Favorite Airlines

[farmteam]

So I'm sitting at the gate in Vegas right now, and Delta announces there's a blown tire and they have to fly a new one in. Delayed at least 3 hours, which makes me think it will be 6 hours. Solid.

Edited March 1, 2014 by farmteam

[iamshack]

So I'm sitting at the gate in Vegas right now, and Delta announces there's a blown tire and they have to fly a new one in. Delayed at least 3 hours, which makes me think it will be 6 hours. Solid.

Back to Bally's!

[farmteam]

Back to Bally's!

The thought most definitely crossed my mind.

[nitetrain8601]

Southwest is great.

 

Virgin America is also pretty awesome.

 

This this this

 

Virgin America is by far the best experience.

[greg775]

So I'm sitting at the gate in Vegas right now, and Delta announces there's a blown tire and they have to fly a new one in. Delayed at least 3 hours, which makes me think it will be 6 hours. Solid.

 

I feel your pain. You gotta take SW Airlines when you go to Vegas.

[farmteam]

So I'm sitting at the gate in Vegas right now, and Delta announces there's a blown tire and they have to fly a new one in. Delayed at least 3 hours, which makes me think it will be 6 hours. Solid.

That was fun.

 

A bit after the three hours were up, they announced that the tire had come in, but another part had to be flown in, too. That part would arrive from Atlanta too late to allow the crew to violate without violating crew service rules. Therefore, the flight would be delayed until 8 am this morning. I arrive at 6:15 and find out the 8 am has been cancelled. The problem still had not been fixed. Ended up waiting standby and was lucky to get out on the 11:30. Landed in Minneapolis 23 hours after I was originally supposed too.

 

Definitely jinxed myself there.

[greg775]

That was fun.

 

A bit after the three hours were up, they announced that the tire had come in, but another part had to be flown in, too. That part would arrive from Atlanta too late to allow the crew to violate without violating crew service rules. Therefore, the flight would be delayed until 8 am this morning. I arrive at 6:15 and find out the 8 am has been cancelled. The problem still had not been fixed. Ended up waiting standby and was lucky to get out on the 11:30. Landed in Minneapolis 23 hours after I was originally supposed too.

 

Definitely jinxed myself there.

Damn. That is really a horrible experience. Did they pay for your hotel room? Can you stay wherever you want or was it some Motel 6?

 

I travel almost every week, and fly 95% on American. As an executive platinum member, I fly about 50% first class, and 50% in economy. To be honest, there isn't a HUGE difference at this point, but with most American flights, you have wifi on the flight and an outlet under your seat. For someone that is always connected, it's a very nice feeling to be able to stay plugged in, connected and comfortable for a 3-4 hour flight. I've also just gotten lucky and really not experienced any long delays or problems with American, but flying out of Orange County helps with weather.

 

It's all about status unfortunately when it comes to airlines. You're able to cut the line, not pay for checked bags, and quicker upgrades. May not be fair, but when you add all those things up, the travel experience becomes a lot more enjoyable.

 

Unfortunately I fly what I consider a lot, but not enough to get many of the perks. The only airline that doesn't make me cringe is Southwest. I don't mind the boarding thing too much because I always purchase the $12.50 early boarding thing for each flight. It's $25 but my company hasn't balked yet. Actually if they do ever finally b**** about it, I will gladly pay it out of my own pocket. I know they have to let you on the plane, and I know there always will be somewhere to put your overhead bag, but for me, it's moderately stressful. Plus I'm 6-foot-2 and the middle seat truly is uncomfortable. Aisle you can pick your spots and stick one foot in the aisle stretched out and one under your seat stretched out a bit.

Edited March 4, 2014 by greg775

[farmteam]

Damn. That is really a horrible experience. Did they pay for your hotel room? Can you stay wherever you want or was it some Motel 6?

Yeah, they gave me a voucher for a specific place, it was fine.

[thxfrthmmrs]

I have been flying for work for a good portion of 10 years with peaks and valleys. Some years over 200k miles and some less than 100k. The funny part is I actually have a decent fear of flying, well at least taking off.

 

Most of the last few years I've flown almost exclusively Southwest. The reason being because Midway was easier to get to, cheaper to park at and was always easier for me to get through security and the airport in general. SWA has a great program called A-list or A-list preferred that allows you to skip the line and always be in A regardless if you check in or not. I also tend to upgrade to business select which guarantees me one of the fist 16 seats on the plane. Most "business" flights to where I go have the same people every day so you actually make some pretty funny friends that are going to the same companies you are. My minneapolis flights were my favorite since their airport is AWESOME and it was always out of the same gate at the same time.

 

If I have to fly another airline I usually choose United since I still have their credit card and some status from years ago. If I am going to denver I like Frontier because of where their gates are located. I almost never fly first class for work since I like to save upgrades for personal travel. Nothing is better than taking your wife on vacation and plopping down in first class where you both can relax.

 

The funny thing about business travel in general is that its not as great as people think. When I was in my early 20's and single it was great to get away and buy an expensive dinner, but living in hotels starts to get old, spending your days in airports tends to wear you down and you just get sick of the thing overall. These days I try my best to take day trips if I am flying less than 3 hours each way. I'd rather leave my house at 5am and get back at 8 or 9 pm then staying in a hotel overnight.

 

As for the height things, I'm 6'1" about 195 lbs. SWA is perfectly fine for me but If I am on United I am doing economy plus every single time.

