United Airlines just announced a new ticket option called "Basic Economy," banning the use of overhead bins for luggage. So now you're stuck with either paying for a checked bag, or paying for a more expensive ticket to bring it on the flight with you.
According to a release from U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer's office, United expects the plan to raise $1 billion for the company by 2020. Other airlines are waiting to see if this policy sticks before implementing it themselves. |
I don't see this policy sticking. Unless that "no overhead" ticket is really cheap, in which case they're competing with budget airlines, this seems like an easy win
for United's competitors.
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Unless I really need to get a bag in overhead, I will gladly be the last person to get on the plane. All the people who crowd the gate and race to get to their seat for a multi-hour flight can go right ahead.
Unless I really need to get a bag in overhead, I will gladly be the last person to get on the plane. All the people who crowd the gate and race to get to their seat for a multi-hour flight can go right ahead.
That would likely take up more space. If people were just polite and considerate of others, flying would be much more relaxing.
Unless I really need to get a bag in overhead, I will gladly be the last person to get on the plane. All the people who crowd the gate and race to get to their seat for a multi-hour flight can go right ahead.
There's not nearly enough room to do that. They'd have to significantly reduce the size of the bag you'd be allowed to carry on under a system like that.
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just have dedicated overhead space for each seat on the plane? Meaning slot out the overhead bins, and everyone has their assigned space that could fit a carry on? Do they have room for that? Wouldn't that eliminate the mad rush to get on a plane and stuff your bags over other people's seats?
Unless I really need to get a bag in overhead, I will gladly be the last person to get on the plane. All the people who crowd the gate and race to get to their seat for a multi-hour flight can go right ahead.
There's not nearly enough room to do that. They'd have to significantly reduce the size of the bag you'd be allowed to carry on under a system like that.
Yeah I guess they operate under the premise that not everyone is putting a bag above.
And you really see it all when flying:
- The dismissive jackass in the suit that continues to stay on a phone call because he's more important than everyone else
- The guy who decides to bring his kimchi, onion, ginger, and durian burrito on board and then delights everyone with the emanating fragrances.
- The couple with the newborn who has just enough room to do a diaper change at 20,000 feet
- The drunk guy who spills his drink
- The reclining guy and the dude with the wedge that keeps you from reclining.
- The guy who tosses luggage down from the overhead to put his up there and then just leaves it in the aisle.
I know flying is a hassle, but if there's one job you couldn't pay me enough to do is to be a flight attendant. They are basically crowd control for adult imbeciles.
And you really see it all when flying:
- The dismissive jackass in the suit that continues to stay on a phone call because he's more important than everyone else
- The guy who decides to bring his kimchi, onion, ginger, and durian burrito on board and then delights everyone with the emanating fragrances.
- The couple with the newborn who has just enough room to do a diaper change at 20,000 feet
- The drunk guy who spills his drink
- The reclining guy and the dude with the wedge that keeps you from reclining.
- The guy who tosses luggage down from the overhead to put his up there and then just leaves it in the aisle.
I know flying is a hassle, but if there's one job you couldn't pay me enough to do is to be a flight attendant. They are basically crowd control for adult imbeciles.
Some more:
- The person who puts the armrest up
- The douche who is in the rear of the plane and tries to charge up the aisle while de-boarding to get ahead of people in front of him.
- The guy who farts non stop
- The people who can't follow simple boarding instructions and race to get to their seat for a 10 hour flight
- The parents who let their kids kick seats in front of them
the real jackass is the guy who feel like he owns all the armrests.
I've spent the better part of a 6 hour cross country flight waiting to pounce like a cat and steal the arm rest back when that douche bag handed the flight attendant his empty drink cup.
m-fer went to put his arm back down on the whole armrest, but no, big surprise, my arm was already there.
And I didn't move it the whole rest of the flight. Such satisfaction.
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Again, it's about planning. I try to avoid CRJs and the Embraer 175-190 because of the overhead space limitations and having to gate check. Out of my home airport I fly the 717 (single seat in row 20 is key) or the Mad Dog (25 c exit row) probably 95% of the time.
