<p>I just booked two flights on Delta. I was happy that I was able to pick our seats without a charge. We usually travel outbound with just carry-on and sometimes check on the way home. Our first flight is out of a small airport where we leave the carryon at the foot of the stairs so at least half of the trip we don’t have to worry about overhead bins.
I have had pretty good luck with Delta. I avoid US Air whenever possible since they seem to always have problems on the return trip into our local airport. In the last year with them I have known at least 5 people who ended up spending the night in Arizona or Las Vegas on the way home.</p>
<p>Marite : no one serves wine like the male stewards on Air France - even my kids did notice. Food is usually good on Air France, even on short flights within Europe. And all of their long haul jets have movies on demand.</p>
<p>Continental still feeds a sandwich on domestic flights.
While flying Delta to Canada from US not only did I get no food , but I had to pay for wine. And it was an international flight!</p>
<p>When you check in outside and your luggage is overweight or you have more than 1, you can always “haggle” with the person there. One time, I had an overweight luggage; he said I could pay $25 upfront to him now instead of going back inside and paying $50 (normal price for overweights). Obviously, he kept that money. Another time, I had brought two luggage bags and instead of charging me 15+25=40, I just gave that guy a 25.</p>
<p>^^^Sounds ethical. Maybe that is why the Spirit Air staff can’t take cash…</p>
<p>Northwest just announced $80 “fuel surcharge” for the majority of their US routes.</p>
<p>Good for them!</p>
<p>Hello, Amtrack…</p>
<p>^^ Our stock investment group was actually thinking of looking into RR stocks, Lafalum…</p>
<p>DH has found it’s actually easier to take the Acela between Boston and NYC than it is to fly. No security to deal with, no weather delays, he can work on his laptop the entire time, and Grand Central Station is a closer to the office than LaGuardia. Price is about the same, total travel time ends up being about the same, and he’s a lot less stressed.</p>
<p>How long do you think it’ll take US Airways flight attendants to penny pinch their way through coach collecting one or two dollars for a water, soda, coffee or tea?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[The</a> Middle Seat Terminal : Starting Today, No More Free Water on US Air](<a href=“http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2008/08/01/starting-today-no-more-free-water-on-us-air/]The”>http://blogs.wsj.com/middleseat/2008/08/01/starting-today-no-more-free-water-on-us-air/)</p>
<p>My D just flew Delta yesterday from Atlanta to Portland, then on to Medford. Fortunately, she had no problems. But we noticed that the flight was marked as having only food for purchase. Since my D has a bit of a problem with dehydration and blood sugar issues, we filled her purse with snack foods (peanut butter crackers) and made sure she had an empty water bottle with her. She filled it from a drinking fountain after she went through security. I got that tip from someone here on CC - so thanks!</p>
<p>We were especially happy that she had no issues taking her violin on board. Her travelling companion also had no trouble with her viola. Just wish every trip was not so fraught with uncertainty!</p>
<p>"DH has found it’s actually easier to take the Acela between Boston and NYC than it is to fly. No security to deal with, "</p>
<p>The ease and comfort are wonderful.</p>
<p>However, the lack of security on train travel is frightening.</p>
<p>"
This morning, US Airways began charging fliers $2 for bottled water and sodas and $1 for teas and coffees. First class members, trans-Atlantic passengers and a select group of others are exempt from the extra fees."</p>
<p>I am so glad that I have been virtually everywhere in the U.S. and world that I’ve had a strong desire to to see. Traveling used to be fun, especially by plane. Now it’s stressful, expensive, inconvenient, and uncomfortable.</p>
<p>Glad I sold my airline stock, and glad that I used virtually all of my Delta miles this spring. I managed to fly first class coast to coast. With the new changes, however, the number of miles that I used wouldn’t even be guarantees of a coach ticket.</p>
<p>I think the equation for the airlines is simple: find ways to recoup their costs, or go bellyup. I expect for the majority it will be the latter, and those that survive will cannibalize them. </p>
<p>In 1970, I flew coast-to-coast (my first flight) for $209 roundtrip. In September, I’m flying coast-to-coast for $210 roundtrip.</p>
<p>“In September, I’m flying coast-to-coast for $210 roundtrip.”</p>
<p>How are you getting such amazing fares?</p>
<p>It wasn’t hard. I simply went to the AirTrans website and bought my tickets. Didn’t do anything special. I just went back and forth to Florida last week for $305 roundtrip.</p>
<p>My older one is flying one way to DC for $99.</p>
<p>I don’t expect this to hold. But, on the other hand, I don’t expect the price to be quadruple what it was in 1970 (which it should be, even without fuel cost hikes) either.</p>
<p>Air travel is a really good deal!</p>
<p>Darn. Airtran used to be in my area, but unfortunately, left several years ago leaving us with only the major carriers.</p>
<p>You’ll probably lose some of the major carriers, too. That’s the way the “free market” is supposed to work. All things being equal, you’ll end up with flights costing four times what they did in 1970, and add on a little extra for fuel. That would be roughly “fair value” - until something cheaper comes along.</p>