Airlines

[Autumnovember]

What is your favorite airline to fly with and why?

I love flying with Continental because they have TV's, offer free food, and they have power outlets (I use it for the laptop).

I'm flying to Mississippi and I made my flight reservations through Continental but guess what? I'll be on a US Airways flight (someone explain why they do this please) I HATED flying with US Airways. No free food, no TV's, no power outlets. I really have to wonder why they don't have TV's on their flights.

 

[Circe]

National Loves:

I LOVE JetBlue (and miss them - I haven't been on a JetBlue flight in ages): their amenities rock, their JFK terminal is a place I'd go to just hang out, if I could, and their fares are hella cheap.

International Loves:

Oh, British Air, how do I love thee. You have comfy seats, you keep the booze flowing, and your meals are almost always some kind of a delicious tikka.

National HATES:

Delta. Yeah, you. I'm looking at you, with your 9 dollar peanuts and your surly attendants, your endlessly overbooked flights, your filthy toilets, your general air of "Suck it, clientele!" I go out of my way to avoid flying with y'all. And, though you're not an airline but an airPORT, double-suck it, Atlanta. I will never forget my miserable NINE HOUR inadvertent layover in your hellacious Escher-esque bowels as Delta overbooked flight after flight after flight.

Soutwest Air. I could take it when y'all told me you no longer had pillows because they were a choking hazard "and somebody had to think of the children." No, nitwits, you're just cheap, and I could buy that, but you're expecting me to be stupid enough to buy the excuse of "the children," and I resent it ... but whatever. The hideously fatphobic policies, on the other hand? No. I'm of average girth myself, but I absolutely refuse to give you my money so you can turn around and shame, blame, guilt, and intimidate my friends and loved ones.

International Hates:

Ryan Air: I appreciate your prices and all, but you just cannot be charging 5 bucks for tea. It's ridiculous. I swear, if I ever fly with you again, I'm bringing a teabag on principle and getting hot water from the bathroom tap ... I mean, until you start charging 5 bucks for the bathroom. Then, I will officially just give up.

 

[yssie]

Domestic US - southwest, hands down. No ridiculous change fees or painful checked baggage charges, no surprising extras like 'better seat' charges, friendly staff - who don't let Joe Shmoe on with five carry-ons and will turn bags in the overhead compartments so the last boarders don't have to gate-check, and as many peanuts, drinks, and napkins as you want worth the extra fifty or so up-front.
sorry state of affairs when free peanuts makes the list of things to praise...

Hates - US Airways. Hands down.

 

[Autumnovember]

Am I being overly dramatic by REALLY dreading this flight now that I found out its US Airways? Its so freakin boring, especially since I'll be flying solo. GAAAAAAH

Oh, and since it is a Continental reservation but a US Airways plane I can't even pick my seats

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I love Frontier (formerly Midwest) because I fly to Kansas City most often and they have direct flights. Also, any flight after 10 a.m. includes fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Annnd, all of their seats are first class and super comfy. One added benefit of having large seats in the entire plane is that you never run out of overhead space for carry ons.

My dislikes are the exact same as Circe--Delta and Southwest. I feel like Delta overbooks more than some other airlines and their customer service is not good, which is a bad combo. Southwest might be better now since they're one of the few airlines that doesn't charge for bags, but the few times I flew it made me feel like a circus animal with their A, B, C rules of boarding and I'm not one to get to the airport far in advance at all, so I always got stuck in the middle seat.

I have never been on an international flight that was miserable, but I loved British Airways and Air France.

 

[Autumnovember]

Also, can anyone tell me how connecting flights work? When I land from flight #1 and leave the plane do I just go towards the gate that second flight is at? No worrying about luggage, right?

 

[Circe]

Also, can anyone tell me how connecting flights work? When I land from flight #1 and leave the plane do I just go towards the gate that second flight is at? No worrying about luggage, right?

Yes, exactly - and check your gate at the first screen or with the first attendant you see once you're off, as they have a nasty habit of changing gates.

 

[Haven]

I love Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. I flew Virgin from Israel years ago, and they were amazing.

British Airways has a fan for life in me because of the way they treated me and my students on our trip to Greece two summers ago. They were so kind to our 42 students, and when they realized that we were six chaperones traveling with 42 teenagers, they took it upon themselves to give the chaperones free upgrades to first class. It was HEAVEN.