And many of the 737s and A320/321s have the new bins overhead allowing for way more carry on space.
Can't always avoid the CRJs though. I don't fly much for work anymore, but when I do it's generally into Bloomington, IL. Only options are CRJs/Embraers. But gate checking doesn't bother me much. With everyone doing it the plane empties much quicker and small airports (in my experience) are much quicker at getting the bags off. Even on the return flight to MSP, they're pretty efficient at unloading the gate checked bags, particularly when the bag elevators in the terminal are working.
Agree. Like I said, there is a small percentage of flights where I have to go to Springfield, Bismarck, Des Moines, Alexandria, Lincoln, etc where a CRJ200 is unavoidable and I'm generally miserable. Those planes are absolute shit. The 700/900 series have exit rows with more space and some have a first class cabin. But the 200 is garbage. Complete junk.
The downside is then I usually have to spend the next several hours in cornfields and retracing the scenes from "Hoosiers". But damn, that cookie helps make it worth it!
This! Good lord, why can't they make this process more organized. Do first class people really enjoy getting on first just to sit there and have assholes bump into them repeatedly while heading to the back of the plane? Makes no sense to me. Just protect the over head storage so they have that when they get on. And they always get to deboard the plane first which is the more important of the two boarding processes IMO.
The downside is then I usually have to spend the next several hours in cornfields and retracing the scenes from "Hoosiers". But damn, that cookie helps make it worth it!
Where do you get the cookies?!? Definitely one of the best airports I've been to.
- Yoga in the Galley Girl
- Changing a Diaper on the Seat Back Tray Scum
- Leaving Trash in the Seatback Pocket Scum
- Mr. Enlarged Prostate
- Mr. Don't Get Up I'll Climb Over You Trashcan
- Mr. Rude to Flight Attendants Important Guy
- No Shoes, No Socks Trip to the Lavatory Freak
- Mr. Can't Operate the Personal Video Screen Without Punching the Seat Jerkoff
- Ms. I Have a Connection! (as if no one else does)
- Mr. I Usually Fly First Class Prick
- Sweaty Guy
- Smelly Guy
- Drunk Guy
- Mr. Switch Seats With Me It's Ok, You Get a Middle
- Mr. Clog Up the Boarding Area Because I Got An Upgrade
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why the fuck doesn't every airline board from the back to the front? It makes no sense.
This! Good lord, why can't they make this process more organized. Do first class people really enjoy getting on first just to sit there and have assholes bump into them repeatedly while heading to the back of the plane? Makes no sense to me. Just protect the over head storage so they have that when they get on. And they always get to deboard the plane first which is the more important of the two boarding processes IMO.
Well first/business class passengers get a 'free' drink while they're sitting there waiting for the rest of the plane to board.
It's the rest of the people with 'status' that still sit economy class that you're probably thinking of. Most probably board asap for the overhead space and you can't really reserve the space for them since they're often scattered throughout the plane.
Although I do like the Bloomington airport too. We had a manufacturing facility in Bloomington, so I traveled there monthly.
- Yoga in the Galley Girl
- Changing a Diaper on the Seat Back Tray Scum
- Leaving Trash in the Seatback Pocket Scum
- Mr. Enlarged Prostate
- Mr. Don't Get Up I'll Climb Over You Trashcan
- Mr. Rude to Flight Attendants Important Guy
- No Shoes, No Socks Trip to the Lavatory Freak
- Mr. Can't Operate the Personal Video Screen Without Punching the Seat Jerkoff
- Ms. I Have a Connection! (as if no one else does)
- Mr. I Usually Fly First Class Prick
- Sweaty Guy
- Smelly Guy
- Drunk Guy
- Mr. Switch Seats With Me It's Ok, You Get a Middle
- Mr. Clog Up the Boarding Area Because I Got An Upgrade
Don't forget the jackass that HAS to get up and stand in the aisle the absolute second he hears the "ding" to unfasten your seat belts because the plane has reached the gate.
and he has to get his bag down immediately with all those people crowding the aisle, and more often than not hit me in the head with it because his flabby arms can't hold up a roller board bag, and then he stands in the aisle for 15 minutes while they line up the jetway and deplane.
sit down douche bag. they will deplane by row. no way around it.
