Author: ssegraves

Call me Mr. Packrat

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Stuff; I keep it. For no reason at all, I have a habit of hanging on to things that are no longer needed, take up space, and look cluttered. How long have I been doing this? For as long as I can remember. The kicker is that it has trickled into my computer habits and now I find myself not deleting PDFs and having data spread out all over my harddrive.

This is bad practice, I know. I can admit it is a form of being a packrat, though I am not sure my room or computer desktop look like those pictures. My reasons for keeping things is purely the possibility needing something later in time, even though, in the back of my mind I doubt the need will materialize. I keep information brochures on things that will probably never be used, text documents containing flight information from three years ago and coupons for pizza that expired years ago.

So, after years of this type of behavior, I am working on just getting rid of stuff. During a recent flight I went through my computer harddrive and just started deleting things that were spread out everywhere. If I did not know what the file was by looking at the name and its location, it went in the trash. In my room, I’ve emptied a basket of papers that I no longer need and filed the ones I do. There is progress but it is sometimes difficult for me to part with something I think I may need or use in the future. I’ll keep trying.

British Airways announces OpenSkies, I won’t hold my breath

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British Airways announced a new subsidiary airline called OpenSkies that will operate flights between New York and Continental Europe utilizing 3-class Boeing 757s. The aircraft will be configured with Business, Premium Economy, and Economy seats.

This is somewhat of a surprise since BA’s competition across the Atlantic is fierce, especially with Business Class only carriers. Their idea is novel though, as the plane configuration, with a premium economy section, will attract more customers wanting a comfortable ride to Europe.

OpenSkies has not announced which New York area airport it will fly out of, but my guess would be that they actually split traffic between JFK and EWR to keep some landing slots open for the widebody fleet.

Eventually we will have to see one of these airlines going across the Atlantic in 757s cut service due to lack of demand. The air will be clogged with flights from multiple U.S. and international carriers going between mainland Europe and cities around the United States and there won’t be anyone on some of them. The one upside is the fact that ticket prices should drop significantly when the Open Skies agreement is finally observed.

Back and bumped into first

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A belated “Happy New Year!” to anyone who still visits.

Yes, I am alive and well and back in Houston after a long break for Christmas and the ringing-in of 2008.

My recent trip to Chicago and small town Indiana was capped on both ends with upgrades to first class on Continental Airlines, and I would like to point out a few things.

For one, Continental’s upgrade methods are probably some of the easiest in the industry to acquire, especially after you understand the way it works. As an elite OnePass member, you receive complimentary upgrades whenever there is space available on the aircraft. First to be upgraded are Platinums, then Golds, and finally Silvers. There is also a fourth group of fliers who can be upgraded, the Y class ticket-holders. Y class tickets are full fare economy tickets. After all of the OnePass members have been upgraded, Y class ticket holders are upgraded in order of check-in time (as long as there is space available).

For my trip, the system worked flawlessly. I was set to leave on December, 26th and upon checking-in noticed that my seat was changed to 1B. A pleasant surprise. On the return, I was put in 2A and was going to give the upgrade to my girlfriend Jess but after talking to the gate agent, was actually able to get her in the front cabin with me. I have pondered how the gate agent was able to give me the seat and after watching the gate area I think I figured it out.

For one, this was a packed flight. Since it was the 31st of December, there were not a lot of business travelers (elites) and I’m assuming there were not any Y class ticket holders. I simply walked up to the gate and asked if there was any room in the front cabin. The agent looked at me and surprisingly said “yes”. A few minutes later and Jess had a seat next to me, making the trip home even more enjoyable.

The time in Indiana was well spent with family and it was a real treat to be able to spend more quality time with my grandmother who has not been well over the last year. I will post pictures from the trip as soon as I get them organized and uploaded.

This blog will be seeing some changes and a potential move over the next few weeks so stay tuned.

Gone, but trying to make a comeback

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A recent flood of work has caused me to be away from the computer for long periods of time and will continue to do the same until I finally catch a break.

I have been jumping between Denver, Houston, and other side cities. I will be in Austin this coming weekend for the UT-Texas Tech football game, which will be a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the airport.

Using a phone in a restroom

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Your normal trip to a public restroom involves a routine. You walk in, head to the urinal, unzip, do your business, wash your hands, and you’re back to what you were doing before.

That experience was completely different today. I walked in, headed to the urinal, saw a guy who was talking to someone while using the restroom, flushing, and washing his hands. Me, I don’t have the audacity to do such things, nor the skill level.

