V-Flyer

Turning up at Newark I had my traditional conflict - is Puerto Rico domestic or international? Finally US style logic prevailed and I wondered off to the domestic level for check in. The normal queues were HUGE but courtesy of the client I was flying Business First so had Elite Access. This queue was non existent and I was seen within a minute of arriving. It was self check in with assistance for luggage labels. This proceeded quickly and efficiently and in no time at all I was at security. Again the queues here were horrendous BUT the elite line was rapid and the actual processing was super fast. I suspect they've slackened procedures but shoes were off and laptops out. I didn't bother taking my liquid baggie out as they never seem to complain and true to form they didn't this time.

I made my way to the Continental President's Club. The door dragons are actually very personable and this one engaged me with conversations about South Park and Chef's unfortunate demise. The Sparky T-Shirt triggered this. Into the HUGE lounge and grabbed a window seat. Bags down and across to the bar for an Amber Bock. Food stuffs are fruit, cheese and biscuits and crisps. At least WiFi is free .

I made a sotto voce call to Mrs D but as I did so an older American lady came into the lounge and sat opposite and right to me and proceeded to make a normal volume phone call. When she'd finished she started to engage me in conversation - I joined in initially with trepidation but as the topic turned to food with more enthusiasm. Not only did her tastes in restaurants map on well to mine she was well connected on the NYC/PR restaurant scene so I was able to get a number of excellent recommendations from her. All too soon it was time to make my way to the gate. The gate was listed as C80 which was reasonably easy to find. At the gate priority boarding was well sign posted and early priority boarding was was announced and rigorously enforced. I'd prechosen 2E as all the 1 seats were gone and I prefer aisle seats.

The plane was a 737/800 with 4 rows of Business First configured 2-2. The seats were blue leather with a slightly larger pitch and width than new PE. No power points and no AVOD reminded one that this was a US carrier. The incredibly attentive FA offered pre flights drinks from an open bar and after push back we were soon airborne and initial drinks were offered along with a ramekin of mixed nuts. I opted for Heineken - which interestingly I wouldn't be seen dead drinking in the UK. Funny how low class domestic beers become premium when exported.

The Captain announced a 3'35' flight time and I settled in for a short hop. The dedicated FA came round to offer lunch - beef medallions or halibut. I opted for the halibut. Both choices came with a salad. When this arrived (served directly from the gall ley) this proved to be a full sized mixed salad with a champahne vinaigrette. The halibut was STUPIDLY large - two fillets each bigger than a VS main. This came with chargrilled asparagus, peppers and rice. The tarragon sauce accompanying was a little overwhelming but all in all it shows that it IS possible to serve hearty meals of a decent size. The food wasn't as 'frou frou' as I'd like but it was good enough. Sort of a steakhouse standard. As soon as food was served the POS in front of me reclined his seat. His partner had requested a seat belt extender (how big do you need to be to use these? She didn't seem to be particularly large.) but she somehow resisted the temptation to recline during meal service. Fortunately the pitch was large enough that this didn't impact on my experience. Cheesecake was on offer but I opted to boot up the PC and continue this TR. After a little live Snoop Dog I opted to go back to some amusing fare. Juggling conceptually between Tom Lehrer and Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys I opted for the latter and as I type it's 'We reserve the right to refuse service to you'... No in seat power so relying on battery power.

The flight continued uneventfully and after what seemed like no time at all we were descending into SJU. The humidity struck the moment we left the plane but the airport was well air conditioned. No immigration or customs to deal with so bags collected and straight out into the waiting taxi rank and torrential rain storms - not expected to clear this week. Welcome to hurricane season .

So lounge OK, boarding excellent, seats OK, IFE poor, food good, service good.

Thanks for the report. I like CO, its food and service are a notch above other carriers.

The whole power deal is maddening on US carriers, inconsistent at best. CO flies a lot to Europe with 757s, which as I recall do not have power at all. In general, on a cross country six hour flight, or a flight to Europe, no power is not a good thing. American wins hands down on this one.

Originally posted by Decker

I opted for Heineken - which interestingly I wouldn't be seen dead drinking in the UK. Funny how low class domestic beers become premium when exported.

That made me laugh as I think the exact same thing when in the States. Only ever drink Heineken in the US. Seems to be the only 'European' beer in Fl!