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Travel Annoyances
By Matt Margolis | January 11, 2006
Over the past year I have traveled more than I have ever in my life. I have traveled by plane, bus, and train. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages.
I just got back from my trip to Washington DC, and I feel the need to vent about some of the annoying things that occur on every flight I’ve taken. I’m not talking about the long lines to go through security… I accept those as a necessary evil. What I find most annoying is the boarding of the plane.
On my different flights, I’ve had seats in the front and middle of the plane, and sometimes closer to the back. Instead of boarding by row number, planes are boarded by zones…. In my experience flying the past year there seems to be some real flaws in the system.
On my flight down to Washington, boarding the plane went very slowly because of people having to load carry on luggage in overhead compartments and holding up people who have seats further down the plane. I see no reason for boarding to be held up because a passenger in row 20 is held up because a passenger in row 5 is taking too long to put their carry on luggage away.
For more efficient boarding, doesn’t make sense to board the rows in back before the rows in front? I would think this would make the process of boarding a plane much quicker.
Topics: General |
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January 11th, 2006 at 9:59 pm
Matt,
You young inexperienced kid. The zones are based upon frequent flyer status. I fly all the damn time. Sometimes 8 or nine times in a month. I have premier status at United. I fly United whenever I can to keep this status. It gets me on the plane first (zone 1). That way, I get a place to put my bag and can sit down and settled in. It also gets me preference on the special seats in the fronts of some planes called economy plus (more leg room) and the airlines tries to keep the middle seat empty on the row I’m in.
If I fly some other airline, I don’t get that. There are levels above mine also. They get priority for first class upgrades. Some levels get automatic first class upgrades. I hope I never have to fly enough to get to those levels.
So - if you want zone 1 - fly so much you hate it.
January 11th, 2006 at 10:04 pm
I don’t want zone 1.. I just want the plane to be boarded quickly!
January 12th, 2006 at 4:01 am
Board the back first! Sounds like a new name for a “blog roll!” - - You are beyond a doubt correct Matt! First Class is hardly in the way (small crowd) AND seats can be bought anywhere else on the plane any time (do they have Kahn fooled?)- not according to price or status! Either way you have to wait the same amount of time AND if you are in the front rows - don’t you get tired of people crawling all over you while you stash your bag - slowing down everything, including “take-off?” EVERYONE would spend a shorter amount of time loading if you started from the back - forward! OH - By the way - Thanks for the B4B!!
January 12th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
Nope - you both are wrong. I get on the plane at the same time the first class people do. I may have a slight delay while someone puts their bags away. But - the people that are in front of ME are fellow premier status travelers who know what they’re doing. And, it is the same no matter what seat I’m in.
Test question: Do you have a specific parking strategy at your closest airport? At your second closest? Everyone I work with does. I know just where to park to avoid crowds and delays, and to have easy return access to my car. ALL of the people I work with have similar strategies. This is NOT because we like to travel.
Honestly guys, I’m just telling you the way it works. If I’m not on United and don’t have status I go through the same crap you do. But look at it from United point of view (or any airline): I fly all the damn time. So much so I hate it. So by giving me a few percs - they keep me loyal. So, in slow months I fly them once or twice and in busy months, many more times.
So while you’re struggling, I’m finishing my Starbucks and reading my book. Again - fly till you hate it (on the same airline as much as possible) and you can get this tiny perc also.
January 12th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
Kahn, even experienced travelers can be stupid, rude, or inconsiderate. I think back to front boarding of the plane makes a lot more sense.
you’ve not convinced me otherwise
January 13th, 2006 at 11:48 am
Sheesh, what’s Kahn’s problem? He sounds like the kind of self-important uber-businessman I have to fight with every time *I* preboard. I do “fly ’till I hate it” being an Elite Member with Northwest. But let me tell you, as soon as the flight attendant announces “preboarding”, EVERYONE crowds around the door. I mean EVERYONE. Talk about annoying.
People like Kahn who think they’re oh, so superior to us plebes push and shove or just ignore a woman with a briefcase trying to get in the preboard line. Lookit, the plane’s not going to leave without you. Sit down and wait till your #$%^ row is called.
Whew, I feel better now.
DP
January 13th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
The best boarding I’ve seen is when they load 1st class, then a few rows in the back, then a few in the front, then the back again until all the rows have boarded. This seems to work the best. It involves some coordination on the airlines part but it works.
The best way to speed up loading is to stop the idiots that feel that they can take full-size luggage on the plane. Some of these “carry ons” are a joke. I’ve seen women thet have two LARGE bags and a “purse” (the size of a laptop bag or bigger). I was on one flight where the airline employee told a lady she had too much. The lady started bitching and the employee just waved them on.
January 13th, 2006 at 4:28 pm
The best way to speed up de-planing is to server crab dip on the flight.
January 13th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
DP - what? You ass. I don’t like to fly. But I know the rules and unfortunately fly enough to have a minimum perc.
I was just explaining how it worked to the children.
shhheeeesssshhhhh. Take a pill.
January 13th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
Personally, if I don’t have first class - I try my hardest to fart as I walk through it. Childish for my age, I know. But fun.
I’ll be looking for DP on a NorthWest flight. DP, that smell? just for you.
January 14th, 2006 at 12:59 am
Kahn, your explanation is enlightening… but i still think that system is inefficient…