I assume most of you have some sort of miles credit cards that either may be affiliated with an airline or just generic. I haven't done a ton of traveling, so I just always go with the best deal. My wife & I are going to Florida in October and Frontier has some good round trip rates from Trenton-ORL. How do you handle it? Best deal or specific airline?
seats all have TV's, no first class (not that first class bothers me, but it speeds up boarding) and they don't have all the ridiculous other levels of status airlines like United or Delta have.
It's mosaic (their only status program), people who buy seats with extra room/early boarding, old people or people with kids under 2, then general boarding.
Agreed, JetBlue is very good, unfortunately, they don't offer much out of Newark. And going to JFK is like Siberia for me.
IDGAF about TVs on every seat. In fact, I like it less, since it gives you fewer options, no blue-tooth headphones, poor viewing angles with screen glare and sometimes extra charges. For example, on short flights, United will make you swipe your CC to unlock DirectTV.
I actually prefer the no-TV model, and instead the BYOD-WiFi/in-app model for in-flight entertainment that some of the newer jets have moved to. But I don't think this is specific to any airline, as I recall having it recently on both United and AA.
Us Airways/American have been the worst to fly with and even though they account for 90% of the flights out of CLT, I try to avoid them when possible.
United has been OK and getting status with them is easy if I take just one flight to China a year with them.
But when I have a choice, I fly Delta.
We can book multiple flights home for my son and then easily cancel the ones that don't work (once final exam/class schedules are known)- without any penalty. It has worked out well.
All else being equal or close to it I will prefer Delta (as Gold Delta Amex gives me 1 free checked bag and Platinum Amex gets me into Sky Club for free) or JetBlue. I refuse to fly Spirit or Frontier (owned by Spirit).
I've had horrible experiences with United.
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Generally, I think commercial air travel is highly sophisticated exercise in how to employ the most wasteful and inefficient systems possible. The TSA and airline security apparatus is an indecent joke. Most air traffic control is arcane and runs on 50 year old tech and spit and glue - its an everyday miracle that the system works at all. Jets themselves are highly inefficient transportation solutions - the environmental cost are legion. The business model has never worked - the old saw is that no airline has ever made a profit - isn't far off the mark. Pretty much, we'd be far better off developing high speed train network - but - dreams and frogs with wings and all that I guess.
I have still have status with United but domestic on time is horrible. If I go overseas it's United.
I fly 3 out of 4 weeks every month out of St. Louis to the east coast only have 3 solid choices United, Delta, and Southwest.
Air travel is one of the most efficient ways to go from place to place. You can literally go from the US to England in 5 hours for under $1,000. You going to take a high-speed train from NYC to London? Good luck.
I don't know what the age is of the computer systems air traffic uses, but flying is the safest mode of transportation and the coordination to avoid crashes every day of the year at airports that service over a thousand planes truly is a testament to the efficiency of the industry.
Wasteful and inefficient aren't words that really fit the airline industry very well at all.
I have a couple of peers that fly out of the Pacific Northwest (Seattle and Portland) and they swear by Alaska airlines.
No shit. The words that come to my mind every time are "ridiculously inexpensive", "amazing", and "miraculous". I can't understand complaining about being able to safely and cheaply get anywhere in the world in hours.
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Usually I don't give a shit about the airline and will go with whatever is cheapest. The only time I ever noticed a difference one way or the other was with Alaska Airlines. That company is phenomenal.
I have a couple of peers that fly out of the Pacific Northwest (Seattle and Portland) and they swear by Alaska airlines.
I'll also add that Portland Airport is one of the greatest places in the world.
The last two international flights I took was Delta to Paris and United to Ireland. Delta's economy plus was very good. Decent leg room, excellent food and good service. United was 10 hours of torture.
Unless i have status i choose based on comfort of the plane.
Generally, I think commercial air travel is highly sophisticated exercise in how to employ the most wasteful and inefficient systems possible. The TSA and airline security apparatus is an indecent joke. Most air traffic control is arcane and runs on 50 year old tech and spit and glue - its an everyday miracle that the system works at all. Jets themselves are highly inefficient transportation solutions - the environmental cost are legion. The business model has never worked - the old saw is that no airline has ever made a profit - isn't far off the mark. Pretty much, we'd be far better off developing high speed train network - but - dreams and frogs with wings and all that I guess.
Trains over planes, you must be trolling, why not go back to stagecoaches!
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JetBlue out of JFK if it's not somewhere Southwest flies. JetBlue is probably pound for pound my favorite airline.
with traffic it can take me an hour to get to Logan, I try and be there an hour before flight time since they now start boarding 30 min before flight time, then there are delays, and it's an hour flight, so you're talking 3+ hours for really what should be 30 min flying time based on distance.
The train is 3 hours and 15 minutes. I suaually go first class on Aclea and get free drinks, plug in my laptop/devices and work at a table with tons of room, don't have people lined up using the bathroom all flight and if I need the bathroom (rare, I have using public bathrooms) it's not nearly as bad as an airplane bathroom.
security is simple, no stress, no check, I can bring whatever I want on the train.
So if trains were equally convenient I'd definitely ride the rails more.
but long distance it's silly to compare.
