I’m standing here at the ticket counter missing my connection because the plane is two hours late and customer service is not being helpful.
So fuck them all!!!
Two weeks ago I was flying on United from Boston to Panama via Newark. I unwisely had allowed only an hour and forty minutes connection time in Newark, so when the flight departure from Boston was delayed by an hour and a half, I knew I was screwed.
The next available flight to Panama was via Washington the next day. Again unwisely, I left my checked baggage with United rather than retrieving it since they assured me that it would be forwarded to that flight. Since it was a mechanical problem, they put me up at the airport Hilton, but I had to get up at 3:30 AM to catch the flight to DC. And United failed to tell me that the DC flight was from a different terminal than the Newark one, so I had a much longer hike through the airport than I had expected.
Despite this, I caught the Boston flight and made the connection to the Copa flight in DC with plenty of time. In DC I checked the status of my luggage, and they assured me that it was “in the system.” Again unwisely, I didn’t ask them where it actually was. It was sitting in Newark instead being put on the plane with me as I expected.
The Copa flight itself was fine. (I prefer them to US carriers since they still provide perks that are long gone elsewhere, like free meals, free beer and liquor on international flights, and free movies.) But when the plane arrived in Panama, they couldn’t get the front door open. We sat around on the tarmac for over an hour while they dithered around figuring which other door to open, finding a stairway, and getting a bus to transport us to the terminal. All with virtually no announcements about what was actually going on, until the Peruvian guy sitting next to me launched a rebellion.
Then I lost more time looking for my luggage and filing a report when it didn’t show up. It finally wasn’t delivered to my apartment until after 10 PM after the flight from Newark came in.
This was a particularly annoying flight, but I find that all the airlines these days screw up. After I fly American, I vow to never fly them again. Then I fly Delta, and have some other problem, and promise to fly some other airline the next time. Then United fucks up. And so it goes.
How was his hair?
I was on a flight home from Orlando - thru Atlanta - should have had roughly two hours between flights - thanks to the delays, this got narrowed down to about 30 minutes.
I was in the very back of the plane - 4 of my traveling buddies were in first class.
after we landed - we sat on the tarmac waiting for the gate for an additional 45 minutes.
Finally get off the plane and start the run from terminal x to terminal y - make it to see them shutting the door to my flight - they refused to re-open it.
a.) My friends from first class made it
b.) they gave my seat to someone on standby.
c.) it was the last flight that night
I hate fucking delta and atlanta.
Well, I’m sitting here waiting for the next flight. They say they may be able to get me a new flight when I get to O’hare. Anyone up for a dopefest at O’hare tonight?
As usual United customer service is rude and unhelpful. I’m sorry that a storm system on the east coast has disrupted your little routine. It isn’t nearly a much of a disruption for you as it is for me. And I can do without the damn attitude.
I’d be willing to bet big money that somewhere in the airport is a United employee muttering these exact words about you.
I will take a connection through Hell on Southwest before I will fly United nowadays.
They had some problems with a flight yesterday when I was on my way home (not my flight). The person at the desk apologized, admitted that this sucks, told people that they were working on everyone’s new connections, and then they delivered a case of their snacks to the people waiting.
They had problems - but they also communicated and were empathetic.
You’re blaming the airline for the weather? Check the forecast before you travel next time.
I don’t like United because they break guitars.
During my odyssey the people I dealt with were polite and tried to be helpful. They just didn’t give me important information. When the Boston flight was delayed, they didn’t page me (or anyone else) who was likely to miss connections. I only realized it when I happened to glance up and see that the flight status had been switched from on time to delayed.
Seems to me he’s more pissed off by the attitude of customer service than just the fact that the flight was delayed.
At any rate, unless there’s a hurricane or major blizzard on the way, checking the forecast is not really a reliable way of telling if your flight is going to be delayed. I normally have to leave home three hours in advance in order to get to the airport two hours before the flight (as you’re supposed to), and they don’t normally announce even potential flight delays that far in advance. In my experience, delays are rarely announced more than an hour in advance of the scheduled departure, and I’m normally at the gate by then. And flights can also be delayed due to weather in the departure city, so checking the local forecast doesn’t help.
Just enjoyed a round trip on Southwest from Cranston to BWI and back. Got the A1 positions by checking in online. Wouldn’t want to travel on any other airline.
You obviously aren’t fat. 
I am quite large and wide. I couldn’t survive without an aisle seat, and anything but the front bulkhead seats mean my knees are in bad shape after a flight. But I spend less time on the plane with Southwest than other airlines. For a longer flight I’d have to go on a larger plane in first class.
Not generally an option for me. In fact, I can’t recall ever haven flown with them.
Southwest is my favorite airline, not because their planes are great (they obviously are amongst the worst), but their customer service is phenomenally good, their attendants have stellar, memorable attitudes, and they have surprisingly few delays or cancellations due to their own problems (except when their planes literally disintegrate in mid-air, oops).
I’m a big Southwest fan!
According to my TripIt.com stats, I’ve spent 68 days on the road this year, to 34 different cities and traveled 47,349 miles. I’ve been on 4 different airlines for somewhere around 78 flights.
My conclusion: Air travel sucks, but unfortunately it’s the only alternative for most trips.
My advice is to embrace the suck, assume every flight will be delayed (if not cancelled), assume you will be seated next to the morbidly obese guy with hygiene issues and an onion sandwich, assume that once they do manage to cram you and your unbelievably rude fellow passengers into the undersized regional jet that is replacing the 757 you booked that you will sit on the tarmac, sweating due to a lack of air conditioning, for an hour and twenty minutes.
Prepare yourself mentally for all of the above, then when only 2 of these things happen, you will feel grateful to the airline that is hauling you and your $150 checked bag 700 miles in an hour (not including the 40 minutes you spent in line to get groped by the TSA, the hour you had to spend at the airport before your flight, your 2.5 hour layover, or the 20 minutes you’ll wait for the shuttle to rental car land) .
You beat me to it. That catchy little song is a bit of genius revenge, it is.
I assume your traveling overseas a lot. I’d definitely need first class for that. But Southwest does great at domestic flights. It’s pretty no frills, but they get you on and off the plane in a hurry, and always on time in my experience. But they can’t do anything more about weather than anyone else.
Your post inspires the following analogy:
Democracy is to government as flying in a plane is to transport.
That is to say, it’s the worst method tried, except for all the others 
Except flying didn’t use to be such a crap experience. I’ve had more missed connections and more delayed flights in the past five years than I had in the thirty years before. That’s not even considering the nickel-and-diming for amenities, TSA hassles, and the rest of it.