[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

The phrase "money can't buy happiness" may not apply to the business of commercial aviation. Southwest, for the last 2 to 3 DECADES, has been a member of that exclusive club of those airlines, thoughout the world, that manage to--CONSISTENTLY--show a profit--albeit a neglegable one. Thus Southwest has kept company with such international heavy weights as Lufthansa and Singapore. By contrast, I have yet to find an airline, that has to deal with today's economic realities, that is able to operate in the red, and provide customer service and reliability on a par with the aforementioned profit makers.

AS TO CONTINENTAL AIR: There are circumstances where I would consider travel in Continental First Class/Business. Continental Express flights, operated by ExpressJet, I refuse to take in light of an incident, at Houston Intercontiental, a few years ago involving an ExpressJet flight attendant who abused her authority, and threw a mother and her 6-year old child off the flight simply because the 6-year old would not stop talking. Generally, airlines that think the Constitutional rights of their customers are little more than a big joke should be avoided like the plague!
Finally, care should be exercised when travelling with Continental to, from, or through, their Newark (EWR) hub:
(a) Weather, in EWR, should be checked BEFORE boarding your originating flight.
(b) AVOID travel during Christmas, college breaks, etc.
(c) If you will be making an "on-line" Continental connection in EWR, determine whether your arriving flight, and the departing flight are in the same terminal and, if different terminals are involved, insist on a minimum connecting time of 2 hours, or plan for an overnight stay in EWR. One must clear a TSA security line in the departing (second) terminal.
(d) The location of the Continental "airside" (inter-terminal) shuttle is, evidently, a state secret since signage is limited to non-existant.