Thread on Airline & Travel experiences

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

fwiw, I asked a friend with decades of experience as a travel professional

Here's her response, again strictly fwiw ... obviously YMMV. (err, so to speak)

He should be fine, especially if it's not something he does all the time ... I wouldn't think twice at doing this. And if one of my clients said they were gonna do this, I wouldn't say oh you might have a problem.

She did point out that this really only works if you have no checked bags, only good if you're just doing carry-on (otherwise your bag ends up in Raleigh)

Yeah so the backstory here is that despite being only 5 years old when we moved, Carter has kept in pretty close touch with some of her childhood friends from the Lowcountry, (helps that we're close to their entire families and we've visited there and hung with them roughly 2 out of 3 years since we moved over a decade ago.) The only time this summer that schedules line up with the two girls she's closest to is a few days before our planned family vacation there, and the rest of us can't go earlier. These two girls are on the same travel volleyball team and leave town on the 19th for a tourney; our family is going on the 20th. Carter will have had her driver's license less than 3 months at the time of this trip, but for a variety of reasons it does make sense for her to have a car in Charleston before we're there. She's quite responsible and is an excellent driver for her age (confirmed now twice by friends here who have happened to be driving behind her when she was alone,) but we're not quite ready to turn her loose for a 4.5-hour drive alone, part of it on I-95. So we're leaning toward me riding down there with her on 6/14 or 6/15. She does part or even all of the drive, but I'm there to coach her. We drive straight from our home in Greensboro to the Charleston airport. I have nothing but my cell phone and wallet with me, so no issues. I fly back to GSO, she continues on to the friend's house where she'd be staying until we get there--less than 15 minutes from the airport. The rest of us drive down in one car on 6/20, and we have 2 cars for our family time. My wife COULD just pick me up in Raleigh, but it's not much closer than Charlotte and of course I'd be back in GSO much more quickly if I ditch that last leg. So it's not necessary by any means, just a potential convenience.

[JonInMiddleGA]

That all makes sense to me ... the flight is one of those deals I think that isn't 100% risk-free as far as having issues but it's a pretty low level of risk best I can tell

And thumbs up to that driving plan. Similar to the sort of stuff we did with Will, just in terms of getting them experience driving that'll pay dividends down the road (no pun intended)

[GrantDawg]

Jacksonville airports parking lot is on fire. Looks really bad.

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[PilotMan]

Some really :fire: cars in there.

[flere-imsaho]

Emergency warning here in Chicago of a DUST STORM. So, that's new.

[JPhillips]

Many times I've gotten a rental from that garage in Jacksonville.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Jacksonville airports parking lot is on fire. Looks really bad.

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I’m not kidding when I’m saying I would bet $100 that this somehow ends up being Elon’s fault. It’ll have been a Tesla or something directly related to the doge cuts or something.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Emergency warning here in Chicago of a DUST STORM. So, that's new.

We were at the Field Museum when everyone's phones went off to alert us. Pretty creepy, but by the time we were done it was over.

[Edward64]

Air India crash. Early reports on horrific casualties … on ground and everyone on plane.

[GrantDawg]

Crashed into a medical college. Ugh.


Edit: Holy crap! One person was able to walk away from the plane. That's crazy.

[Ksyrup]

Interesting preliminary findings on the Air India crash suggesting possible deliberate actions:

New Developments In Air India AI 171 Crash Investigation: Fuel Switches Turned Off (Deliberately)

The recorded discussion is interesting because it suggests someone turned off the fuel deliberately, but the question is, what actually happened? Did the captain turn it off and try to blame the co-pilot by setting up the cockpit recording discussion, or did the co-pilot actually do something and act like he didn't? Or, did neither of them do anything and the fuel shut-off on its own for some reason? Still, it looks deliberate.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Interesting preliminary findings on the Air India crash suggesting possible deliberate actions:

New Developments In Air India AI 171 Crash Investigation: Fuel Switches Turned Off (Deliberately)

The recorded discussion is interesting because it suggests someone turned off the fuel deliberately, but the question is, what actually happened? Did the captain turn it off and try to blame the co-pilot by setting up the cockpit recording discussion, or did the co-pilot actually do something and act like he didn't? Or, did neither of them do anything and the fuel shut-off on its own for some reason? Still, it looks deliberate.

There was no indactors for a reason to shut the fuel lines off? Like a fire?

[bhlloy]

I went down a bit of a wormhole on pilot forum/social media accounts when I should have been sleeping last night and the general feeling I got was they thought it was either deliberate or one of the pilots panicked and thought the engines had flamed out and started a procedure that never should be done at that point in flight.

Also the general consensus was there's no way this could be mechanical due to the way these particular switches are engineered, so one of them had to have done it.

