Fly the not-so-friendly skies

Worth reading :)

Another view on that:

This is absolutely the case. When the only metric by which you book flights is the cost, you get shit service. This is what people want. If they wanted service they’d stop booking those shitty standard economy seats.

I will add that this is also why Americans get high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar and sawdust in their hamburgers. We have been trained to prize the lowest cost above all other things.

This is what happens when people will seriously spend an hour or more hunting for the cheapest possible flight.

True story: my parents need to fly to the east coast later this summer. My mother, who booked the fare, had a choice between a flight in a crappy seat on a small, cramped jetliner on a red eye, or a better seat on a much larger jet with a better schedule. She chose the former. The difference in cost was about $10. Not $10 more per ticket for the better plane, but $10 more for both tickets.

And, mind you, my mother is the kind of person who absolutely complains about flying. She hates the cramped seats.

But … they didn’t publicize it? The stories mentioned in the Atlantic article were provided by those who had it happen. Don’t get me wrong, I disagree with TSA being able to publish what they find unless they have consent. But the article wasn’t based on that.

From the article:

If I give an airline 200 dollars more than this other airline, can you guarantee me I will get a better experience? My experience is, it’s a crap-shot every time, no matter who you use. I’d pay more if I could be assured of anything. I mean seriously even first class has posted their problems and Economy Plus, look above, had to fight just to get the extra that was paid for.

My parents fly from the Netherlands every year to see their kids and grandkids. Usually it’s United or American, and they complain about it, but since they are use to flying they make the best of it. This year they flew KLM, the Dutch airliner and where pleasantly surprised. It costs a bit more, but they are hooked.

This is a awesome anecdote.

There are few guarantees in the world, and that’s not just about airlines. You could pay $200 for a meal and have a worst experience than going to In N Out. If you will only pay more if you were assured of it being better, you’ll probably be taking the cheapest choice most of time.

If airline consumers keep paying for the cheapest unless it’s guaranteed, the race to the bottom will continue.

The answer is yes. A Comfort+ seat is unquestionably a better experience than those shitting economy basic seats. But if more people were willing to pay for it then the airlines wouldn’t even offer those shitty seats.

The answer is no, read above. Paid for extra seats, airlines still treated him like garbage because they couldn’t be bothered enough to even check that he paid. Service is not the size of a seat. Go ahead, search around for First Class; you’ll still see that the USA domestic airlines have a problem with customer experience, no matter what you pay…

And I used to fly a lot, I mean just tons of flying for a few years. It didn’t matter if you paid a few hundred or over a thousand… they’re just terrible and it’s like rolling the dice with how you’re treated. That flight attendant and gate agent, they don’t know what you paid when you walk up to them.

LOL I’m not even arguing that. Of course they do. The whole thing is terrible, but one of the contributing factors is that customers don’t speak with their dollars. The airlines give shitty service and a shitty product and people continue to pay willingly.

Those South Park episodes about flying were spot on IMO.

My point is, paying more does not mean a better experience. It can mean that but it doesn’t have to mean that. You know what can improve it, competition. Let an international company compete here domestically. We’ll probably see an improvement pretty quickly. They don’t want to come here just so they can race to the bottom you know. They think they can compete against our domestics, do a better job, and… make money doing it.

A few years ago I was flying out on business to Dubai. The ticket included an airline supplied limo to the Airport so I’d arranged to get picked up but they picked the time.

The limo then turned up 45 minutes late. Not a great start but this was followed by the driver spending most of the journey complaining that they were asking him to do too much in a rather unnerving manner. I was struck by the possibility that he’d stop, smash me over the head with the jack and then report that I’d not shown up.

We finally reach the airport and I head to bag drop only to be greeted by an airline official. When I told them the flight I was trying to catch I they immediately turned into a sneering and arrogant archetype. They told me that the flight was closed and there was no way I could get on.

When I replied to say that was a shame and as it was down to their car being late what where they going to do about it the atmosphere & attitude immediatelychanged.

Radios came out, people started rushing & i was immediately right through the airport, onto the aircraft and to my seat. All to do with the word ‘compensation’, though unspoken, hanging in the air.

I flew from Seattle to Detroit a few weeks ago and first class wasn’t much more expensive for once. Also paid with points from my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, so effectively a 33% discount. My wife and I f’n loved it! Basically 5 hours of pampering and relative luxury.

Was on Alaska Airlines. Would highly recommend it if the price isn’t exorbitant.

But yes ordinarily I just look for the cheapest tickets and naturally you get what you pay for.

Up here in Canada, paying a bit more can make your experience far more pleasant.

Base fares no longer include food or checked bags. No food for a five hour flight. I see people stuffing a huge bag into the overhead and under the seat.

If I’m on a shorttrip, a small soft-sided backpack that fits under the seat in front. I buy the meal voucher so it’s on my ticket - then I don’t even have to think about it and take out the credit card on the flight.

Last couple times on longer trips, even if I could make a carry-on work, I just paid the 25 and checked, then walked on the aircraft without ANY carryon. I also freely grab a coffee or beer, and a magazine, while in the airport, and relax and wait until the line is gone before boarding (don’t need the overhead space).

Security lines can be frustrating but not wearing a belt helps a lot.

To that end, I’ve never understood why they chose to do a cash grab on checked baggage vs carry on baggage. I mean, one system does use airline/airport employees, but it’s a very structured process that gets done extremely quickly.

The other exposes the fact that people are fucking selfish assholes who want to take their time and inconvienece others because they deem themselves more important, or they just want to throw a grenade on rules, “made for everyone.” Not to dump on families that travel, but using one as an example, I saw, a man, woman and a small baby board a flight I was on, recently. It was a medium sized jet. In the overhead the man and woman each put a nearly full sized luggage bag, one put in another small piece of luggage, a baby carrier, and finally a small plastic bag with what looked like items they bought in the airport. THEN, they sat down with one of them having a backpack, and the other with what appeared to be a larger diaper/baby bag. The woman was holding the baby in arms, so they literally had two seats on the plane. It took them quite some time to get all this stored and situated. Nobody said anything, and I wonder if that’s because nobody wanted to be, THAT PERSON, who asked why a family with a newborn needed so much overhead space.

Meanwhile, I was one row back, my overhead was full so I had the lone bag I boarded with, a mini-backpack just big enough to carry my laptop, and I put it under the seat in front of me.

If the airlines got rid of carry on baggage with the exception of one tiny bag, I would be extremely happy.

I fly about 50k miles/ year. It used to be twice that. Paying more will not guarantee a better experience – first class and coach arrive at the same time – but it certainly makes it more likely. I am always happy to pay a bit extra to get beyond the basic economy category, particularly if it’s an airline on which I do not have much status.

The most important thing is to make sure you have a reserved seat and a seat #. If you’re a no-status economy flier whose seat is getting picked at the gate, you are first in line for every form of fuckery the airlines inflict on the self-loading freight. They need to bump someone? That’s you. Middle seat in the last row across from the toilet? You again. No room in the overhead, so your stuff will get get checked? Absolutely you, so pray they get it loaded on time.

Of course, it’s easy to say that when you haven’t actually paid cash for a plane ticket since the late 90’s. All my work travel is billed to clients, and all my personal travel is frequent flier awards. Still, I will sometimes drop my own cash for an upgrade after buying the cheapo ticket. It improves your odds considerably ;)