What is your favorite airline?

@Linkat,

I rarely fly. The last two times we went Southwest. It was no frills, but quick and courteous.

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@Linkat,

Of the ones that I routinely fly, Delta, hands down. It typically charges more but the service is dramatically better. American has cut service to the bone You are lucky to get some water during a long flight.

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In general I've been getting pissed off at some if the airlines ... The hidden nickel and diming...in one situation I forget if it was American or united they changed the carryon policy after we bought our tickets. It was a couple of years ago and right before Thanksgiving ...probably to hit those people traveling during the busiest time .... Some poor woman Was put in the position to tell everyone as they were checking in.

I used to love jet blue then they started this ... That certain flights/fares not only the fact you have to pay for checked bags ... Like most airlines..you cannot bring a carryon. So Jet blue fell on my likeability list.

Now I have a daughter going to college in the Chicago area. Which is great as we now have many choices for her to fly and us as well so I have had the opportunity to try a few more carriers recently. My favorite is now southwest. Direct flights to Midway...usually reasonably priced...sometimes down right cheap. However if you don't buy them early you typically pay more than the other airlines. Will continue later with my pros and cons

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@Linkat,

I will give this shoutout to American. I was flying across the country last September when the plane had an oil leak before takeoff and the flight ended up cancelled. We're all queued up waiting to talk to the person at the service desk when I called American. The automated system immediately said something like "Are you calling regarding the recently cancelled flight?" I said yes, got an agent immediately and was booked on a new flight in five minutes. I was stunned. Of course it was still American so I made sure I had food and drink before boarding.

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I always fly Delta or American. I've flown hundreds of times and still hate flying. I always have to have a couple cocktails, last time on American they gave me two free cocktails because the flight was running late. Cool

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We have **** for airlines here. They both suck. I love Cathay Pacific and KLM. I hate the flying experience but love the destination, so it's a necessary evil. Lineups, Security, Delays, Gate Changes, Missed Connections, People ... I take a carryon no matter how long I'm going for so they can't lose my luggage. You can fit quite a bit into those cases. We don't pay for carryon (so far).

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@Mame,

Mame wrote:

I take a carryon no matter how long I'm going for so they can't lose my luggage. You can fit quite a bit into those cases. We don't pay for carryon (so far).

My longest flight ever was from LAX to London Gatwick, they lost my luggage, hours later they found them and delivered them to my hotel room. That was british airways.

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@jcboy,

jcboy wrote:

I always have to have a couple cocktails, last time on American they gave me two free cocktails because the flight was running late.

When was that? My son likes to get a drink on flights but said American went dry after some physical altercations.

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@engineer,

This was just before COVID, had to transfer flights in Dallas and it was delayed due to a tornado warning so we sat on the runway for close to an hour.

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@jcboy,

They'll all deliver lost luggage to you, but I like BA, too. And Lufthansa.

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@Mame,

True they all do, that was the first time ever an airline lost my luggage.

I have a story about that trip. I rented a car at the airport. Well I wasn’t used to the steering wheel being on the other side of the damn car and driving on the opposite side of the road. I got about two miles from the airport when I swiped a parked truck. I turned that car in and took taxis the rest of the trip. Razz

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@jcboy,

Eeek! My husband always does the driving and I do the navigating. Once in Jamaica, he almost drove us into the ditch (they drive on the left side, too) and later in that trip, he was out alone and busted a tire somehow. $200 to replace it.

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@jcboy,

jcboy wrote:

I always fly Delta or American. I've flown hundreds of times and still hate flying. I always have to have a couple cocktails, last time on American they gave me two free cocktails because the flight was running late.

Most airlines are not serving alcohol due to the crazies. I have heard a couple started up again with the new year..not sure which ones though.

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@engineer,

engineer wrote:

I will give this shoutout to American. I was flying across the country last September when the plane had an oil leak before takeoff and the flight ended up cancelled. We're all queued up waiting to talk to the person at the service desk when I called American. The automated system immediately said something like "Are you calling regarding the recently cancelled flight?" I said yes, got an agent immediately and was booked on a new flight in five minutes. I was stunned. Of course it was still American so I made sure I had food and drink before boarding.

I had a similar experience with American last summer. My daughter went to Palm Springs to visit her grandmom. It was during a time when some flights were canceled due to weather and staffing. Due to the location of traveling there are many overnight flights and changing at airports late at night so we purposely paid more to get flights where she wouldn't be traveling by herself at these crazy late hours.

