Arkansas Blog

Luckily, I don't have to travel much. However, when I do, I have started to ship (UPS) my belongings to the hotel in advance of my arrival (mark your arrival date on the box to help the hotel match it up with you). The business services office at the hotel helps me to ship my stuff back home at departure. It makes for a lot less fuss & UPS hasn't lost my stuff so far.

This, my friends, is total crap.

I have to check at least one bag (shaving cream, toothpaste), and now they are going to make me pay for it?

What is next? $10 for use of the overhead bin? $5 for the "motion-sickness" bag?

By all means, lets encourage more passengers to not check their baggage. The time to board is not quite painful enough as it is. Let's add a few more people to the process of bumping elbows and heads trying to manipulate their over sized luggage down the aisles and into the overhead bins. Just to save a few bucks. I won't even go into the unloading process.

I have some sympathy for the airlines, but it just seems the steps they are taking are not exactly trying to win new customers, or keep the existing ones for that matter. In the past few weeks I have had to travel to Dallas and OK City and I decided to just drive. Got in the car, listened to some tunes, and poof I was there. So much better than the cattle car process.

Charging $15 for each carry-on would make more sense.

Had to fly this weekend. Sat on the ground for 80+ minutes waiting our turn to take off. Got to the head of the line, then had to go back to the terminal for "more fuel". Left 2 hours late.

I used to measure success by miles flown.. now I measure success on the ability to stay as far from airports and planes as possible.

I would much rather visit the dentist than submit to the treatment of of airlines, airports, and watching everyone be deemed a terrorist until proven innocent.

The entire set up is *anti customer*

More good news for Falcon Jet, Raytheon, Central Flying Service & private pilots who can tell the scheduled airlines where to put it.

My #2 son, who is a capt. with AA, saw the bad times coming and put in his request to teach
new pilots at the AA hub in Dallas, been there 2 mos. and loves it. Works 2 to 6 hrs. a day
and makes more $$$$$$$ than he did flying.
Now if he can sell his 4 br, 3 bath home in Calif. without losing his shirt,,,,,thanks idiotmoron.
Oh, Zelda, we can still fly for free.....whenever you get ready.

I'm on a business trip as I type this. I drove 770 miles in 11 hours on Sunday (a typical day off). It was worth every minute of it to avoid the contemptuous airlines, the TSA blackshirts, and all the other headaches associated with air travel. Wonderful time to think, reflect, listen to CDs that I don't seem to play very often. It will be an equally enjoyable 770 miles home!

When you watch the baggage handlers, you really have to wonder - Now I have to pay them EXTRA to throw my bag on the cart, break off the straps and zippers and smear grease on the sides?

Maybe they should offer $15 DISCOUNTS if you DON'T check any bags. . .?

This, my friends, is total crap.<<

Oh come now my RW freedom loving free marketer. This is the free market at work, at it's best.

The free market will set you free, if you can afford it.

bluename

We can thank deregulation. The focus moves from serving customers to financial engineering designed to put the max amount of money in the hands of senior management.

>>When you watch the baggage handlers, you really have to wonder - Now I have to pay them EXTRA to throw my bag on the cart, break off the straps and zippers and smear grease on the sides?<<

Oh, Don, you had to remind me. I was standing at the luggage carousel in Philadelphia, Pa waiting for my bag so my companions and I could begin our vacation. There was a lengthy pause in the flow of bags and we all wondered what was the delay. The carousel was moving, but no bags. Soon it was obvious that a bag had become stuck, and there was a pile up behind it - a bag every now and then would tumble over the pile and make its way to us. Finally the trapped bag dislodged and made it's way in two separate pieces toward us and all the bags began to move freely. Each bag had some part of my undies attached, clinging, flapping in the breeze, like little flags for everyone to salute.

Kind fellow travelers helped me retrieve my belongings and I bought a new bag. AA claimed it wasn't their problem. What a trip...

Come to think of it, maybe it's a Philadelphia problem..... Two weeks later as we were returning to the airport in our rental car, we decided to make a brief stop at the Liberty Bell. In that area of town, (I don't know about other areas), the handicapped marking was on a small sign at the curb and wouldn't you know, that small sign was completely obscured by low hanging trees. We were in a hurry - we parked for 15 min (felt we were lucky to find a spot so close) - and returned, moments later, to an empty parking space. The meter maid who had obviously just had our rental car towed, gave us a 'hint' as to where it "might be".

God I hate Philadelphia.........

Lost bags, incrediblly rude gate attendants (at least the bitch in LR is), rude and unhelpful staff at counter, and $1/bag pretzels already chased me away from AA and this ensures Iwill NOT return.

I fly Delta or SW...

"I was standing at the luggage carousel in Philadelphia, Pa waiting for my bag so my companions and I could begin our vacation."

Um, pretty sure that Philadelphia and vacation are two words that should not be used in the same sentence. Unless the sentence is:

"I was going to go to Philadelphia for vacation, but found somewheres better."

Actually, Philly was the jumping off point. We drove cattywompus thru the mid East Coast states and then straight back down the sea coast back to Philly when it was over. Spent more time in Philadelphia trying to retrieve the rental car than anything else.