tuscl

OT: airlines you swear you'll never fly again

knight_errant
New Jersey
F'ing USAir. Missed my connecting flight to DTW (by 5 f'ing minutes!) so I am stuck in Philly for a few hours. Have sworn multiple times that I would not fly USAir again, but I had points to use up. Hopefully, a stop or two once I get in Detroit will make it up to me.
Airline you try to steer clear of?

24 comments

  • rockstar666
    9 years ago
    Spirit, obviously. I choose by airport; I HATE Midway because it's far and traffic sucks. I live 20 min. from O'Hare so I fly whatever airline I can get where I can use O'Hare.
  • bigman226
    9 years ago
    Oasis & Purple Orchid are 5 miles from PHL. I hate US Airways as well
  • JohnSmith69
    9 years ago
    I fly 35-40 weeks per year, mostly on U.S. Air. Very rare that I have a problem with them. But with any airline, you must follow the two cardinal rules of air travel. First, only use direct flights, never connect. Second, never check a bag. You violated the first rule which can make for miserable travel on any airline.
  • knight_errant
    9 years ago
    JS - can't get there from here (well, from home). I know the rule and usually play by it.
    USAIR has screwed me multiple times, so I just must look better than you ;-)

    Big man- thanks for the tip. Another time.
  • Papi_Chulo
    9 years ago
    Yeah – I'm a “value consumer” - I don't fly often but I usually go w/ the lowest fair.

    The last couple of times I've flown (for leisure and not business) has been on Spirit – I have gotten non-stop round-trip flights to Detroit and ATL (from Miami) both for under $150 – but Spirit is rock-bottom – in my case they only had about 2 flights in the day to where I was going and one was real-early in the morning (7 a.m.) or in the very-late-afternoon/early-eve (so not too convenient) – they also charge for everything; i.e. they charge if you wanna pick your own seat; for every checked bag; and even for carry-ons; also they don't give any free snacks nor drinks (soft-drinks nor water); water and snacks need to be purchased – the only thing they don't charge for is a small personal item (briefcase or backpack) – I use a backpack and pack some clothes in there since my trips are short.
  • rickdugan
    9 years ago
    JS, flying direct isn't always possible, especially when you are trying to maintain status on one particular airline. I am willing to connect a bit more for preferred security lines, the ability to make same day flight changes in the airport, a guarantee of always getting my carry on bags on the plane, no baggage fees, bonus miles, the ability to choose preferred seats when I purchase my flights and first class upgrades on a decent % of flights.

    I agree about checking bags though. Once one checks a bag, one loses any flexibility to hop other flights if problems crop up.
  • jester214
    9 years ago
    I fly enough that at one time or another I've sworn never to fly again with just about everyone.
  • shadowcat
    9 years ago
    Ha ha ha! After listening to disgruntled passenger complaints for 42 years, I am happy to no longer be a part of it. I'm the guy you never saw that made the decisions to delay or cancel flights. If a gate agent called me for authorization to delay a flight for 5 minutes for 1 passenger when he/she could be accommodated on a later flight, I would just laugh. There isn't much I haven't seen or heard. I still fly free but I don't unless I have to.

    What air line would I avoid? Most second and third world airlines for safety reasons. That was the number one priority in my job. "Keep the shiny side down"!

  • JohnSmith69
    9 years ago
    Some flights are worse than others, but on average I think you miss about 1 of every 10 connecting flights these days. And since almost every flight is full, it's a real pain in the ass to get in a later flight. The only way to improve that record if you can't fly direct is to have more than the standard 45-60 minute layover time.

  • JohnSmith69
    9 years ago
    And never book a connecting flight with only a 30-45 min layover.
  • crazyjoe
    9 years ago
    I was waiting for a connecting flight in Dallas and had enough time for lunch. I had a cute bar tender with a texas accent tell me i had a cute accent
  • motorhead
    9 years ago
    20 years ago when I used to live in Indianapolis, indy was a mini-hub for USAir. They had direct flights to California and Florida. I was a regular USAir customer. It was great. Then Indy was no longer a hub and things started to suck. Philly is almost the country's worst airport.
  • knight_errant
    9 years ago
    Lol, wound up sitting next to an off-duty USAIR flight attendant on my rebooked flight to DTW. Drinking and mongering in DTW. Peace out!
  • ww
    9 years ago
    With airline consolidation, you pretty much have a limited choice on whom to fly. US airways is getting absorbed into American. So the big 4 are American, United, Delta and Southwest. Flying any other airline would require you to be in a niche market flying into another niche market.
  • rh48hr
    9 years ago
    Delta blows! Won't fly with them ever again. I'll pay more before having to fly with them again.

    Southwest is my airline of choice whenever possible.
  • shailynn
    9 years ago
    I've been fucked the most by Delta. 2nd by US Air but that's because I live near a US Air hub, so 50% of my flights were/are with them.

    Southwest is my favorite. Thanks to their liberal cancellation policy I have booked so many trips on a whim that had to be cancelled, it's awesome to get booking credit. I have also never had a southwest flight canceled. To me they seem to be the most efficient although I don't like the seat yourself option so much.
  • mjx01
    9 years ago
    Well... work policy is to take the lowest bidder that meets my travel needs. The bean counters are usually reasonable about time of day and length of layover requests.

