Airport observations:

[trof]

You can still smoke in the airport bars in New Orleans, but not ANYWHERE at Logan or O'Hare.
(This is NOT a solicitation for gratuitous comments about the evils of smoking/second hand smoke. Go away.)

You don't see many lace-up shoes. The few who wear them have laces untied, at least immediately after coming through security.

Wear socks.

"SSSS" printed in the lower left hand corner of your boarding pass is NOT a good thing. It gets you cut out from the rest of the herd into a "special" glass enclosure, grilled about your reason for traveling, wanded, patted down, belt removed, bags rummaged through, all while the non-threatening passengers pass around your cage, eyeing you with suspicion, wondering what you did bad to deserve such a going over.

If food is available (for sale) on your flight, you MAY NOT bring your own food on board. This was announced several times.
Is a Hershey bar considered to be "food"?
How about a granola bar?
Life Savers?
Cough drops?
Where, exactly, do they draw the line?

And...The Goofy Guy!
The temp was in the 60s in New Orleans, and in the departure lounge it was perhaps 15 degrees warmer.
The Goofy Guy walked in wearing:
A mukluk, Fargo-type cap with the big earflaps tightly tied under his chin.
Ragg sweater and a down vest.
Jeans.
Boxer shorts over his jeans. Not gym shorts. Underwear type boxer shorts. With what at first looked like big polka dots, but on closer observation turned out to be lady bugs.
A pair of huge fuzzy bedroom slippers with 8" high Santa Bears on the toes and carrying a pair of red, high-top tennis shoes.
Backpack.

A few seconds after he sat down the four passengers on either side of him...one at a time...got up and moved slowly away.
He happened to be on our flight.
When we arrived in Boston we saw him again in baggage claim, still in the bear slippers and carrying the tennis shoes. He was met by an attractive young woman.
Girlfriend?
"No.", said Miz t. "Probably his sister or a minder."

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. LOL!

Too funny.

[cornermouse]

2. Airport observation.

Next time, drive.

[trof]

17. We usually do.

I'd rather spend 2 days in my car than 1 day in airports/airplanes.

[Elise]

3. not-so-funny airport experiences

I have been 'selected' for complete searches every time I have flown recently. That has been several times!

What am I? On the terrorist-watch list? (doubt it) grrrrrrrr

[ikojo]

5. No, you're on DU....nt

[Elise]

6. Thank you

I forgot Ashcrash has that list as well.

:hi:

:kick:

[Cuban_Liberal]

7. I was selected while *in uniform*

I guess us non-lily white folk all look alike, to some of those screeners.

:wtf:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

10. I'm sure everyone here on DU is on a watch list.

Wear it as a badge of honor.
Duckie

[No Mandate Here.]

14. I'll be flying twice in the next couple months

I'll let you know if this appears to be true.

(a 52 year old causcasian male person with a mustache, here.) with no metal shoes, I think.

[Dr.Phool]

32. My profile exactly- haven't been pulled out

I flew a few times in September, and no problems,

[amazona]

48. I got selected a lot earlier in the year

Who knows why. If you have a common name -- one of them is known to be David Nelson -- might as well get to the airport early, because they are going to have to search you every time. And there are a lot of common names.

[flygal]

4. As a former flight attendant

I could write a book! Alaska was my favorite. But you had excellent observations!

As for special consideration. Try being 9 months pregnant and have a 3 year-old getting pulled aside randomly. Now if that doesn't just scream "here's proof we're doing random searches" WTF?!

[trof]

12. Who did you fly for?

I was a pilot for the late lamented TWA for 30+ years.

[flygal]

34. Alaska Airline for three years

I interviewed for TWA but they had you pay for your own training and I had student loans so that wouldn't have worked. Alaska was great - had/has it's problems, but great bases, good schedules for jr. f/a's.

[baldguy]

8. I bet The Goofy Guy has flown before.

He has a mukluk & sweater b/c A) Just because his ticket SAYS Boston doesn't mean that thats where he'll end up, and B) Who knows when it'll start snowing "up north"?

Carrying the sneaks & wearing fuzzy slippers makes it a whole lot easier for the airport gestapo to search 'em. And fuzzy slippers are a whole lot more comfy, too.

And everyone now knows he has clean underwear! (um, they were clean - weren't they?)