Interested if PM has any thoughts on whether he'd agree with those two points. Assuming it's proven one of them flipped the switch, I'm not sure if we'll ever get a conclusive 100% answer to motive and reason with the very short timeframe involved.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

There was no indactors for a reason to shut the fuel lines off? Like a fire?

No indication of anything like that.

According to the report, immediately after takeoff, the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel switches were turned off by someone in the cockpit, and investigators are now puzzled about who did it and why.

Shutting off the fuel is not an accident; it has to be done deliberately, and the cockpit voice recorder included conversations about this, where one pilot asked the other why he had done so.

But the thing is, the other pilot denied doing so, which raises the question of which one actually did it and who may have lied (either in asking why the other pilot did it when the pilot asking actually did it (to set up the voice recording), or the one asked denying they did it when in fact they did).

[bhlloy]

You'd have thought that had you done that by mistake or to try to fix a nonexistent problem the reaction would be "oh shit" rather than "I didn't" so that does point to something deliberate by one of them, but I have no idea how they are ever going to prove that.

It also seems like a bit of a convoluted way to crash a plane deliberately, but maybe not given some of the changes made after 9/11 and Germanwings.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

I went down a bit of a wormhole on pilot forum/social media accounts when I should have been sleeping last night and the general feeling I got was they thought it was either deliberate or one of the pilots panicked and thought the engines had flamed out and started a procedure that never should be done at that point in flight.

Also the general consensus was there's no way this could be mechanical due to the way these particular switches are engineered, so one of them had to have done it.

Interested if PM has any thoughts on whether he'd agree with those two points. Assuming it's proven one of them flipped the switch, I'm not sure if we'll ever get a conclusive 100% answer to motive and reason with the very short timeframe involved.

It's really hard to fathom in all honesty. There are only a few possibilities, but those are the most likely options. You'd know from the recordings if there was panic. I've not read that anywhere in the recordings.

[Edward64]

Also reading forums. Take it FWIW

There's a claim some maintenances weren't done related to those switches that maybe could help explain a mistake vs intentional. There's another that said report stated the switches were "transitioned from run to cutoff" and that doesn't necessarily mean "moved" etc.

But yeah, my guess is one of them intentionally took down the plane. I assume they've started investigating both pilots' personal lives.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Also reading forums. Take it FWIW

There's a claim some maintenances weren't done related to those switches that maybe could help explain a mistake vs intentional. There's another that said report stated the switches were "transitioned from run to cutoff" and that doesn't necessarily mean "moved" etc.

But yeah, my guess is one of them intentionally took down the plane. I assume they've started investigating both pilots' personal lives.

What maintenance was supposedly not done? I saw some references to the 737 from years ago, but nothing related to the 787.

I also saw some speculation that maybe yes, somehow the fuel was cut off while the switches remained in the running position. But, that's not a thing that has any documentation of happening even one time, let alone twice within a 2 second span on the same plane. We're talking thousands of operations.

I get trying to think outside the box but at some point the odds on chances lhave to gain ground. But it's still too early to definitively say why. The info we have doesn't lead to a lot of solid answers.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

What maintenance was supposedly not done? I saw some references to the 737 from years ago, but nothing related to the 787.

I make no claims on veracity, applicability nor plausibility (e.g. it's reddit after all) ...

From this thread https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/c...s_association/


See below that a redditor posted. The advisory bulletin (does include "Model 787-8, -9, and -10 airplanes") ...

https://ad.easa.europa.eu/blob/NM-18-33.pdf

The fuel control switch has a locking feature to prevent inadvertent operation that could result in unintended switch movement between the fuel supply and fuel cutoff positions.

In order to move the switch from one position to the other under the condition where the locking feature is engaged, it is necessary for the pilot to lift the switch up while transitioning the switch position.

If the locking feature is disengaged, the switch can be moved between the two positions without lifting the switch during transition, and the switch would be exposed to the potential of inadvertent operation. Inadvertent operation of the switch could result in an unintended consequence, such as an in-flight engine shutdown.

The redditor quote

For added context: “Although not mandatory, the inspection recommended by the FAA was not performed by Air India, as it was considered advisory in nature. The switches installed on VT-ANB were of the same design flagged in the advisory. Maintenance records showed no recent issues with the switches, and prior replacements in 2019 and 2023 were unrelated to fuel control.”

Source: https://www.itv.com/news/2025-07-11/...-after-takeoff

[Ksyrup]

Appears that US officials' take on what happened is that the captain purposely cut the fuel. Apparently it was the first officer flying the plane, and he asked the captain why he shut off the fuel. The captain denied doing so, however the cockpit recorder establishes that the first officer begins panicking while the captain remained calm. Also, they noted that on takeoff, the first officer would have had his hands full pulling back on the controls when this happened, making it unikely he was the one who did it.

