Have changes in airline rules affected your travel?

[dixiegrrrrl]

Poll question: Have changes in airline rules affected your travel?

I am curious if airlines are shooting themselves in the foot with increased fees,
( An Irish airline charges fees to use the bathroom!)
increased TSA rules, etc. especially in light of this news:
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday he's trying to get the federal government to prohibit airlines from charging a fee for carry-on baggage, calling it a "slap in the face to travelers."

edited to add # 9 choice.

[dems_rightnow]

1. 8 answers....

And not a one says "Won't affect my travel". Predetermined outcome.

For me, who flys once a year at most, it won't affect my choice to fly that one time.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. I added another option, thanks for the input.

I was looking more at people who decided to STOP flying as opposed to people who continued to fly.

[On the Road]

37. Me Neither

I cut back a little for economic reasons. But in general, I will pay closer attention to the terms of conditions of the pricing. The base price of the ticket may only be half of the cost of an international flight.

[Flaneur]

2. Going through airport security feels like entering a prison.

I still fly on occasion, but if it's under a thousand miles, I'm driving. Then I only have to deal with the Highwaymen, er, Highway Patrolmen.

[Warpy]

8. Same here

One of the things that has kept me here instead of traveling is the hazing airline passengers have to endure. Such hazing doesn't make me feel safer. It makes me feel bullied.

And yes, it does feel like you're going to visit Uncle Vinne in the slammer.

[DesertRat]

3. Other..it hasn't affected my travel

[RKP5637]

4. I quit flying when the airlines turned into flying boxcars of humanity stuffed in with

no apparent passenger rights and escalating abuses of passengers by the airlines. And it continues...

[elleng]

10. So its been quite a while, eh?

[RKP5637]

16. Yep, I quit flying after 911, and was fortunately able to do that... Now IMO it has

gotten far far worse... And in the 90's I thought flying was getting ridiculous, but I had no choice, I had to fly a lot then all over the place... At one time it was fun, but IMO the "fun" part of it went out a long long time ago... Now, the airlines seem intent on making it a miserable experience by choice...

[elleng]

24. Used to be REALLY fun, and I did a fair amount of travel,

when young and later.

Circumstances have made it miserable, and airline 'choice' part related to their inability to figure out how to make money with it. Any form of transport for the public has LOTS of non-economic features, built in, unfortunately.

[MineralMan]

5. Other: It has not affected my travel at all. I go when I want,

where I want. You seem to have left off that option in your very biased poll.

[IDemo]

6. Haven't flown since the late 90's

I put myself on my own no-fly list long before the official one came out, mainly for health reasons, but also because I hate the entire airport experience.

[elleng]

9. I WILL fly, when I have the $, because travel is important to me.

I'll do my best to avoid carriers who charge the b.s. fees (and let the others know why I'm avoiding them.)

Is the Irish carrier serving beer anyway??? :sarcasm:

[DevonRex]

25. Can't wait for the first time somebody pisses their seat because they

don't have a quarter.

[RKP5637]

30. +1, n/t

[booksenkatz]

11. Taking the train to Texas this summer...

and looking forward to it! I remember how pleasant flying used to be, but I'll never do it again unless there is absolutely no other choice. It's no longer a pleasant experience, it's an ordeal. I'd rather undergo a root canal than undergo air travel. The train takes longer, but it's a fabulous trip, and I feel like a human being afterwards.

[elleng]

19. Train travel IS fun; took a good one with family

Chic.>Glacier. But can be toss-up! Amtrak lost our luggage! AND airline did same, DC > Frankfurt! Going to wedding in Poland! So we had 2 wild and crazy vacations!

[hlthe2b]

12. My first flight (as a young child) occurred before deregulation

It was a pleasure, albeit expensive for my family. Flying was a "treat," and adventure and non-routine for most families.

Most of my cumulative (many many) plane miles came prior to 911. Increasingly less pleasant, but tolerable. With the advent of TSA and the increasingly abusive attitude towards passengers, (as well as the increasing hidden charges that nickle and dime passengers to death, while making a flight as unpleasant as being loaded as cattle on a truck bed), I have decreased my travel as much as possible-- only for required work or emergencies.

[RKP5637]

17. +1, n/t

[elleng]

27. and MY first was before JETS!!!!

[hlthe2b]

28. heh heh

I love the history of commercial air flights--when "stewardesses" actually COOKED meals for the passengers! Of course on a prop plane, I'd have likely have been too queasy to eat. LOL

[RKP5637]

29. My first flight was Eastern Airlines on a DC-3, many decades ago, and it was fun then!!! n/t

[elleng]

32. Where to where?

Dad took me from NY - Philly, for the fun of it, MANY MANY MANY decades ago!

And family flew NY - London Oct. 4, 1957! (Turbo-prop?) SOME MAY RECOGNIZE that date!

[RKP5637]

35. Delaware to Miami. Turbo-prop, yep, recognize that quite well! My early

international flights were on 727's. Nice airplanes. I liked the DC-3's too. Then the planes got bigger and bigger and bigger. I always tried to get a window or aisle seat.

I recall more than once getting stuck (packed) into the center of the center seats... And one time coming back from Europe very late at night on an almost empty 747. I guess those days are gone. They had to get it back to the states for the next morning's run.

[seabeyond]

13. we use to fly often. now i wont. the upside, .... we have driven the country on vacations. gives

hubby a longer vacation because we need the time to drive. now he has to take two week vacation and he has never had that in the past. (he gets three a year, never used it all and only a week at a time). the two weeks has been excellent for him and family.

we have driven from texas to cape cod. and texas to SF. it is a blast seeing the country adn together as a family. our next trip will be oregon, WA, canada and then down montana, WY.....

i refuse to walk into a prison environment and willingly be treated as a criminal, submissively giving up my rights....

