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.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,550 posts, read 81,117,303 times
Reputation: 57755
Advertisements
I agree that air travel has not been the same since 9/11 and has only gotten worse since Covid and the "great resignation" with so many delays and cancellations. I prefer driving, even going 3-4 states away, for me driving from here in the Seattle area to Whitler, B.C., Lake Tahoe, or even Las Vegas is not a big deal, except in winter weather. I really enjoy driving, and can see so much more than when flying over at 30,000'. Still, I would not make the same commitment to never fly. Things come up, like a funeral on short notice, or a vacation in Hawaii or Europe. For me trains are not an option, some family members
took Amtrak from Seattle to Oakland, CA and it was 21 hours, that's 7 longer than driving, and not as scenic as I5.
Flying can be cheaper than driving and extra days in hotels, but that looks like too much risk now. Airlines lowered health and training requirements because they lacked pilots. Cross-continental driving also has risks, but with simpler arrangements. Booking flights far in advance to get seats cheap enough tilts me towards driving.
Lets see how that goes when you want to get to the East Coast or even somewhere like Denver or Dallas. (I won't even bring up Hawaii or Europe)
Seriously let us know how your experience with the rail service goes after a dozen trips.
The airlines run cattle car service because that is what the customers want. They want low cost service. That means cramming as many people as possible in each aircraft. people who only have carry ons don't see why they should have luggage built into their ticket price
I agree. Just got back from a flight yesterday, and hope it will be my last. Think I'll just drive for a few days next time. The price of the ticket was ridiculous, and then you spend it crammed in your seat, plus they nickel and dime you to death for every thing - luggage, seat choice, on and on. Bunch of crazies in the airports now too. I think I'm done.
Your choice
One passenger won’t make any difference to any airline’s profit line
That person is not alone though. We got back from a flight yesterday and our whole travel party has pretty much agreed we'll just drive from now on, even with the extra time and expense of hotel accomodations etc.
And we were only on a direct two hour flight. That's how bad it's getting.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,937 posts, read 36,943,649 times
Reputation: 40635
The price complaints are very odd to me. Tickets are a bit more since the pandemic, but in real dollars they're so much cheaper than 10, 20, 30 years ago. Significantly less expensive.
The price complaints are very odd to me.
Agree. At most destinations - wherever that is - it can be tricky to find a rental car or hotel, within a week or two of leaving home. Beyond that - 3 weeks, maybe - 4? The plane tickets are already pretty low, possibly as low as they're going to get - so no real need to worry about "booking far ahead" unless you are prone to last second vacations.
Example, right now: Round trip PIT-TPA is about $400 - if I leave next week. A month from now it's more like $300. But six months from now it's ALSO $400. Supply, demand, markets, routes - dictate the price. Not advance notice, mainly. Those days are past. Tickets 11 months from now are the price as next week.
The age-old logic "buy far far ahead" - is mainly not true, except for immediate travel. A ticket THIS WEEK - is closer to $600.
The greatest advantage to buying your ticket far ahead is so that you can find the sweet spot where it might be cheapest - AND ALSO so you can sit together with your travel mate without paying - because the seats are mainly empty and free if you go out a bit of time.
Meantime - no one "nickels and dimes you" unless you're on a budget ticket to begin with. AA main cabin seats do not charge for seat selection - unless you want an exit row or something - and there is no charge for any carry-on or for ticket changes. Soft drinks and cookies are free. If you manage to qualify for gold - that's aa's LOWEST level, it ain't that hard to get to - then your first checked bag is ALSO free. Otherwise - it's $30. AA's been charging for baggage for a while now, so it's nothing new to complain about.
I just mainly don't see it. I travel a ton, maybe I'm blind to it, but mostly - I rarely experience anything to complain about it - let alone put off of flying forever.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,937 posts, read 36,943,649 times
Reputation: 40635
Yeah, I mainly take SW for domestic flights, as generally I'm going to camp and do nature photography (some exceptions of course), but I regularly am able to get from a medium to smallesh airport in New England to Florida for like $300 round trip (sometimes less), which includes two bags which are needed for tent, sleeping bag, stove (have to get propane on arrival), etc. That's about the same as 10-15 years ago, or even 20 years ago, despite the value of the dollar being 60 or 70% (not looking it up, just guessing) than it was at that time, and with fuel being higher now. I dunno. Seems like a bargain to me.
Transatlantic pricing this summer is pretty crazy if you have specific dates you’re needing. But then that’s a lot of pent up demand from one year of total blocking of tourism, a 2021 when borders were only partly open and a 2022 where a lot of folks made domestic plans instead over ongoing testing concerns so that’s not unexpected.
Domestic, some good deals, some not so good pricing out there.
You’re only nickeled and dimmed as much as you choose to be- different airlines offer different flight experiences and different levels of bundled services at different prices. No one makes someone fly Spirit. (Because that would be, like, abusive.)
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,700 posts, read 58,012,579 times
Reputation: 46172
Frontier is running bargains on their $19 seats and their summer ($399) and annual ($1,299) unlimited passes (Rules apply) Such as not being able to book domestic until the day before you want to fly (good Luck)
I just booked Western Europe for $472RT (summer) from left coast of USA
Frontier is running bargains on their $19 seats and their summer ($399) and annual ($1,299) unlimited passes (Rules apply) Such as not being able to book domestic until the day before you want to fly (good Luck)
It seems like the Frontier pass would be great for a retiree who has kids or grandkids on the other side of the country and has a free place to stay for another 3-7 days if they can’t get a flight home when they first wanted to.
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.
