OT - Airlines, the good things

[cribbit]

I know there's another thread but this is for positive things and not being so grumpy all the time.

I fly Alaska a lot for a few reasons.

Bikes fly free. All sports equipment is exempt from oversize/overweight fees. First bag is free with their credit card - you should always have an airline card. Their baggage handlers are gentler than most and they take care to put bike boxes upright with nothing on top/crushing. (I stick a cheap phone w/ accelerometer into my bags, it's not just their sales talk)


Excellent customer service. For example, I was supposed to go LA -> TX -> NYC. While doing LA -> TX a storm blocked all NYC flights. They gave me a first class flight back to LA and a first class flight on to NYC at a time of my choosing. Oh, and getting a human on the phone took all of 2 minutes.


Great in flight entertainment. A lot of airlines have this now but still. Huge library of movies, all free. And power outlets at the seat.


Once you hit 20k miles (a lil lower than most airlines, that's only 4 coast-coast round trips) you hit the first frequent flier tier. This gives you 2 checked bags and unlimited free upgrades to premium & first class if there's empty seats 1-2 days before the flight (both of which give unlimited booze!). Since I hit this tier I've had 5 flights and all 5 got upgraded.

[Ozz]

Alaska Airlines - wine flies free on west coast.....:beer:

[deechee]

I flew with ANA for the first time during the holidays and we were so happy. The flight attendant was so attentive to our cranky son, offering us toys and children's books and putting a lid with a straw for the little guy. The little things matter.

[donevwil]

Alaska Airlines - wine flies free on west coast.....:beer:

Beer and wine service is also free on Horizon, not Alaska?

A vast majority of my travel is Seattle, Portland, OC and San Diego. I can fly to them all from Santa Rosa's awesome little airport, that I reached via train, on Horizon's legroomy Bombardier Q400 while sipping free wine or beer from a coach seat knowing I've got a case of 12 fly for free gifts for family once I arrive.

Alaska/Horizon rule.

[echappist]

it was my first trip abroad, PEK to IAD, with overnight stop at NRT. I was 10 and knew not a word of English. The flight attendants were very helpful and even gave me souvenirs, which i've kept.

certainly feels like a bygone era now

[AngryScientist]

Alaska is very good.

They are also very plugged in to the people of the state of Alaska. I know i earn frequent flyer miles staying at some of the local small hotels in the middle of nowhere.

That said, there is a lot of complaining about how bad United is, but 90+ percent of my flights are United out of EWR, and for the most part - they go pretty well and United has taken care of me reasonably well when things go wrong. No major complaints.

[thegunner]

I flew with ANA for the first time during the holidays and we were so happy. The flight attendant was so attentive to our cranky son, offering us toys and children's books and putting a lid with a straw for the little guy. The little things matter.

listing asian airlines isn't really fair :( their economy service sometimes rivals the domestic business experience. eva is another good one.

[Heisenberg]

domestic, in order: Alaska. JetBlue. Southwest. Delta.

intl: Cathay Pacific. Emirates. Air France. Avianca. Norwegian (shocker! but only "premium" because it's cheap AF/rad from Euroland to the US relative to mainline carriers)

[donevwil]

Alaska is very good.

They are also very plugged in to the people of the state of Alaska. I know i earn frequent flyer miles staying at some of the local small hotels in the middle of nowhere.

That said, there is a lot of complaining about how bad United is, but 90+ percent of my flights are United out of EWR, and for the most part - they go pretty well and United has taken care of me reasonably well when things go wrong. No major complaints.

Funny thing is both the best and worst flights I've had in the last half dozen years were both United. Both were std coach, best was international (SFO-NRT), worst was domestic (DEN-SFO) and they were about two months apart.

[Clean39T]

Beer and wine service is also free on Horizon, not Alaska?



A vast majority of my travel is Seattle, Portland, OC and San Diego. I can fly to them all from Santa Rosa's awesome little airport, that I reached via train, on Horizon's legroomy Bombardier Q400 while sipping free wine or beer from a coach seat knowing I've got a case of 12 fly for free gifts for family once I arrive.



Alaska/Horizon rule.Ditto - with different stops.

My flights between Portland and Sacramento aren't going to get me status anytime soon....not that it matters. The flights are short and there's no middle seats :)

Recent flights to/from SFO from PDX were on brand new United planes, which was nice.

Also nice that Sea-Tac, PDX, and SFO all have excellent coffee and noshing options near the Alaska gates.

On my recent trip to Philly I chose to fly to SFO, and then direct from SFO to Philly - worked nicely. Always good to avoid a stop in Chicago or Denver in winter.

I still don't have TSA-Pre. I like to keep it real [emoji854]

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[Heisenberg]

I still don't have TSA-Pre. I like to keep it real [emoji854]

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

That+global entry are worth their weight in gold, for now. Biggest advantage? Far fewer travel-clueless folks in line. At least there's always CLEAR...

[pdonk]

That+global entry are worth their weight in gold, for now. Biggest advantage? Far fewer travel-clueless folks in line. At least there's always CLEAR...

We have nexus / global entry. Makes vacations start and end so much nicer. Reasonable line ups, no having empty your carry ons or take off your shoes.

Combine them with a toddler and you literally fly through the airport to your plane.

[OtayBW]

We have nexus / global entry. Makes vacations start and end so much nicer. Reasonable line ups, no having empty your carry ons or take off your shoes.

