Airplane or airport experiences...

And pay $50 and have to wait for my bag? Pass. I'll save my money and time and use a carry on, though I can throw my bag into the bin/get it down without breaking stride at this point.

It's 35 bucks each way. how much stuff do you carry with you?
 
Well...having to sit longer in your chair is one thing...having to get out and push because your pilot forgot to release the parking brake and now it's frozen is a whole 'nother thing.
http://www.euronews.com/2014/11/26/...ane-frozen-by-extreme-siberian-weather-video/

Let me guess, the de-icing equipment was frozen too? lol

As for the debate between carry-on and checked luggage, remember how often airlines lose luggage, and it arrives several days late. If on a trip, you're going to want to make sure you have all you need for the first few days with you, just in case your suitcase decides to take a trip of its own to a different continent. This is why many people, especially those that are gone on very short trips pack only the necessary and only have carry-ons. Makes sense for a 2-day business trip.
 
Let me guess, the de-icing equipment was frozen too? lol

As for the debate between carry-on and checked luggage, remember how often airlines lose luggage, and it arrives several days late. If on a trip, you're going to want to make sure you have all you need for the first few days with you, just in case your suitcase decides to take a trip of its own to a different continent. This is why many people, especially those that are gone on very short trips pack only the necessary and only have carry-ons. Makes sense for a 2-day business trip.

From experience, so far in the 4 years of flying I've done, non stop with United has never lost my luggage... I even stuck a ham in my clothes bag and sent it through checked luggage, Miami to Chicago and it was still there on the other side.
 
From experience, so far in the 4 years of flying I've done, non stop with United has never lost my luggage... I even stuck a ham in my clothes bag and sent it through checked luggage, Miami to Chicago and it was still there on the other side.

I've had checked bags "misplaced" twice.

First time it was not the airline's fault, it was the fault of some random idiot. Picked up my bag from the carousel while I was stuck in customs and left with it. Left a notice with the airline's desk to get it back to me once they find it. And the funny thing is, this guy's such an idiot, he picked up the wrong bag. Didn't even know what his own bag looks like. There was one bag left on the carousel that was similar type to mine but it was blue with bright yellow bands along its length, while mine was larger, black and with navy blue bands on it. And it had a name tag with my name on it. How does one mistake bright yellow for navy blue?! Thankfully, I was on the return trip coming home when it happened, because it took that dumbass 2 weeks to get the bag back to the airport. He knew he had the wrong bag, just couldn't be bothered to return it and get his own bag back. Also, I thank the airline for delivering my bag back to me.

The second time I was on vacation. Bag didn't make it on the plane for some reason, came with a later flight, and arrived 2 days later. Thankfully, I had enough clothes for 2 days and all my hygiene stuff in the carry-on. Unfortunately, I did forget to pack extra socks in the carry-on and my feet smelled something awful until I got my checked luggage. Again, at least they delivered it to the hotel.

EDIT: And I should mention, I am not a frequent flyer. I take a return flight about every 2 years.
 
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It's 35 bucks each way. how much stuff do you carry with you?

I usually am only gone a few days, so a roll aboard is plenty. If the overhead is full, they (U.S., at least) gate check for free, and since they have it at the jet bridge it always makes the right flight. With regular bags, Lufthansa thought they might enjoy Munich while I was in Milan, and United once decided to fly my bags to Newark, but on a later flight than the one I was on. Either they make my flight and I have to wait at claim, or they don't and I have to wait even longer.
 
QUOTE=toma_alimosh;2242726](...) How does one mistake bright yellow for navy blue?! Thankfully, I was on the return trip coming home when it happened, because it took that dumbass 2 weeks to get the bag back to the airport. He knew he had the wrong bag, just couldn't be bothered to return it and get his own bag back. [/QUOTE]

Maybe he bought the bag just prior to his trip and didn't really look at it long enough to remember what it looked like. That's why I usually prefer bright red bags, not too many of those around...

