Flying: Death by a thousand charges

This was written in 2009 back when I still flew. I grew up flying everywhere, but I have noticed that is no longer the case. The Airline business is quite cut-throat, and the service is not what it was.

Flying: Death by a thousand surcharges

I was lucky to grow up and be able to fly a great deal in my younger years. 

I loved flying back then. It was exciting, it was fun, and you felt special that you were flying somewhere (usually the United Kingdom, but sometimes elsewhere). 

After I graduated, I had a consulting job that meant I flew a great deal, but by then flying became less of an adventure and more of a chore, but at least I felt like it was a service and I was a valued customer. The Airlines also introduced frequent flyer plans, which was also cool, because now I could get free vacations.

I hadn’t flown for business much in the past 5 years, but this week I took my first journey in my new job and I am appauled to see how traveling has become a “pay as you go” service and the amount of gouging and the complete loss of the “fun” of traveling that goes on.

Let’s look at the trip I am taking right now:

• On my ticket there are landing fees and take off fees that are astronomical what the heck is this? I can’t NOT pay these fees, and it is simply a money grab by the local airport authority, government or whatever because they can gouge me. Note it is a landing fee, something all planes must do sometime or another.
• It used to be you had ok meals on airplanes, then they became “the brown meat” or “the white meat”, and then it finally degraded to “buffet bags”, but now I have to pay to eat on the plane? What the heck is this? Luckily my wife packed me snacks for the trip, and in defense of the airline, the food seems a little better, but what do they do to people who fly overseas? Do I have to bring all my food?
• The nice part of people bringing their own food, is you get to smell their food. It was rare you would smell salmon, or egg salad on a plane, but now, it is common place, and it lingers all flight long.
• My travel agents gouged me with a service charge and this is through my company?
• What next, pay toilets? I have to tip the pilot?
• Can I pay so that I am not in a screaming baby section at least?
• For the amount of money I am paying, you’d think you’d have a better sound system, but the headset is about the same as attempting to listen to an iPOD on 1/3 volume, that is at the bottom of a toilet. I couldn’t recognize K.C. and the Sunshine band until 1/2 way through the song, and that is scarey!
• If I had a dollar for every person on this plane that is wearing flip flops, sweat pants or a hoodie, I’d be able to buy the whole plane dinner, no wait, not that much, but still. When did wandering around in sweat pants with CANADA emblazoned on your butt become high fashion? I must have missed the memo on that one.
• Given the recirculated air in the plane, I am curious which version of the Flu I will be picking up on this trip? It’s like locking yourself in a petri dish for 5 hours, why do people travel when they are sick? Why do they go to work when they are sick, no wait, I have ranted about that already.

Epilogue

As you can see the trip didn’t really go that well, I do like the rant about traveling in sweat pants and flip flops, that I still don’t understand.

Hopefully I’ll have something to write about for tomorrow.