I hate United/Continental. They have the worst customer service and the nastiest flight attendants I have ever seen. We flew United on our honeymoon and they booked our connecting flight *really* close to our initial flight. There were several people on our flight with the same tight connection, and our initial flight was late so we had a window of about ten minutes once we landed to run from one plane to the next. DH asked a flight attendant if they might make an announcement to ask the other passengers to allow those of us connecting off first so we could make our flight. They made the announcement, all right. It went something like this: "Ladies and gentlemen, some of your fellow passengers chose to book a connecting flight dangerously close to this flight, and since they took that risk they are now left with not much time to make their connection. If you'd like, you can remain seated to allow these passengers off first, but we are not mandating it nor do we recommend that." When the plane stopped everyone just got up anyway, of course, so DH made a big announcement and got everyone to sit down for us and the others with the same connection. On our way out he said something to the flight attendants and one responded "Well, now you won't make such a bad choice next time." Too bad United book that connection for us.

Continental was equally awful on our last flight home from Ireland. It was our fault for flying with them again, though.

 

[packrat]

I've only flown 3 times, twice on Southwest and once on..Delta? I think it was Delta. They had a screw up on the way back and everyone was changed to different planes-really little ones, and everyone's luggage went in other planes. Seemed pretty dumb to me, but whatever, got home in one piece so I guess it's ok.

 

[ForteKitty]

Fav international:

Air New Zealand- great service, tons of leg room even in coach (i couldn't even touch the seat in front when chair is fully upright!), great entertainment on demand, decent food (which says a lot for airplane food), good wine (and lots of it!). We flew them lax-london. (shhh... a lot of people dont know they fly to london!) During the r/t, we finished 6 movies off our netflix list. One of the top 3 flights ever.

Malaysian Airline- deep seats, great service, great entertainment. And when i got hungry mid-flight, they gave me cup o noodles. and some beer.

Eva Air- same as above. love the service.


Fav domestic:

Southwest- love love love. if i change my flight, or dont even show up, no charge! and i have one year to use up that credit! plus no luggage fee!!

Hawaiian Airlines- lax to honolulu gets 2 meals... it's only a 5 hr flight! Flight attendants are so nice too. Plus their new planes all have tvs for each seat.

Virgin America- fun, fun fun!!

Frontier- the NICEST flight attendants. i couldn't even tell their smiles were fake.



Hate: US Air, Delta (except when they had Delta Song back in... 2004? i really liked that) - small seats, bad service. Any airline that doesn't have seatback tvs.

 

[ForteKitty]

My dislikes are the exact same as Circe--Delta and Southwest. I feel like Delta overbooks more than some other airlines and their customer service is not good, which is a bad combo. Southwest might be better now since they're one of the few airlines that doesn't charge for bags, but the few times I flew it made me feel like a circus animal with their A, B, C rules of boarding and I'm not one to get to the airport far in advance at all, so I always got stuck in the middle seat.

You dont have to get there early to board early for Southwest. You can check in online 24 hrs before your flight to secure your boarding group. A lot of people dont do that, so I've been able to get group A as late as 2-3 hrs before the flight. I usually get to the airport about 45 mins before boarding time if I only have carryon, about 1 hr if i have to check, and walk right up to the gate as group A is boarding. I've never gotten the middle seat as a group A or B, or run out of overhead space.

 

[Agent P]

Wow. I must be lucky. I have flown 23 times in this past year, 21 flights with Delta and 2 with USAirways. I never really had any major problems with Delta but was not happy with USAirways lack of beverage service. I am in Mississippi and I do not work for Delta. When I book my flights I do try to get ones that connect in Memphis vs. Atlanta though. However, the baggage claim at Gulfport/Biloxi has serious issues...

Before this I always used to fly Airtran as my first choice but they left GPT and I had to fly the other airlines. They did come back to GPT part time but their flights never seem to be on days I need to travel.

 

[sillyberry]

Am I being overly dramatic by REALLY dreading this flight now that I found out its US Airways? Its so freakin boring, especially since I'll be flying solo. GAAAAAAH

Oh, and since it is a Continental reservation but a US Airways plane I can't even pick my seats

Yes. Bring a book. You'll be fine.