Combine them with a toddler and you literally fly through the airport to your plane.I've got Global Entry, but I never found it much use other than returning to the US (which is a considerable benefit...). As far as outbound is concerned, TSA-Pre is so widespread these days that it's almost like its a non-benefit.

[Heisenberg]

We have nexus / global entry. Makes vacations start and end so much nicer. Reasonable line ups, no having empty your carry ons or take off your shoes.

Combine them with a toddler and you literally fly through the airport to your plane.

Yep. The more you can emulate "just getting on a bus" when it comes to flying, the better your experience is.

[joosttx]

I've got Global Entry, but I never found it much use other than returning to the US (which is a considerable benefit...). As far as outbound is concerned, TSA-Pre is so widespread these days that it's almost like its a non-benefit.

Global entry is a
Must

[homagesilkhope]

Astoundingly quick transport over long distances between points A and B. Anybody remember taking the bus?

[eddief]

take offs = landings!

[yngpunk]

Global entry is a
Must

Added benefit is that it gets you TSA Pre Check without additional fee and/or application. Just use your Known Traveller # as your TSA Pre Check #

[pdonk]

Astoundingly quick transport over long distances between points A and B. Anybody remember taking the bus?

I have done a few 20 hr trips on buses. This was well before mobile devices. Slept and read Alito and tried not to eat or drink too much.

[CaptStash]

Somewhat off topic on the off topic topi, but there is a little known very cool secret about SeaTac Airport: The vendors are forbidden from selling goods or services at inflated prices. (They benchmark them against similarly priced stuiff in the city of Seatac.) That means, food, snacks and goodies are all reasonably priced.


CaptStash....

[likebikes]

Somewhat off topic on the off topic topi, but there is a little known very cool secret about SeaTac Airport: The vendors are forbidden from selling goods or services at inflated prices. (They benchmark them against similarly priced stuiff in the city of Seatac.) That means, food, snacks and goodies are all reasonably priced.

PDX has similar regs too....

[PSC]

I fly from Seattle between Sacramento monthly. SeaTac has great and reasonable food options. Talked to a vendor at Sacramento IAP and was told they can upcharge 20% over their downtown venues. Needless to say I bring my own food.

[Clean39T]

I fly from Seattle between Sacramento monthly. SeaTac has great and reasonable food options. Talked to a vendor at Sacramento IAP and was told they can upcharge 20% over their downtown venues. Needless to say I bring my own food.

Getting in/out of the Sac airport (at least the Alaska wing) is so easy I rarely need anything...plus I'm usually on the 8:30p out, so most stuff is closing down at that point anyway...

Just curious, what takes you to Sac on a monthly basis from Seattle?

[Dasarbule]

EVA air. All the time. On 2 occasions my wife became travel sick and we received amazing service during transfer and free flight re-scheduling.
Last year we had to cancel travel owing to an immigration delay. EVA handled everything smoothly and had the refund payed out very quickly.

[cribbit]

Getting in/out of the Sac airport (at least the Alaska wing) is so easy I rarely need anything...plus I'm usually on the 8:30p out, so most stuff is closing down at that point anyway...

Just curious, what takes you to Sac on a monthly basis from Seattle?

Other great part of seatac - the light rail goes all the way into the airport. NYC's Airtrain separation pisses me off, such a blatant cash grab.

[Jaybee]

Pretty much every time I fly into/out of DEN I am pretty happy. The main terminal architecture is polarizing, but I like it. A demonic horse to welcome you. The light rail gets me all the way from downtown to within 200 yds of the security line. Worst case at the TSA checkpoint is usually on the order of 20 minutes. Fast efficient transport between each of the 3 concourses. Root Down DIA is a solid option for a airport bite/drink. Plenty of space to walk around while you wait (since you will be sitting in a metal tube for 2+ hours after that).

[572cv]

The Trudeau airport in Montreal has updated its gate area, and the approach to the airport has been completely revised after a long process. Air Transat flies (May to October) direct to many locations in Europe. If you get seats with extra space or better, you fly pretty comfortably. Bikes travel for $30 Canadian. Folks who work the security lines are polite.

[Clean39T]

Other great part of seatac - the light rail goes all the way into the airport. NYC's Airtrain separation pisses me off, such a blatant cash grab.I guess that's a plus for PDX too - until you actually ride the MAX...

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[Ozz]

...The main terminal architecture is polarizing, but I like it. A demonic horse to welcome you. ....

I especially like the conspiracy theories (https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Denver_Airport_conspiracy_theories)

Nazi runways, new world order, freemasons, aliens.....all the usual suspects!

And of course: Blucifer

[Jaybee]

I especially like the conspiracy theories (https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Denver_Airport_conspiracy_theories)

Nazi runways, new world order, freemasons, aliens.....all the usual suspects!

And of course: Blucifer

The airport authority has a good sense of humor about all of this (https://www.denverpost.com/2018/09/05/denver-airport-conspiracy-signs/):

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cpy50i-vw5jZiWDLuMZ8HYOh6bE=/0x0:5595x3730/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5595x3730):format(webp):no_upsca le()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/12866777/untitled_20.jpg

This is, of course, exactly what the lizard people would do to throw us off their scent.

[dave thompson]

My wife and I fly Alaska and often take our dogs, who are in cargo and not seen after we check them in at the counter until we collect them at the destination. On every leg of the flight there’s a note like this attached to our seat.