Reclining is an asshole thing for a variety of reasons. Did you ask the person behind you before you took away their space? Did you ever think that there are rows that don't recline? If you recline and I knee your seat constantly because I have long legs don't fucking glare at me.
Armrest hogs are what they are, they just don't fucking get it. The fucks who put their arm down on your volume and channel control are almost as bad as recliners.
But, it is like his friends are boarding and he isn't, so he stands there next to the ropes, complaining about not getting upgraded and acting like a wink, wink should just get him a chance to go through with his buddies.
Also, the person who does not understand the basic etiquette of allowing the row ahead of you to get their stuff and exit the aircraft before you do. Clogs up the works and annoys the fuck outta everyone. Was that really worth saving 5 seconds?
And don't forget the people who stop right inside the gate area to haplessly gaze at the overhead connection board clogging up the jetway. Move to the fucking side asshole! You can see it from there too!
But, it is like his friends are boarding and he isn't, so he stands there next to the ropes, complaining about not getting upgraded and acting like a wink, wink should just get him a chance to go through with his buddies.
Foreigners (usually Italians) who pretend not to know about the preferred-zone boarding system.
Also, the person who does not understand the basic etiquette of allowing the row ahead of you to get their stuff and exit the aircraft before you do. Clogs up the works and annoys the fuck outta everyone. Was that really worth saving 5 seconds?
And don't forget the people who stop right inside the gate area to haplessly gaze at the overhead connection board clogging up the jetway. Move to the fucking side asshole! You can see it from there too!
lol, the people who take 10 minutes of staring at the "Ground Transportation and Baggage Claim ----->>>>" sign and ask "where's baggage claim?"
the people deplaning who try and go downstream through the crowd to get their bag they had to put in the overhead ten rows back are annoying too. You fucked up. now you need to wait with the people needing wheel chairs to help them deplane. it's your price for fucking up.
It's getting off of the plane where I get a little annoyed. Mostly everyone takes their turn to get out of their row, grab their shit and leave. But there's always one douchebag that can't wait to try to barge ahead because someone didn't get out of their seat quick enough.
Coming back from NY last year with wife and kids, the guy in the row behind me was up and standing in the middle of the aisle before the row in front of me had left. The lady on the row to the left of me was in the aisle and had grabbed her bag and the bags of the folks in the row with her. As soon as they moved forward, this douche tried to blow past me as I was standing up. I put my arm out and stopped him. I didn't call him a douche but instead told him to "wait your damned turn, buddy." He wasn't happy with me. Fuck him. Still makes me angry thinking about it.
Most people probably don't think to check the size of the plane beforehand and even if they did probably wouldn't know enough to realize that the 'allowed' roll-aboards won't fit in the overheads of the small planes. Can't really fine them for that.
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is the "I Always Fly first class guy" and I just happen to pick that particular flight where he has to sit with the common folk.
But, it is like his friends are boarding and he isn't, so he stands there next to the ropes, complaining about not getting upgraded and acting like a wink, wink should just get him a chance to go through with his buddies.
Foreigners (usually Italians) who pretend not to know about the preferred-zone boarding system.
Greeks are pretty disgusting in my experience. Took a flight from Athens-JFK and the bathroom scene was the most disgusting thing I've ever witnessed. Someone literally shit their pants and then just took them off and left them in the bathroom. Flight attendants didn't give a shit either (no pun intended)!
Once you started paying attention to how the airline handled tickets and how security was ran you realized the reason the flight was so cheap is because security was so insanely lax at every step of the way. Security slept outside the metal detectors, when you handed your ticket to board, they ripped it and scanned the bar code - AFTER the plane left.
