Thread on Airline & Travel experiences

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Probably headed to Melbourne in Jan. Was telling the wife I want to get called for further inspection/questioning.

So my plan is to (1) act nervous just before immigration/customs (2) when asked for purpose of trip, I'm going to volunteer upfront "not for work, but here for vacation" (3) purposely not have a lot of cash on me.

The other things I've seen are (4) people with too much luggage (5) buying the flight 1-2 days before departure (6) having a quick return e.g. drug mule

I could also bring along some "food" or cartons of cigarette, and not declare them but that could cost me real money with a fine.

There was a guy on YT Border Security: Canada episode that wore a t-shirt that said "Haters are going to Hate" with a MJ leaf. He got selected for further questioning.

Looking for that t-shirt now for my trip to Melbourne.

[Edward64]

Glad I'm not flying this Thanksgiving.

Enraged couple forces entire Frontier Airlines plane to disembark

Just plane rude!

A selfish couple forced an entire Frontier Airlines flight to disembark after they rushed aboard the plane without proper boarding passes — then screamed at crew members who tried to stop them, according to a witness.

“We’re tired!” one of the air-headed jerks can be heard yelling Tuesday, according to footage posted on Instagram.

The duo allegedly slipped to plane to avoid paying an extra fee for baggage then refused to leave amid the Thanksgiving travel rush, passenger @nikki__le posted.

[Edward64]

There's been some articles, opinion pieces on Re: toddlers in first-class recently. I think below incident started the most recent discussions.

I honestly don't see what the issue is. No rules against it. And if the toddler was crying, ask for or put on your own headsets. And if it was continuous on a 5 hour cross country flight, I would mention this to Airline and hope for some points. I certainly would not confront the parent like below.

Airline outrage: Passenger reportedly tells mom in first class she shouldn’t be there with a child | Fox News

After an airline passenger allegedly accosted a woman because she had her toddler in the plane's first-class section, the anonymous mom took to Reddit to ask others if it was wrong of her to book first-class plane tickets for her young child — and people chimed in.
:
Yet shortly after takeoff, One-Criticism5777 said the man who glared at her family tapped her on the shoulder and claimed that children were not allowed to be seated in first class.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, that's BS. You paid for upgraded service and seats, not Del Boca Vista in the air.

The other situation I've seen a couple of articles on recently is people being asked to give up comfort+/premium or 1st class seats so someone can sit next to a family member. People are paying extra money for those seats - how anyone could think it is OK to be pissed at people not giving up those seats is beyond me.

Personally, I think it's a bitch move to ask someone to give up an aisle seat, but a seat I paid more for? What the hell is wrong with you?

[Edward64]

I lean towards window, aisle, and (if no choice) middle. I have been asked to swap seats for couples & family and I generally don't have problems with that.

(Note to self to always check the target seat and make sure there's no excess overflow going on)

[Ksyrup]

I've been willing to move for a like seat so families can sit together (I think I've done that a couple of times), but there's no way I would give up a seat I paid more for unless it was some sort of unusual situation. We haven't seen that too much in the past, but with the constant segmentation of planes these days to maximize revenue, it's going to become more common.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Edward64

There's been some articles, opinion pieces on Re: toddlers in first-class recently. I think below incident started the most recent discussions.

I honestly don't see what the issue is. No rules against it. And if the toddler was crying, ask for or put on your own headsets. And if it was continuous on a 5 hour cross country flight, I would mention this to Airline and hope for some points. I certainly would not confront the parent like below.

Airline outrage: Passenger reportedly tells mom in first class she shouldn’t be there with a child | Fox News

Outside of my own kids, it has to have been 20+ years since I heard a baby crying on a plane beyond right after takeoff or right before landing. The guy is a coward. Two flight attendants have determined the family were good to go and he still was harassing her? If there are a lot of complaints about this, there has to be a way for the airlines make money off of this right? How much are people willing to pay for the guarantee of no kids on the plane?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I've been willing to move for a like seat so families can sit together (I think I've done that a couple of times), but there's no way I would give up a seat I paid more for unless it was some sort of unusual situation. We haven't seen that too much in the past, but with the constant segmentation of planes these days to maximize revenue, it's going to become more common.

Now United (not sure about other carriers) has this cute thing where they're splitting up regular economy into another group. Not economy plus and economy - just regular economy - the back half or third of the plane. The last few rows are free but if you want a window or aisle seat, you have to pay like $20. So if you get a seat less than a month or two away, those freebie seats are gone so if you want to sit together instead of like 4 consecutive middle seats - you have to pay extra just to do that, even with a regular economy fare (not basic economy).

