They should also flip the carry on/checked bags - checked should be free, charge for carry on.
Another reason not to fly
- Thread starter swsig
- Start date
I would have to be chemically induced unconscious before I would get in a plane to travel. Helicopter maybe. They don’t generally fly as high as commercial aircraft, so on the sudden unplanned descent there’s not enough time to scream like a lady in a B movie. I would just make the best of it watching the ground come up and splatter my brains and guts all over the ground. Death of Misadventure.
I use to fly all the time on commercial airlines in 1980s and averaged about 50 nights per year in my own bed. All the traveling got really old but it was rarely a hassle back then, just show up to the airport 20 minutes before you leave and jump on. During Covid air travel was terrible, I won't even get into those stories and its better now but still not great, but you have choices. Drive somewhere and take many days and stay in hotels or fly and get there fast most of the time. We drive from OKC to Colorado to stay in the mountains for skiing and summertime hiking which is 9 or 10 hours but I won't drive much further than that. I drive about 30K miles a year around OKC visiting my construction sites so I don't want spend my vacations driving.
I flew for the first time in 2005 on my first trip to Arizona. Flew out here 1 to 3 times a year every year since then. Now that I'm relocated and living out here I'll never get on another airplane!
As far as rental cars go I rented a convertible every trip and have used pretty much all of the companies, but the last few years always used Enterprise and had good luck.
As far as rental cars go I rented a convertible every trip and have used pretty much all of the companies, but the last few years always used Enterprise and had good luck.
I won't fly anymore. Last time was a trip to Los Angeles to pick up a prisoner who I had gotten a warrant for. That was back in the 80's.
I have a good friend who is a retired UPS Captain. He will not fly on a commercial flight at all.
I have a good friend who is a retired UPS Captain. He will not fly on a commercial flight at all.
cherrypointmarine
Member
If you ever looked at the a/c supply ducts on an airplane , you would never fly . I used to work for a company that did heavy checks , high hour checks , for airlines . Cleaning those ducts was a nasty job , we'd squirt spray 9 on them and watch the filth run down . Don't get me started on the lad's . One a/c we pulled up the plastic pan and there was no floorboard . After numerous hours and numerous people missing the lav , urine just destroyed the floorboard . So no thanks , no flying for this a&p mechanic .
I get the same thing watching movies about aviation. The wife gets a little irritated. In January my son retires from the USAF and goes back to flying 767's for FedEx. He says boxes don't get drunk and do stupid things.
Same here...I watch "Air Disasters," and invariably here my bride yell from the kitchen, "Hal' you're talking to the TV."
I wish one of our brood had chosen a career in aviation and as I have said before, you and the Mrs. have raised a fine kid.
Hope all is well and you're on the mend.
OP
Have not been on a plane in about 17 years. Mrs Lakesider wants to do a European river cruise and is pushing me hard to do it. The cruise sounds good as we have 16 done but the flying to get to the ship turns me right off!
Cunard still offers trans-Atlantic transportation by ocean liner. Take a ship to the ship!
Apparently you've never had to replace the outside air sensors on a B-52, which happen to be located on the fuselage underneath the crew urinals. Bad job on the best of days.
sigp220.45
US Veteran
I fly every couple of years. Its no big deal. I used to be able to carry my heater on the plane, now I just check it through.
I never take carry on. A book and my phone, check the rest. I enjoy watching people try to jam everything into the overhead bins.
I never take carry on. A book and my phone, check the rest. I enjoy watching people try to jam everything into the overhead bins.
I must be doing something wrong. The last time I flew was to the SHOT Show in Vegas, around 2017, 2018. Something like that.
I flew Southwest, direct.
The TSA agents were polite both in Nashville & in Vegas. In fact, in Vegas the agents warned folks before they got to the checkpoint about having metal swag from the SHOT Show.
I try to use skycaps to check-in when I arrive. They work for tips, so they're almost always going to be polite & professional, IMO.
Having said all that.............................
Ticket agents have to live with idiot customers 7/24/365. Drunk, angry, stupid, all the above many times. You tube is filled with belligerent flyers who curse ticket agents & think nothing of it. Anyone who has worked with the public knows how this goes.