Doesn't appear there is (or will be) any direct evidence that this is what happened, though.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Appears that US officials' take on what happened is that the captain purposely cut the fuel. Apparently it was the first officer flying the plane, and he asked the captain why he shut off the fuel. The captain denied doing so, however the cockpit recorder establishes that the first officer begins panicking while the captain remained calm.

Pretty messed up

From NYP so take it FWIW

Doomed Air India pilot’s medical records probed amid reports of depression, other mental health struggles

Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, was the lead pilot when the London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner went down in Ahmedabad on June 12, killing 241 people on board and leaving just one survivor.

Sabharwal, who had more than 15,000 flying hours under his belt at the time of the tragedy, had taken medical leave in recent years due to apparent mental health woes, the Telegraph reported.

“I have heard from several Air India pilots who told me he had some depression and mental health issues,” said Mohan Ranganathan, a leading Indian aviation safety expert.

“He had taken time off from flying in the last three to four years. He had taken medical leave for that.”

[GrantDawg]

I know you guys have had this conversation here, but what is the best airline reward cards and systems? With the son moving so far away, I have gotten my "fear of flying" wife to agree to fly up to see him. Since he is moving to another Delta hub, I am looking at joining their Skymiles club, but is the Delta Amex card worth it? I am tempted more than other reason for the $500 first trip credit. The only thing giving me pause is the $150 annual fee after the first year. I don't know the frequency we will be flying, so I am not positive if I will see the return on that.

[Ksyrup]

The right answer is an AmEx, Chase or Cap1 card because those points are transferrable. Now, I have several of those plus a Delta Reserve card because I mostly fly Delta and, for us, the companion certificate you get each year pretty much pays for the annual fee. Delta Platinum gives you a Main Cabin companion certificate (essentially BOGO) and Reserve gets you up to a First Class BOGO. Either we use the 1st Class BOGO or, the last couple of years we've gifted it to our daughter so she and her fiancee can vacation in style. However, if you don't have need for a companion certificate, it might not be worth it for a free bag and slightly better boarding priority.

Delta SkyMiles are not worth much unless you find great flash sales. In fact, it can often be better to earn Chase or AmEx points and transfer them to Flying Blue (Air France's loyalty program) to book Delta flights because they cost less points than booking directly with Delta using Sky Miles.

That said, I won't lie that I've been able to use SM for a bunch of flights over the years. I flew 6 of us to Hawaii, wife and I to New Zealand, and I just booked us going back to Hawaii with SM for Main Cabin and upgraded to D1 with cash. So, they have their uses. But Chase and AmEx (for me, Cap1 is also an option) points are transferrable to a bunch fo different airlines and loyalty programs which provides way more value if you know what you're doing. Triply so if you are flying international.

[JPhillips]

lol Delta today

Free WiFi is available for purchase

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I know you guys have had this conversation here, but what is the best airline reward cards and systems? With the son moving so far away, I have gotten my "fear of flying" wife to agree to fly up to see him. Since he is moving to another Delta hub, I am looking at joining their Skymiles club, but is the Delta Amex card worth it? I am tempted more than other reason for the $500 first trip credit. The only thing giving me pause is the $150 annual fee after the first year. I don't know the frequency we will be flying, so I am not positive if I will see the return on that.

Check Google Flights for a typical flight at different times (e.g. holiday season). If Delta is significantly cheaper then maybe it makes sense to stick with Delta. But we aren't tied to Delta, we just check Google Flights and generally pick the cheapest nice airline (e.g. not Spirit, not Frontier although I tell myself I should experience them at least once, maybe I'll get to upload a fight to YT).

We have CapOne for $400 annual fee. C1 gives you $300 credit every year so if you know you'll be taking at least 1 trip a year, it'll be worth it. Amex and Chase have a lot more "benefits & nice to haves" but also higher annual fees. C1 is a lot simpler to justify the annual fee.

We don't use C1 for domestic travel. We save the C1 points (and $300 credit) for international travel. IMO a bigger bang for the buck.

Don't forget hotels too, they can get pricey in the US. We're talking about $80-$120 for a night at a regular hotel. C1 sucks on hotel rates. If you aren't too fussy about hotels, consider the IHG Premium credit card for $95 annual fee. Wait for the 140-160k sign-up bonus and that will get you at least 4 nights free ... and maybe 8 if you go HI Express

Let us know if you have more questions ...

[GrantDawg]

Delta seems to be the only option heading to Minneapolis that is not Spirit or Frontier without multiple stops with long delays. I'm hoping to build up points for other trips, but doing that trip on a regular basis is the primary concern. Thanks for the info.

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