Anyway, the whole luggage thing is just a huge disaster in my opinion. Carry-on means everybody has to queue for another 10 minutes during boarding until the idiot in row 5 manages to calmly retrieve his laptop while chatting with the flight attendant until he finally manages to store his carry-on, all the time holding up EVERYBODY ELSE. And then the same happens in row 6, then 7 and so on... (it's also stupid to board the plane ONLY from the front and at the same time start with the FIRST instead of the last seats. I can understand that airlines are doing this to encourage you to buy premium seats, but it's annoying as hell).
And the whole drop-off and retrieve-your-own-bag thing is totally based on the honor-system. I mean what's stopping you from grabbing someone elses bag and leave? If you don't have any luggage yourself it's not even a big deal since you don't leave anything at the airport in return. And if you're caught right at the conveyer belt you can just play dumb and claim that you mistook the bag for your own. I'm not saying that I ever tried this, but I don't see what's stopping someone with no luggage to walk by baggage claim, pick up some ordinary black bag that could easily be mistaken and leave with it. I've been flying a lot in the last five years and I've NEVER had to verify that the bag I'm leaving with is actually MY OWN, and also I was stopped only ONCE at customs (and that was in Seoul, I think it was a race-thing since they specifically selected every non-asian-looking guy, of which there were only like three on the plane, and we all had to open our bags, explain what we were doing in Seoul and so on...), every other time I usually just walk right through "nothing to declare" without problems, and I could just as easily do that with the bag of someone else. And even if customs wants to search the bag I could still play innocent "oh hang on, this isn't MY bag" (which would actually be true since there would be some elses name on it). Or am I overlooking something?
 
(it's also stupid to board the plane ONLY from the front and at the same time start with the FIRST instead of the last seats. I can understand that airlines are doing this to encourage you to buy premium seats, but it's annoying as hell).

At least on Finnish airports Norwegian has boarding from both front and back. Though during winter it is not that pleasant if you have to go from the back and can't use the tube.
 
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It's 35 bucks each way. how much stuff do you carry with you?
Let's see:

If you check a bag, you risk getting it stolen, misdirected, left behind, lost or otherwise delayed. People might break into it and steal (or add) something, the TSA can always decide to force the lock open when they don't have their special little key around and I won't even speak of the damage that baggage handlers can cause. And when you arrive somehwere, you can expect to wait for your things while you'd much rather be doing other things - such as catching the next best train or going through security (again) to catch your onward flight... all yours for (often) a small fee! <_<
If you pack light and don't have to check anything, you'll experience the mild discomfort of having to drag a small suitcase around. However, you will also have a footrest and somewhere to hang or stow your winter jacket. There will be no risk of having put something in the wrong bag and your "small personal item" won't be stuffed to the brim, which comes in handy whenever you need to get that little bag with the liquids out of it. Want to bring an extra book or buy one? No problem either!

So why should people check their bags if they can help it?
 
I'm looking at it with how I have to travel for work. I have to take a tool box which is a big pelican case with inside protection like ups is going to handle it. A clothes bag and backpack. So, every time I fly I have to check two bags. So far things have not been lost. Craps been move around inside the toolbox but that's it.
 
Maybe he bought the bag just prior to his trip and didn't really look at it long enough to remember what it looked like. That's why I usually prefer bright red bags, not too many of those around...

If he didn't know what it looked like, all the more reason to look at the name tag before leaving with it. Why anybody would check a bag on the plane and not put a name tag on it is beyond me.

Anyway, the whole luggage thing is just a huge disaster in my opinion. Carry-on means everybody has to queue for another 10 minutes during boarding until the idiot in row 5 manages to calmly retrieve his laptop while chatting with the flight attendant until he finally manages to store his carry-on, all the time holding up EVERYBODY ELSE. And then the same happens in row 6, then 7 and so on... (it's also stupid to board the plane ONLY from the front and at the same time start with the FIRST instead of the last seats. I can understand that airlines are doing this to encourage you to buy premium seats, but it's annoying as hell).

I know Air Canada at least boards from the back, in sections. Well, first they board the business class and frequent flyers, but then they start calling by sections. "We will now begin boarding passengers in rows 30 or higher..." "...rows 20 or higher" etc. And it's really not the airline's fault because some idiot didn't get his stuff ready before boarding. If I get a bridge, I take my coat off before boarding and I always carry my laptop in the laptop bag (personal item). This way I can throw the coat and laptop bag on the seat, put the carry-on in the bin, put the coat over it, go into the row in front of the seat, take the laptop out, and then put the laptop bag up top without even having to get out of my row (unless I'm in the window seat, but even then it's like a 2-3 second delay to anyone else).

If you check a bag, you risk getting it stolen, misdirected, left behind, lost or otherwise delayed. People might break into it and steal (or add) something, the TSA can always decide to force the lock open when they don't have their special little key around and I won't even speak of the damage that baggage handlers can cause.
Which is why you never store anything that can be of value to anyone else in the checked luggage. I don't get people that put their laptops or tablets in the checked luggage. If they don't get broken, they get stolen.