Why can’t credit cards have instant activity logs?

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Most banking/debit cards have their transactions show up almost instantaneously online, but credit cards are different. When I make a purchase, the most instant feedback I get is the available balance showing a decrease but I can never see the actual transaction. This is disconcerting because I would like to be able to see where my money goes in an instant instead of waiting 3-4 days for the credit card processing to occur.

I can kind of understand why it takes place, and the reason is for the good of the customer. The credit card company during transaction can check for fraud and stop things in their tracks if it is detected. While this is great, it keeps me from doing my own balancing and checking.

Being a user of a credit card instead of a debit card, it would be nice if they worked the same. Well, maybe some day.

More on Continental improving their product

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Apparently, yesterday’s post on what Continental can do to be competitive was a hit. A large increase in traffic registered in my statistics and caused the site a bit of a hiccup late last night.

Driving to work this morning I continued to think of things Continental can do to keep their business strong and make it even stronger. I have created another list below that outlines my thoughts on a variety of different things Continental can improve on.

President's Club - IAH C Terminal South

  • President’s Club experience
    • Overall, the President’s Club is a great way to get away from the terminal and relax in a much calmer atmosphere.
    • The internet access in most of the clubs is awful. I am not sure if it is due to leechers sitting outside of the club’s doors or if the network connections are just that bad, whatever it is, it needs to be fixed. Continental has a huge advantage over other clubs by simply providing internet access for free, now do us one better and make it really usable.
    • Increased space/seating should be a priority. After visiting the President’s Club in the E terminal at IAH, I was taken aback by the fact that people had turned four seats by the windows into their personal offices, leaving very little seating for those of us who just wanted to get off of our feet. If Continental can increase club size, or add more clubs to airports where they know it gets crowded, things would be much more enjoyable.
  • Legroom in coach
    • The legroom in coach class on Continental’s flights is laughable. Sitting in it for four hours is almost unbearable, let alone a transatlantic or worse, transpacific flight. Continental needs to seriously consider expanding the fleet to increase frequency to make up for a slight seat reduction to add the legroom. I can guarantee that customers in the back will be much happier.
  • Fleet aircraft
    • Continental still has a large number of 737-300s and 737-500s in their fleet. These planes are older, even less comfortable, and used on routes that make them teeter on the brink of unbearable. Flying from Houston to Newark on one of these is right up there on the list of least favorite things to do, right below going to the dentist. Update the fleet and/or pull these planes off of longer haul routes and have them relegated to short hops.
    • The ERJ situation has to be fixed. Newark is clogged to the brink of collapse with these little birds taking up gates, landing and takeoff slots, and overall airspace. Reduce the number of these planes and customers will see a vast improvement in on-time performance and comfort at both Newark and Houston Intercontinental. This goes for the CRJ-200 as well, which are even less comfortable than the ERJs.
  • Hub locations
    • Continental’s hub situation is slowly getting better. With the recent announcement that the operation at Cleveland would receive $50 million in renovations there is a glimmer of hope.
    • The west coast needs some sort of “base of operations” for Continental. It used to be LAX but that has been all but abandoned. An increased presence on the west coast will definitely boost business customers traveling back and forth between New York and LAX or SFO.
    • A hub on the west coast could also improve flight options for those of us looking to get to China, Japan, and Southeast Asia faster and for less money. It is in Continental’s best interest to look into what it would take to get a full scale hub built on the west coast.

That’s all that really struck me this morning driving into work. I am sure I left something off and will more than likely end up editing this article to fix it. If you would like to contact me with your suggestions/ideas for Continental, feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me at ssegraves@gmail.com.

*This article will be republished at http://stephan.wordpress.com and http://stephan.newsvine.com

Continental, keep me coming back!

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When my “base of operations” switched from Dallas to Houston in February of this year my choice of airlines changed too. I was a frequent flier on American Airlines and had the status to prove it. I enjoyed DFW and did not mind flying in and out of there. With the move to Houston, my airline of choice has become Continental Airlines and the airport I frequent is now IAH.

With the change my enjoyment of flying has increased by a great amount. Continental has only let me down one time but they have more than made up for it with great service on every other trip with them. My recent flight in the BusinessFirst cabin from Newark to Seattle was one of the most enjoyable flights I have ever taken. The Continental flight attendants are some of the best in the business and the fact that the airline still provides meals at mealtimes is a testament to their devotion to their customers.

