and was on my way to the plane. BusinessFirst customers had their own jetway to the first door. Greeted by the FA and was shown to our seats. Shortly after sitting down amenity kits and menus were handed out and drink orders were taken. We opted for champagne. Drinks were delivered and were refilled promptly. FA came by and took our main course selection I choose the veal medallions and my girlfriend went with the salmon. Other choices were breast of duck and the pasta bowl. I messed with the seat controls and other functions of the seat. Departure was announced and we began to taxi out. Takeoff was smooth and we began our journey. The flight path would take us over the eastern US, Canadian coast, close to Greenland, over Iceland, Ireland, Britain, and into Amsterdam. Flight time was announced at 8hrs32mins. Once at cruising altitude dinner service was started. Linen and silverware were placed on tray tables and drink orders were taken. I opted for a rum and coke. Hot towels were delivered Warm nuts were given with the drinks. The appetizer cart made its way to us, choices lump crabmeat topped with shrimp or air-dried beef. I asked for and received both. They were both very good. Next the salad was brought out. It was served with either the Cabernet Sauvignon vinaigrette dressing of the Parmesan peppercorn. I went with the peppercorn which was good, my girlfriend choose the vinaigrette and she said is was good as well. After salads were finished main’s were given. The veal medallions were good, but the asparagus served with it wasn’t the best. Once mains were done next we had the cheese service. I based on this knowing what was next, ice cream!! Dessert was next with either ice cream sundaes or warm fruit cobbler. I had to choose the ice cream and asked for everything. When the dessert was finished I was stuffed. So much food which is what I read from previous trip reports. Oh and during dinner we watched the Butterfly Effect. It was a very weird movie and it was hard for me to follow, but other than that it was OK. Once lines were cleared, I was ready for sleep. Moved the seat into the sleeping position, it was a little hard at first getting comfortable. I was on my side and this seemed the best for me. After 5 hours of sleep I awoke to the smell of more food. Breakfast was being served. Choices Omelette topped with cheese, smoked pork loin, turkey sausage patty, and lyonnaise potatoes or your could have a bowl of cereal. Also accompanied by fruit and cinnamon rolls and other breads. We both went with the Omelette. I also ordered a mimosa with my breakfast. The meal service was great. Once breakfast was complete the FA’s came by and thanked us for flying CO. Descent into Amsterdam was made and we landed without problems. Sorry for not getting the runway information. We landed on the new runway that is a long way from the terminals. We taxied for awhile, it seemed like 30mins, not sure. Arrived at gate G7. We disembarked the aircraft and proceed to baggage claim, first went through passport control. Not many people in line so this went fast. I was impressed with the Priority tags on out luggage. All of our luggage came out first. This made leaving Schiphol very fast. We used the travel taxi service at Schiphol so we would have to mess with carrying luggage on the train to Central Station and from there to the hotel.

We stayed at Hotel Agora. This was a small bed and breakfast hotel, very reasonable rates and a wonderful and friendly staff. I would recommend this to anyone who would like to get a true feel for Amsterdam and not stay in an “Americanized” hotel. It was in a wonderful location with easy access to the Tram system.

After 7 days in Amsterdam, not long enough, it was time to go. The Schiphol travel taxi arrived on time and took us to the airport. On the way to the airport I received a trip alert on my phone stating that our flight to Houston was delayed for 3 hours. This wasn’t a bad thing as I wanted to do some spotting at Schiphol and look around the wonderful airport. We went to the BusinessFirst checkin..no one in line. Agents asked us if we want to take the 1:50pm departure to Newark. If we stayed on the Houston flight we would more then likely miss our connection to MCI and be stuck in IAH until the morning. They checked availability and they booked us on the 1:50pm flight to EWR with a layover there and then a RJ flight to MCI. They also gave us two 28.00EUR vouchers for food and beverage, but since it was almost 1:00pm and we would be eating lunch on the plane we didn’t use these. We did however find a family that could use them so we gave them away. We went to the KML Lounge 52 since we had access to this with BF boarding pass. This was a pretty good lounge. Self serve bar with Heineken on tap, a soup machine, and various other snacks to choose from. We hung out here for a little while then proceeded to gate G3 for boarding.

