Airline Seats

[Boomhauer]

Who even cares?   Why would anyone 'fly' in the first place?  Are you so locked in to your 9-5 corporate gig that you can't take a month, or two months, or three months, to drive to your destination?

Some of us have to fly for business meetings. Or go somewhere for training. Business people fly all the time because time is money. Need to get to California when you are in NYC? Going across country for however much saves $$ and time.

And some of us work w/o the ability to take extended vacations so that we don't have time to take a week, much less a freaking month or quarter to drive somewhere. And not all of use are "slaving away in a corporate job" like you portray us. Some of us run our own businesses, or work for the government in various capacities.

Oh, and how the hell am I supposed to drive to Hawaii? Or Europe? Or anywhere like that? And it's easier and faster to fly to AK? You could take a boat, but that's much slower than an airplane and their isn't a system of ships to carry you across the ocean like their is for airlines.

I'd personally like to travel via rail, but Amtrak is f$*%ed up worse than the airlines, and their are very few routes.

[Ben]

Are you so locked in to your 9-5 corporate gig that you can't take a month, or two months, or three months, to drive to your destination?

Since my "corporate gig" is the fed.gov, which is what the original post was about, I'd be quite happy to take two months to get to where they send me. I'm thinking cruise ship with lots of detours to the Hawaii office. Your tax dollars pay for the trip and per diem, so thanks for the paid vacation!

[The Annoyed Man]

Who even cares?   Why would anyone 'fly' in the first place?  Are you so locked in to your 9-5 corporate gig that you can't take a month, or two months, or three months, to drive to your destination?

Pretty much. Offices in Dallas, Sacramento, Boston and Chattanooga. So yeah, have to fly commercial.

[Jamisjockey]

Are you so locked in to your 9-5 corporate gig that you can't take a month, or two months, or three months, to drive to your destination?

Since my "corporate gig" is the fed.gov, which is what the original post was about, I'd be quite happy to take two months to get to where they send me. I'm thinking cruise ship with lots of detours to the Hawaii office. Your tax dollars pay for the trip and per diem, so thanks for the paid vacation!

I think that the driving crack was sarcasm. 

As much as I'd rather drive, we've been traveling halfway across the US a few times a year.   Behind us is Detroit in January for some training, wife went to Salt Lake in March, we went to Hawaii in April for vacation (try driving there...), and ahead of us Milwaukee in June for a conference, Salt Lake in July and again in August for some training.  Oh and this month I'm flying one way to Vegas.  Helping my BIL drive back to VA, he and his wife are getting stationed at Langley.
This year, we aren't flying my insolent yard apes anywhere.  Flying by myself or with my lovely bride is not a thing....herding my rug rats through security....that right there is an interesting proposition...

[Boomhauer]

This year, we aren't flying my insolent yard apes anywhere.  Flying by myself or with my lovely bride is not a thing....herding my rug rats through security....that right there is an interesting proposition...

Crate them up and ship them UPS. Use the cheapest/slowest method.

[Jamisjockey]

This year, we aren't flying my insolent yard apes anywhere.  Flying by myself or with my lovely bride is not a thing....herding my rug rats through security....that right there is an interesting proposition...

Crate them up and ship them UPS. Use the cheapest/slowest method.

Best idea I've heard in awhile.

[Manedwolf]

This year, we aren't flying my insolent yard apes anywhere.  Flying by myself or with my lovely bride is not a thing....herding my rug rats through security....that right there is an interesting proposition...

Crate them up and ship them UPS. Use the cheapest/slowest method.

Some lady recently put her kid on the x-ray belt. She thought that's what you were supposed to do.

[Laurent du Var]

Ah, travelling - a touchy subject.

Travelling is actually a right of the free, the openminded
and the wealthy people of this world.

When travelling becomes a privilege granted by the gouverment,
supported by your strong currency and the prospect to be treated as a free human being then you know that you are on the way to be subject to a totaliarian all and evercontroling power that replaces an iron curtain with difficulties which nobody likes to deal with.

Isn't it curious how the more we stay at home the more crap we get to buy from China which happily executes thousand people every year , then charges
the executees family for the amunition before selling their kidneys to
transplant hospitals. The more we stay at home the currencies devaluate, your Dollar and our Euro, and let us see about oil prices ?
Free travelling may be the answer to those problems.

[thebaldguy]

I've flown several times since 9-11. Aside from the hassle of increased security, I've been lucky and have not had any problems. My neighbor who flies 4-8 times a month, can write a book about travel nightmare stories. He also has hundreds of thousands of frequent flier miles that are a pain to redeem and use.

I remember flying in the 80's where your choice of meals were served with your choice of wine - in coach class. I remember a flight in a 747 from Minneapolis to Seattle where the flight was maybe 25% occupied, and I got a whole row of seats to myself with a blanket and pillow. I can also remember flying on People's Express airline where they came down the aisle with a cashbox and you paid after you got on board.

My girlfriend and went to Chicago last fall for a few days. We debated if driving the Toyota Corolla for 7 hours was better and cheaper than flying. Flying was only faster by a few hours, and driving was so much cheaper we spent a night along the way there in a nice hotel with a hot tub in the room for less.

I only fly if I really have to these days. It's almost not worth the hassle.

[Gewehr98]

When travelling becomes a privilege granted by the gouverment

That's gotta be the French spelling of the word, because I ain't seen it here that way... 

Does your dagg bite?  (Peter Sellers voice)

[The Annoyed Man]

I've flown several times since 9-11. Aside from the hassle of increased security, I've been lucky and have not had any problems. My neighbor who flies 4-8 times a month, can write a book about travel nightmare stories. He also has hundreds of thousands of frequent flier miles that are a pain to redeem and use.

I remember flying in the 80's where your choice of meals were served with your choice of wine - in coach class. I remember a flight in a 747 from Minneapolis to Seattle where the flight was maybe 25% occupied, and I got a whole row of seats to myself with a blanket and pillow. I can also remember flying on People's Express airline where they came down the aisle with a cashbox and you paid after you got on board.

My girlfriend and went to Chicago last fall for a few days. We debated if driving the Toyota Corolla for 7 hours was better and cheaper than flying. Flying was only faster by a few hours, and driving was so much cheaper we spent a night along the way there in a nice hotel with a hot tub in the room for less.

I only fly if I really have to these days. It's almost not worth the hassle.

You and me both. What's sad is that a lot of people who are flying in a few years will think it has always been a herd mentality where a bunch of surly strangers treat you like crap because you're less than human...

[Scout26]

This year, we aren't flying my insolent yard apes anywhere.  Flying by myself or with my lovely bride is not a thing....herding my rug rats through security....that right there is an interesting proposition...

Crate them up and ship them UPS. Use the cheapest/slowest method.

Some lady recently put her kid on the x-ray belt. She thought that's what you were supposed to do.

Well, Little Timmy is not a terrorist, but that sure looks like a tumor.....

[Firethorn]

I love my car. 

As much as I prefer my car, it wasn't really an option when I got the call that I needed to be in Florida ASAP because my grandmother's dying.  I was in North Dakota at the time.

There were points in time when flying was the fastest, easiest, and cheapest means to get where I was going.  The distance for that has doubled in recent years.

That time, easy and cheap didn't enter the equation.

[lupinus]

I've flown once.  I actually rather like flying, it's the airport and flight crew (some of them anyway, they did sing loveplane for us  ) I couldn't stand.

[wmenorr67]

And I saw last night where American is going to start charging $15 for the FIRST checked bag.