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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Apr 15, 2017 - 08:36pm PT
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I fly a fair bit for work. Maybe not as much as Dingus, but more than most.
If I have to fly domestic US, Alaska and Southwest are far better choices than American, Delta, or United. Sure, it's all low-cost-carrier cattle class, but there is a big difference.
I also fly trans-Pacific a lot, and... well... Anyone who flies between Asia and North America on a US airline is either stupid, or had no choice.
Okay, maybe "stupid" is the wrong term. Plenty of Americans think everywhere else is backwards and quaint, and that any US company (airline or anything else) is obviously better. The right term for them is "ignorant." As Jan posted above about All Nippon, pretty much any Asian airline is going to treat you better than American, Delta, or United. Ditto for any Middle East airline.
I work in the aviation industry, and, in that industry, AA, DE, and UA are considered the bottom feeders... the airlines that you use if you absolutely can't get a ticket on a decent airline. They are profitable precisely because they don't give a sh#t about you.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado & Nepal
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Apr 15, 2017 - 08:39pm PT
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I'd like to put in a good word for military flights - the kind where you sit on canvas cots along the sides of the plane, with the cargo heaped up in the middle. There was always some guy with a flashlight peering up into the exposed piping which inevitably was leaking from the ceiling to the floor.
The toilet was a Portapotty placed on a dais with steps leading up to it and surrounded by a shower curtain for privacy. You could only pray that you didn't hit bumpy weather while sitting on it and go flying through the curtain into the open bay. Food was cans of cold beanie weenies and M and Ms, potato chips and Coke. However, they were free if you were an ID card holder and they got you there and with a much better attitude than United.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Outside the Asylum
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Apr 15, 2017 - 08:45pm PT
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The origin of much of aviation law is maritime law. With considerable encrustations and infestations of commercial law, almost always tilted toward the corporation. And with a pile of government regulation on top, most of it good. (After all, government money has paid for most aviation innovation.) Which explains why airplanes have captains who are also pilots.
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Apr 16, 2017 - 09:30am PT
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I'd like to put in a good word for military flights - the kind where you sit on canvas cots along the sides of the plane
Hell yeah, hops, aerial hitch-hiking. I saw the far east on hops out of Iwakuni Japan in the late 70s. We would get a C-130 up to the big AFB near Tokyo and go to where ever was available, the PI or South Korea. Once I missed the last MAC flight of the day out of Osan , of course I was broke and trying to get home. The terminal closed and 10 pm and there was martial law and a curfew in Korea at the time. Luckily the Marine Corps had a bird going back to Iwakuni so I talked my way onto it.
My buddy once caught a hop on the generals private jet, MAC rules were that any empty seats on a MAC flight were fair game for hops.
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rbord
Boulder climber
atlanta
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Apr 21, 2017 - 08:04pm PT
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Those United employees should apply for jobs with the Chicago Aviation Police. Or maybe vice versa. Heck I can't even tell them apart - they're probably all Trump supporters anyway.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Apr 22, 2017 - 09:43am PT
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BITD I only flew UA cause my uncle was friends with the CEO (as well as Pres of the Am Soc of
Travel Agents) so free was the operative word. It also was nice flying free first class when I
wore my uniform - way better than jump-seating some sh!tty Navy transport. UA started its
downhill slide when the inmates gained control.
These days Alaska is my first choice followed by American, with British for all overseas.
When you show some loyalty they do too. It was nice being upgraded to business from
econ+ in Zurich. Even nicer was being upped to first from MIA to EZE (Buenos Aires)!
Had to rough it in business on the return. :-/
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i-b-goB
Social climber
Wise Acres
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 22, 2017 - 09:53am PT
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The only way to die, I mean fly!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Apr 22, 2017 - 11:53am PT
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I'd pay double to fly without entitled moms and their spoiled brats.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Apr 22, 2017 - 12:25pm PT
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About the only airlines that I've had zero problems over the years have been Lufthansa and Delta. UAL is at the bottom of the barrel, with American a close second. When Continental was still owned by Robert Six and was Denver based, it was great. The it was sold, and sold again to United.
On International flights my one rule is the flight deck crew better be speaking English or German.
According to customer evaluations on TripAdvisor.com, their #1 for service is United Arab Emirates, followed by Singapore Airlines. Highest rated U.S. based airline is Jet Blue.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Apr 22, 2017 - 02:06pm PT
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Roger that, Roger! 'oo else but a icy cool Brit would make an announcement to the pax after
a 747 four engine flameout caused by flying into an unreported volcanic cloud as follows?
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four
engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are
not in too much distress."
Of course, they landed safely. It was just a spot of bother, after all.
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Lollie
Social climber
I'm Lolli.
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Apr 22, 2017 - 02:14pm PT
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Don't volunteer for being bumped:
"A common practice among airlines in the U.S. is to offer a voucher for displaced travelers, but once passengers accept it, they enter a new agreement with the airline and waive their rights to further compensation. In the U.S., passengers who are delayed by more than an hour can receive 200% of the value of a one-way flight, capped at $650, while those delayed by more than two hours can receive 400% of the value, with a maximum at $1,300."
I have never been bumped. But then I mostly fly SAS, Lufthansa or some other European airline.
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zBrown
Ice climber
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Apr 22, 2017 - 06:48pm PT
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Apparently not many TRANSLOVE AIRWAYS travelers, eh!
Get ya there on time.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Apr 23, 2017 - 08:47am PT
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JB, Justin blocked yer vid from elucidating us!
Can't believe I got this ad! BwaHaHaHa!
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Majid_S
Mountain climber
Karkoekstan, Former USSR
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Apr 23, 2017 - 09:05am PT
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How about dumbass air guard agent who left his loaded gun in the bathroom and a passenger find it and returned it to crew during flight.
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Social climber
SLO, Ca
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Apr 23, 2017 - 12:04pm PT
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What's crazy to me is how United had no problem physically handling and harming someone as part of a commercial transaction. In a normal legal world if the passenger was contractually obligated to give up a seat and refused to do so he would be liable for the costs incurred by the airline finding some other solution. Instead they just beat his ass like the mafia or something.
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Apr 27, 2017 - 03:32pm PT
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Don't volunteer for being bumped:
"A common practice among airlines in the U.S. is to offer a voucher for displaced travelers, but once passengers accept it, they enter a new agreement with the airline and waive their rights to further compensation.
That might be true but that is not how all airlines operate. I once took a bump and the flight I was moved to was full so they asked for volunteers, they were going to pay me again to bump, but by the time the flight was ready to go they did not need the seat.
You might be able to get more than 400 for a bump but in my experience there are always plenty of volunteers for 400 bucks.
United did a confidential settlement with the doctor they smacked around.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Apr 27, 2017 - 05:48pm PT
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Tad, the good news is that flying has never been safer* so yer not gonna die.
The bad news is that dealing with United you may wish you would.
*Provided yer on one of my 'approved airlines'. ;-)
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