[da_chimperor]

9. What airlines charge you for food?

:wtf: That's nuts, talk about a way to piss off your customers. I'd drive before flying fascist-air.

[trof]

11. American

Are they the only ones?

[da_chimperor]

15. I'd never fly American after hearing this. I'd like to hear what they do

to make up for it. Cheap airfare or something? It's like they're marketing themselves as the airline that sucks. I've never heard about an airline charging you for food on the flight.

[Midlodemocrat]

38. Delta does too

...and I have to tell you the food was excellent and not that expensive. I think it is better than the free crap they throw at you.

[bettyellen]

18. LOL, He was wearing ALL his Xmas gifts, silly !!

[aQuArius]

19. If you were charged for food recently on American...

then you were on a "test" flight to see if the food sells. They won't "officially" start selling food on flights until February 1st. That seems oddd that they wouldn't let you bring food aboard, the "test" flight I was on, everyone brought food aboard, I was packing all kinds of snacks for my kids. BTW: I work at the airport and have to go through security daily, sometimes twice. I see strange things/people everyday, it can be a zoo. Hope your next experience is better, I am a single mom and would like to stay employed. :hi:

[haele]

39. They've been selling food on Delta since October

In coach (I don't know about 1st Class)
$8 for a tuna fish or chicken salad sammich with a slice of orange that you can get for $7.50 at the concession stand/bar next to the departure lounge. ($8.50 if you want a roast beef or chicken club!) $10 for a personal pizza. Breakfasts start at $6 for bagle and fruit. It can go up to $15 for a "meal". Desserts start at $5. A Pringles "snack package" (2 - 4 oz of chips and some other sort of treat to go with it, a dip or candy)for $6 to keep your kids quiet...
And all the food is the typical airport (Marriot?) concession food. At least the "complementry" beverages and trick or treat sized pretzel bags are still free.
They do indicate that you should "feel free to bring your own food" on the flights. However, I wonder if they'll let me use the microwave if I bring my own lasagna...
All this - plus the seats have gotten smaller and they've apparently crammed another row in since last year. I know I'm a plus size, but if those seats are 18" across, I'll eat my carry-on bag.
Of course, the ticket prices haven't gone up drastically. Guess that's the important thing, right? (/sarcasm)

Haele

[chenGOD]

16. Yeah I was gonna say....

food for sale on the airlines?

I suppose it's an inevitable reality....

[amazona]

49. they all do in coach on domestic flights

It doesn't piss off the customers. They just ignore it. He was mis-informed, you are allowed and encouraged to bring your own food, as the caterers don't supply a flight with enough to sell the boxed lunches to everyone in coach.

[CRK7376]

13. Two of us were flying back from Newark

last month, both of us were on orders, showed our military id and orders to be traveling. We too had the stars at the bottom of our boarding pass and were subjected to the full screening. We kind of decided that we were selected for further screening because we had both changed our flight departures to earlier times at the last moment. It was rather funny, serious undertaking by TSA etc...Still, even after showing orders and ID we were potential threats to be screened.

[aQuArius]

20. Can we please stop bashing the airlines....

I know everyone has bad experiences when they fly, lost luggage, stupid rules, expensive airfares, etc... But some of us are single parents that need to stay employed to raise our kids and your "bashing" does't help our situation. Just be patient, we are all trying to make a faster, safer, friendlier way to get where you're going. :hi:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

21. Actually, this sounds more like "venting" to me.

And that's what DU is for, venting about the crap that goes on in our daily lives. Sorry you don't like the criticism, but I'll bet your employment has nothing to do with people venting about the stupid crap airlines do. And come on, we have to admit that airlines do some stupid shit, mainly because of the new federal regulations.
Duckie

[aQuArius]

24. then blame the feds, not the airlines....

And I find it ironic that I can't "vent" about religion without getting a thread locked, but "venting" about someone's place of employment that is seriously under threat of bankruptcy is ok. BTW: I think calling it a "fascist airline" is going a bit beyond venting.

[da_chimperor]

27. So then what would you call an airline that does not allow the passengers

to bring food on the plane and requires hungry people to purchase food on the flight at inflated prices? If not fascist than evil? Monopolistic? Sure, I hate the way airlines operate, but then again I also hate inflated prices in theme parks (here's looking at you, Disneyland), overly aggressive marketing by many companies, corporate greed (a la Enron/GM), and clowns. This is venting to me. What would you call it?