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Generally, I think commercial air travel is highly sophisticated exercise in how to employ the most wasteful and inefficient systems possible. The TSA and airline security apparatus is an indecent joke. Most air traffic control is arcane and runs on 50 year old tech and spit and glue - its an everyday miracle that the system works at all. Jets themselves are highly inefficient transportation solutions - the environmental cost are legion. The business model has never worked - the old saw is that no airline has ever made a profit - isn't far off the mark. Pretty much, we'd be far better off developing high speed train network - but - dreams and frogs with wings and all that I guess.
Air travel is one of the most efficient ways to go from place to place. You can literally go from the US to England in 5 hours for under $1,000. You going to take a high-speed train from NYC to London? Good luck.
I don't know what the age is of the computer systems air traffic uses, but flying is the safest mode of transportation and the coordination to avoid crashes every day of the year at airports that service over a thousand planes truly is a testament to the efficiency of the industry.
Wasteful and inefficient aren't words that really fit the airline industry very well at all.
Planes are fast - once they're in the air at least. But beyond point to point speed the system shows problems.
ATC is effective - highly effective - but I don't think you'd find many people that know about ATC who would argue that it's efficient. Most people in the industry point to ATC as the number one problem in the aviation industry.
No, I don't suggest a train to cross the Atlantic. But once you get across the Atlantic you'll find some really terrific high-speed rail networks. Now, there's credible debate about the carbon cost of rails v. planes v. cars. Planes have come a long way, but there's still a lot of concern about the carbon cost. Trains don't solve all problems - not suggesting that either - but jets have serious issues regarding environmental impact.
No sane person would argue in favor of the current airline security model. It is basically an exercise in how to do every single thing wrong. If you're going to argue that point - have at it without me.
The aviation industry has a long history of business inefficiency and exists most due to government subsidies. The pitfall and unique aspects of the aviation business model are well worn roads in B school and E school alike. You can dig into the aviation business model if you like or you can just continue to enjoy the relatively low cost of airline tickets in bliss. Me personally, I'm not going into the airline business and - unlike Buffet who certainly knows more than I do about investing - I'm still not buying stock in any airlines.
The airline industry isn't perfect and the TSA exists more for public perception than anything else, but the facts are the facts - Airline travel is the safest travel we have. It remains the only viable option to cross the globe and it is relatively inexpensive.
You can wax poetic about why the costs are low an d how the industry is subsidized, but there are subsidies, especially in Europe and Asia regarding the rail system, so this isn't a unique phenomenon.
If you don't view the airline industry as a highly efficient, cost effective and safe means of traveling, then I'm not sure what to say.
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I love when people gloat about having X amount of points for future flights...like that point denomination means anything to the rest of us in the real world.
Semi-related: I have 9K reward points in my "TrueBlue" account from JetBlue. Sounds like a lot, huh?
Then I looked up flights light night and that number of points equates to less than $100 in flight credits.
Ditto, seems like any time I want to go somewhere they have the most direct flights, and I hate doing connecting flights. Plus prices are reasonable, I don't mind paying an extra $15 for getting an earlier boarding position.
[quote] Florida cities. My wife and I have used them numerous times -- satisfactorily. Link - ( New Window ) [/quote
I fly from Sanford to Allentown probably 3 times a year. Except for the fact they nickel and dime you, charge for seats carry on and check in bags, price is usually good. Because the fly out of smalles airports they are always pretty much on time. No congestion like Newark and Orlando .
JetBlue
Hawaiian is the shit if you go to the Islands Pay the money
Virgin America
Domestic, I don't really care much. Mostly fly JetBlue and United, which are OK.
[quote] Florida cities. My wife and I have used them numerous times -- satisfactorily. Link - ( New Window ) [/quote
I fly from Sanford to Allentown probably 3 times a year. Except for the fact they nickel and dime you, charge for seats carry on and check in bags, price is usually good. Because the fly out of smalles airports they are always pretty much on time. No congestion like Newark and Orlando .
See you Oct. 1, Fred
I don't know what the age is of the computer systems air traffic uses, but flying is the safest mode of transportation and the coordination to avoid crashes every day of the year at airports that service over a thousand planes truly is a testament to the efficiency of the industry.
The current system used at the thru traffic (enroute / ARTCC) centers was initially installed in the mid 2000s (2005-2008) and has been upgraded a couple of times since then.
Of bigger concern to everybody should be the fact that every time you are in a plane over 10,000 feet in the air you are being controlled by stuff I helped design and install. If that doesn't make you want to drive instead of fly, I don't know what will. :-)
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I don't know what the age is of the computer systems air traffic uses, but flying is the safest mode of transportation and the coordination to avoid crashes every day of the year at airports that service over a thousand planes truly is a testament to the efficiency of the industry.
The current system used at the thru traffic (enroute / ARTCC) centers was initially installed in the mid 2000s (2005-2008) and has been upgraded a couple of times since then.
Of bigger concern to everybody should be the fact that every time you are in a plane over 10,000 feet in the air you are being controlled by stuff I helped design and install. If that doesn't make you want to drive instead of fly, I don't know what will. :-)
You're a Terp fan, what could possibly go wrong?
I've had horrible experiences with United.
Depends on your definition. The majors all have variations of "economy plus" that give you 2-3 inches extra legroom for an extra price. Sometimes there's other small extras like a pillow or guaranteed bin space. But beyond that it's the same seats, food and service.
Otherwise, apparently not. Airlines that have tried gave up on it because customers flock to the lowest fare irrespective of comfort or service.