Forcing "casual"?

[JimVrhovac]

Had two pairs. Treat them nicely. Cannot get them anymore.

 

Like Peppy Le Pew. Not made anymore. Wear on formal nights and pack them up.

 

Still have my original Bugy Bunny slippers and they are held together with Duct Tape.....

 

Jim (without Ruth)

[CruiseBumm]

Did you know that AA is going to charge $155 for the first bag checked starting with flights booked on June 15. That means for 2 people with two bags each , 2 seats together; with one being a window, and one an aisle could add up like below:

 

Bags $80

Seats together $5

Window $5

Aisle $5

 

Total one-way $95

 

Perks just keep going up and up.:(

[Richard in Panama]

You forgot the new $1 machines outside the restrooms . . . insert $1 per useage . . . automatically timed for 2 minutes. Be sure to bring along quarters for the toilet paper dispenser.

 

And of course Holland lovers American. Time for another preferred carrier I think.

 

Regards, Richard

[NoNoNanette]

*****

[RevNeal]

Had two pairs. Treat them nicely. Cannot get them anymore.

 

Like Peppy Le Pew. Not made anymore. Wear on formal nights and pack them up.

 

Still have my original Bugy Bunny slippers and they are held together with Duct Tape.....

 

Jim (without Ruth)

 

I'm honored. Right now they occupy an honored position on the back of my couch in my office, overlooking the room. :) The kids love them.

[RevNeal]

Did you know that AA is going to charge $155 for the first bag checked starting with flights booked on June 15. That means for 2 people with two bags each , 2 seats together; with one being a window, and one an aisle could add up like below:

 

Bags $80

Seats together $5

Window $5

Aisle $5

 

Total one-way $95

 

Perks just keep going up and up.:(

 

You mean $15 for the first bag per-person/each-way.

And, yes, we are aware of the new charges ... they were a topic of much heated discussion this past week. One of the threads that addressed it was moved to another area on CC.

[kryos]

You mean $15 for the first bag per-person/each-way.

And, yes, we are aware of the new charges ... they were a topic of much heated discussion this past week. One of the threads that addressed it was moved to another area on CC.

I was reading an article about the airlines on the wires at work last night. Can't remember offhand (wish I had written it down) but one of them is going to discontinue serving all free soft drinks and snacks in economy class in a month or so.

 

So, if you want a soda, or that little package of peanuts or crackers ... guess what? You're gonna be charged for them.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

2 seats together; with one being a window, and one an aisle could add up like below:

I think the only seat that won't incur an extra charge will be the middle "squish" seat. You'll pay a premium for aisle or window, exit row and bulkhead.

 

I've also heard that soon you won't even be allowed to select your seats unless you pay a premium. You'll buy your seats and the airline will assign them. This means that only children will be ensured of a seat next to one of their parents. Friends or couples traveling together could very well be five rows apart on the flight.

 

Thankfully, this is one that doesn't affect me, because I generally fly alone anyway, but can you imagine how boring it would be to be seated on one row with your spouse 15 rows back in the plane? This is almost gonna force people to select seats and pay for the privilege.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[RevNeal]

I was reading an article about the airlines on the wires at work last night. Can't remember offhand (wish I had written it down) but one of them is going to discontinue serving all free soft drinks and snacks in economy class in a month or so.

 

So, if you want a soda, or that little package of peanuts or crackers ... guess what? You're gonna be charged for them.

 

I've not had free snacks on an AA flight in economy in ages. The soda will be the next to go, pretty soon, I'm sure, but by FAA regulations they HAVE to offer hydration for any flight longer than 1 hour. I usually take a bottle of diet Dr. Pepper on flight with me, anyway, because it can sometimes be as many as 45 or 50 minutes before they get back to where I'm sitting with liquid refreshment.

[RevNeal]

I think the only seat that won't incur an extra charge will be the middle "squish" seat. You'll pay a premium for aisle or window, exit row and bulkhead.

 

I've also heard that soon you won't even be allowed to select your seats unless you pay a premium. You'll buy your seats and the airline will assign them. This means that only children will be ensured of a seat next to one of their parents. Friends or couples traveling together could very well be five rows apart on the flight.

