Flying F***ing Sucks!

[Starhawk]

Flying fucking sucks. I should at least be glad I dont have to do it very much. Does anyone actually have good flight stories anymore?

 

I've had nothing but bad experiences the past year from sitting on the runway for hours waiting to take off because there were too many planes on the tarmac, you reserve a seat on a plane only to find that the plane is full once you get there (but they'll give you a hotel room and you can fly tomorrow!! : ), one time the plane getting too hot and the flight attendant said the pilot turned off the A/C to "conserve fuel", etc.

 

It's not always their fault though. Hell, one time I booked a flight for 9pm and I showed up at 9am wondering where my gate was. :lol Can we please use military time so I dont screw myself anymore?

 

Then you have to deal with the crowds, baggage, waiting, security, and all the people who are just as frustrated as you are.

 

So tonight, a good friend of mine was headed to Tulsa to see her brother. She was flying from NC and had a connection in Detroit. Both flights were Northwest. The first flight from NC to Detroit was delayed for a reason no one was able to figure out. Once she landed, she literally raaaan a good distance to the gate only to find they had already closed the door. After some unnecessary sweet talking and begging, they let her and another guy on the flight.

 

They take off, get part of the way there, and have to turn around. The reason? Well see, Tulsa ran out of De-Icer, and they THINK it's going to snow TOMORROW, and they dont want have a ton of planes there taking up space. That's literally what the pilot told them. WTF?!

 

Now she's stuck in Detroit. Seriously, WTF Northwest?

 

I know some people here have to fly a good deal (I think Odie comes to mind). How do you do it!?

[Cyberwoo]

I would go insane having to deal with flying on a regular basis. I don't know how people do it.

[Jordan_E]

I'm extremely phobic about flying, and just reading about it gives me the chills.

[Whooter]

I guess I've always been extremely lucky when it comes to flying. Of course, I only do it about once a year...

[Lutter]

I fly somewhere around once a month and rarely have issues. I might just be lucky though *knocks on wood*

 

I work in the airline industry so I do have ONE suggestion: NEVER check your bags with the airline. Get the biggest carry-on you can. heh.

 

This is impossible for my fiance` to do (I swear, she's got 8 different shampoos she has to pack), but once you've seen exactly how your bags are handled, you'd see things differently.

[foogledricks]

Statistically speaking its still the safest way to travel.

[dogbert]

I've had some awful trips flying, mainly transatlantic. I don't mind the process of flying or airports, just the delays more than anything.

[Starhawk]

She got off the flight and there's a huge line of people there trying to get on other flights. She waits and waits, and come to find out the woman working the counter was booking everyone's flights for the wrong day. Ha! She had to be relieved of duty because, well I think she was a moron.

 

So the best they could do for her was a flight either Saturday or Sunday STAND BY to Tulsa. Yes, you read that right. Saturday is two days away.

 

She has decided on a flight to Arkansas tomorrow where her brother is going to drive 2 hours to pick her up.

 

She also has to pick up a hotel tonight for $99. And no, Northwest is not paying for any of it. That $99 was also the "Distressed rate".

 

Oh, and they dont know where her bags are. So she's going to the room with just her carry on. Her clothes are in the checked bag. Let's hope they can figure out how to get her bags where they need to be tomorrow. Something tells me she might be going to the mall.

 

What can you do? We're all just so helpless in these situations. We're at the mercy of companies with customer service worse than Microsoft's XBOX 360 unit. Flying fucking sucks.

 

And Northwest can suck my cock.

[BdoUK]

It's not always their fault though. Hell, one time I booked a flight for 9pm and I showed up at 9am wondering where my gate was. :lol Can we please use military time so I dont screw myself anymore?

 

I did this last May coming back from NYC. My girlfriend and I showed up at the airport all ready to fly out of LaGuardia at 8 AM. We were puzzled as to why the computer wasn't accepting our check-in information. After asking one of the attendants behind the desk we realized our flights were supposed to leave at 8 PM! I guess since I always try to fly early I just overlooked that crucial part of our itinerary.

 

Thankfully we were able to switch to the 8 AM flight for a $25 charge. Sure beat sitting around the airport for 12 hours!

[Starhawk]

I did this last May coming back from NYC. My girlfriend and I showed up at the airport all ready to fly out of LaGuardia at 8 AM.