BTW, my remark was not directed at any airline in particular, as it was made before I knew what airline was going to have such a policy. I still say that I would never fly on an airline that engages in such a practice. Don't blame me for this, blame the management. They're the ones fucking up.

[aQuArius]

30. I suppose ALL movie theatres are fascist

A movie can be 3 hours long and they don't let bring anything, they've even checked inside my purse. American is just "testing" how their food sells and perhaps they wanted to see if it sold better when they didn't allow passengers to bring theirs onboard like a movie theatre and perhaps since they are still "testing" this, you should let them know it upset you as a passenger. They won't start officially selling food onboard until February 1st, and the "test" flight I was on allowed all passengers to bring onboard whatever they liked. Don't make assumptions or boycott and airline for "testing" their practices.

[da_chimperor]

31. The movie theater example is moot, selling food is part of their business

Transportation is the business of airlines, not selling food. A more clear example would be a bowling alley not allowing you to wear your own pants in the alley, instead you have to bowl in your undies (which sucks) or rent pants there. They're not there to rent pants, their business is renting out the lanes. That I think is fucked up, while movie theaters not allowing you to bring in food from the outside is natural, as it is protecting an important part of their business. I'm not trying to rag on your employer, I'm just expressing some frustration. The world is far from a perfect place, and I have lots beef with just about every aspect of life. You should hear be go on about theme parks some more, it can make what I say here sound rather mild. I'm not planning any boycotts, so calm down, mmmkay? :)

[YellowRubberDuckie]

42. Religion and place of business are like apples and oranges...

Fascist Airline is right. Do you really think that the Republican Government and your beloved place of employment aren't totally working together?
Duckie

[trof]

23. Yes. Please do not confuse a vent with a bash.

30+ year TWA pilot here.
;-)

[alarimer]

36. A lot of them really need to improve their customer service

They way they treat people is abominable at times. You feel like cattle or something. Now my only negative experience this trip was that they lost my luggage (but I have gotten it back with nothing broken or missing). At Delta at least they made an announcement that you were allowed to bring food if you wanted.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

22. We traveled by airplane this summer (Delta Song/North West).

No one ever said anything to us about bringing food on the plane. We carried on a cooler with drinks (milk and juice for our toddler son) and some snacks like trail mix and yogurt.

[phaseolus]

25. also ...

due to headcount reductions, NO airline has enough people on staff to do the work. I'm still steamed that it took me so long to get my luggage. It's nobody's fault that the tag fell off my bag on Monday, but it arrived at my destination airport on Tuesday. I didn't get the bag until Thursday morning because no one could be troubled to look for the damn thing.

I don't mind airports, even when I have long layovers. They are full of godawful beautiful, well-dressed, fit women, and I get about a dozen crushes every time I'm in one. Don't tell my wife.

And the Harney English Breakfast tea they sell in the Detroit airport (coffee store in the food court by gate A1) has crack cocaine added to it, or something. It made me feel REALLY good...

[DrZeeLit]

26. Interesting. At Logan we purchased food for the flight, no problem,

in fact, it's heavily advertised as you walk through the food areas -- "pick up a packed meal for the flight."

When I flew out of NC, I brought Burger King on flight because my connection was late getting in and I knew we would not have food all the way to CA.

When I took off in Chicago (Sept 2004) in a commuter jet en route to Albany, woman across aisle had a breakfast burrito and I almost hurled, as did the woman next to me. Food SHOULD be banned from those small planes -- that particular burrito was smelly. But we did get coffee and a snack on that little flight; go figure.

One thing I noticed at some airports -- the food courts are in areas past the security checkpoints, therefore, if you're waiting for a flight to arrive, you can't eat or even sit with a cup of coffee. I thought it was a revenue loser. We were waiting for family to arrive in Albany and the plane was late, so we left the airport in order to eat lunch. Rather silly and inconvenient.

I'd take the train but Amtrak has a "no dog" policy. At least I can fly with my dog, although it's $50-80 extra each way to leave him in a bag the whole time under the seat in front of me, with nary a bag o' peanuts for him (that was a joke)... and no potty breaks.

