Huh? Why were you standing in the queue? Keep your ass sat down until the last person has departed down the airway, then present your boarding card.
Everybody is leaving on the same flight, so provided you don’t have to worry too much about finding stowage space for your luggage, always aim to be the last guy on the plane.
And the only way I can make sense of your curtain comment is to assume that either you meant to say “Everything behind the first curtain is coach”, or you are trying to cut through some BA-style class obfuscation (they use World Traveller = economy).
RickJay - No idea about US flights, but here in Europe it’s not unusual to encounter planes with multiple classes of economy as well as business even on short flights.
If you’re right at the front (business class) you get a fully flexible ticket, a bigger seat and a nice meal. If you’re right at the (economy) back you get a use-or-lose ticket, a tiny seat, and you have to pay for any drinks or food you may want. In between (Flex Economy, Premium economy,we’re-making-this-shit-up economy) you get variations.
I’ve also been on plenty of flights where there are the same seats throughout, and the only difference is the meal and the ticket flexibility - and the price, of course.
And I like your boarding rules, and I’d add
6 - Keep your body parts, odour and sounds inside the space you paid for.
What I want to know is why people don’t know how to board an airplane. This is what I do (if I have a rear seat and am one of the first to board – BTW, I nearly always get a window seat): I go don the aisle to my row, put my bag (if I have one) in the overhead compartment, get in my seat, and buckle my belt. It seems that when people are ahead of me they don’t know how to find their aisles (hint: they’re in ascending numerical order) or their seats (hint: they’re in alphabetical order), stow their bag (hint: it’s like, you know, putting your bag on a shelf – it ain’t quantum physics), or get the hell out of the aisle (hint: when you’ve found your seat, you’re supposed to sit in it – you know, like a chair).
Part of the problem is the boarding procedure. First Class should board last, since it’s in the front of the aircraft and first class passengers are as clueless as to how to sit in a chair as the lumpen. Recently Alaska Airlines have allowed everyone in coach to board at the same time, regardless of his seat assignment. Bad move, since people don’t know how to sit down in a chair. On my last flight they did go back to boarding rear passengers first (after First Class). But their row ranges are too broad.
But I think the larger problem is that people just don’t know how to find their seats and get the hell out of the way.
Having had my luggage lost much more frequently than 1% (I definitely have not flied 500 times), once for a week (my bags went to Greece without me, how dare they!) and once for 34 days (and the bags were finally found by a company which was not the one I’d flied with), and having once opened my baggage to find that someone had poured my bottle of shampoo inside my work computer’s bag (my back had been killing me so I’d put it in the suitcase) I would absolutely LOVE to be able to change companies based on stuff like, oh, quality of service.
Pity most of my flying is booked by whatever company I happen to be working for at the time.
Most of my commercial flying is between SoCal and Bellingham, WA. To fly to B’ham you need to change planes in Seattle. The BLI flight is in a Bombardier Q200 (formerly DeHavilland Dash-8). There’s always a chance there won’t be room for all of the checked baggage. More frequently there will not be time to transfer checked baggage. I winder if my bag will be on the aircraft with me any time the time between flights is under an hour. On my last flight (last month) the Q200 was late and didn’t arrive at the gate in Seattle until my southbound flight was already boarding. Needless to say, my bag (which is normally a carry-on, only I had some shampoo and toothpaste in it) didn’t make the flight.
So far my bag has been delayed three times; twice northbound, and once southbound. Another time it would have been delayed, only I was carrying it with me.
In 20 years of extensive flying, I’ve had my bags lost exactly once: the gf and I were on a trip to Mexico from Mexico; for whatever reason the bags didn’t make the connection in Houston. Thankfully the gf is a very easy-going sort; I’ve seem some couples almost divorce over shit like that - like it’s the guys fault the airlines didn’t take better care of the luggage :rolleyes:
We got $50 each to buy any stuff we needed (not in cash; we had to submit receipts for reimbursements, which took about 4 weeks), and the luggage was delivered to our hotel the next afternoon.
Granted, I’m not a typical passenger: I prefer to get on the plane at the last possible moment - which means, generally, getting to the airport at the last possible moment. Which means I assume any luggage I try to check wouldn’t get on the plane anyway, and it certainly wouldn’t be the airlines’ fault. If I know I have to check luggage, I get to the airport early. Otherwise I either I a) only bring a small carry-on, or b) gate-check. I’m telling you, gate check is teh win.
Johnny, wouldn’t it make more sense to drive between Seattle and Bellingham? It’s only about a 90 minute drive, and the hassle of changing planes and dealing with baggage hassles for a 1 hour flight doesn’t seem worth it to me.