    IMO, the three legacy airlines (UA, DL, AA) are all about the same. IMO, the key to success it to fly as early in the day as possible. That way if you miss a connection, there are still flight options left to get you where you are going. There are also generally less delays and BS earlier in the day (although not always).

    Of course there are those days when the night shift forgets to plug the plane into ground power at night (to keep the engines from freezing in the winter). You drag your sleep deprived ass to the airport at 5 am... and yeh we're going to be delayed until the engines thaw out. I was very lucky that day. 1 hr delay but 2 hr layover. sill got to my destination on time.
  • Dougster
    9 years ago
    American
  • mjx01
    9 years ago
    OT: actually... I'm more picky about what airports I make connections at. For example, changing planes at LAX sucked IMO. Lots of people bitch about PHL... PHL connection definitely can take longer than expected... had some 'unique' experience in PHL, luckily no 'horror stories' (yet)... PHL is kind of hard to avoid for where I live.
  • Papi_Chulo
    9 years ago
    Per the OP:

    “... F'ing USAir. Missed my connecting flight to DTW (by 5 f'ing minutes!) so I am stuck in Philly for a few hours. Have sworn multiple times that I would not fly USAir again, but I had points to use up. Hopefully, a stop or two once I get in Detroit will make it up to me ...”

    Per the OP's latest review; seems things went from bad to worse:


    OP's latest review:
    ----------------------
    I had a significant amount of money stolen from my pants during a lap dance in the VIP at Flight Club Wednesday night. I wish I had read Electroman's review (below) earlier. The dancer, Brandy (Je-Tai Pippin) who promises and acts like she will come across with anything (for an inflated price) slipped something in my drink (a rophie or something similar) and within minutes I apparently appeared to drunk to drive (previously I had just two drinks over the course of four hours) and I can't recall anything from 8pm to waking at my hotel at 9:50am. Apparently she got the keys to my rental car from the valet and drove me to my hotel in her card and checked in with me! (And cleaned me out of the rest of my bucks there-total hit $1,700) I have yet to reach the night manager; I am interested in the policy of allowing dancers to drive "intoxicated" patrons home.

    Nice club otherwise. In the afternoon. about 10-12 girls with only one or two >8.




    Flight Club Rip Off Warning
    Last Comment: October 2, 2011

    September 30, 2011 • I had some cash stolen from my wallet during a lap dance at the Flight Club, an upscale gentleman's club near the Detroit, MI airport. Let me describe my experience in hopes that others will avoid similar mistakes. I also invite others to chime in if they've had similar experiences. Sometimes you can learn a lot from recurring patterns of rip offs, either within the same club or across clubs.

    I've been to the Flight Club many times, so I'm not a rookie, although I'd classify my mistake as a rookie mistake, partly attributable to my first every duo lap dance. I chatted with two dancers, stage names were Brandy (upper 20's brunette who is fond of talking about her clothing company (really a T shirt printing business) and her role as caretaker for her younger siblings) and Heather (early 20's, girl next door face, nice body). Brandy suggested a private dance with both of them and we agreed to $100 for each ($200 total). At the Flight Club, the VIP area is a series of overstuffed couches, separated from adjacent VIP couches by heavy curtains. During the dance, while Heather rubbed her crotch on my face (thus blocking my vision of the VIP area), Brandy removed my trousers (I didn't complain) and placed them on the floor (there was my mistake, I didn't insist that my trousers (and wallet) be placed within sight and within easy reach). In a VIP dance with only one dancer, it is easy to monitor what the single dancer is doing. With two dancers, it is not easy to monitor every move of both dancers. Anyway, when the dance finished (yep, it was fun with lots contact and lots of girl-girl action also), I retrieved my pants from the floor to pay the agreed upon charges. My wallet had been moved from the back pocket to a side pocket and my collection of $20 had been significantly reduced (probably by at least $100) and had been relocated in my wallet. I confronted the dancers who of course claimed no knowledge of anything. "Maybe your money fell out"-- yeah, right. I also reported the theft to the bouncer who attends the VIP area. He offered to convey my complaint to the manager but offered no remedy. In retrospect, I suspect that one of the dancers, Brandy, either shoved my pants and wallet under the heavy curtains to an accomplice, who removed cash or Brandy removed the cash herself. If there was an accomplice in the adjacent VIP area, it could have been the bouncer for all I know. Anyhow, I found enough cash to pay the dancers and departed, poorer but much wiser for the experience.

    Moral of the story: always secure your wallet, be wary of Brandy and Heather at the Flight Club, and don't expect the management at a SC to assist in the resolution of a theft.

    Anyone have similar experiences at the Flight Club or at other strip clubs that we can learn from?

    https://www.tuscl.net/club.php?ID=921
  • twentyfive
    9 years ago
    See 4got2wipes review of lipstick nola
  • warhawks
    9 years ago

    Spirit. They have been the worst for me it seems.

    I like Southwest also as others have said.
  • Papi_Chulo
    9 years ago
    Damn – the review I mentioned above has been removed – weird.
  • minnow
    9 years ago
    Any airline with Wi Tu Lo, Sum Ting Wong, or Ho Li Fuk up front....................................
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