Air Travel
I hate flying. It's not because I'm afraid of flying. It's because of all the inconvenience and the way that airports and airlines treat travelers.
Baggage
I try to travel as light as possible but I also like to be prepared for any situation. This ends up creating a problem in that I don't want to check my bag and I want to maximize the amount of stuff I take with me. What I end up doing is using those space saver bags that you see in the commercials. I bought mine from target and not from some infomercial but it's the same concept. You pack all of your stuff into the bag and then squeeze out all the air. By doing this, I can usually pack about 40% more stuff than I would without using it. If your anything like me when it comes to packing, this is a good thing. I can easily fit a weeks worth of clothing and a couple of shoes into my carry on. My carry on ends up weighing about 40% more than it normally would but that's why it has wheels.
If for some reason, I have to check a bag, I'm in a bit of trouble. The majority of airlines charge a pretty hefty fee for checking a bag. It's usually between $15-30 if it's under 50lbs. If it's over 50lbs., I've seen prices from $50-75. It's pretty outrageous when you think this used to be free. Do airlines really think that people are going to go on vacation and not bring anything with them? We should make some of those airline executives and force them to fly to their next vacation with nothing but a small carry on.
Hurry Up and Wait
The airlines "advise" you to arrive at the airport 1-2 hours prior to the departure of your flight. This has always been a point of contention with me. I usually check in online and avoid checking in bags and therefore I'm able to skip the check in counter and head directly toward security. But for most people, the check in counter is a necessary evil. You hurry to the airport and wait in line. You get through the first line only to be rushed over to another line and then to another line and another line till you finally arrive at the gate and sit and wait for 45 minutes for them to call your row or zone to board. Once you are allowed to board, you wait in line as you walk along the gate into the airplane and then wait in line on the airplane as everyone ahead of you finds their seats and stows their carry on in the overhead compartment. The whole process drives me nuts.
Security
I understand that the security lines are all for my protection and that they just want to keep all the passengers safe but I think at this point, security has gone too far. You can't bring liquids on the plane because some fool tried to make a bomb from mixing liquids on a plane. Too bad he didn't test it out before trying it on a plane. The items that he had wouldn't have caused an explosion. If he had, he would have learned that you can only do that in the movies. The guy would have been better served to use Mentos and Diet Coke. That was several years ago and we are subjected to this restriction to this day.
Passengers must remove their shoes and have them x-rayed because another idiot thought he could smuggle a bomb in his shoe. This one is a bit more understandable but in my opinion, it's an over reaction to one incident. If we used the same philosophy in other areas, nothing would get done. Someone has a car accident, we should ban all cars. Someone catches a cold, we should all lock ourselves in plastic bubbles. Life is full of risks and that's the way I like it. Somethings are just out of our control and we just accept it and live our lives.
They all bark out instructions to you and make you move as fast as you possible can. I take off my shoes. I take off my belt. I empty my pockets. I have to remove my laptop from it's bag to get x-rayed (I thought the point of an x-ray machine was to be able to see through things like a backpack). I walk through a metal detector. I get racially profiled by the TSA representative and get asked to step over to the side so they can pat me down. Once I finally get through, I have to grab all of my stuff hoping that no one walks off with my bag or even worse my laptop. I have to put my shoes back on while holding up my pants because I was forced to take off my belt. It's all part of paranoia that has taken over.
Boarding the Plane
I finally get to the gate, which for me always seems to be the furthest gate and I sit and wait. Once I finally get called to board the plane, we are all herded like cattle through a long walkway toward a single door to the plane. We all know from the flight attendant's safety presentation that there are several doors to the plane but for some reason we can only use one door to get on and off the plane. I remember when I was very young, that they used to have stairs that they rolled up to the door of the plane and they could get more than one so there was choices as to which exit or entrance you could use. Nowadays, we are all so old and lazy that we can't possible use stairs. We have to have nice slowly slopping runways. There are usually 8 doors on the planes that I usually fly on, 2 in the front, 2 in the back, and 4 over the wings. I know they are "emergency exits" but what is to stop them from being used to enter and exit the plane when it isn't an emergency. Shouldn't they at least be tested to make sure they open? Wouldn't that be a big story if a plane needed to be evacuated and the emergency doors wouldn't open because no one ever bothered to check to make sure it would open? Just using one more door would make entering and exiting the plane twice as fast. Would it really be that difficult to do?
Seat Assignments
When I buy my plane tickets, I usually select a seat at the time of purchase. Apparently when you do this, it isn't actually assigning a seat to you. It's more of a request for a seat. Sometimes you get the seat you requested and sometimes you don't. If you purchase your tickets from some source other than the airline like Orbitz, Expedia, or Travelocity, the odds of you getting the seat you requested dropped dramatically. On the last flight that I took, I requested a window seat in the exit row for both of legs of my flight. I ended up with neither a window or exit row seat.