About the shoe thing -- at least the airports could be consistent. No shoes off in some, all shoes off in some, some jackets off, some don't bother.... I am dazed and confused. Some people in front of me put coffee down in the plastic trays and it went through the xray machine and spilled. They just walked away. Boy, was the officer ticked. I think they see all kinds. I felt sorry for him since he cleaned up their mess, and the passengers, didn't say a thing. Manners to have taken a holiday.

[buttemontana]

28. flying

For the last several years I have flown around 40 weeks a year. A few observations: You get the SSSS for booking, or sometimes even changing, your flight within 48 hours of flying. Also, for buying a ticket at the airport. But, sometimes when security lines are long, getting the SSSS is a bonus, as you can get thru faster than waiting in line.
Most TSA employees approach their job with some humour, and are not nazi-like.
As you said above, airports are wonderful people-watching sites.
When I can't upgrade, I like window seats. Even after a million miles, I like to look at the scenery. Also, it's easier to sleep.
All airlines are not created equal. Delta is the easiest to get upgrades without having to pay or loose miles. Lately, United ticket counter attendants are pretty terse, but I might be too if I was in danger of losing my job or getting a pay cut. Alaska used to have the best food, but now it's pretty much the same. Song should stop making flight attendants call themselves 'talent'. In Europe, Al Italia has the best food, but tend to lose luggage.
I sat next to Bill Pullman once, and asked him what he did for a living. My daughters were mortified.
I enjoy this forum, thanks for having me.

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

35. Welcome to DU!

[tyedyeto]

37. Not necessarily

My s/o flies up to Vegas to work at a jobsite in so. Utah 3-4 times a month for the past 6 months. He usually books his flight 1 or 2 days in advance and will often have to change his flight home within hours. He has only had to go thru the extra security a couple of times. Last one was about a month ago. Said it was like being sexually assaulted. (They groped around his balls) This was at the same time all the reports were coming out about so many women who were having their breasts assaulted. BTW, women should never wear underwire bras when flying as that is what usually sets of the alarms.

[ikojo]

29. I've not flown in awhile (over a year) but when I last

flew I made sure to dress conservatively (no tie dye) and did not carry any political magazines with me. Instead I downloaded articles to my computer so I'd have reading material.

Any books I had with me were not of a political nature..

Sad that we have to do this in the land of "freedom of thought."

[jdots]

33. It was my girlfriend who met me okay !

The fear of flying now has new meaning,some people can't go for more than 2 hours without a nicotine fix so you have alot of nervous smokers.The shoes verses sneakers thing is wacky because of the guy with the so called bomb sneakers,yet security goes for the shoes?
I always want to scream " Make up your fucking minds " when the paranoid moment comes to walk thru the machines of insecurity. Someone told me to not bring any books that may be considered leftist....(.bad joke here) if you see your old friend Jack at the airport,never yell "Hi "

[babylonsister]

40. Any indications about butane lighters?

Hubby works for an airline and recently sent me an article about butane lighters. They're supposed to be confiscating them in the near future, so start saving your matches if you're a smoker.

[trof]

43. Feb. 1, I just read.

Before I went through security I asked a TSA guy. He said I could carry it with me, but not put it in checked baggage. I had no problem.
Now I just read that beginning Feb. 1, no butane lighters anywhere and possibly no matches either.

Wonder if Zippos will be allowed?

Since everyone who carries a lighter will now have to buy a new one every time they arrive at destination I suggest we all buy Bic stock.
;-)

[davsand]

41. Flying any place is stressful.

I'm not sure the choice of airline matters at all--I think most folks just feel stressed when they fly.

You go thru all the different versions of security (and if they want to examine my cup of coffee then dammit, they better not spill it unless they plan to replace it) where you may or may not have to take of part of your clothing. and you may or may not get felt up by somebody "just doing a job."

You sit and wait to be searched to get ON the plane, then you are packed in like sardines while savvy travelers AND the imbeciles of the world are competing for overhead storage space with too few referees (lord knows the airlines do not have adequate number of flight attendants.)

You may or may not get the wonderful treat of some peanuts and a cup of soda, and if you are REALLY lucky, you won't have some screaming kid or ultra chatty old lady reeking of smoke crammed into the seat next to you.