My wife and I actually passed through Thai airport security once accidentally using each other's passports. I guess all white people look the same.
the greasy sweaty onion smell of their Johnny Rocket's burger makes we want to punch them in their face.
and then they have to get up 4 times on a two hour flight.
I'd rather someone recline.
Flew out of Kennedy a couple years ago and got an upgrade to 1st. I'm the last person to board 1st class and go to stow my one laptop bag and no room, Stewardess comes over and starts going off on this one lady who is loudly chatting with a friend two rows behind her, tells her she needs to check one of her bags (she boarded with 2 bags on the large size for carry on) Lady gets pissed and puts the one bag under her seat where it really does not fit and gets up to go chat with her friend while people are still boarding, just being an entitled twat with zero concern for anyone else.
We take off and level out and this woman pulls out some dish that was Broccoli w/ Garlic she had in a to-go container. This just reeked, I mean really pungent and overbearing just overpowering. Once again the stewardess comes over to her and tells her people are complaining and the food has to go, lady starts getting shitty and starts the "Do you know who I am" shit. It finally gets to the point where other passengers are telling her to flush the food, shut up and no one cares who she is. They took her food and she sat until the end and proceeded to call the Stewardess a bitch on her way off the plane.
That was probably my worse experience with nasty smelling food on a plane
- Yoga in the Galley Girl
- Changing a Diaper on the Seat Back Tray Scum
- Leaving Trash in the Seatback Pocket Scum
- Mr. Enlarged Prostate
- Mr. Don't Get Up I'll Climb Over You Trashcan
- Mr. Rude to Flight Attendants Important Guy
- No Shoes, No Socks Trip to the Lavatory Freak
- Mr. Can't Operate the Personal Video Screen Without Punching the Seat Jerkoff
- Ms. I Have a Connection! (as if no one else does)
- Mr. I Usually Fly First Class Prick
- Sweaty Guy
- Smelly Guy
- Drunk Guy
- Mr. Switch Seats With Me It's Ok, You Get a Middle
- Mr. Clog Up the Boarding Area Because I Got An Upgrade
Yeah, I don't get the people flying 1st class who start lining up and clogging the counter and boarding area 15 mins before boarding. Who do they have to beat to get a good seat? They already have one, it makes zero sense to me
People on airplanes are such a-holes. Last trip I took, I had the row behind the bulkhead seats. So I get in my seat and I try to put my laptop bag under the seat in front of me. I couldn't because the idiot in front of me had his stuff there. So I told him he could not put his stuff there and he said 'well, where am I supposed to put it'? Yeah, he really didn't like my answer. He and his wife kept insisting they had the right to put there stuff under their seats. The person next to me and I kept arguing with them. Finally the stewardess came to see what the issue was and told the two to give her the bags and she would find room for them. They refused at first. Finally she told them if they didn't cooperate, they would be removed from the plane. Of course they then complied. But they kept reclining their seats all the way the whole time while the person next to me and I shared nasty looks at them. Jerks.
If you are a frequent traveler, you will not feel the pain of these changes.
I very rarely have a bad flight experience from a comfort standpoint. I often have a bad flight experience from an annoyance at douchery standpoint.
I have no issue with that either.
I book a window, pack light if it's a short trip and stow under my seat, pop a Xanax or something else to make me pass out, and I'll see ya in 5 hours. Usually avoid drinking anything before the flight so I won't have to get up to use the bathroom. It also helps that I'm not a fatty.
As for outrage toward this or other aspects of flying...it's the free market at work. A tremendous amount of demand for only so much availability. If you want more convenience & more space, you gotta pay for it. There's a reason they call it "Airbus".
It's funny you should say that. I saw a stand up comic talking about his experience with people while flying. Said that on one flight, the WIFI was not working. Some people were saying how this is such bullshit and they are never flying this airline again... blah blah blah. Then he said people forget that they are thousands of feet in the air flying in a metal bird to a destination thousands of miles away. This in itself is an amazing thing... but not having WIFI in the process is totally unacceptable...