I was flying from Raleigh, NC back home. There is no direct flight from Raleigh to the SF Bay Area so the first leg of the flight was from Raleigh to Phoenix. It was about a 5 hour flight. I checked in online and printed my boarding pass. I checked my seat assignment and notice that I was not given the seat I requested. If I wanted to choose a new seat, I would have to pay $15 for each flight. I choose to be extorted. I go through the usual hassle to get on the plane and find that I am stuck in a middle seat in the very last row. In the same row across the aisle is a couple with 2 screaming children. Behind me is the bathrooms and the seats don't recline. Then the other people sitting in my row arrive. They are 2 very large men. And when I say "large" I really mean "fat". They both sit with their legs spread out invading my space. I have to sit like a girl wearing a mini skirt that is trying not to show her Golden Palace of the Himalayas for the duration of the flight. Both of these guys hogged the air rests. I was left to sit with my arms cross for most of the flight. The guy on my left wasn't too annoying. The guy on my right was huge and a pain in the butt. I could tell he was from Texas judging from his accent. He was doing something really gross with his arm. Apparently he had some sort of pimples on his arm and he proceeded to pop them during the flight. I tried not to look so that I could avoid vomiting. He also had a pack of chewing tobacco that smelled so bad that it almost made me vomit as well. The smell of the tobacco in combination with the toilet right behind me made for a scent that you would experience no where else. Feces and tobacco, what a combination! If it weren't for the air vent overhead, I would have probably blown chunks. The roughness of the flight didn't help either.
Not only was the guy invading my space, grossing me out with his pimple popping and tobacco chewing but once I got my laptop out he stared at it the entire time. I started downloading my photos from the trip to my laptop when I decided that I didn't want this guy looking at my personal photos and decided to watch a movie instead. He ended up watching the movie with me. I was tempted to ask him if he wanted me to share the headphone so he could enjoy the movie more.
The flight attendants were down right mean. I always try to be very polite with people that are providing a service for me. That includes the lady that cuts my hair to the guy that takes my order at McDonald's. I always remember to say please and thank you. The flight attendants on this flight didn't deserver that courtesy. When it came time to ask me if I wanted a drink, she just stared at me with a sour face. She didn't say a word. I said "Coke, please." She handed me a cup and can of soda that had already been opened and half emptied. I said "Thank you" and she proceeded to ignore me. I vow never to fly US Airways again. I think it's worth paying a little bit more to get a good seat and fly with courteous people.
The Bathroom
Sitting next to the bathroom could be a good thing if you happen to have a weak bladder. I made sure to empty my bladder before getting on the plane. Apparently I am the only one that does this as there was a constant line for the toilet. I was almost tempted to go to the bathroom just so I could get away from the guys next to me. I can't imagine what I would do if I were to fly to Egypt. 16 hours on a plane would drive me absolutely insane.
Baggage
I try to travel as light as possible but I also like to be prepared for any situation. This ends up creating a problem in that I don't want to check my bag and I want to maximize the amount of stuff I take with me. What I end up doing is using those space saver bags that you see in the commercials. I bought mine from target and not from some infomercial but it's the same concept. You pack all of your stuff into the bag and then squeeze out all the air. By doing this, I can usually pack about 40% more stuff than I would without using it. If your anything like me when it comes to packing, this is a good thing. I can easily fit a weeks worth of clothing and a couple of shoes into my carry on. My carry on ends up weighing about 40% more than it normally would but that's why it has wheels.
If for some reason, I have to check a bag, I'm in a bit of trouble. The majority of airlines charge a pretty hefty fee for checking a bag. It's usually between $15-30 if it's under 50lbs. If it's over 50lbs., I've seen prices from $50-75. It's pretty outrageous when you think this used to be free. Do airlines really think that people are going to go on vacation and not bring anything with them? We should make some of those airline executives and force them to fly to their next vacation with nothing but a small carry on.
Hurry Up and Wait
The airlines "advise" you to arrive at the airport 1-2 hours prior to the departure of your flight. This has always been a point of contention with me. I usually check in online and avoid checking in bags and therefore I'm able to skip the check in counter and head directly toward security. But for most people, the check in counter is a necessary evil. You hurry to the airport and wait in line. You get through the first line only to be rushed over to another line and then to another line and another line till you finally arrive at the gate and sit and wait for 45 minutes for them to call your row or zone to board. Once you are allowed to board, you wait in line as you walk along the gate into the airplane and then wait in line on the airplane as everyone ahead of you finds their seats and stows their carry on in the overhead compartment. The whole process drives me nuts.
Security
I understand that the security lines are all for my protection and that they just want to keep all the passengers safe but I think at this point, security has gone too far. You can't bring liquids on the plane because some fool tried to make a bomb from mixing liquids on a plane. Too bad he didn't test it out before trying it on a plane. The items that he had wouldn't have caused an explosion. If he had, he would have learned that you can only do that in the movies. The guy would have been better served to use Mentos and Diet Coke. That was several years ago and we are subjected to this restriction to this day.
Passengers must remove their shoes and have them x-rayed because another idiot thought he could smuggle a bomb in his shoe. This one is a bit more understandable but in my opinion, it's an over reaction to one incident. If we used the same philosophy in other areas, nothing would get done. Someone has a car accident, we should ban all cars. Someone catches a cold, we should all lock ourselves in plastic bubbles. Life is full of risks and that's the way I like it. Somethings are just out of our control and we just accept it and live our lives.