As for why, Continental and US Airways have merged so they're now codesharing while they officially merge all operations over the next few years.

Flying used to be a fun adventure. Now? Not so much. For any number of reasons - cost cutting by the airlines, security impositions by the government, a coarsening of the traveling public. These days I like to think of it as a bus with wings - they have to get me from Point A to B and anything else is gravy. I need to be prepared to entertain myself, avoid hunger, and moderate my own temperature.

(I will say I loathe Southwest's boarding system. I prefer a seat. But everything else about the airlines is pretty good)

 

[lizzyann]

Personally, I have always liked American Airlines. I used to fly to Minneapolis for work about once or twice a month stopping in Chicago and it worked out well.

However, I hate hate hate Southwest. I hate the seating thing. I like to know my seat in advance and not have to pray to get an A seating so that I can get a decent seat. My DH though loves Southwest. But he always flies business class so totally different.

When I used to fly to Hong Kong for work, I would fly business class on Cathay Pacific and I was treated like GOLD!!! Individual pods with tv's and room to lay flat and sleep. good food and tons of amenities. Glad work was paying that bill!!!

Oh and AN, when you have a layover, just get off the plane and check the monitor to confirm which gate you need to get to for the next leg of your trip. Sometimes, they will also announce the gates for you while you are still on your plane to give you a heads up so you know where to go!

Hey AN, I need you for a Coach Sabrina Bag consult over in the "Shopping" section. Pop by when you get a moment.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

I love Southwest. Especially since they changed the way the do their boarding. I love the fact I can buy my ticket and know everything is paid for. I am hoping that the inflight internet will come soon. I would not mind paying for that. I do wish they had better flights to certain regions. We are flying to NY and are not thrilled that we could not get a direct flight to such a big city. But we booked with them because I am really close to getting a free flight.

I can't stand United. I have had customer services experiences similar to Haven. Once I arrived 1.5 hours early, and they only had 2 people to check people in (this is before electronic check in). They were so slow I missed my flight and they were nothing but rude to me about it. I spent the whole day at the airport. At the time, Southwest did not fly to Philadelphia, but they were coming in a few months. I got on the phone and made sure I was in hearing distance of their employees and talked about how much I was looking forward to Southwest coming to Philly as if they had a slow line, they always let people with upcoming flights check in first. After that, they started being a little nicer to me, and than I got put in first class. While that was nice, I overall am still not happy with them as I have received poor service on other flights as well.

I used to love Continental, but I have not flown with them since United bought them. I am not sure if their business model has changed or not.

 

[yssie]

I gotta say I love Southwests' seating policy. No $5 or $10 extra to sit in the aisle, no sinking feeling in your gut when the person who is sitting next to your assigned seat is also half in yours and there's nothing you can do about it, no being stuck boarding last and having to gate check - it's *all* in your control - just check in as soon as you can online, or have someone else take two minutes to do it for you, and you get to get on the plane quickly and choose your own seat wherever you want!

What's not to like?

 

[Jessie702]

Im gonna be honest, i dont really like any of them. Ive flown, Southwest, Continnetal, American Airlines, United, Delta....i hate them all. I just think Continnental is the lesser of all the evils. They have TV's, not as pricey food, and have been on flights were you can play games against others. Southwest, might not charge for bags, but they get you in the price of the ticket. Also, they have smaller seats. I usually fly with C ever 6 months or so for vacation, and we usually fly Delta, due to skymiles, but try to find the flights that are through the different carriers. LoL...

 

[ForteKitty]

Before i book any flight, i check here first: http://www.seatguru.com

They tell you which seats to avoid, what type of entertainment system each plane is equipped with, and how big the seats are. it is wonderful!

 

[sillyberry]

As for why, Continental and US Airways have merged so they're now codesharing while they officially merge all operations over the next few years.

Error - Continental and United have merged, and United and US Airways have long codeshared. So now Continental codeshares with US Airways. Sorry for the incorrect original statement.

 

[diva rose]

My top picks:
Emirates, Cathay, Asiana, Singapore, Maylasia

Worst - China Air, Air China, British Airlines and any US airlines.
Sorry folks but they have really bad service in comparision to the ones mentioned above

 

[Autumnovember]

Very informative responses everyone! Thank you!

