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I haven't flown in decades and after reading this thread, I'm glad!!
I don't understand why hotel rooms need a 1" PLUS gap under the room door which only exacerbates noises from the hall. How about a door that helps with soundproofing?
Also, pet-friendly hotel does not mean letting your large dog sniff all the food in the breakfast area.
When I book a hotel with a King bed and they give us two queens or two doubles!
Seriously? It's a place to sleep. As long as it's clean who the hell cares?
Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang
Some care more about trying to distinguish themselves as better more enlightened travelers than their compatriots by constantly trading in tired cliches and exaggerating tales of boorish behavior.
I'm amazed how some people are with traveling. Sadly my mom is one of the worst people to fly with. Once you land it's fine, but the fun can't start until you get to your destination.
Getting from the airport to the hotel, which always seems to take forever. We made the mistake of landing in Bangkok just in time for rush hour. It took almost 3 hours to get from BKK to our hotel by taxi. It's hard because when you land you are so ready to start your vacation, yet it often takes a long time to get from the airport to wherever you're going.
While we're on the subject of stupid fees, we stopped using VRBO and Air B&B when Expedia bought them and added that nonsense "service fee" to all rentals. It was annoying enough for us as renters to pay a "cleaning fee" on their rental apartments, but then they tacked on an additional 4-9% "service fee" charge purely as a money grab. On a several day stay, that additional cost can be considerable. We haven't rented from them since, which is a shame, because we prefer the privacy of a stay at a private home or cabin rather than an impersonal hotel room.
I do a lot of international travel, in both commercial and military aircraft. I have reached a point where I like milair better because I can stretch out somewhere on the aircraft, use my backpack as a pillow, and drift off to dreamland without worrying about people reclining into my lap, me reclining into someone else's lap, screaming babies (my coworkers and I have a joke about the ICAO-mandated screaming baby on every flight and yes, it's [mostly] a joke), and fake service dogs. I don't even care that military flights take longer and make side stops in odd places.
As far as commercial air, not much bothers me. Screaming babies, eh, that's what headphones are for. As for kids, just don't ask me to watch them and please don't let them invade my space. Chatty passengers, w/e. TSA? With the exception of a couple of overzealous patdowns, be polite to them and they'll be polite to you.
My ire is very specifically reserved for Spirit passengers traveling to Miami, which is a trip I make every few months. Silly, right? Spirit is okay for short-haul flights (2 hours or less) - they are, as their CEO once said, the Dollar General of air travel and you will pay for every single thing, but their fares are ridiculously cheap. People flying Spirit to Miami are a bunch of $35,000 millionaires who think there should be bottle service and a VIP section and they are doing Spirit a favor by gracing their aircraft.
First of all, Ive flown through 24 airports on six continents in the past few years, and I have not yet heard a baby cry for more than about 30 seconds, on a plane nor in the terminal.. Luckily, I was not on any of your Hell-flights, where crying babies seem to be a standard feature as well as lord knows what other atrocities..
Second, flying is an unusual experience for most children, who have not yet become accustomed to the trials of the experience, such as being in a confined space surrounded by strangers in a noisy uncomfortable environment, unusual routine scheduling, pre-occupied parents, and inner ear pressurization, to name a few. That babies sometimes cry no longer surprises me.
But public transportation is exactly that, a means for all members of the public, without renting, buying or chartering their own private conveyance. Ride a bus in Guatemala sometime, with a fellow passenger's goat in your lap, and you will begin to get a sense of the human condition outside your own sheltered and well-mannered experience. There are all kinds of people out here, and we all find a way to deal with each other.
My airport count is 21, mostly SEA, JFK, FRA, ORD and like, with only one w/o international status. So yes, I know what I'm talking about.
Now, are you ready to swear, right now, that if a person, who have no idea what shower is, will be seated near you, you will keep your nirvana? Because, as you just said, he has right to go, too.
Babies, in most cases, have no business in the air. Their parents do. They have to make sure others don't suffer because of their wants. It's called politeness, etiquette, good behavior, good upbringing, etc. Entitleness is a completely different mode of operation.
And, nobody mentioned Guatemala so far. Besides, goats smell with milk and grass, they are fun, and widows are open, and there are all kinds of sounds around, and you can change seats, or leave the train on a next stop. I rode a lot of trains, including ones you hop on and hop off, sometimes on the baggage shelf (right below the ceiling).
Surprised no one mentioned bag fees. Am I the only person who remembers when bags flew free? And before anyone mentions the greatness of Southwest Airlines, I never ever find them to be cheaper to my destination, even when baggage fees are included.
It is infuriating to me that you don't get free checked bags on flights from the mainland to Hawaii! Especially when I'm paying $1,500 for a ticket
What a loony response. This was on the plane from Newark, not on the ground in India.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang
I'm guessing most people on an international flight have daily access to toilets with running water.
Well, folks who are brought up in a certain environment, adapt and consider many things as "normal" which may seem a nuance and abnormal to you. If you don't smell curry near Indians then where else are you going to smell it? Near Norwegians?
The fuss made about experiencing a certain environment in a plane full of Indians is really not a complaint - but stating the obvious as if it was not expected. I see a lack of common sense.
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