Why do American and Continental try so hard to drive travelers towards Southwest? Getting a seat assignment should not be that difficult, and paying the crazy fees to sit together or in some specific part of the plane should not be part of the deal. I just paid $3.70/seat on one American flight to sit in the front row, but will not pay the $14.00/seat for crappy seats on another flight. Checking back every day or so to see if or which seats are available is ridiculous, and confirms why I fly Southwest whenever I can.
I haven't seen these additional charges, but I rarely fly either American or Continental. Ironically I am on American next month going to Fargo, ND, but I had no trouble with a seat assignment. My complaint about SW is their LACK of seat assignments. I had a flight from Raleigh to Buffalo via Baltimore. I had preferential seating on both flights. The flight from Raleigh was delayed so I ended up in a middle seat from Baltimore to Buffalo. Not a real long flight, but when you travel a fair amount you really, really don't want the damned middle seat. Invariably I'm stuck between two people who are large enough to have their own zip codes. I guess overall flying is just not fun anymore no matter which airline you're on.
You are probably right about every airline being a pain, and I just know how to avoid most of the pain on Southwest.
Originally when I went to Raleigh I went down on US Air and was supposed to return on Friday via US Air. My Friday meeting got cancelled so I had to return on Thursday. US Air wanted $750 to change my ticket from Friday to Thursday, so I ended up flying back on SW. To me that is one prime example of airline stupidity. Wouldn't it have made more sense to have a nominal rebooking charge and to keep my business? Almost a rhetorical question isn't it?
Flying sucks these days. Remember a million years ago when the biggest concern for business travellers was getting an upgrade? In Canada we can still select our seats 24 hours before flight time but our taxes, airport fees and security fees are almost as much as the cost of the flight and sometimes actually more on short flights. I'm gonna buy a bicycle...lol
Don't get me started on the seat issue. Sunwing Airlines/Signature Vacations does a big chunk of the Mexican travel packages out of Vancouver. They operate planes with seats so close together that a man larger than 6'2" physically cannot fit into the seat due to the seat back in front being too close. I am 5'8" and my knees were only about 2" from the seat back in front of me. When the man in front of me reclined his seat, the top of his head was just a few inches from my face. If you want a seat with proper legroom, i.e., a normal seat on any other airline, you have to pay $40 each direction. Infuriating!
Would highly recommend Emirates - just came back from India, business class all the way, awesome :icon_lol:
I have heard some very good things about Emirates Air. Sadly they don't fly anywhere that I have to go. I'm stuck with the mundane of Southwest, US Air, American, and Delta.
This is why I'm kinda enjoying the new series "Pan Am" so much. It brings back memories of when flying was fun. People actually dressed up to get on a plane. It was an experience as opposed to a flying bus. You paid for service and got it. Now people want a $49 coast to coast flight and wonder why they have to pay for bags, seat upgrades, etc. Most flights breakeven on costs even with the added fees. They used to lose money. It's a case of we get what we pay for. You want $49 flights, you get $49 service. Think about it. For say $300 (if you work at it you can get NYC to SFO R/T for around $275 plus $25 for your bag) you get yourself and 50 pounds of your stuff moved 6,000 miles. That's 5 cents a mile. If you get 30 miles a gallon and pay $3.65 a gallon for gas, that works out to 12 cents a mile. So you're cramped for 3 hours each way while they move you. Take it up to 20 cents a mile and you can fly first class with lots of room, free drinks and a meal. It's all in how you look at it and what you are willing to pay for. Jamie