As for locks, they're useless. TSA or otherwise, very easy to break. Best not to carry anything that anyone might be interested in. Got a nice fur coat, an Armani suit or a bottle of Chanel? Put it in the carry-on.

As for security, anybody in baggage handling can easily add a bag of cocaine to your luggage, lock or not. And if you get to your destination and grab your bag before the drug people do and customs stops you, you're going to jail. Or if your destination is a jurisdiction like Singapore, you get the death penalty.

What I do is no locks, if they're not TSA, TSA breaks them. If they are TSA and TSA doesn't have the key around, they break them anyway and feign a lock malfunction.

What I do is I get a few tie wraps of very weird colors, green or red is best, very hard to find them. And I use those as a mechanism to figure out if someone's messed with my bag. When I get to the airport, I get a photo of the bag with the tie wraps on with the airport's date/clock on it and/or a newspaper with the day's date on it, then check the bag in. It's even better when I can get a photo of the bag with the airline tags on it and the tie wraps on, right before it goes down the conveyor.

Anybody wanting to get into my bag in the meantime would have to break the tie wraps to get in without damaging the zipper or the bag and they probably wouldn't have any tie wraps of the same color to replace them with. But the TSA can easily get in with a knife/scissors.

Thus, when I get to the destination and my zipper's damaged or the tie wraps are missing, I know my bag's been messed with, whether it's the TSA or anybody else. At that point I can go to security right away and tell them my bag's been messed with and let them investigate it. For all I know, someone could have put a bomb or a bag of anthrax on it. The point is, I have the picture of my bag with the tie wraps on at check-in, thus I have proof my bag's contents may have been altered.

Plus, I never store anything of real value in the checked bags. I only store clothes there. Nobody's going to steal my used clothes/shoes. Plus, as a further deterrent, I usually pack my underwear last. If any thieves want to see what's underneath, they'll have to touch someone else's used underwear. That's deterrent enough. And if they do, they won't find anything of value underneath. Serves them right.
 
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Just about to depart DTW, theres a 747 at A36 and 747 at A32. I'm flying out if A34 and was kinda wishing my flight to BOS would also be on a big bird (for some strange reason or another, since it always seems they hang out together), but alas its just a 757.
 
The hanging out together thing could be that some gate blocks are wider than others, forcing the big birds to one part of the terminal that rarely gets small birds overflow into it. Not sure about DTW though.
 
Airplane or airport experiences...

Ohare has been great yet again the past two weeks. As well as charlotte and Syracuse airport. Grand Rapids is tiny and has easy access to rental cars.

Return flight to Chicago had to land in Grand Rapids because the plane couldn't maintain cabin pressure. So we landed and I was told my next flight back would be three hours away. I asked for a refund to which they accepted and I got a rental car to drive back to ohare airport. Unfortunately the enterprise at ohare is fucked by road construction so entering into it was difficult.
 
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I do love the fact that in Dubai Airport, as long as you have no checked baggage, you don't have to talk to a single soul till passport control and then the gate. OLCI, then self printed boarding card kiosk before Passport Control, and then straight to your gate. Not once did they even look at my ticket, truly theyve done paperless right (apart from the boarding card, which I couldve gotten done on my phone nowadays anyway).

Especially easy on EK flights since they have their own terminal and it's streamlined, working for the company means I mainly fly them with the discounts afforded, so no idea how well it works for other airlines (the agreements between them seem pretty shitty and restrictive)

Another perk I can get done being staff is a quick immigration bypass done from the company, so no exit/entry stamp either, just scan passport and walk along. Streamlining ftw.
 
Recently, I found myself inside the railway station/shopping mall at Geneva airport. They have free WiFi, which I used to download an app. It was downloaded in the blink of an eye - literally - and so I ran a speed test. The result: 39 Mbit down, 26 Mbit up. In a free, public WiFi. :woot: It was admittedly late at night, but still, most operators seem to limit your speed regardless of the number of users present.

Also, Stockholm Arlanda has eduroam. :happy:

Compare that to Germany where free WiFi has only just made it onboard a select few trains... in 1st class. When the weather is nice and the computers aren't in a strop. But what to expect, after all we do have a head of government who called the internet "virgin soil" just one and a half years ago.
 
The Delta flight I'm on right now still has that new plane smell. The pilot just announced this 737-900 just left Boeing's factory 15 days ago.
 
What I don't get is the U.S legacy carriers and how they try and market themselves as premium yet offer absolutely zero over LCC's. $20 checked bags and pay for food...
 
Assigned seating, and their rewards programs?
 
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