Maintenance is the first thing airlines cut back on to save costs. Obviously, this isn't restricted to the airlines. Hotels, manufacturing, etc all do this.
As for this particular Hertz fubar, I'd bet Hertz had refused to pay O/T & worked them 50-60 hours a week. Workers got fed up with it clocked out & went home like normal people.
Obviously, no one with an ounce of sense would fly Spirit or Frontier airlines. They regularly have group fights in their lobbies & on their planes.
I flew Southwest, direct.
The TSA agents were polite both in Nashville & in Vegas. In fact, in Vegas the agents warned folks before they got to the checkpoint about having metal swag from the SHOT Show.
I try to use skycaps to check-in when I arrive. They work for tips, so they're almost always going to be polite & professional, IMO.
Having said all that.............................
Ticket agents have to live with idiot customers 7/24/365. Drunk, angry, stupid, all the above many times. You tube is filled with belligerent flyers who curse ticket agents & think nothing of it. Anyone who has worked with the public knows how this goes.
Maintenance is the first thing airlines cut back on to save costs. Obviously, this isn't restricted to the airlines. Hotels, manufacturing, etc all do this.
As for this particular Hertz fubar, I'd bet Hertz had refused to pay O/T & worked them 50-60 hours a week. Workers got fed up with it clocked out & went home like normal people.
Obviously, no one with an ounce of sense would fly Spirit or Frontier airlines. They regularly have group fights in their lobbies & on their planes.
Yep - I suggest one can suck it up as needed with respect to the flight. We have a couple times-once in the last row. What makes it worthwhile is that once you’re in Viking’s hands on a river cruise it’s like the TV series Cheers. Everyone knows your name.
Not a paid promotion.
Last edited:
Before 9-11 flying was easy and fun. After 9-11 it has grown steadily worse. I would rather walk. It's not the flight itself; it's getting there that sucks.
Best flight I was ever on was in a Stretch 8...Evergreen Airlines with a bunch of GIs coming back to the WORLD. Till we got to LA anyway. Back in the day I flew Teenie Weenie and Pan Am. Used to be civilized. Last airline fight...er flight was in 2016. Had to near have a fight with a woman who wanted my aisle seat.
LVSteve
Member
I can’t really think of anywhere I want to fly in this country anymore, and/or rent a car. All things considered, I’d rather just drive my own car - or stay home. My last international flight involved passage through LHR.I would never willingly do that again. A nearly unimaginable mess. Add to the “administrative problems” of traveling the often hostile attitude toward Americans in several of the locations I’ve always wanted to visit and the entire process is out of control, to me.
The “travel industry” isn’t what it once was, and the same can be said of the many “entitlement-minded” travelers.
As an ex-pat with some experience of LHR, let me guess. You had to land at one terminal and depart from another. The piecemeal development of LHR over the decades makes that an unhappy experience. What London needs is a large, new, built from scratch airport. Now go look at a map of the southeast of England and try to work out where that can happen.
Might stop skinflints from trying to cram everything they own into those overhead bins.
Last edited:
This could be the 4th generation
as soon as she can reach the pedals. I'm getting around pretty good, all things considered. Thanks.Attachments
The worst thing about airlines to me is how they manipulate the costs of the flights. We went to Alaska two years ago and there are several direct flights from OKC to Seattle, San Francisco, or Salt Lake City and then a direct flight from there to Anchorage, so a pretty quick, easy trip. The problem was, those flights were a thousand dollars higher than to fly from OKC to LAX then to Seattle with a 6 hour layover then to Anchorage. We went the cheaper route and it was about 17 hours to get there and the long layover in Seattle from midnight to 6 am was miserable! All chairs had armrests, no way to lay down except on the carpet and it stunk, they played loud music, and it was very cold!
LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
This could be the 4th generation
I will happily fly with the young lady, but I think I'll wait until she can get it done without the stuffed animals in her lap (and reach the pedals). I might be able to help out, having received the highest IFR ratings (I Follow Rivers, I Follow Roads), but only during conditions of 'severe clear'.
I did that kinda IFR from the east coast all the way to Alaska. Only had to sit on the ground for weather a day and a half. The Alaska Hiway was quite a bit shorter without following all the bends in the road...smoother too. I was young and dumb but it was a great experience.
Similar threads
