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Philosophy on airline choice, vouchers, rewards etc

closetohumping

By closetohumping
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gmr548

gmr548 16,392

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I just fly whatever airline (excl. ultra low cost carriers) has the most cost effective and conveniently scheduled non-stop flight to my destination. Flying sucks so I try to minimize the travel time. Living in Houston, roughly equidistant from IAH and Hobby, it is almost always United or Southwest. Tie goes to Southwest because Hobby is the better airport. 

I don't know why some people still thinking of Southwest is a discount carrier. Their prices along with United, American, and Delta all tend to track one another outside of a given carrier doing a sale. Delta is the only airline I would say I've perceived as having a better experience than the rest but I haven't really flown them post-COVID since moving here. I have no idea if that is still true.

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Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock 7,291

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I fly SWA to Vegas 1-2 times a year, to Denver 3-5 times a year and ATL 1-2 times all for work and never have an issue. About 7 years ago they flew me home from Denver on AA for some reason after flying up there from Love field and AA managed to lose my checked bag with almost $70k in equipment in it. Their response was "give it a few days and if it doesn't turn up go to this website and fill out a claim and maybe you'll get a couple hundred dollars in flight vouchers". Fuck those putos

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kevwun

kevwun 15,540

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I got to spend a night in fabulous Queens because Delta ran out of pilots at JFK back in the summer.  Got 3 hours of sleep and then had to be back at 4:00am to fly to Salt Lake City then Austin.  Before they cancelled the flight, they changed gates on us so we got to walk through a mile of terminal first.  I will never voluntarily fly through there again.

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billfromlaketravis

billfromlaketravis 11,302

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9 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

I’ve flown American round trip to New York JFK from Austin three times in the last five weeks. We’ve returned to the gate for maintenance issues 3 times.

I’d try to fly into Newark if you can. Especially with how frequently you’re traveling up there. 
 

You get off the plane, get on the commuter train, and you’re in Penn Station in 30 minutes. 

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PenelopeWitherspoon

PenelopeWitherspoon 19,016

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Cairo airport is pretty shitty.

I fly BA.  I’ll hit Gold, which means first class check in at JFK and Heathrow even if only flying business.  It will also mean upgrades to first from business if they have them.  

Since COVID, I’ve flown BA (Business), American (First and Business), Swiss (First and Business), and Virgin Atlantic (Upper Class).  These have all been international flights.  Heathrow is a very nice airport if you are flying business or first, and the lounges are pretty good.  Also, Heathrow is ligh years better than CDG, which I prefer over Schipol.  Stockholm has probably been my most disappointing airport to date, other than Cairo.  What a shitshow.

I have one more flight this year (JFK/LHR RT Business) which will put me at 1,280 tier points.  Unlike US airlines, my BA qualification year runs through Feb 8th (day you joined), and I have a flight on Finnair in January that will end me at 1,840 tier points for this year (1,500 is gold).  I fly JFK/Helsinki/Singapore RT.  Then I was able to use United points (still have the cc) for flights from SIN to Siem Reap and Da Nang to SIN in business on Singapore Air.  
 

i have not flown domestic since COVID, but will have to make some trips to Houston this year.  

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PenelopeWitherspoon

PenelopeWitherspoon 19,016

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2 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I’d try to fly into Newark if you can. Especially with how frequently you’re traveling up there. 
 

You get off the plane, get on the commuter train, and you’re in Penn Station in 30 minutes. 

Counterpoint, you are at Penn Station, which is a shitshow at the best of times.  LGA is your quickest route into the city.  I can go door to door from my apt to LGA in less than 30 minutes.  Taxis are your friend.

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Bozo_Casanova

Bozo_Casanova 26,126

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12 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I’d try to fly into Newark if you can. Especially with how frequently you’re traveling up there. 
 

You get off the plane, get on the commuter train, and you’re in Penn Station in 30 minutes. 

Look I’ve been an EWR truther for years, you don’t have to pitch me, but I’ve got a handful of things going here.