SI

[molson]

Long term international flight planning has been interesting this year.

Our Boise to Athens one-way itinerary has changed because of scheduling changes three times now - always to very short layovers I'm not willing to do. I know the game on how to get these changed, look up a few options and have them ready to go when I go into the online chat. But it's gotten more challenging because United isn't willing to move me from an Award Saver Fare to a Award Non-Saver fare just because I don't want to risk a 45 minute connection in London (even though I never chose such a thing). On the other hand, schedules are changing so quickly, and new inventory opens up all the time because Award travel changes are free now, so, I've always been able to wait a week or two and find something. When they don't let me change the flight, I can cancel it, get the miles back, and then book the new one. Not the most efficient approach, but, I've worked that a few times.

Our return reservation, which is Tel Aviv to Seattle on Delta, also has changed a few times - most recently to my favorite - the impossible connection. Landing in London and having negative 2 hours to catch our next flight. That one, I think I should have more leeway as far as changes. I'm on a chat right now where I'm requesting to be changed to something I found that works for me, which is also the lowest fare option available, which is also all Delta flights, no partner airlines. If they turn me down, I'm going to ask them for some advice in making that London connection. Maybe they have a time machine there? I mean really, how many people show up for their flight home to find out that that their connecting flight now leaves before their flight even gets to the layover city.

I'm pretty good at rolling with the punches with this stuff though. If you're patient and nice to everyone you can sometimes end up with better outcomes when things go badly then you had in the first place. We're still working through all of the vouchers Southwest staff kept handing us every time something went wrong on a previous trip.

Edit: They wouldn't let me switch to the one I wanted, they offered me something unworkable instead, I declined that, asked if the change rules were different when the passenger is involuntarily booked to an impossible itinerary, they said yes, and gave me my second choice. Now, maybe with that reservation in hand, I'll be able to lay low for a week and change to my first choice. And the game continues......

[Ksyrup]

Yep, schedules are definitely being changed way more often. We booked flights in July for a February cruise and both coming and going changed - all 4 flights. But they ended up moving us to a nonstop on the way home, so it kinda worked out even though we get back an hour later. At least nothing has impacted the cruise - yet.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I honestly don't see what the issue is. No rules against it. And if the toddler was crying, ask for or put on your own headsets.

Agreed. This is why noise-canceling headphones exist.

[molson]

Southwest is broken.

My sister won't make it out to visit as planned, but at least she never managed to leave. I feel so bad for the thousands stranded far from home with no help from Southwest. It took the other airlines about a day to recover from the storms, but now almost all Southwest flights are cancelled through the rest of the year. Thousands and thousands of flights. And a lot of these people impacted are less-experienced travelers, trying to get home or visit family on a discount airline over the holidays. Just really sad stories on the Southwest social media, which the company has just stopped responding to. And of course prices for alternative options have shot up with the demand. My sister hasn't flown anywhere in many years, we were walking her through the check-in and boarding processes, fortunately she didn't make it out of Hartford - but did spend about 8 hours at the airport there. It would have cost thousands of dollars to get her home through another airline if she managed to leave a day earlier.

Interesting info allegedly from a Southwest employee on a reddit thread. It's a crew scheduling software issue. And of course the nature of things cascading after that means there's no customer service help available, everything is shut down. Companies are running leaner than ever staffing wise and it was just a matter of time before shit truly hit the fan for an airline.

PSA from a SWA employee since the company won’t give any info : SouthwestAirlines

(Original post there now deleted, probably smart if that really was an employee).

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, I've been watching news stories about Southwest's implosion. They don't fly out of Lexington but they do fly out of Louisville and people have been there since Monday trying to get to wherever they are going. No car rental availability. One woman said she was looking at Amtrak options. What a disaster.

[GrantDawg]

My son uses Southwest pretty regularly. Luckily, he got home fine a coule of weeks ago before this "implosion." He is flying Air Canada to Japans for next semester, so he won't likely deal with them again until next fall. Hopefully they will get their crap together by then.

[Ryche]

Between storms socking in the midwest for a couple days and Southwest's issues (I usually fly them domestically, rarely with any issues) I am so glad I just stayed home this year.