[cherokeeprogressive]

14. Half of the fun of flying now is watching the whiny, pissed off people at air terminals.

I wear slaps (flip-flops) to the airport, keep all my toiletries in my checked baggage, bring snacks, magazines, waters, and whatever else I need to entertain myself in my carry-on, and sit in the bar watching people being pissed off until just before my gate is called.

It's fun. I have no problem with it whatsoever. I'm not a high stress person anyway, so I just go with the flow, and entertain myself by trying to guess what motivates every frown or argument I see in an airport.

That's my lonely vote at the bottom of the poll, in case you haven't guessed it already.

[Bragi]

26. You're just what a police state needs to work /nt

[FirstLight]

15. I have not flown since 1/01

Too expensive even then ...

I personally prefer driving (and I don't travel more than a few hours anywhere) and big jets scare me. I actually prefer small planes! (the pilot does his own safety check on a small plane...nd the maintenance crews on big jets make me nervous...)

but the cost is the main reason, it's just too expensive for me to "go" anywhere, anyway.

[JackintheGreen]

18. I have to fly. I do research in India.

I can't really afford to fly unless I get research funding anyway. My family is spread all over the US and I haven't seen my father in 2 years because of the expense. So I'm almost in the "who can afford to fly" camp. But I can't afford the time to take a boat to India, thought the cost might be comparable.

I would rather the airlines stop trying to trick us into thinking we are buying cheap tickets and raise prices overall rather than nickel and diming us with fees. Swear to god if I was charged to used the bathroom I would shit in my seat to make a point. And all I ever do is gripe about the dickheads taking too much on as carry-ons, but the dick airlines do it to themselves by charging fees. Just fucking charge us what it costs to fly. I cannot fly to Illinois for $79 dollars. That's just a dirty marketing lie.

[OmahaBlueDog]

20. My employer insists I fly (as opposed to driving) on business trips over a certain length

However, when it comes to the family, we just bought a big, diesel guzzling Chevy Suburban because flying has become an expensive pain in the ass.

Note that, if you live in the upper Midwest, you can blame me for the accelerating climate change.

[stray cat]

21. Fly or drive 25 hours - I'll still fly

[iamjoy]

22. I Fly Less Frequently

But it doesn't have to be an emergency. However, when I am planning a vacation, I take into consideration how much of a hassle it is to fly. Usually, that results in my choosing a vacation that does not involve purchasing a plane ticket.

[Brickbat]

23. Other: I generally don't fly because I don't travel to far-away places much. I love driving, and

air travel is too expensive. When I do have to fly -- for work or because of a rare long trip -- I hate every minute of it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

31. In interests of full disclosure.

I flew for work and vacation a few times before TSA.



Never since.
The opportunity to fly again did not come up until a couple of years into the TSA abuses became widely known.
By that point, we were well into the Bush regime and to me the pattern of control was real obvious.

Now with Schumer's latest announcement, I am truly curious at where the tipping point will be for airline
travel.

[walldude]

33. I fly all the time for work...

I don't have any problems. As a frequent flier I don't pay any extra for anything, I get through the short security line, and am always prepared for security. If you do it a lot you get used to it, I'm kinda like George Clooney in Up In The Air, breeze through the airport with no problems..

My advice for people who do fly? Check out the airport online and make sure you are prepared to go through security. Don't try to sneak anything through, don't try to carry on a bag that's too big, just follow the 10 million stupid rules and it will be quick and easy.

Also for Airlines I can't recommend FRONTIER higher. I have flown on every major airline and Frontier is easily the best. They only fly domestic and there is no business or first class, they have more leg room than any other airline and the seats are comfortable. Also prices are usually low. In the 10 years I have been flying them they have been late only twice and neither time was it the airlines fault, plus they have never lost my luggage, which United and Delta seem to love to do. Jet Blue is good also but they don't fly to many places.

[RKP5637]

36. I used to fly FRONTIER and always thought they were the best too! n/t

[tango-tee]

34. I voted "other", because I have to fly ´when I visit my son in Texas,

and I take the Lufthansa non-stop flight Frankfurt-Houston. A loooong flight, but LH still offers good service, with plenty of food and drink. Last summer, the round trip ticket was only about $550.00, but we booked about three months ahead.

[TommyO]

38. I'll be driving from NJ to FL in a few weeks

No way I'm going to put my mother and I through the hassle of the draconian, and largely ineffective, screening at the airport, and we won't have to rent a car when we get down there.

[Tesha]

39. I still fly but my "radius of driving" is now about 1,000 miles.

Back in the "good old days", I'd fly for business in a 250
mile radius, but that was a close call; between "airport time"
on both ends, flying wasn't much faster.

Now, though, flying is such an enormous stinking hassle,
that even though flying is still marginally faster beyond
250 miles, I probably would drive just about anywhere
under 1000 miles. No taking off my shoes, no arguing
with TSA morons about whether my shampoo bottle is 3
ounces or 3.5, no arguments about whether my carry-on
fits in the overhead bin or not, not screaming babies next
to me, no several days of pain because my ears didn't clear
on the descent, no renting a car at the far end, no collision
damage waiver, and so on and so on. Later, no dealing with
the the obnoxious Toronto airport US ICE agents as I try to
get back into *MY OWN COUNTRY*.

It's a shame several of the places I need to go/want to go
are overseas; those are still tough to drive to ;). If one
could drive to the UK (and Eurostar on from there), I'd
never fly again.

Tesha