 1) I’m exec platinum on AA, which is awful for most people but honestly pretty great for EPs

2) I also fly to a ton of second/third-tier cities (think Ft Wayne, Midland etc) making AA an often necessary choice

3) When in NYC I’m mostly in midtown and my office is next door to Grand Central. With the new Madison terminal opening and the LIRR line, I’m able to get from gate in Terminal 8 to midtown in 50 minutes regardless of traffic via air train-Jamaica-Grand Central. 
 

that said- you are absolutely right that most people should fly into EWR when going to Manhattan and take the train to Penn Station.

@PenelopeWitherspoon agree with your points about Heathrow. Most issues is Heathrow are related to airport operations in my opinion. Perceptions are tainted by people being angry about delays when they are there.
CDG, on the other hand, is fucking terrible in all circumstances. 

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Ag with kids

Ag with kids 579

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10 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Look I’ve been an EWR truther for years, you don’t have to pitch me, but I’ve got a handful of things going here.

 1) I’m exec platinum on AA, which is awful for most people but honestly pretty great for EPs

2) I also fly to a ton of second/third-tier cities (think Ft Wayne, Midland etc) making AA an often necessary choice

3) When in NYC I’m mostly in midtown and my office is next door to Grand Central. With the new Madison terminal opening and the LIRR line, I’m able to get from gate in Terminal 8 to midtown in 50 minutes regardless of traffic via air train-Jamaica-Grand Central. 
 

that said- you are absolutely right that most people should fly into EWR when going to Manhattan and take the train to Penn Station.

@PenelopeWitherspoon agree with your points about Heathrow. Most issues is Heathrow are related to airport operations in my opinion. Perceptions are tainted by people being angry about delays when they are there.
CDG, on the other hand, is fucking terrible in all circumstances. 

Meh..Never really had bad experience at CDG.

Granted, I've only been through there 4 times, but...

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Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock 7,291

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Did the heroin ever turn up?

Funny enough it was a piece of technology that could tell you if something was flour, lactose, or cocaine and what % it was. Also made by the same people that make the scanner you put all your shit in the tray to go through at security in every airport. They found it pretty quickly when I explained it was property of the federal govt.
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PenelopeWitherspoon

PenelopeWitherspoon 19,016

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On 11/18/2023 at 7:07 PM, Ag with kids said:

Meh..Never really had bad experience at CDG.

Granted, I've only been through there 4 times, but...

The only reason I’ve had good CDG experiences is because I’m flying Business or First.  That and it takes an hour or more to get into central Paris.  Eurostar in, fly out provided you are in premium classes.

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kilroydos

kilroydos 267

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6 hours ago, The Ace of Aces said:

Frankfurt is the worst large international hub. Fuck that place. 

Having to exit, go through the draconian security that takes forever, waste two hours, and then return to my gate that was two down from my arrival gate?  Yeah, that's Frankfurt to me.

Plus, I always enjoy explaining in GermEnglish why a Kindle isn't a laptop, but isn't a phone.

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mdleast

mdleast 8,162

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Always fly American as I want to be able to choose my seat and being in Dallas they seem to fly everywhere i want direct.

This was the first year we have ever flown anywhere for Thanksgiving (stayed in a beach house in Malibu) and was apprehensive of how the crowds would be.
Chose to fly out Tuesday morning and fly back today as i had read those are the least busy Thanksgiving travel days.

Pleasantly surprised to report that both DFW and Burbank (i always want to avoid LAX + it’s cheaper flying into/from here vs LAX) were extremely quick and easy to get through. Like way quicker than i’ve experienced in summer travels.

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Gil Bang

Gil Bang 25,831

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1 hour ago, mdleast said:

Always fly American as I want to be able to choose my seat and being in Dallas they seem to fly everywhere i want direct.

This was the first year we have ever flown anywhere for Thanksgiving (stayed in a beach house in Malibu) and was apprehensive of how the crowds would be.
Chose to fly out Tuesday morning and fly back today as i had read those are the least busy Thanksgiving travel days.

Pleasantly surprised to report that both DFW and Burbank (i always want to avoid LAX + it’s cheaper flying into/from here vs LAX) were extremely quick and easy to get through. Like way quicker than i’ve experienced in summer travels.

Flys through Burbank because it's "cheaper" to get to Malibu beach house. 

Interesting.

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High Plains Drifter

High Plains Drifter 10,961

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Flew Ryan Air this summer from London to Hamburg. Short flight, crowded, but on time.

