Comments on: They Love to Make You Hate to Fly, And It Shows

By: DirtCrashr

DirtCrashr — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:06:17 +0000

THE ONE reason we’ll never again travel back east or to Europe – ever. Even with gas-prices as they are I’d rather drive across the entire United States, and then drive across Atlantic freakin’ Ocean.
2nd reason is Maui. United nonstop flight #35 from SFO. Who cares if you have a suitcase when you get there? All you need is a t-short, shorts, and a pair of flip-flops!

By: Xrlq

Xrlq — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:51:43 +0000

Probably. I certainly don’t see myself flying that way anytime soon.

By: Tom J

Tom J — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:38:31 +0000

Xrlq .. you didn’t say .. are you driving next time you go to Greenwich?

By: Ride Fast

Ride Fast — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:03:40 +0000

Hard to believe the airlines are that fouled up. No sympathy for families with small children, no idea what anyone else in their system is doing. Glad you and yours came through it in one piece.

Thanks for the warning.

By: Ron

Ron — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:28:43 +0000

Sorry you had such a bad experience. I think you are right in that flying has become much more of a dehumanizing experience. Nothing like getting stranded somewhere with kids, let me tell you! By the way, if you get stranded in transit and your bags are checked, the airline people won’t give you your bags anymore (as we found out the hard way). Think of that when packing diapers and other necessities.

Maybe you should get your MIL to move south. Almost anywhere (except maybe Maryland) has lower taxes than Connecticut!

Whenever we go see my wife’s grandmother in Hartford, we do drive.

By: Doc Rampage

Doc Rampage — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:45:13 +0000

Now that the airlines are charging a special fee for baggage handling instead of providing it as a free extra service, would that make it easier to sue and recover damages if they mess up? I mean, whatever the precedents were before (and I imagine they favored the airlines, given that the airlines don’t seem to care if they screw you over), it seems like this should change the game. Now you are paying them specifically to deliver your bag.

By: Flüge China

Flüge China — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:14:25 +0000

I feel sorry that you had to make such negative experiences with the airlines. I really love to fly, but it´s just crazy that the airlines increase the tax-prices almost everyday. It´s insane what´s going on and they all say it would be of the oil-price. So far ok, but I really think that the airlines 1. aren´t so poor that they have to increase the prices so often and 2. that they don´t make extra-money with that.

By: Doc Rampage

Doc Rampage — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:23:00 +0000

I could easily have ended up a mean old man like Bainbridge. Fortunately I escaped that sad fate. Or I have so far, anyway.

By: Earl

Earl — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:19:43 +0000

Hmm, I am so lucky, but the airlines do mess up a bit more than they once did – captive audience, remember trains?

By: Phelps

Phelps — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:01:53 +0000

Stories like this make me soooo glad that I live in Texas and have SWA. I’ve never been delayed more than two hours that wasn’t the cause of weather, and I’ve never lost a bag on Southwest. And I’ve been awarded about six free trips on Rapid Rewards. (The credits change value based on specials, so I’m not sure how many legs that is, but it’s significant.)

The best part is that they pretty much own Love Field, which is my home airport, and they can… uh… “influence” how the TSA handles security from there. It at least extends to the show goons at the “detonate here” station are at least polite, which is more than at other places. (I’m astonished that they manage to find the few impolite people in Texas and stick them all working the security checks at San Antonio and Hobby.