 

Thankfully, this is one that doesn't affect me, because I generally fly alone anyway, but can you imagine how boring it would be to be seated on one row with your spouse 15 rows back in the plane? This is almost gonna force people to select seats and pay for the privilege.

 

The way things are going, eventually the inconveniences, indignities, and discomforts of flying will start eating into the airline industry's business as people elect to take a couple of days to DRIVE to their destinations rather than fly. They may eventually discover that people are not willing to put up with this anymore.

[RuthC]

Thankfully, this is one that doesn't affect me, because I generally fly alone anyway, but can you imagine how boring it would be to be seated on one row with your spouse 15 rows back in the plane? This is almost gonna force people to select seats and pay for the privilege.

My husband and I hardly ever sat near each other on a plane. We each always wanted an aisle seat, and usually couldn't get two across the aisle from each other. The agents would look at us like we had two heads when we said that was fine.

As long as both rows land at the same time, what's the problem? :confused:

Once we were assigned seats together (HAL air) and no amount of pleading could get us separated. One of us got stuck with that awful middle seat. :(

[kryos]

The way things are going, eventually the inconveniences, indignities, and discomforts of flying will start eating into the airline industry's business as people elect to take a couple of days to DRIVE to their destinations rather than fly. They may eventually discover that people are not willing to put up with this anymore.

Oh, trust me ... they've lost me ... after this year, that is. I've made a decision that after these fall cruises, everything I do for the next three to five years is gonna be east coast departures ... and I will take Amtrak or another form of ground transportation to the pier.

 

Frankly, I no longer feel at all safe on airplanes. Strange hearing someone like me (a former skydiver) say that, huh? But it's true. Not only am I afraid about the possibility of a crash due to p*ss poor maintenance practices, but I'm also afraid for the day a riot breaks out in the cabin because of how tightly people are crammed in there and how lousy they are treated.

 

So until things stabilize in the airline industry, I think I'm gonna keep my two feet planted firmly on the ground for a while ... though, of course, I'll still do the occasional aerobatics flight every so often ... don't have to worry about overcrowded cabins there. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kenish]

I've also heard that soon you won't even be allowed to select your seats unless you pay a premium. You'll buy your seats and the airline will assign them.

 

--rita

 

This fits into an interesting rumor I've seen on CC and elsewhere...fares will be charged by the weight of the passenger and their luggage. Aircraft fly more efficiently with more weight behind the wing (within limits), so airlines could start assigning seats to provide the most fuel-efficient weight distribution.

 

Just being faceitious here (I think)! :eek:

[kryos]

They may eventually discover that people are not willing to put up with this anymore.

The thing that I find so amazing is not that the airlines have to cut back and are charging extra for baggage, snacks, this and that. Those things are understandable, and I doubt most people care when they are told that if they want that little snack pack, it's gonna cost them $5 bucks. Most of us understand that you can't have dirt cheap airfares and still get all of the amenities too. It's just not gonna happen.

 

But what floors me is how people in economy are often treated ... like subhumans by the flight crew. There's no need for that. It cost absolutely nothing to treat people with respect and with dignity.

 

I recall one flight ... in fact, it may have been on my flight home from San Diego after my Hawaii/South Pacific cruise in 2006. I made the incredibly stupid mistake of taking a window seat. I had a guy sitting next to me who was watching DVD's on his laptop, and a woman sitting at the end of the row who was munching on a breakfast type sandwich. At one point during the flight, I needed to use the facilities and asked the guy next to me to let me out. He told me that I would have to climb over him because he wasn't disconnecting his laptop. Now, I realize I should probably have rang for the flight attendant and had her make him disconnect everything, but like a dope I proceeded to climb over him. I'm like a bull in a china shop sometimes, and I tripped, slamming into the woman at the end of the row, and getting her food all over her. Needless to say, she wasn't happy and she was quite vocal about it.