My daughter lives in Bellingham, and whenever she or her husband fly they always drive to Seattle, not only for the hassle, but the expense of the extra flight.
In three years, over about 200 flights, exactly once. And that was when I switched to an earlier flight just 40 minutes before it took off.
They delivered it to my hotel about three hours after I got there.
Happened again last night (I was actually in the airport when I wrote my post.) It took 45 minutes to board a medium-sized airplane because of all the retards dragging huge suitcases onto the plane, and of course there wasn’t enough room for it all. I’m starting to wonder if some people actually are unaware that the airline will take your bags for you for free.
You obviously haven’t flown Southwest. It seems to me that everyone seems to put their bags right by themselves, so as the plane unloads, the people all stand there and screw with their bags, eventually getting them down & oriented and start their way up the aisle.
If you put your bags ahead of where you are, you can hop up and go a little farther down, and streamline the process- it really does speed it up for yourself, and also for the people behind you.
I don’t have any problems with people bringing bags that fit in the little box-thing at the check-in counter (i.e. the “stated restrictions”). What chaps my ass are these mongoloid mouthbreathers who insist on bringing HUGE luggage (as in, duffle bags large enough to fit a body into), and then taking up a huge amount of room with it.
It sure does suck for the people in the first five rows, though. Where are their bags supposed to go now? Your shit’s in their way, and they’re not allowed to store their bags in the cockpit. And if people are storing bags anywhere other than where they’re sitting you’re going to have some overhead bins overpacked, and then anyone getting into that row towards the end of boarding will not have a place to put their bag, so they’ll have to troop down to the end, and everything’s help up. By saving five seconds when you get off the plane you may have just help everyone up by a few minutes getting on.
The easy and efficient way is very simple:
As you’ve said, do not bring suitcases aboard the plane. Bring only briefcases, purses, and geniune carry on bags, like small knapsacks. This is the overwhelming problem, by far; on a full flight, the nitwits bringing huge suitcases, rollies and duffel bags can delay a flight by ten or twenty minutes, easily, and sometimes worse.
Store it over your head or under the seat in front of you.
If you are not retarded it takes 10 seconds, 15 at the absolute maximum, to stand up and grab your bags. Anyone who can’t accomplish that in ten seconds is mentally disabled (unless it’s someone who is, say, very short, or old, or has small children with them, and they obviously need some consideration - but they usually park it until everyone’s off anyway, so it rarely matters) and storing their bag further ahead will not help them, and in fact will slow things down because they’ll probably forget where they put it.
You are obviously not retarded, so stowing your shit up front doesn’t really help, because you’re going to grab your shit and get moving quickly anyway, even if it’s right where you are.
Now, mind you, it’s up to the airlines to fix this, because some people are inconsiderate dicks who just aren’t aware that their actions affect other people, and some people are just slow on the uptake. Without enforcing carry-on dimension limits and slapping people upside the head, nothing wil lget better.
This past week I was on a United flight from Denver to San Fran. It was a 777, and it was half full. For those of you who’ve never been on a 777, it’s an enormous airplane, Nine seats/two aisles per row, lots of head room and legroom. The overhead bins are sufficient for a full flight and we were 50% full at best. And yet some people still could not sort their fucking luggage out.
One guy in particular - it was just amazing. He was in the first rwo of economy class. He and his wife brough aboard two huge suitcases, purses and shopping bags of varying descriptions, and what appeared to be some sort of plant. The guy honestly took thgirty minutes of bumping and pushing his way back and forth through two luggage bins and pushing people out of his way to get his shit stowed away and he was still fiddling with it during the flight, and getting off the plane was all the same nonsense in reverse. Oh, and he kept standing up in front of the TV screen to conduct loud conversations with his wife throughout the flight, finally prompting me to yell at him. (I was polite, but loud.) It was quite obvious that the man simply did not have the slightest clue or concern that other human beings were on the same plane and might want to do things like leave Denver on time, or see the television programming, or not have him push them out of the way.
Since I’m on a roll, I want to add one more thing. Some people bitch and bitch and bitch about children on airplanes; the truth is that some people just plain hate children, and will complain about them incessantly. But in all my travels I’ve had, and seen, virtually no problems at all with kids on airplanes; they’re not .01% as troublesome as the various classes of adult air travel assholes. Sometimes babies will cry, but that’s easily drowned out with earphones, and parents usually get them under control within a reasonable period of time. Once, in hundreds of flights, there was an older kid who was crying that I found kind of irritating, but I forgot about him soon enough.
We’ve never had our baby on an airplane and don’t plan to do so anytime soon, but speaking as a veteran air traveller I can say “Children on airplanes” are so far down on my list of concerns and irritations that they barely register.
This is the key. I have had my luggage delayed twice. Once I was late at the gate. The thing is, while it is rare, when it happens you have a disaster on your hands. Plus, I suspect that a lot of people are traveling with valuables that they shouldn’t really be bringing along, creating the worry of theft. You folks are aware that gang tags are a common sight in the cago holds?
In my checked luggage (a large frame pack) are my cheap clothes from Wal-Mart. Nothing to steal but the pack itself, really. I carry on my laptop (goes under seat) and a small knapsack with my camera, a change of clothes, and my toiletries. I don’t know what I will do about tolietries with the new restrictions.
I like to get to the airport early. I scope out a bar with a view of the gate and have a few beers while everybody hurries up and waits. When the last passenger in the line is disappearing down the jetway, I’ll quaff my last brew and board. I am putting my laptop under the seat, so no problem there, and I have never had a problem finding a place to stow my small pack. I don’t care where it is because I am the last to get off as well. I have never arrived at the baggage claim before my bag came down the chute, so again, all you guys are “hurry up and waiting” while I am chilling with my magazine.
I have been traveling a lot since childhood, and it is hard enough without creating stress that has absolutely no purpose.
I almost fell off my chair when I read the first page of Aviation Daily’s Feb. 27th issue. The last item on the page was about Alaska Airlines working with employees and law enforcement on the problem of . . . gang graffiti in cargo holds. “Graffiti in aircraft cargo holds isn’t new. It’s been around for years and is an industry-wide problem,” the airline was reported as telling its staff. Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. TSA spends $2.5 billion per year to keep sharp objects out of passenger cabins, but people with gang affiliations are inside cargo holds putting graffiti on the walls? And this is a known, industry-wide problem?
I don’t understand this statement. I’m a business traveler who utilizes Southwest frequently. As long as you take care to print out your boarding pass in advance (within 24 hours of flight time) you almost always get a Group A pass. Even if you have a Group B you can still usually get your choice of seating. Group C - chances are you’ll be sitting in a center seat. Anyway, it’s the same for everyone. Just depends upon when you print your boarding pass.
Group C Passengers are advised while boarding to take advantage of any open overhead space they find while on their way through the plane (Seats normally fill up front to back)
For those that aren’t aware, Southwest doesn’t assign seating. Any open seat is yours for the taking.
I’ve been on 15 flights in the last month, on 6 different carriers. None boarded front to back, though some of the mid-sized intra-Asia flights boarded everyone at once.
I’m going to assume you simply travel from point A to point B. If you travel from A to B to C to D on a tight schedule, you will begin to get the picture. Try to change a flight to accommodate a change in plans, and it becomes a little clearer. If that weren’t enough, Southwest used to have a policy of selecting passengers for special screening: If they wore a steel turban with wires trailing out of it. Nope, that isn’t it. If they asked why the plane was equipped for landings. Nope that isn’t it. Oh, I remember. If they purchased a one way ticket. That’s it. Rather than screen threats, Southwest saw this as an opportunity to punish people who might not be flying them on the return leg.
Finally, I once had some idiot pilot explain, mistakenly I hope, that the delay was due to malfunctioning thrust reversers, but that was OK because we didn’t need them for this flight.
Well, I might be misunderstanding things a bit, but I thought the low-cost model was pretty much based on stripping out all the things like connections and so on that make life easier for business travellers but add cost. This is like complaining that Greyhound buses are much less convenient than a limo service.
Thrust reversers are used to shorten the landing run. They might be unnecessary if flying into somewhere with a long strip, or with a light load, but regulations require that at least one be operational. Plus they would still need checking out to make sure they weren’t going to do something dangerous (like activating in flight, killing everyone on board), and to fill in the necessary paperwork. They probably leave details like this out of announcements in case it makes people nervous.
:eek: Holy crap! Seems the industry has been doing a really good job keeping this out of the news, as I tried various keyword Google searches and couldn’t find any stories on it. It’s bad publicity for the airlines, but something the public really ought to know about. Jeez.
My husband recently told me that he’d heard (I can’t recall where) that news photographers will put a flare gun in their checked luggage so that they can declare a firearm and their bags will be handled separately, just so their cameras won’t get stolen.
I agree with this strategy 100% and practice it myself. I fly about once a month. I have no need to get on the airplane any faster than I absolutely must. I will wait until I witness the last passenger and follow him. I carry a purse and a laptop and they both fit very nicely under the seat in front of me so never any worries about overhead space. My boyfriend, on the other hand, flies several times per month on business and with his FFM, is always able to board first and takes full advantage of this privledge. He does it for the overhead space sometimes talking to me on the phone for 20 or so minutes before departure. Why add that time to the “flight”?
