I wanted to echo Colin’s point about holiday travel, as I too was traveling a lot around the holidays, both domestic and international…Things went smoothly for the most part for me as well, but Colin reminded me that I miss the days when I lived in NYC and had the luxury of flying with Continental out of a major airport…

I’m limited now with San Jose airport, both from a flights and carriers angle…you have it pretty good with Continental and I have commented in the past how well they “get” CRM versus other carriers.

First, their frequent flier program rules…great automatic upgrades and the elite access lane really helps business travelers with little time to spare getting to the terminal early. Second, they actually feed you on longer flights, and while airline food isn’t great, terminal food is almost worse. Finally, their planes are actually pretty modern.

Here is a snapshot of my last meal on my flight from Philadelphia on Sunday….

OK, maybe not…but really, Continental’s food service (at least in BusinessFirst) is pretty darn good for plane food….

I find the exact opposite to be the case with American (whom I’m forced to use out of SJC these days)…poor service, a less than stellar frequent flier program, the new trendy a la carte food menu, and few elite access privilege lanes for security and planes that look like retrofitted b-17s from WWII.

My odd love affair with continental did make me think about customer loyalty and CRM. Sometimes, customers will go out of their way to patronize a brand they trust. For example, I will opt for a connection in Houston on Continental en route to Miami rather than go direct with American, as I did for our recent CRM Acceleration Miami event. Customer loyalty is an inexact science, but a science nonetheless, and one that smart CRM that blends technology with intuitive thinking can address and optimize.