 

I am 24 and for the past 2 years, I've been flying every week Mon - Thurs out to the client. Like you mentioned, business travel seemed very lucrative to a college kid when deciding the field they want to go into. Hotel stays, first class travels, expensive dinners, weekend getaways instead of returning home all seemed fun for a while, but it got tiring after a year or so, especially with this brutal winter. Most of the folks I work with don't see this as a long term gig, and the married folks I work with all seem to deal with some domestic struggles.

 

As far as airline goes, Southwest is definitely my favorite, by far. The open seating policy really speeds up the boarding process, and on average, Southwest can get you to your destination 15 minutes faster than say Delta or United, from my experience.

 

They now also have a partnership with Dish Network as well, so you actually get to watch a select number of channels for free. I enjoyed my Thursday night flights during football season because they actually have NFL Network in their lineup.

 

Southwest is also pretty good with on time performance in general. This winter alone, United has gotten me into flight delays and cancellations in at least 10 occasions, and I was actually able to use Southwest as an alternative to fly out.

 

Lastly, their loyalty program rewards you a lot better than other airlines. By my calculations, on average you can get a free one way ticket for every three round trips you make, and that's with their lowest grade of ticket. If you get a higher grade ticket or have membership status with them, you actually can get a free ticket a lot faster. Regardless, it beats the mile system any day.

 

[StrangeSox]

Lastly, their loyalty program rewards you a lot better than other airlines. By my calculations, on average you can get a free one way ticket for every three round trips you make, and that's with their lowest grade of ticket. If you get a higher grade ticket or have membership status with them, you actually can get a free ticket a lot faster. Regardless, it beats the mile system any day.

 

Until this year, I was A-List preferred. None of our trips are ever solidly scheduled more than a week or so in advance, so we are always getting Anytime tickets. Between the Anytime points, the A-List preferred bonus and some promotion they were running on top of it, I got something like 40,000 points for a round-trip flight to LA. You can usually book a one-way ticket to almost anywhere for 10k points or less.

 

Also had the Companion pass last year, where a chosen person can fly with you for free on an unlimited number of flights. This includes flights booked with points, so flying to Pittsburgh, Ft. Lauderdale, Spokane and Reno-Tahoe cost me about 80k points total for both of us. I haven't paid for a personal flight in four years.

[RockRaines]

Until this year, I was A-List preferred. None of our trips are ever solidly scheduled more than a week or so in advance, so we are always getting Anytime tickets. Between the Anytime points, the A-List preferred bonus and some promotion they were running on top of it, I got something like 40,000 points for a round-trip flight to LA. You can usually book a one-way ticket to almost anywhere for 10k points or less.

 

Also had the Companion pass last year, where a chosen person can fly with you for free on an unlimited number of flights. This includes flights booked with points, so flying to Pittsburgh, Ft. Lauderdale, Spokane and Reno-Tahoe cost me about 80k points total for both of us. I haven't paid for a personal flight in four years.

Adding the credit card can double the points as well. I've really racked up a lot of free flights lately.

[StrangeSox]

A couple of people here have over 500k points on southwest.

 

The former owners of the company were both United Global Service at one point and have lifetime Premier status, can't remember what level though.

[NorthSideSox72]

Not sure if the other airlines do this, but AA has a total mileage status thing, where if you reach a million lifetime miles you get permanent Platinum status. I'm about 60% of the way there, thanks to a few years of heavy travel. But at my current rate I may never get there, LOL.

 

[thxfrthmmrs]

Until this year, I was A-List preferred. None of our trips are ever solidly scheduled more than a week or so in advance, so we are always getting Anytime tickets. Between the Anytime points, the A-List preferred bonus and some promotion they were running on top of it, I got something like 40,000 points for a round-trip flight to LA. You can usually book a one-way ticket to almost anywhere for 10k points or less.

 

Also had the Companion pass last year, where a chosen person can fly with you for free on an unlimited number of flights. This includes flights booked with points, so flying to Pittsburgh, Ft. Lauderdale, Spokane and Reno-Tahoe cost me about 80k points total for both of us. I haven't paid for a personal flight in four years.

 

Yes, I banked about 250,000 points last year on Southwest, and the Double Point promotion definitely helped a lot. Not sure how they are profiting from that promotion when they are essentially giving away a free round trip to some premier members every time they fly. It's also probably why they are not doing the same promotion again this year.

 

I received a companion pass from them late year and already used a few times. But they only allow changing the pass holder 3 times a year, and the request to change process is such a pain in the ass.

[RockRaines]

Yes, I banked about 250,000 points last year on Southwest, and the Double Point promotion definitely helped a lot. Not sure how they are profiting from that promotion when they are essentially giving away a free round trip to some premier members every time they fly. It's also probably why they are not doing the same promotion again this year.

 

I received a companion pass from them late year and already used a few times. But they only allow changing the pass holder 3 times a year, and the request to change process is such a pain in the ass.

The only thing I dont like is that SWA kind of starts you over every year whereas some airlines used to keep your status a little longer.

[greg775]

I like the pizza at Midway Airport.

Any soxtalkers gonna be at midway tomorrow? you could meet me and see I'm not a troll.

[greg775]

Flew Southwest to the East last weekend.

Once again, no real complaints except the new planes are too cramped. Got in an exit row coming back from Pittsburgh to Chicago and it still was cramped.

One hour delay at Midway flying the connection from Chicago to KC. Couldn't get my pizza at the food court because the scoreboard didn't show the flight delay and I had a long way to walk to dreaded gate A4A to make the original connection time.

 

Was literally starving so got a turkey panini (sp?) the lady heated up at gate A4A. It actually was 'moderately' tasty, better than I expected. I was going to stop at Manny's on the way to A4A but there was a pretty big line and no pizza. In retrospect I should have gotten a brisket sandwich or meatloaf at Manny's.