Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Last several int'l flights I didn't even see customs agents as we walked out. My partner noted it first and I said "don't worry, they're probably watching on cameras with facial recognition technology - by the time you get to the exit they'll know who you're third-grade teacher was".
There's usually not many customs agents at some airports. If you had something to declare, they likely would've already known about it and met you by the time you landed.
Last several int'l flights I didn't even see customs agents as we walked out. My partner noted it first and I said "don't worry, they're probably watching on cameras with facial recognition technology - by the time you get to the exit they'll know who you're third-grade teacher was".
On my last flight, US customs was the only thing that made my flight unenjoyable. As soon as we pulled up to the gate, a customs agent boardered the plane and proceeded to yell at us over the intercom "WELCOME. TO. THE. US. EVERYONE, PUT YOUR ELECTRONICS AWAY RIGHT NOW. NO CELL PHONES. NO LAPTOPS. TURN THEM OFF. EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE PUT AWAY. IF I SEE ANY ELECTRONICS, THEY WILL BE CONFISCATED. YOU WILL NOT GET THEM BACK. THEY WILL BECOME PROPERTY OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. DO NOT GET OFF THE PLANE WITH YOUR ELECTRONICS VISABLE. [Long pause] OH, AND THANK YOU FOR FLYING WOW AIR."
As we exited the plane, we were ushered down a flight of stairs into a dimly lit basement room of the airport where we waited for 45 minutes for our luggage. Then going through customs, being asked a hundred questions... Where did you go, are you sure you didn't go anywhere else... Why were you there... How long... ? The girl in front of me was being asked her age, birthdate, where her parents are from, what high school she goes to...
Then we exit customs outside into the rain. No signs showing where we are or how to get anywhere. I called my ride to say I didn't know where we were, but that we were going to start walking left and I'd call them back when I figured out where we were. And this is my home airport, that I had flown in and out of hundreds of times.
But yeah, completely different from when we had landed in Iceland. Never saw anyone from customs, never was questioned about anything. Walked through the airport and to baggage claim just as I would for any domestic flight in the US (plus having my passport stamped).
In what way does you being 6'2 relfect on whether a post about 6'6 275 with 36" shoulders an outlier? Average shoulder width is 17-18", anyone talking about how uncomfortable things are with a 36" shoulder width is being ridiculous and citing irrational outlier examples. What is this the Somoan forum?
My wife is 5' 6" and 120 lbs. Her shoulders are 17" wide, and she would be considered exceptionally small for a man. Maybe an emaciated little fellow who has never picked up anything heavier than a pencil would fit in current coach seats, but any normal person is going to be uncomfortable. I can sit comfortably in a 22" wide seat, as long as I have shoulder room. From hip to knee I'm 29". I'm not considered exceptionally large for an American, though I was considered tall 50 years ago. If I hang out with high school kids nowadays, I'm only a little above average. In many European countries I would not be notable at all.
The first flight I took was TWA overseas. It was amazing. Champagne. Treated like a queen.
Fast-forward to now, packed in like sardines - stories daily of people being beaten, abused, etc.
It is terrible to fly now - not comfortable, and you are treated like ****.
It used to be that "customer was king" (or queen). Now they treat you like a turd. It's horrible and it doesn't have to be. Airlines are super dumb.
I don't need to be treated like a queen. I would just like comfortable, relatively roomy seats and working, nice, newish amenities. Maybe bigger bathrooms because they are TINY. I don't even need great, impressive meals. I'm cool with the snacks.
I flew Alitalia, coach, from Newark to Italy and back. 8/9 hours. The flight there was just okay. Plane was old, wasn't that clean. Seats kind of skeeved me out. Seat barely reclined. I didn't sleep a wink on this transatlantic overnight flight. I did have my own TV though. Food was... pretty bad. Flight back was worse. There were no personal TVs, only ones up in the ceiling every few rows. But my headphone jack was broken. Couldn't hear a thing. And all the movies were in Italian anyway, turns out. So I read for 9 hours basically. I like reading, but I'd rather not do it for 9 hours.
I just want... not that. I want better than that. Coach, especially on a transatlantic flight, should be better than that. It's honestly disgraceful.
And knowing what business or first class can get on some of these long-haul flights and some of the amenities that are available to those who can pay exorbitant amounts makes it suck even worse. There is such a class divide when it comes to flying, such a difference in some cases. Watch travel vlogs on YT and people who are lucky enough to be sponsored by an airline who get access to these amenities, you'll see. Airlines are capable of being better for the majority, they just won't be. They know they don't have to be - because people need to fly to get certain places. They really have no other choice. So airlines won't cater to the masses, the regular people who go on vacation or business trips a few times a year.
I understand it. Most times, air travel goes smoothly, but many times it doesn't. And airlines don't exactly handle those situations well.
My last flight (Southwest) from Philadelphia to Austin had a layover in Atlanta. Our flight from Atlanta to Austin was delayed by 6 hours. Southwest agents told everyone, via several announcements, not to leave the terminal because we could be boarding any minute. They said this for all 6 hours.
Sounds like it was a case of a mechanical issue that at first they thought could fix and then when they realized it wasn't an easy fix, Southwest's operations office had to hunt down a replacement plane. And airlines don't like to have spare planes just sitting around because a plane that is not in the air is a plane that is losing money for the company.
ATL also understandably has serious congestion issues at several time of day, and all the airlines that fly there are prone to want to get domestic flights loaded as quickly as possible during congestion hours because they never know when air traffic control is going to be able to turn their 30 minute hold into a 10 minute one and move up your slot for departure or landing. (ATL is my normal connection point; I've learned just how much Delta tends to schedule pad to get an 'on time arrival despite a 30 minute departure hold for flights involving that airport)
So the gate agent is doing what they can to make sure they can get the earliest possible rescheduled departure/arrival slot for their delayed for other reasons flight, and will be all 'don't go anywhere'
You probably don't drive a $14k sub-compact car like Ford Focus, either.
How did you guess? Though some small cars have surprisingly roomy driver compartments. If I can't afford business class, I don't fly. If the US had a decent passenger train system, I would never fly within the US.
It seems ridiculous to me that you're such a booster for flying
I'm not a "booster" of flying, I've got no horse in the race unless maybe a stock index fund I own has stake in a major airline. I just find it silly how you bring up something as trivial as needing to take off your shoes as a factor that makes flying so horrible, since it takes a few seconds and you do it every day anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AJT123
If you don't understand, you don't understand. Having to wait in line, then remove your shoes, take your If you have such a problem with people listing reasons why they hate flying, I really don't know what to tell you.
I don't have a problem with it, if anything it makes me appreciate not having such a low threshold for exasperation over insignificant things like 20 seconds to remove a laptop from a bag every few months when I fly. I mean sheesh man if I fly 4 times this year that adds up to over a minute annually of my precious time. Horrible!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