I'm hoping that 45 minute layover is plenty of time to get from point A to B

 

[yssie]

You'll be fine.

You're not going through LAX or Utah so you'll have plenty of time to get to your next gate

 

[Autumnovember]

You'll be fine.

You're not going through LAX or Utah so you'll have plenty of time to get to your next gate

When I was in LAX, I saw the catastrophe of an airport that it is first hand....never again

 

[Jessie702]

yeah, im sure, you will be fine....i had a delay from New Orleans, to Home, but had a connecting flight in Houston....now that is a big airport and it was hell trying to make my connecting flight, i almost didnt make it.

 

[Indylady]

National Loves:

Delta. Yeah, you. I'm looking at you, with your 9 dollar peanuts and your surly attendants, your endlessly overbooked flights, your filthy toilets, your general air of "Suck it, clientele!" I go out of my way to avoid flying with y'all. And, though you're not an airline but an airPORT, double-suck it, Atlanta. I will never forget my miserable NINE HOUR inadvertent layover in your hellacious Escher-esque bowels as Delta overbooked flight after flight after flight.

I've flown Delta through Atlanta about a dozen times; flying Delta is kind of an art..well, maybe more like playing an intense round of DDR. You have to buy your ticket; then, check in online the night before, and print a ticket through the kiosk. If you miss either the second or third steps, it might not matter that you've bought the ticket. All flights are over-booked, and someone who has done steps 2 and 3 have more claim that someone who's only bought their ticket. I've heard more than my fair share of people going, "But I bought a ticket!!" Nope, in the world of Delta, that is not enough. If you want to change your flight, you can: you just take any empty seats on an upcoming flight throughout the day..except all of the upcoming flights will always be overbooked!!

My faves: Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Jet Blue
Worst: Delta..

 

[Cehrabehra]

ryan air is the worst airline in the world. I dare anyone to come up with a worse airline. Southwest attracts the same budget customers but they do it infinitely better.

Korean Air treats you really well and I like their entertainment system - they're still my #1 for international flights except I really hate their seats.

American Airlines sucks. I always liked continental too.

 

[Cehrabehra]

You'll be fine.

You're not going through LAX or Utah so you'll have plenty of time to get to your next gate

When I was in LAX, I saw the catastrophe of an airport that it is first hand....never again

ditto - that's the 2nd worst airport in the world... that I've been to. The one north of london, cannot recall the name begins with an L - I hated that one. I have a long story. They are hateworthy there... LAX is just annoying for international.

The BEST airport in the world, in my opinion, is Incheon in Seoul. Everyone I know who's been through there agrees. Of course we haven't hit them all... SFO is another really nice airport.

 

[Cehrabehra]

My top picks:
Emirates, Cathay, Asiana, Singapore, Maylasia

Worst - China Air, Air China, British Airlines and any US airlines.
Sorry folks but they have really bad service in comparision to the ones mentioned above

oh yes I was going to mention that asiana was very nice too.... and china air is still better than ryan air.

 

[TravelingGal]

LAX is my homebase airport, and I'd venture that for the traffic it gets, it's the WORST airport in the world. I hate LAX! Detest it! It's an absolute clusterf*ck and I feel so sorry for the people who aren't familiar with it and have to connect through here. Honestly, it's actually great that it IS my home airport because I will never, ever get stuck at LAX.

Airlines, I hate southwest for business travel. For pleasure, I don't mind it. Go figure. Probably because I would check in a bag for vacation and like the free bag policy.

Honestly, I've flown the major US airlines and don't like any of them. I have never tried Jet Blue or Virgin America and would like to try them.

In Europe, I really wasn't a fan of Olympic Air!

Internationally, I usually have a good experience with Qantas. I like the A380, but after the latest issues with that jet, I'm a little more nervous to fly it! Business class on the A380-Qantas was FAB.

 

[diva rose]

My top picks:
Emirates, Cathay, Asiana, Singapore, Maylasia

Worst - China Air, Air China, British Airlines and any US airlines.
Sorry folks but they have really bad service in comparision to the ones mentioned above

oh yes I was going to mention that asiana was very nice too.... and china air is still better than ryan air.

Good point - lol - anything is better than Ryan Air.