May 31st, 2004
AMS-EWR
CO Flight 71
Departure time: 1:50pm
Actual departure: 1:55pm
Arrival: 3:45pm
Actual Arrival: 3:50pm
Seat 10K&L
Equip: 777-200

I was excited to be on the 777-200 since this is a new aircraft to me, also Continental has newer seats on the 777 that are different from the 767 flown earlier. When we arrived at the boarding area coach passengers were already boarding. We preceded to the blue carpet Elite access and was promptly received and cleared for boarding. FA showed us to our seats. I went with the window seat since I love to see what is going on at the airport and beyond. Predeparture drinks were served..again I went with champagne and water. Amenity kits and menus were handed out. Also the Concierge greeted us by name and asked if we needed anything. Main course choices were asked for, I went with the rack of lamb and my girlfriend went with the pasta bowl, other selections were shrimp scampi, which the FA said was already request 8 times and he said it wasn’t that good anyway, and breast of chicken. Departure was announced and we proceeded to taxi out and prepare for takeoff. Takeoff was smooth and we proceeded to climb to cruising altitude, flight time was announced as 7hr 55mins. Once at level altitude dinner was served. Linen service and silverware was placed and hot towels were delivered Warm nuts and drinks first followed by Appetizer cart. This included smoked salmon with cream cheese and caviar, and smoked duck with fig. Both choices were giving without asking. Both were pretty good. After this salad was served, it was a different salad then the previous flight and I went with the vinaigrette dressing, which was good. Next came the main course…the rack of lamb was good as well as the pasta bowl. Cheese and fruit followed..I nibbled on some of this again knowing that ice cream was next. Sundaes were served…the FA said he would make a special one for me which included Kahlua with all the toppings..it was great. During dinner we both watched Barbershop 2. After dinner I had a couple of rum and cokes and then proceeded to sleep until arrival refreshment was served. I personally liked the 777 BF seats better. They are wider I was much more comfortable sleeping in these seats that on the 767. On both seats though I am too tall to use the foot rest it doest extend far enough. During my sleep I was awoken to the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. So of course I had to indulge with a glass of milk as well. This was great. Went back to sleep. Arrival snack was served. This included fresh fruit and a beef tenderloin sandwich. Sandwich was pretty good. We landed at EWR shortly after without incident and proceeded to customs and immigration. This is my first time coming back into the US. The whole process was a joke and severely inefficient, maybe someone can clarify this. Wait in one huge line to have a person check passport and customs form. Once this is done go and wait for luggage. Once luggage is obtained wait in another huge line without any form of lines at all and no aisles to separate the lines. It seemed like 3 lines but maybe it was two. Get to another person to check customs for again to check to see if you need to go to the inspectors. Why cant this be done at the first line you wait in? If you did declare something get your luggage and go to the inspectors. I guess people would just get their luggage and bypass inspectors if they wanted to. It seems to me that this is a waste of time. Going into Amsterdam was nothing like this, just check passport once and you are on your way. I am sure that I am not familiar with all the procedures and laws. Once we cleared all of this mess we went to recheck luggage, this process was fast. Checked monitors for our next flight. Went to terminal C. Went to the nearest Presidents Club and waited for our departing flight. It was around 4:45 when we got to the PC and our next flight didn’t leave until 7:35pm. So we had plenty of time to kill. Watched airport operations from the club over looking the CO terminal, and had plenty to drink. The status of our flight change to 8:00pm departure. I wasn’t excited to see that our aircraft was a RJ. A almost 3 hr flight on this jet isn’t fun at all.

May 31st, 2004
EWR-MCI
CO Express Flight 2669
Departure: 7:35pm
Actual Departure: 8:05pm
Arrival: 9:50pm
Actual Arrival: 10:31pm
Equip: RJ145
Seat: 4B&C

This flight was uneventful. As a surprise to me we were giving a choice between a ham or turkey sandwich snack that included carrots and candy. I assumed all we would get is drink and pretzels this late at night. Arrived at MCI and went to baggage claim. Again our bags were the first ones to come out and we grabbed these and headed for the parking lot.

This concludes our trip to Amsterdam. Overall I was very impressed with CO’s BusinessFirst service. The food was great for being at 35,000 feet and prepared ahead of time for many people. Service by the FA’s was excellent and you didn’t have to ask for a drink refill, they were already on top of this. As I haven’t taken any other first/business class trips on other carriers I don’t have anything to compare this to, but from other posts on airliners.net I think that CO does win the battle between domestic carriers on international segments, except maybe United First Class Suites. The delays were all caused by the late arrival of aircraft from other airports, not sure if it was CO’s fault or not, didn’t really care, as it just meant more time in the PC. I will be sure to go BusinessFirst again on any international flights in the future, unless of course I can go with Singapore Airlines in First Class..he he…

Thanks for reading my trip report.