 

That's hilarious because my story happened as I was also coming home from LaGuardia.

 

They have almost hourly flights from NYC to here so I was able to catch standby on one of the next ones. Lucky me.

[Peter O]

I know some people here have to fly a good deal (I think Odie comes to mind). How do you do it!?

 

How do I do it?

 

1. Elite status. I am Executive Platinum on American Airlines, which means unlimited upgrades to first class and many other huge time-saving perks (more on that later).

 

2. Fly early. Get up early and take the 7 or 8 am flight out. Delays propagate through the day, so if you get to your connecting airport at around 10 or 11 am, you will have less chance of a delay or getting stuck on the tarmac.

 

3. Luck. I missed the huge east coast snowstorm by a couple of days. Flew out of DC on Sunday, and everything will be cleared out when I fly home tomorrow.

 

4. Learn the system. Get flight notification text messages for gate changes and delays: I know where I need to be by the time I get off the plane, and I know about any delays or get changes before the gate agents do. Elite status allows me to bypass check in and security lines. If you need to rebook in an emergency, don't wait in line with the other 100 people from your plane, call up the airline and do it over the phone, or go to an empty gate, any agent can rebook you, not just the one at your gate.

 

5. Take things in stride and relax. Try not to get all worked up with minor delays, things happen. I find flying very relaxing, a time to unwind without any distractions (like the internet). Sit back with a drink (another perk of first class), a nice book, iPod hooked up to noise-blocking headphones.

[dogbert]

Take things in stride and relax.

 

That's the big problem I have when I'm flying with my wife. She can't & doesn't. I can & do. The two do not mix well

[kelley]

If it makes you feel any better, it has been snowing off and on all day here, in Tulsa. Northwest doesn't have much of a presence here Tulsa either, if you want a dependable flight in/out of Tulsa you gotta go with American Airlines or Southwest.

[PackFan]

You have described some of the reasons my wife and I have dubbed them "Northworst"...

 

We fly them as a last resort ONLY. When they aren't having issues getting their flights running properly, their workers are showing that they have no concept of customer service, and are generally downright rude.

[Chris F]

MOTHER FUCK.

 

12 hours at the airport. 5:25 flight delayed until 10:40. 9:00 rolls around. FLIGHT CANCELLED.

 

Then it takes 3 and a half hours to get my ONE GODDDAMNED BAG.

 

And I had to bribe someone to get it from the back for me, 'cause there were about 4 thousand other cancelled flights in front of me. Luckily when he got my bag, he didn't take my money.

 

Too bad the cab ride home cost me 60 dollars.

 

And I wasted a vacation day for nothing.

 

Fuck JetBlue.

[JTello]

So tonight, a good friend of mine was headed to Tulsa to see her brother. She was flying from NC and had a connection in Detroit.

 

Whaaat? :eh NC -> Detroit -> Tulsa

I'm surprised that was the most efficient route from NC to Tulsa. And then to have all of that BS happen, man that sucks!

 

Elite status allows me to bypass check in and security lines.

 

:eh By pass or Jump to the head of the lines? I hope you mean jump to the head of the lines. I can't imagine you are saying they let you by pass security on the assumption that you fly so much you cease posing a danger any more than any other passenger.

 

I'll be slightly less annoyed if you are simply cutting ahead of us in line because you spend more money.

[Robot Monkey]

I love flying. I love the mundane nature of it -- my favorite time is after the blase announcements at the moment of actual liftoff when I look out the window and Holy Shit, we're flying in the fucking air.

 

I've had some lousy experiences, though. Worst was easily domestic Aeroflot in the days of the USSR, second worst was international Aeroflot, third worst was an Air Mobility Command-chartered flight to the mideast).

[Anthony G]

The only time I fly is for conferences and like Whooter I have been lucky and it's only usually once a year. I tend to fall into Peter's category of flying early, 7-8 am departures, so that may have to do with it.

[exile]

NC -> Detroit -> Tulsa

Detroit and Memphis are the 2 big NW hubs. My only experience with NW was fine.

 

American has done a few things that perturbed me but overall I'm not going to complain that much.

 

I think if you follow Peter's suggestions and take major airlines(staying away from the Jetblues and such of the world), you should be fine. You have to always keep in mind that mother nature is something they can't control.