[RainMaker]

Southwest Airlines received a $3.2 billion taxpayer bailout in 2020. That was a year after they had spent over $2 billion in stock buybacks.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

My son uses Southwest pretty regularly. Luckily, he got home fine a coule of weeks ago before this "implosion." He is flying Air Canada to Japans for next semester, so he won't likely deal with them again until next fall. Hopefully they will get their crap together by then.

Nice. Glad your son is all set. He'll have a blast (I am very jealous).

I'll be flying Air Canada also for my trip next year.

[MrBug708]

Had flights cancelled. Luckily never made it to the airport before it was cancelled.

[Edward64]

Heartwarming story for a passenger

United Airlines pilot adopts dog abandoned at San Francisco airport

A 6-month-old German shepherd was adopted by a United Airlines pilot after being abandoned at San Francisco International Airport, where he arrived from China in late August.

The owner, who didn’t have the proper documents, abandoned the poor pooch and continued his trip to New York, according to the Washington Post.

“The (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) had some concern about the validity of the paperwork,” airline rep Vincent Passafiume told the paper.

“It was part of our responsibility, too.”

The CDC would not allow the dog to enter the country due to its strict rules about animals arriving from high-risk countries for rabies.

“The initial options were very grim. He would be euthanized upon getting back to China or locally put down,” Passafiume explained about the pup’s ruff predicament.

[Lathum]

Nice story but also ducked up.

[Edward64]

I applied for an e-Visa, via iPhone app, last night for next year travels. I figured I should do this as there'll likely be a flood of Chinese tourists next year and requirements may change so better to get something approved now (and maybe get grandfathered).

The app asked me to move my iPhone against my passport info page until it read a "chip". When applying web on-line, they ask for you to send a picture of the page but the app, using my iPhone, was somehow able to read a chip.

I never knew there was a chip. Pretty cool

FYI

With the ReadID NFC app you can read the NFC chip that is in your passport or identity card, using the NFC capability of your iPhone (iPhone 7 or later). This app is based on ReadID, a mobile identity document verification technology.

[RainMaker]

Some really dire stuff from the airports here. Feel terrible for the employees who are probably having a miserable week dealing with angry passengers through no fault of their own.

Hundreds of bags stranded at Midway as the airline cancels 87% of its flights again today nationwide. ⁦@WGNNews⁩ pic.twitter.com/3w2otWIKox

— Dana Rebik (@DanaRebikWGN) December 27, 2022

If your luggage is not piled up inside the Southwest terminal at Midway airport, it's piled up outside on the tarmac. Wowsers! pic.twitter.com/9czKggiTP1

— Max Wilson ���� (@maxwilsonphotos) December 29, 2022

[GrantDawg]

So, is Southwest going belly up or what?

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

[Ksyrup]

I read a long post from a 35 year SWA pilot that basically said the fault lies with the CEO who took over 20 years ago from the original CEO and prioritized ROI over investments and that the new CEO, who has been on the job less than a year, is an operations guy who knew the rot had to be fixed but it's going to take years, not months. And this happened.

[Solecismic]

At least you can still choose your seat in the airport terminal while you're waiting.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

At least you can still choose your seat in the airport terminal while you're waiting.

Or wouldn't be surprised if all the seats are taken and people are sitting, lying on the floor.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

So, is Southwest going belly up or what?

Airlines aren't allowed to go belly up, they just get taxpayer bailouts. They got a big one a couple years ago and I'm sure another one will be on the horizon if things go bad.

[Ksyrup]

According to Fox News, it's Mayor Pete's fault.

[PilotMan]

Coincidentally, it's also Pete's fault that the city of Buffalo was unable to be fully prepared and all the deaths are his fault.

[GrantDawg]

Rainmaker, airlines have definitely gone under before. The government won't let the whole industry go under, but Southwest could go bankrupt or get swallowed by another airline.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Airlines aren't allowed to go belly up, they just get taxpayer bailouts. They got a big one a couple years ago and I'm sure another one will be on the horizon if things go bad.

Oh my. Sometimes you really, really aim big and miss big.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Oh my. Sometimes you really, really aim big and miss big.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nyt...tment.amp.html

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

According to Fox News, it's Mayor Pete's fault.

Maybe they were under the assumption that he was in charge of a department that regulates the airline industry. That he has the power to fine airlines for these practices. Or that he was warned repeatedly by a majority of the states that this would happen and he completely ignored it.