Flew British Airways from Heahtrow back to Austin. 1.5 hour delay once we boarded because "a gasket was hanging out of one of the engines, so we need to get an engineer to look at it."

Finally left, then we landed, another two hour delay after landing, because "another plane is blocking our terminal".

Then another hour delay waiting for our luggage because the luggage conveyor had a "logjam".

Not to mention the BA flight attendants make your MIL look like a saint. Plus the food was absolutely terrible. British air plane food. Shudder.

 

 

 

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closetohumping

closetohumping 17,339

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23 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

Flew Ryan Air this summer from London to Hamburg. Short flight, crowded, but on time.

Flew British Airways from Heahtrow back to Austin. 1.5 hour delay once we boarded because "a gasket was hanging out of one of the engines, so we need to get an engineer to look at it."

Finally left, then we landed, another two hour delay after landing, because "another plane is blocking our terminal".

Then another hour delay waiting for our luggage because the luggage conveyor had a "logjam".

Not to mention the BA flight attendants make your MIL look like a saint. Plus the food was absolutely terrible. British air plane food. Shudder.

 

 

 

Flew American from  OC to NYC. 1.5 hour weather delay.  Finally got the green light to take off, engines turn on and then "oh, looks like we have mechanical issue."  Delayed for the night.

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Bozo_Casanova

Bozo_Casanova 26,126

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On 11/17/2023 at 9:54 AM, Bozo_Casanova said:

I’ve flown American round trip to New York JFK from Austin three times in the last five weeks. We’ve returned to the gate for maintenance issues 3 times.

Updated! make that 5 trips and 7 times in  five weeks.

last night after a 6 hour delay we changed planes, only to lose our flight crew because the ABIA ramp crew was a half hour late to deplane the inbound and the pilot got taken out of service. 
arrived at JFK today, 18 hours behind schedule. 
oops! 

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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45,420

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5 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Updated! make that 5 trips and 7 times in  five weeks.

last night after a 6 hour delay we changed planes, only to lose our flight crew because the ABIA ramp crew was a half hour late to deplane the inbound and the pilot got taken out of service. 
arrived at JFK today, 18 hours behind schedule. 
oops! 

Good god man

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conVINCEd

conVINCEd 21,468

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I’m not a frequent flyer.  I’m almost exclusively AA these days, and I haven’t had what I would consider a significant problem in the last 5 years.  Probably 40-50 flights in that time frame.  90% of those flights are DFW-LAX/CHS.  Have I had delays?  Sure, but nothing that required adjusting my plans.  I just got there or home a little later.  I guess I’m lucky.

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MisterP

MisterP 127

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On 11/17/2023 at 7:35 AM, kevwun said:

I got to spend a night in fabulous Queens because Delta ran out of pilots at JFK back in the summer.  Got 3 hours of sleep and then had to be back at 4:00am to fly to Salt Lake City then Austin.  Before they cancelled the flight, they changed gates on us so we got to walk through a mile of terminal first.  I will never voluntarily fly through there again.

Should have stayed at the TWA hotel, I did that on the way to Bermuda for an overnight layover and it was pretty fun.

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PenelopeWitherspoon

PenelopeWitherspoon 19,016

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The New York metro is probably one of the worst areas to connect or fly to and from.  Weather and the our draconian Air Traffic control system means that if there are a few delays, the whole system cascades.  The nice thing is, however, generally, they get the international flights in and out, so it is really more the domestic planes that have the issues more often than not.  

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Sbbruin

Sbbruin 21,690

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On 11/17/2023 at 2:42 PM, DallasGatr said:

LAX is a palace compared to that dump in England.

The airport itself is nice and getting nicer with a lot of upgrades prior to the Olympics.  But traffic absolutely blows.  Picked up my son the day before Thanksgiving and it was a disaster.

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mdleast

mdleast 8,162

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The airport itself is nice and getting nicer with a lot of upgrades prior to the Olympics.  But traffic absolutely blows.  Picked up my son the day before Thanksgiving and it was a disaster.

The traffic is the reason I avoid LAX like the plague. I recently opted for Burbank in lieu of LAX, and which Burbank reminds me (for the Dallas folks) of Love Field before they did the previous upgrades. That is incredibly small and basic but also incredibly convenient.
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