They all bark out instructions to you and make you move as fast as you possible can. I take off my shoes. I take off my belt. I empty my pockets. I have to remove my laptop from it's bag to get x-rayed (I thought the point of an x-ray machine was to be able to see through things like a backpack). I walk through a metal detector. I get racially profiled by the TSA representative and get asked to step over to the side so they can pat me down. Once I finally get through, I have to grab all of my stuff hoping that no one walks off with my bag or even worse my laptop. I have to put my shoes back on while holding up my pants because I was forced to take off my belt. It's all part of paranoia that has taken over.
Boarding the Plane
I finally get to the gate, which for me always seems to be the furthest gate and I sit and wait. Once I finally get called to board the plane, we are all herded like cattle through a long walkway toward a single door to the plane. We all know from the flight attendant's safety presentation that there are several doors to the plane but for some reason we can only use one door to get on and off the plane. I remember when I was very young, that they used to have stairs that they rolled up to the door of the plane and they could get more than one so there was choices as to which exit or entrance you could use. Nowadays, we are all so old and lazy that we can't possible use stairs. We have to have nice slowly slopping runways. There are usually 8 doors on the planes that I usually fly on, 2 in the front, 2 in the back, and 4 over the wings. I know they are "emergency exits" but what is to stop them from being used to enter and exit the plane when it isn't an emergency. Shouldn't they at least be tested to make sure they open? Wouldn't that be a big story if a plane needed to be evacuated and the emergency doors wouldn't open because no one ever bothered to check to make sure it would open? Just using one more door would make entering and exiting the plane twice as fast. Would it really be that difficult to do?
Seat Assignments
When I buy my plane tickets, I usually select a seat at the time of purchase. Apparently when you do this, it isn't actually assigning a seat to you. It's more of a request for a seat. Sometimes you get the seat you requested and sometimes you don't. If you purchase your tickets from some source other than the airline like Orbitz, Expedia, or Travelocity, the odds of you getting the seat you requested dropped dramatically. On the last flight that I took, I requested a window seat in the exit row for both of legs of my flight. I ended up with neither a window or exit row seat.
I was flying from Raleigh, NC back home. There is no direct flight from Raleigh to the SF Bay Area so the first leg of the flight was from Raleigh to Phoenix. It was about a 5 hour flight. I checked in online and printed my boarding pass. I checked my seat assignment and notice that I was not given the seat I requested. If I wanted to choose a new seat, I would have to pay $15 for each flight. I choose to be extorted. I go through the usual hassle to get on the plane and find that I am stuck in a middle seat in the very last row. In the same row across the aisle is a couple with 2 screaming children. Behind me is the bathrooms and the seats don't recline. Then the other people sitting in my row arrive. They are 2 very large men. And when I say "large" I really mean "fat". They both sit with their legs spread out invading my space. I have to sit like a girl wearing a mini skirt that is trying not to show her Golden Palace of the Himalayas for the duration of the flight. Both of these guys hogged the air rests. I was left to sit with my arms cross for most of the flight. The guy on my left wasn't too annoying. The guy on my right was huge and a pain in the butt. I could tell he was from Texas judging from his accent. He was doing something really gross with his arm. Apparently he had some sort of pimples on his arm and he proceeded to pop them during the flight. I tried not to look so that I could avoid vomiting. He also had a pack of chewing tobacco that smelled so bad that it almost made me vomit as well. The smell of the tobacco in combination with the toilet right behind me made for a scent that you would experience no where else. Feces and tobacco, what a combination! If it weren't for the air vent overhead, I would have probably blown chunks. The roughness of the flight didn't help either.
Not only was the guy invading my space, grossing me out with his pimple popping and tobacco chewing but once I got my laptop out he stared at it the entire time. I started downloading my photos from the trip to my laptop when I decided that I didn't want this guy looking at my personal photos and decided to watch a movie instead. He ended up watching the movie with me. I was tempted to ask him if he wanted me to share the headphone so he could enjoy the movie more.
The flight attendants were down right mean. I always try to be very polite with people that are providing a service for me. That includes the lady that cuts my hair to the guy that takes my order at McDonald's. I always remember to say please and thank you. The flight attendants on this flight didn't deserver that courtesy. When it came time to ask me if I wanted a drink, she just stared at me with a sour face. She didn't say a word. I said "Coke, please." She handed me a cup and can of soda that had already been opened and half emptied. I said "Thank you" and she proceeded to ignore me. I vow never to fly US Airways again. I think it's worth paying a little bit more to get a good seat and fly with courteous people.
The Bathroom
Sitting next to the bathroom could be a good thing if you happen to have a weak bladder. I made sure to empty my bladder before getting on the plane. Apparently I am the only one that does this as there was a constant line for the toilet. I was almost tempted to go to the bathroom just so I could get away from the guys next to me. I can't imagine what I would do if I were to fly to Egypt. 16 hours on a plane would drive me absolutely insane.
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