 

End result is they calmed her down by moving her up to first class, getting her something to put on while the flight crew got her blouse washed and dried (they dried it with a blow dryer, if I recall). When I came out of the restroom, there was an airline employee sitting in that end seat, and she was not happy about it. Obviously she's the one who lost her seat in first class thanks to me. She and the head cabin attendant basically gave me a "lecture" ... pretty much telling me that if I created any more "problems" on this flight, I would find myself being escorted off the plane in handcuffs when we arrived back in Philly. I was floored. Here I was being treated as a troublemaker when it was the guy next to me who didn't want to move. The flight attendant didn't want to hear my "excuses," though and she pretty much walked away from me as I was giving them. The airline employee in the end seat pretty much ignored me from that point forward.

 

Actually in retrospect, I'm almost sorry that I didn't call her on it ... and let her go ahead and radio for a contingent of cops to meet our plane. I could have sued that airline for a small fortune ... and would have gladly done so. Would have been interesting owning an airline, huh? :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

This fits into an interesting rumor I've seen on CC and elsewhere...fares will be charged by the weight of the passenger and their luggage.

I don't doubt that at some point you'll be charged by the weight of your baggage ... both carry-on and checked ... but I can't imagine being charged by personal weight. It really wouldn't be fair, if you think about it. If I weigh 200 and you weigh 150, why should I pay for 50 more pounds when I'm getting the same seat as you? Now if I weigh something like 300, and cannot safely fit into a standard coach airline seat, then of course it's fine to charge me for a second seat ... because then I am getting a second seat. But if you and I are sitting in the same size seat, I can't imagine the airlines would get away with charging us different prices based on our weight.

 

Of course, though, I could be wrong on that ... though I can't imagine the mess it would create if everyone had to weigh in prior to the flight.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

I've not had free snacks on an AA flight in economy in ages. The soda will be the next to go, pretty soon, I'm sure, but by FAA regulations they HAVE to offer hydration for any flight longer than 1 hour.

Hydration doesn't have to include soda. It could be good old fashion airline tap water too.

 

When I say snack, I'm talking about that little packet with a tiny cookie or a couple of little pretzels in it. Not a true snack. Those I've seen being sold for something like $9.00 ... and I always figured the airline could keep them.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[RevNeal]

Actually in retrospect, I'm almost sorry that I didn't call her on it ... and let her go ahead and radio for a contingent of cops to meet our plane. I could have sued that airline for a small fortune ... and would have gladly done so. Would have been interesting owning an airline, huh? :)

 

More than likely, Rita, you'd still be in prison under the terms of the Patriot Act for having caused a scene on an aircraft. That, or on the "Do No Fly" list. I know, it's wrong, and the Flight Attendants were entirely wrong. I would have been ultra-polite and handled it by taking their names/numbers, turning off my ears to their lectures, and when I got home I would have written a lengthy letter to the airline, CCed to the newsmedia.

[RevNeal]

Hydration doesn't have to include soda. It could be good old fashion airline tap water too.

 

I didn't say it had to include soda. It probably won't be tap water because that would be too difficult to transport in conformity with the health codes; but, a small battle of water would suffice to cover the regulations.

 

When I say snack, I'm talking about that little packet with a tiny cookie or a couple of little pretzels in it. Not a true snack. Those I've seen being sold for something like $9.00 ... and I always figured the airline could keep them.

 

I've not been "given" even a bag of penuts in economy in about 4 years. Maybe longer. I once bought one of those Pringles chips canesters because I hadn't had anything to eat in about 19 hours. Usually, however, if the flight is more than a couple of hours I get something small from one of the stands or in-airport fast-food kiosks. Thankfully, being in Dallas I'm mid-contintent and it never takes longer than 3 hours to get anywhere in the contiguous USA.

[kryos]

More than likely, Rita, you'd still be in prison under the terms of the Patriot Act for having caused a scene on an aircraft. That, or on the "Do No Fly" list. I know, it's wrong, and the Flight Attendants were entirely wrong. I would have been ultra-polite and handled it by taking their names/numbers, turning off my ears to their lectures, and when I got home I would have written a lengthy letter to the airline, CCed to the newsmedia.

You're probably right ... and I guess that's why I sat down and just shut the h*ll up for the rest of the flight ... and swore that I would never again take a window seat on an aircraft.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita