It’s too easy to complain about air travel nowadays. So tell me something surprisingly good that you experienced lately.
This is pretty minor… But it made me smile. Sitting in row 2 on a recent Alaska Air flight… Then it turns out that the luggage bin across the isle would not close! OMG. The plane is broken. Do we hafta deplane? I’ve seen planes emptied out because of much less serious things. A maintenance dude comes in and checks out the situation. Goes away and reemerges with a roll of very sturdy duct tape. We all stow our bags under the seats, everyone laughs, duct tape is applied, a stern warning “do not open!” is written across it, and the flight is on the way! 
My family and I somehow got TSA pre-check on our outgoing international flight (we have not done the Global Entry or TSA Pre-check process). It was a nice way to start a long trip.
I was a passenger on one of the last flights out of Washington DC recently, right before the big blizzard hit. We didn’t know if we were going to make it before the airport shut down, because the flight was really delayed, we had to deplane because of maintenance, it started snowing, and we were in a little regional jet. We had to deice, and the snow was really coming down, but we made it out (rough ride) and made it to our destination a few hours late, with another rough ride coming in and a rather hard landing (crosswinds).
Many of us were waiting on the jet bridge for our luggage, and it was really cold, the luggage was taking forever. Everyone was miserable after that entire experience. The pilots came out of the cockpit, grabbed their luggage and started walking past us. Heads down, not saying anything, they probably knew everyone was unhappy. Not a single person said a thing to them. As they walked by, I yelled, “Hey! Thank you for getting us here, I really appreciate it!” The captain said, “Sure, you’re welcome”. And the smile on his tired face was worth a million bucks. I’m sure not many people knew how difficult and tiring that flight must have been for them, they had probably been working at least ten hours already, flying multiple short legs in bad weather.
That was great to say to the pilot. They are unsung heroes and heroines!
I was one of the last flights out of IAD before superstorm Sandy. They were super-nice about letting us swap to the earlier nonstop flight without penalty.
I got a free upgrade to economy plus and we all had an empty seat beside us. The economy folks – some had several seats free next to them so they could even lie down!
Today, I called and asked to have my economy seat upgraded to E+, since I’m a silver premier and my flight is in less than 24 hours. The sweetheart was able to upgrade H and me and also improve our seats on our way back and also get us better seats for our flights at the end of the month. I was VERY pleased!
Just yesterday D arrived for an early morning flight and realized that her passport was at home in the printer (where she had responsibly made copies). Alaska changed her flight to a later one and only charged her $8 and were super nice about it.
I also got to board TSA on our first international flight. The 10 hours weren’t so bad, I was quite comfy. Loved the TV screen and we were constantly being fed. Our flight was late getting back to the U.S. and everyone was going to miss their connecting flights because we had to go through customs, etc. they didn’t open anyone’s bags and let us through in Detroit as quickly as they could. People were running to their connections, as were we, and we made it as they were boarding the plane home.
Also, I love the Southwest policy of no change fee charges. Just had to do that and it was wonderful! I’ve had to pay $800 once on Delta to change and was a little angry. So I will always book SW if I can.
This month, I took an international flight and used 2 different airlines in the country I visited to travel around. Great experience. No trouble and on-time flights with each airline. One of the airlines, LAN, was head and shoulders better customer service than that of any airline I have ever experienced. Healthy and tasty snacks and someone at the beginning of the check-in line to help expedite the process.
I don’t fly much but I was recently in Atlanta for a connection. The plane we were suppose to board had s mechanical problem. They found us a new plane and boarded only a half hour late. We got to our destination on time. I was super impressed.
I also want to say thanks to the crew we had when we came back from Rome in November. It was a week after the Paris bombings and everyone was tense. The American Airlines security was on full alert with extra screening at the gate. i know all that searching is a pain but it was reassuring that week. Once on board, the crew was great.
I have to say, international long haul flights in business with lie-flat beds - I look forward to. It’s personal time, I can read, watch movies, sleep as long as I like.
Oh, just rub it in Pizzagirl! LOL
I just flew a domestic round trip, 2600 miles each way. Had an aisle seat with an empty middle seat both ways. Mid-week flights have their advantages.
If you’re going on a really long flight, international lie flat is the way to do it! We got the best deal, ever, last September. Our company paid for a coach ticket to Italy for us, then Delta gave us these international upgrade passes, because we fly over 125K/miles per year on them. Before last year, they were really hard to use, because they could only be used on high fare ticket classes, but they changed the policy, and now you can use them on most tickets
I had never seen House of Cards before, and I must have watched ten episodes going over. My only complaint, was that I was watching the season finale, and in the last five minutes, they shut the entertainment system off!! Can’t blame them for that, I should have started watching earlier, but what bad timing. However, I was able to see the last five minutes going back. Definitely, instead of a long flight being a misery, those lie flat seats are a treat. However, I priced the seats online, and they would have been over 9K had we paid for them, which we never would have.
My son suffers debilitating migraines. On a recent trip we got on a plane and he felt it coming on, and of course, that was the ONE TIME none of us had any pain reliever with us. I asked a flight attendant if there was any onboard, and was told no. I explained son was about to suffer, and understood why an airline wouldn’t want to be in the pain-reliever-provider business, but this was an emergency. Another flight attendant overheard us, and came over saying she had some she’d be happy to give us, privately, because she knows how awful it would be to have a powerful migraine on a plane. Son took it and made it through the flight in a much, much better shape than if he hadn’t had it. A flight attendant’s understanding: priceless to a kiddo with migraines (and his parents) neither of whom will ever be without pain reliever again!
This story’s a few years old, but on a short layover on a long journey my preschooler somehow left her stuffed dog in the waiting area. “Puppy” was given to her as a welcome home present from her big brother and was her constant companion and comfort item. She was quietly disconsolate as we explained that the doors to the plane were closed, which meant that we couldn’t retrieve him but would have to ask the flight attendant if she could contact the desk to see if someone could locate and hold Puppy for us to have sent. We anticipated days of dealing with airport security and the lost and found. Imagine our surprise when the FA told the pilot, who radioed to have the jetbridge reattached and Puppy delivered to us. The flight left on time and we had the happiest kid on the plane.
This was on American.
I travel frequently for work and I am very short. I don’t think there’s ever been a time I haven’t had someone (another passenger or a flight attendant) help me lift my carry-on to the overhead compartment.
I hate not being able to reach the overhead compartment, so I always volunteer to have my bag checked to the final destination when they offer it. And I just made “gold” status and so now I can check a bag for free. I’d much rather wait for it on the other side than wrangle it in the restroom when making connecting flights.
DH and I had a direct flight to Vegas, the only nonstop of the day. When I checked in on Alaska online, they mentioned the flight might be overbooked and asked for volunteers to be bumped. We were driving somewhere else from Vegas, so bumping would not ruin our day and we could use those vouchers.
At the airport, the staff were so sincerely appreciative of our being willing, they even gave us a great food voucher for the pricey restaurant there. It was great.
Then we arrived at the first stop on the flight and saw that our connection was in 2+ hours, but there was another flight going in 15 minutes, we raced over and because we had been bumped, they did not have to reticket us (they said it would take 15 minutes to reticket and they would have to charge us, so not enough time) so they got us on that flight & we arrived only 4 hours later than planned, no big deal for our itinerary.
Everyone was so nice and so genuinely appreciative of our willingness to be bumpees, they must really take a lot of negatives from people who are forced to bump!
This was not a recent flight, but this is definitely the kindest thing done for me. When our oldest child was two, I had to do a move without my husband from Chicago to Connecticut, since he was working. I was so tired and stressed out, flying on a standby pass, and the only seats I could find were single center seats. I was still traumatized from having screamed at my kid in the car (he had gotten out of his car seat and was standing on the front seat as I was driving down the freeway). The thought of having to sit with this squirming kid on my lap for hours in a center seat gave me such a feeling of helplessness. As I sat there, with tears in my eyes, a flight attendant noticed my distress, and magically found us two seats together. A HUGE relief for a tired, stressed out woman.
So now when I see that look on someone’s face, I remember, and try to help. A little while ago, me and my husband were luckily upgraded to first class, on one of those airplanes with international business class seats, really a nice deal. As we were sitting there, smiling at our good fortune, a woman walked by carrying a baby on her front, a backpack, both hands full of suitcases, and a toddler trailing behind. By herself. I remember that look of sheer misery and fatigue. I got up and asked her if I could carry her bags. She said nothing, but just dropped her bags so I could carry them. She was sitting in the very last row, never said a word as I put her bags in the overhead, probably thinking I was a flight attendant, not a passenger. But I figured, if I could give her just a minute of relief, it all helps. I wish I would have given her a bunch of free drink coupons, but I didn’t think of it until later.
One of my Ds had a two flights in the past two days and both left and arrived early. Not a huge deal but made her happy!
I’m afraid I’m about to jinx next month’s flight but, in the last 6 months, I’ve been upgraded or had an empty row next to me 2 out of 3 round trips between US and Asia, upgraded one leg within between Asian destinations, and had 4 domestic flights, my entire domestic experience during that time period, land on time or early. And, the TSA pre-check has been picking up DH who is not Pre-check (one exception). Fingers crossed going forward.