[Covak]

The most flying I've done is between Toronto (where I live) and New York (where my sister lives), in some shite little planes with mom piloting (me being the lone passenger). Never a problem. Flying rocks!

[Chris F]

Detroit and Memphis are the 2 big NW hubs. My only experience with NW was fine.

 

American has done a few things that perturbed me but overall I'm not going to complain that much.

 

I think if you follow Peter's suggestions and take major airlines(staying away from the Jetblues and such of the world), you should be fine. You have to always keep in mind that mother nature is something they can't control.

JetBlue is usually fine. They've been a top rated airline quite a few times and I've enjoyed their service and flights 99% of the time.

 

Yesterday though was a complete clusterfuck, and from what I've been hearing was happening to a lot of airlines yesterday. I'm still pissed that I'm sitting here at work in NYC instead of in bed in Charlotte. =(

[boogieman]

I guess I don't fly enough to have these problems. I've never had problem flying.

 

my favorite time is after the blase announcements at the moment of actual liftoff when I look out the window and Holy Shit, we're flying in the fucking air.

 

Same here.

[Union Carbine]

The worst experience I had was flying from Paris to Houston. My father had bought me the ticket and because, at the time, a round-trip had been cheaper than a single-way, he had bought me a round-trip ticket. The French security didn't seem capable of comprehending this logic. It certainly didn't help that my travels began in Morocco (although this was circa 1992).

 

Charles De Gaulle was a complete mess, in part due to a perceived bomb threat that had just been neutralized (it turned out not to be a bomb) as I arrived at the airport. Needless to say, the lines of people waiting in one line or another snaked through the terminal like a mass of bloated pythons.

 

I was pulled from one of the lines for questioning. I explained my trip (rail trip through Europe), where I was from (American living in Morocco), where I was going (Houston), and, over and over again, why there was a discrepency in my ticket (round-trip for a one-way visit).

 

As I explained things over and over, I pointed out to my questioner that I was certain to miss my flight but, with a smarmy smirk and wave of hand, he repeatedly boasted that you can't miss a flight for being detained by security. Of course, I missed my flight.

 

Scrambling to find the next available anything to get home, I beat a mass of other people who also missed that and other flights, to arrange a substitute itinerary. There wasn't much of an option so I took what I could get.

 

My original flight plan: direct, Paris to Houston, arriving in Houston at ~ 2:00pm.

 

The flight plan I actually took: Paris to Washington, DC (go through baggage check, customs), DC to Chicago, Chicago to Dallas, Dallas to Houston, arriving in Houston at ~ 2:00am.

[Josh]

I fly a lot, and when I do, I just let go and zen out. Stressing about departure times, when you'll get there, weather delays, and other things don't help. When you're traveling via plane, you have no control over what's going on. If you accept that and go with it you'll actually find a little freedom in it.

 

Sorry for the new-agey shite here (I'm not that guy), but with all the flying I've done I've just learned to let go.

 

For instance, one night from Detroit to NYC on NW, my flight was canceled and they got me on a later flight (this happened probably 3-5 times a year at least). I was a little cranky, no big deal. Anyway, comes time to get on the plane, and I go to the flight attendant guy checking boarding passes and he goes, "Oooh, yeah. Looks like you lost your seat, sorry. But I got you another." At first I wanted to get pissed, but just thought about getting home to bed. As I got on the plane, I checked my new assignment, and it turns out the guy bumped me to First Class. Sat down next to a cute girl, and a Chivas on the rocks later everything was great.

[PoisonJam]

Long check-in lines and even longer security queues are frustrating, but what really gets me is the way the airlines cram as many people into as small a space as possible. I flew from CT to CA and again from CT to Vegas last month, and all flights had connections, so that's what...8 airplanes altogether? And without fail every single one was jam-packed full to the point that people were fighting over overhead bag space. Which is fine, I get that empty seats cost the airlines money, but damn, spread the effing seats out a bit, huh?!?

 

I'm a big guy but not huge--6'1, 230. And I barely fit in one of the standard seats. By the time a five hour flight is over, I am cramped, I've lost feeling in my legs, and I've been inadvertantly rubbing up against a complete stranger for so long I feel I should at least buy him a cup of coffee. I feel like a cow on the way to the market and I hate it. Thank God I only fly a few times per year.