I can go on if you want, but I think you get my drift here--flying just plain sucks nowadays, and there is not a solution in sight. People are pissed off at having to deal with this and it is no wonder civility has died in airports.


Laura

PS, you can now buy your own damn lunch...

[underpants]

44. I take food no matter what they say

I've never had anyone say anything to me about it. What are they going to do? Kick me off at 30,000 feet?

[trof]

46. They'll confiscate your felafel.

And then you'll be in BIG trouble.

[underpants]

51. Shut up! SHUT UP! Cut his mic!

Oh sorry I was channeling there for a minute.

[trof]

45. More observations...

A little background:
I am retired from TWA. American Airlines bought the leavings when TWA went finally, totally, belly up. They were forced by congress to more or less assume responsibility for TWA's retirees. I get passes on AA now. Not totally free, and you pay to upgrade to 1st class (if seats are available), but a pretty good deal overall. I think the trip cost, N.O. to Boston, round trip, for Miz t. and me was around $200

We were in 1st class from N.O. to Boston. Had a nice (free) lunch of Oriental Tuna Salad. Free booze if you wanted it. Flight was 3 hours late, but...hey...it happens.

Logan-N.O. non-stop full, so had to come back through O'Hare. 1st class full. Coach was wretched. I'm 6'3", 225 lbs., and I could barely squeeze into the seat. Seatback contours don't conform to my frame so backache all the way. Got a free bag of pretzels and about 5 oz. of orange juice. 6.5 pretzels in bag. Agree with statement above, "Flying Sux", especially in coach.

Able to get last 2 seats in 1st O'Hare-N.O. No food, but at least comfortable.

No smoke from 8 a.m. till 6 p.m. Got buzz from first cigarette. Downright light-headed. ;-)

Had planned to return through DFW since non-stop was overbooked and we are strictly space available. Very nice AA ticket agent at Logan said chances of getting on the DFW to N.O. flight were slim at best. Recommended we go through O'Hare.
Gotta say that, based on one trip-3 legs, we were treated much better by AA folks than ever at TWA. Somehow TWA ground people always made us feel like they were doing us pass riders a HUGE favor by issuing boarding passes.

[amazona]

47. you can bring your own food even if food is sold on the flight

Your nuts will sometimes be confiscated but they can't take other food that doesn't interfere with operation of the aircraft. (People reacting to peanut dust apparently go into shock and cause the pilot to have to divert the plane to land quickly.)

They can announce all they want but if they actually try to take your food, I don't know why you wouldn't get the Gate Agent's name and report the matter to the proper authorities. You'd probably get some decent compensation out of it. If you actually had food confiscated, other than peanuts or nuts, I'd write to the airline and request compensation, either free drink/meal coupons for your next flight or 10,000 frequent flyer miles or both as fair compensation.

Most airlines RECOMMEND that you bring your own food. Reason: They have a limited number of meals for sale in coach which means that if EVERYONE won't be able to buy a meal.

Don't forget that, as an American, you are on a special diet and can only eat your own food. There are lots of diets you can claim to be on, be it Atkins if you are a diabetic, vegan if you have some religious aversion to eating something with a face, my diet is the "no trans fat" diet which basically means I can't eat anything cooked by someone else. Just have a story and stick with it. I've brought my own food all over the world.

The real professionals even bring their own alcohol:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=382421&highlight=bring+alcohol

It may be technically against the law but no one has ever stopped me from bringing booze on board.

They do have some very bad employees at MSY -- we've had three rounds of arrests for airline or TSA taking bribes or stealing from luggage -- so you may have gotten someone very poorly trained.

But you will find that, if anything, airline policy is to encourage you to bring your own food.

[knitter4democracy]

50. I always take my own

Ever since I flew to the Dominican Republic in college and was hungry most of the trip, I've packed my own food. I've even used a lunch bag-sized cooler with no problems. Since I'm vegetarian now, I really pack my own so that I don't have to worry about finding something I can eat.

Btw, last time I flew in and out of Kalamazoo--very nice. I'm never going anywhere else, even though other airports are within a decent drive and are sometimes cheaper. The people were nice, the screeners were polite and quick, and the baggage came out before I did. Go through the smaller airports and get treated well.