Bristol Airport - expansion plans, car parking, public transport links - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Mookiemoo]

But why...? Continental's EWR service is still operating from Bristol for a few months yet! Not sure if it's daily at this time of year though.

Because some of us are loyal to one airline because of the upgrades

[Chris from Nailsea]

Still daily: http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/booking/flight/fareCalendar.aspx 


Dud link: see below! 

[caliwag]

well that last link didn't work I'm afraid FA
But loyality to an airline...hoho

[Chris from Nailsea]

It was my link that failed, not FallenAngel's 

Try this one: http://www.bristolairport.co.uk/flight-information/destinations/times.aspx?destination=EWR

[Mookiemoo]

well that last link didn't work I'm afraid FA
But loyality to an airline...hoho

I've flown so many time with Virgin that I automatically get upper class upgrades.  I book premium economy either with cash or airmiles and I don't think I've not been upgraded once in the last five years.

So yes, I do have loyalty even to the point where I'll fly to the west coast and fly back to the mid west if thats all that is available

[Super Guard]

Whenever i've ever flown to the US, it's always been cheaper to fly out of Heathrow than connect 2-3 times on Continental from Bristol.

[inspector_blakey]

Depends where you're going - BA^» (British Airways - about) in particular have a good network of direct flights to the States (Denver, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Atlanta, Houston, Las Vegas, Seattle, Baltimore... as well as the bigger destinations) using 777/767 aircraft instead of 747s on some of the less busy routes. Newark is pretty convenient for the Eastern seaboard as it's right on the main railway line, but for anything further west Heathrow is often a better option.

[Tim]

This was a useful flight.  It has always been very busy the couple of times when I used it. I think it suffered from not having anything intermediate between the (extremely cheap) economy fares and the business fares which are hard to justify for a farily shortish flight.  On a business trip I'd be tempted to pay more for a preminuim economy, but when you look at ^300ish for an economy fare and ^2000 to ^3000 for business class for a 6 hour trip, it is just not worth it even on someone elses money. 

Also the planes used were old and cramped.

[inspector_blakey]

Based on one experience of the BRS^▸ (Business Rates Supplement)-EWR route it was pretty full in cattle, looked quite empty in first. Aircraft was a fairly new 757-200, looked in pretty good nick and had a decent "on-demand" in-flight entertainment system with quite big screens (just a shame that, since Continental is an American company, all the in-flight telly was from the US and therefore sucked - at least BA^» (British Airways - about) give you Top Gear and other BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) delights, although possibly a bit too much Jamie Oliver for my liking). Although it's a narrow-bodied aircraft the seating wasn't any more cramped that the BA 777s and 767s that ply the route between LHR and Philly, and indeed it looked newer, cleaner and tidier! The big difference I noticed between CO and BA was the off-hand service on CO - flight attendants who clearly didn't give a r*t's @rse about the punters and were only interested in flinging out the "chicken or beef" as quickly as possibly then clearing away so they could spend the rest of the flight in their crew cubby-hole.

Now, you can say what you like about BA cabin crew (and I have said quite a few things about them in the last few months, especially when the threatened strike looked like it would stop me getting home to Blighty for Christmas) but at least when they're working they are in my experience always courteous and professional!

[Tim]

Aircraft was a fairly new 757-200, looked in pretty good nick and had a decent "on-demand" in-flight entertainment system with quite big screens (

That wasn't the case a couple of years ago when I last flew.  Very tatty overhead screens, some broken, some out of focus, colour balance different on each one.  SOmething to look forward to when I fly at teh end of this month.

Flew with them last month (in ECONOMY) and was very impressed with the onboard environment, service and price.

[inspector_blakey]

I wonder if this has anything to do with the decision to withdraw the EWR - BRS^▸ (Business Rates Supplement) service...

[smithy]

I wonder if this has anything to do with the decision to withdraw the EWR - BRS^▸ (Business Rates Supplement) service...

may have some influence on the decision.

well that last link didn't work I'm afraid FA
But loyality to an airline...hoho

I've flown so many time with Virgin that I automatically get upper class upgrades.  I book premium economy either with cash or airmiles and I don't think I've not been upgraded once in the last five years.

So yes, I do have loyalty even to the point where I'll fly to the west coast and fly back to the mid west if thats all that is available

am i the only person to wonder why some posters have to constantly tell people they travel first/upper be it by rail or air?

[JayMac]

am i the only person to wonder why some posters have to constantly tell people they travel first/upper be it by rail or air?

Probably. Does it bother you?

[smithy]

No does not bother me,just find it strange that people constantly need to make common knowledge they travel first/upper/business.

[grahame]

When new arrivals land on "The Coffee Shop", it's great news for them and us if they do so on a selfcontained thread ... which means that it's better if posts do contain "noteable notes" which set the scene and don't leave the new arrival wondering why someone's having a grump at "no free OJ anymore" when (s)he [the new arrival] can't even imagine that there was ever OJ available - even at a price - from Castle Bar to West Ealing ...

As I wrote this comment, I wondered just how many search arrivals we get here. A quick estimate from looking at the log file for April came up with just over 9000 records that look likely.