[PilotMan]

Oh I'm well aware of the money that was spent during Covid. You also seem to be fully up on the entire industry, so there's no point in explaining my point, other than to see that your views are incredibly simplistic. It's always black and white with you. Black and white is easy. Grey is a bit more complicated. Sort of like an essay I read that chastised a CEO for boasting that he was the only one to have a deal with their pilots done during covid, only for the opinion writer to assume it was a recent deal that was voted down, and how embarrassing that must be for the CEO. His views like yours make sense on the surface, and appear to mean X does equal Y, but he was wrong, because there was a deal, but not the one he was referring to, because he thought he knew better, but he didn't.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Rainmaker, airlines have definitely gone under before. The government won't let the whole industry go under, but Southwest could go bankrupt or get swallowed by another airline.

It's been over 30 years since a major airlines went under. We've had multiple billion dollar bailouts of the airline industry since.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Oh I'm well aware of the money that was spent during Covid. You also seem to be fully up on the entire industry, so there's no point in explaining my point, other than to see that your views are incredibly simplistic. It's always black and white with you. Black and white is easy. Grey is a bit more complicated. Sort of like an essay I read that chastised a CEO for boasting that he was the only one to have a deal with their pilots done during covid, only for the opinion writer to assume it was a recent deal that was voted down, and how embarrassing that must be for the CEO. His views like yours make sense on the surface, and appear to mean X does equal Y, but he was wrong, because there was a deal, but not the one he was referring to, because he thought he knew better, but he didn't.

What's simplistic about it? The government gave a taxpayer bailout to the industry. An industry so flush with cash they had spent the past decade spending billions in stock buybacks.

Please explain it to us.

[GrantDawg]

Notice the term "industry". Southwest is a single airline. They can go under, and they are far from "too big to fail." You are comparing industry wide threats to one airline being in trouble.

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[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Notice the term "industry". Southwest is a single airline. They can go under, and they are far from "too big to fail." You are comparing industry wide threats to one airline being in trouble.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

Why would the industry collapse? Most of these airlines made tens of billions in profits over the past decade. Use some of that money to cover losses from a down year.

[GrantDawg]

I'm trying to discuss what is happening with one airline having a special issue. You are discussing something entirely different. I was asking a legitimate question, which I then looked up and answered myself (Southwest can take the blow). You are just riding your favorite hobby horse.

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[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

It's been over 30 years since a major airlines went under. We've had multiple billion dollar bailouts of the airline industry since.

Ahem.....you can say major, minor, whatever all you want. Many airlines have gone under. Some get bought out, some get put out, but the bigger ones, got bigger. Capitalism, just like people like. I've know far too many people, just in the last 20 years, who have watched their airline go out of business, so excuse me for calling out your petulance.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Ahem.....you can say major, minor, whatever all you want. Many airlines have gone under. Some get bought out, some get put out, but the bigger ones, got bigger. Capitalism, just like people like. I've know far too many people, just in the last 20 years, who have watched their airline go out of business, so excuse me for calling out your petulance.

It's a big distinction. The government doesn't care if a minor airline with 8 planes goes under. They will never allow a major airline like Southwest to go under. Same thing happens in banking, finance, automobiles, etc.

It's important because a company like Southwest can take massive risks like using outdated systems that can completely paralyze the airline industry. If it hurts their bottom line, the government will cut them a check.

What happened in 2020 was not capitalism. Airlines that were poorly run should have been allowed to fail.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

It's a big distinction. The government doesn't care if a minor airline with 8 planes goes under. They will never allow a major airline like Southwest to go under. Same thing happens in banking, finance, automobiles, etc.

It's important because a company like Southwest can take massive risks like using outdated systems that can completely paralyze the airline industry. If it hurts their bottom line, the government will cut them a check.

What happened in 2020 was not capitalism. Airlines that were poorly run should have been allowed to fail.

Hahahahahaha...you got yourself on that one. Eight planes my ass. Hundreds of planes at peak. And if you're all "NO, those were all regional airlines, or small shitty planes that nobody cares about" you're being a hypocrite. Because almost all of those carriers started off as an independent airline and they had thousands of employees and carried millions of passengers.

The distinction is that really huge airlines don't just go out of business they get bought and merged. Because control of those routes and certificates is worth way more than letting that flying open up to everyone. And yes, the government lets that happen. But it's complicated too due to anti-trust legislation.

But please, tell us more about your full knowledge and understanding of the industry.

[Edward64]

Not a good way to go. I'm going to guess baggage handler lost track of safety guidelines. But the engine must still have been on (?) as surely he would have noticed if the engine started up cold. Weird.