"You're sitting in a chair! In the sky! You're like a Greek myth right now!
Starts at the 5:00 mark.
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the real jackass is the guy who feel like he owns all the armrests.
I've spent the better part of a 6 hour cross country flight waiting to pounce like a cat and steal the arm rest back when that douche bag handed the flight attendant his empty drink cup.
m-fer went to put his arm back down on the whole armrest, but no, big surprise, my arm was already there.
And I didn't move it the whole rest of the flight. Such satisfaction.
My rule is that the poor schmo in the middle seat should get the armrest.
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I have yet to see the person try that, even when I have the luxury of sitting next to a morbidly obese dude whose man boobs bleed into my seat.
the real jackass is the guy who feel like he owns all the armrests.
I've spent the better part of a 6 hour cross country flight waiting to pounce like a cat and steal the arm rest back when that douche bag handed the flight attendant his empty drink cup.
m-fer went to put his arm back down on the whole armrest, but no, big surprise, my arm was already there.
And I didn't move it the whole rest of the flight. Such satisfaction.
My rule is that the poor schmo in the middle seat should get the armrest.
Agree, in three across seats. this was two. this youtube video makes me laugh, can't decide if it's fake, I'd like to hope it's real.
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"You're sitting in a chair! In the sky! You're like a Greek myth right now!
Starts at the 5:00 mark. Link - ( New Window )
That bit is brilliant, and couldn't be more true. I have flown back and forth between Portland, OR and Newark a dozen times since summer started, and every time I've landed I feel like I just completed a miracle that should have cost me my entire life savings.
I'm also frequently surprised at how much the passengers take for granted. Coming back west after Thanksgiving we hit some turbulence over the midwest, and at one point the engines were screaming and we gained about 3,000 feet of altitude according to the in-flight tracker. I was tuned like a laser to every movement and sound the plane made, and I look around and people are fucking around on their devices without a care in the world. I guess it's just me, but our lives are literally in the hands of the pilots, air traffic controllers, and the people that built that plane. How are you not paying attention? I don't get it.
The pilots in particular should be paid millions and millions of dollars.
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about flying and how you can now go from NY to LA in like 5 hours. It used to take 20 years.
"You're sitting in a chair! In the sky! You're like a Greek myth right now!
Starts at the 5:00 mark. Link - ( New Window )
That bit is brilliant, and couldn't be more true. I have flown back and forth between Portland, OR and Newark a dozen times since summer started, and every time I've landed I feel like I just completed a miracle that should have cost me my entire life savings.
I'm also frequently surprised at how much the passengers take for granted. Coming back west after Thanksgiving we hit some turbulence over the midwest, and at one point the engines were screaming and we gained about 3,000 feet of altitude according to the in-flight tracker. I was tuned like a laser to every movement and sound the plane made, and I look around and people are fucking around on their devices without a care in the world. I guess it's just me, but our lives are literally in the hands of the pilots, air traffic controllers, and the people that built that plane. How are you not paying attention? I don't get it.
The pilots in particular should be paid millions and millions of dollars.
What are you going to do if you find something "off"? Fix it? Tell the flight attendant? Coach the pilot on how to handle the emergency?
If the flight attendant didn't believe Captain Kirk, what makes you think she's gonna believe Go Terps?
That can make you totally paranoid though. I try not to pay attention to any weird noises or shaky turbulence even though I am shaking inside..
Co-pilot: You don't like flying? Aw, this is nothing! You should've been with us five, six months ago! Whoa! You talk about puke! We ran into a hailstorm over the Sea of Japan. Everybody's retching their guts out! The pilot shot his lunch all over the windshield, and I barfed on the radio! Shorted it out completely! And it wasn't that lightweight stuff either, it was that chunky industrial weight puke!
*offers Jack a candy bar*
Hey, you want a bite?
Jack Ryan: Next time you have a bright idea, Jack, put it in a goddamned memo!