Anyway when it was cancelled I tried to rebook online but all we got were those crazy late flights so I called dreading being on hold for hours. Like you it was pretty quick to get someone...I explained the situation and the woman patiently found a flight the next day that was even better than her original. She thanked me for being so pleasant and patient with her .....I realized that she must have to deal with slot of irate people with all these cancellations .... Remember be kind to them as they are more likely to work with you to get a satisfactory ending result.

I think different airlines excel at different things.

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@Mame,

Mame wrote:

Eeek! My husband always does the driving and I do the navigating. Once in Jamaica, he almost drove us into the ditch (they drive on the left side, too) and later in that trip, he was out alone and busted a tire somehow. $200 to replace it.

Ha ha ... I remember many moons ago going to England and renting a car. I drove because my friend did not know how to drive a stick and the price for an automatic was insanely expensive. So not only are you driving on the opposite side of the rode but you are shifting with the opposite hand. All was well until I turned onto a smaller road and by instinct navigated to the right side. Fortunately the road was empty as my friend screamed you are on the wrong side of the road which I calming replied...in jest of course... No I am on the right side of the road.

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So going back to southwest what I liked about them....
Flying into a smaller airport midway rather than Oh are
No charge for carryon and no charge for 2 checked bags per person
You can change your flight .... With NO FEES! Even with the wantta getaway cheapest flights and it is easy to do ...I just did this
They give you numbers and boarding groups to board the plane so there is none of that crowding at the gate to be first in your boarding group

Things I don't like ... No assigned seating so you could be sitting far from your travel companions...however you can pay extra to move up to an earlier boarding group if this is very important to you. That is where they get you on fees.

Also no direct flights to O'Hare kind of the opposite of what I am saying above but that us because my daughters school is very close to O'Hare and she can get rides easily there.

From Chicago O'Hare I like united as for some odd reason even with the lowest price you can bring a carryon from Chicago to boston, there are many direct flights and right now with covid I have been able to change flights within fees. And they let you pick out a seat when you book.

Its weird for other destinations I don't like united ...probably better to Chicago because it is a hub for them.

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@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

Ha ha ... I remember many moons ago going to England and renting a car. I drove because my friend did not know how to drive a stick and the price for an automatic was insanely expensive. So not only are you driving on the opposite side of the rode but you are shifting with the opposite hand. All was well until I turned onto a smaller road and by instinct navigated to the right side. Fortunately the road was empty as my friend screamed you are on the wrong side of the road which I calming replied...in jest of course... No I am on the right side of the road.

My ex-husband and I were in Ireland and when we rented the car I suggested he get the insurance because it was his first time driving on the left. It's a good thing he did because not only did he do a little hedge-clipping with the car mirror (on my side), he tore it right off! Fortunately, the back seat window was open and it flew right inside Smile

Regarding our two airlines, Air Canada and Westjet, Westjet was an Alberta company and it was fabulous. All the flight attendants made jokes when they did their announcements, and had a lot of fun with the passengers. It was recently sold to an American company who promised to keep up the Westjet pattern, but it has changed so terribly their facebook page hosts a litany of complaints. People waiting 7, 8, 9 hours on hold, flights changing with little notice, unexpected re-routings, delays, sitting on the tarmac. The new owners don't give a damn about their Canadian clients. Thankfully we have a couple of new smaller airlines about to take off this year and next. And just about everybody hates Air Canada. Not many options up here.

My girlfriend, who lives in Henderson, NV, gets super cheap flights all the time. $49 return from NV to the Canadian-Montana border. Once in a while we get a real deal here but it's still not as cheap as hers can be.

I think we have a cheap airline called Swoop - I've never been on it, but they'll charge you $89 to go from one province to the next one over. Where they get you is the carry on fees - whopping!

Remember when they had good meals (steak, for example) and real cutlery? Wine with dinner... delicious desserts? Those are all passe now, sadly.

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@Mame,

Yes I remember when flying was an event ... Positive one..in itself.

I remember my friend and I flying to Europe. We signed up for frequent flyer not just for the miles but you could order a special dinner ahead box time. I still remember choosing the seafood melody on one such trip ... Not sure why that sticks in my head but it does just the name ..I also remember that our domestic flights er would be charged extra for wine or beer but if we flew on say Air Canada or British Airways ..one if the non-US airlines we could get these drinks at no extra cost.

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Ok I take back about american...Been on hold with them for over two hours because they canceled my daughters flight she was supposed to take tomorrow morning. They rebooked her automatically to an
Very undesirable flight ...was supposed to be direct now going so weird round a out way. Unlikely to change it but we thought we would trying took over being on hold while she packs.

Does not appear to be weather as the flight was first thing before any predicted bad weather and the flight they moved her to was leaving about the same time just NIW a bad connection... Annoying because she booked month's in advance to ensure a good flight time.

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What is your favorite airline?

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