Recently, Continental, in conjunction with a message board community of frequent fliers, announced that they would be holding a very large event at Intercontinental Airport. The event will take place September 28-29 and will include tours of Continental facilities and a Q&A session with various Continental “C” level management, including Larry Kellner himself. As you can imagine, I am attending this event with Jess and want to have a nice list of suggestions and questions for the Continental management.

So, how can Continental improve and compete more heavily for my business?

  • Better transcontinental services and comfort.
    • Continental only has one east coast hub, Newark, and it serves Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. The comfort on these planes for both coach and first class passengers is minimal. If you are on a red-eye, do not assume you will get a good amount of sleep in coach, the seat pitch is only 31″ and pales in comparison to JetBlue’s 34″ pitch. The three inches may not sound like a lot, but it definitely helps when you are wanting to relax a little.
    • The above comment goes hand-in-hand with upgrading of the transcontinental fleet, which should be segregated into an almost three class configuration. Have a first class, business class, and economy section (with more legroom) and increase the capacity on the routes. It is near impossible to obtain a first class seat on a transcontinental route due to the fact that the largest plane flying these routes only has 24 seats in the front.
  • Improve the elite check-in and security lines, especially in Houston and Newark.
    • The Newark elite security lines in terminal C are a joke, they merge right before you get to a metal detector and just become a bottleneck as the airport gets busier throughout the day.
    • Give elites a true “elite” line and make their trip a little more hassle free, it makes all the difference, especially when being forced to fly through Newark.
  • President’s Club food choices are going the way of the Dodo
    • I understand that the President’s Club is a way to escape the hustle and bustle of the terminal and I appreciate it, but the food options are somewhat depressing. The cheese and crackers combination just gets old after a while. Maybe add a few other small options such as bite-sized sandwiches or some sort of meat to accompany my cheese and crackers.
  • Food options in coach teeter on the inedible side of the spectrum
    • The cheesesteak pizza and the faux-hamburger have to go. I know that Continental is just trying to put some food into the customer’s belly, but these options are not really options at all.
    • Make a salad with chicken on top an option. The vinaigrette dressing that is provided on the flights is great, now compliment it with a little chicken or smoked salmon and I’ll be happy.

Those are the main quirks that stick out in my head as I walk through an airport terminal. I will still be a loyal Continental flier even the above never get implemented, it would just be nice to see it happen. The one other thing that Continental could do to keep its already loyal elite fliers is block off middle seats for them. Instead of filling the plane from the front to back, do the reverse, I guarantee there will be a great majority of businessmen who will thank you.

My morning ruined by a phone call

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The morning drive to work, though filled with traffic, is a respite from what lies ahead in the day. My radio is usually turned to talk radio and I am able to reflect on the discussion of the day.

This morning, all of that came to a screeching halt. My co-worker, who was told to be at the office early, arrived at 7:30am, just like she was told. My boss was looking for a database on the server that had not been added yet. My co-worker proceeded to provide my boss with my personal cell phone number and he proceeded to call me.

I answered, not knowing who it was, and there went my morning. The question was simple, “Were’ you able to get the database put on the server yesterday?”, my answer was equally simple, “No”. Silence ensued so I continued, telling my boss that I was on the freeway. He inquired as to how long it would take me to get there, “depending on traffic, 20 minutes”.

Now my solitude in the morning was instead interrupted by thoughts of what I would have to do the rest of the day. Then, to ice the cake, the person who we were supposed to be rushing to facilitate showed up at his leisure an hour later. So we rushed, I got my morning shockingly interrupted, and the person it was done for could have cared less.

The lesson from this? Don’t answer your phone in the morning.

Give me a reason to read your resume

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When I receive a resume for a potential employee the first thing I do is review it for spelling and grammatical errors. I printed out a resume last week that had me rolling. It was for a position that we have here but this person wants to do it in China. He’s from China and my first thought was that he basically wanted a free ticket home (we’ve had that happen before).

As I read the resume I realized this guy may not actually grasp the English language, even though he’s apparently lived here for 20+ years. There were grammatical errors galore, with one sentence (that was a statement) ending in a question mark. What am I supposed to do? How do these resumes get through the HR people in the first place? It seems as though it is an exercise in futility. I can already imagine how my interview is going to go with this candidate and though I will go through with it, I’m dreading it.

Just last week, actually right before I received this resume, I interviewed a perfect candidate for the position, but have not heard anything more. The whole situation is quite disconcerting.