I've been on flights where we disembark on the tarmac and are waved towards the terminal. Next time, refuse to leave the stairs unless the engine is totally off (it's never not been).

https://simpleflying.com/baggage-han...ines-accident/

A baggage handler at Montgomery Regional Airport was killed after being sucked into the engine of an American Airlines regional aircraft. The airport shut down for several hours after the accident as the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board launch an investigation.
:
Both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched an investigation into the accident. At this early stage, it's unclear who was at fault for the tragedy

[Ksyrup]

Hey Pilotman, how does something like this happen? An article I read said the plane was parked at the gate with the parking brake set when it happened. Does that suggest the worker's error in getting too close or going somewhere he shouldn't have before the engines were cut (or after they were started)? Man, that's awful.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Hey Pilotman, how does something like this happen? An article I read said the plane was parked at the gate with the parking brake set when it happened. Does that suggest the worker's error in getting too close or going somewhere he shouldn't have before the engines were cut (or after they were started)? Man, that's awful.

Yeah, that's likely what happened. I don't know if the plane had just taxied in and parked, but that's the most likely place for it to happen. Generally, once the parking brake is set, the engines are cut off, as long as the plane has a working APU (Aux Power Unit). If it doesn't then the plane leaves an engine running until the ground power can be plugged in. If both the ground power and the APU are broken then you can leave an engine running, but it means multiple extra safety layers are put in place as a result.

Visually, the airplane leaves the beacon (the red flasher at the top and bottom) on to signal either an engine is running or about to be run and it's a signal to the ramp to not approach the plane. But things happen, and signals get missed, and people have expectations bias for what they expect to happen and then accidents happen.

The main tires are also chocked to prevent the plane from moving on the ground as well, so if someone approached the plane and assumed something that didn't happen they could have, but even then, you approach from behind the wing.

The engines, at idle, have a 6 ft danger zone in front where people can be sucked in just walking past. So it's no shit scary if they are running. I can't imagine how bad this was. It was complete and total chaos and fear I'm sure.

[albionmoonlight]

I will very likely be flying on short notice over the next couple of days. I tend to do Southwest, and I'll look at them first.

But if they are not available/too expensive, I will look elsewhere.

I see some cheaper tickets with Frontier and Spirit.

Are those worth the cost savings? Or is the experience so much more miserable that I should just pay the extra couple hundred and go with another carrier?

I've done Southwest for so long now that I am not sure what the new ultra-budget experience is like.

Thanks.

[miked]

I would not fly Spirit if you paid me for the ticket.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I will very likely be flying on short notice over the next couple of days. I tend to do Southwest, and I'll look at them first.

But if they are not available/too expensive, I will look elsewhere.

I see some cheaper tickets with Frontier and Spirit.

Are those worth the cost savings? Or is the experience so much more miserable that I should just pay the extra couple hundred and go with another carrier?

I've done Southwest for so long now that I am not sure what the new ultra-budget experience is like.

Thanks.

I have made that call a few times though not since before the pandemic. For the most part, if I am flying by myself, I have no issues with flying either Frontier or Spirit to save a couple hundred bucks. I am usually not a do work on the plane or watch movies passenger. I have downloaded music playlists and games on my laptop or tablet so I don't even care about the plane having Wi-Fi. I bring the large noise cancelling headphones as a sign to everyone that I am not interested in having any conversations and I don't have to hear the sales pitch every ten seconds. Finally, the times I have flown with those airlines, I ended up on planes that were half full due to the times of the flights. Last time I flew with Frontier to St Louis, the flight landed at 11-ish at night, it was like $200 cheaper and I ended up in a row by myself.

[molson]

Frontier used to do non-stop from Boise to Vegas and Denver. I did both of those occasionally. Non-stop, under 2 hours, what can really go wrong. Lots, maybe, but nothing did and I would absolutely do that again if it was an option. I wouldn't use it for anything with connection (I think I'm demoting Southwest to that status as well).

I've taken probably 100 Greyhound bus trips in my life though, so, I'm comfortable with budget travel.

[Edward64]

Remind me not to fly Air India.

The pee'er was bad enough but Air India was absolutely horrible.

Shankar Mishra arrested for 'peeing on Air India passenger'

Shankar Mishra, the former Wells Fargo executive fired by the bank after he urinated on an elderly woman while intoxicated during an Air India flight in late November, was arrested in New Delhi, according to Indian media reports.