Boyfriend (now husband) and I were going to Cancun. Days of paper tickets and pre 9/11. We had flown via Mexico City. The agent checks our tickets at the boarding gate. We board a rickety old 727 complete with an aft air stair and hilarious mismatched seats. They give us our food as we are taxiing, which was weird on its own.
I know a little Spanish, but didn’t pay attention at first, as I was busy looking at my terrible food. I do hear “blah blah blah Monterrey….blah blah Monterrey blah blah….” Alarmed, I flag a flight attendant, showing her my ticket to Cancun.
The plane taxis off to the side. The airstair is lowered and boyfriend and I are whisked back to the gate, where our plane to Cancun awaits.
It is quite mind boggling to think that the gate agent of the Monterrey flight looked at not just one, but two tickets to Cancun and put us both on a plane to Monterrey anyway. I last flew out of Mexico City in 2022, and it now seems as modern and secure as any other airport.
Once when flying home from college, by coincidence I was seated next a classmate I knew who lived in the same state. She confessed to being a nervous flyer. I of course assured her that flying was perfectly safe.
Well as luck would have it, when landing we actually had an aborted landing. Not quite an actual touch and go, but were close to touching down when the engines powered up and we pulled up.
My seatmate of course said - “See I told you! We almost died just then!”
And yeah, she was right. The pilot came on shortly after and told us that another plane had failed to clear the runway. I don’t think I’ve had any similar close calls in 30+ years of flying since, so I always think about what a coincidence it was that I happened to be on that flight where she unfortunately had her fears reinforced.
That reminds me of a flight we took in Spain, I forget which airport. We were the first to board but the ramp split in two directions with no signage on which way to go! We were like, huh? So we just stood to the side and waited for some other passengers to catch up so we could follow the herd.
Once I was trying to book tickets to Bozeman, MT. I called several airlines. One said, “I’m sorry, we only fly in the US.” Hmm, not that airlines! Anyway, we flew into Billings, MT and the weather was OK but we had to sit on plane, waiting for connecting flights to arrive—the snow started and got heavier & heavier until we were all told we had to deplane and return the next day.
The airline gave folks hotel vouchers but no way to get down steep hill from airport to hotel. Several passengers rushed to the car rental counters, which were closing and said they couldn’t rent cars in such inclement weather. A small group of us wheedled a nice counter agent to take us down the hill in her car on her way home and drop us off and the hotel. I gave her a box of chocolate covered mac nuts for her kindness—it was definitely a win/win! We caught a cab back to airport the next day and were the only folks who used our hotel vouchers.
The other passengers slept wherever they could manage at the airport.
I needed to reserve a car once here in Maine when my family was coming to visit. I very clearly told the agent, “Portland, Maine.” When she gave me the price, I thought, “Wow, good deal for the peak of the summer season!” Thank goodness she finally said we were all set for Portland, Oregon!
Portland, Oregon was named after Portland, Maine. But we’re not on the radar.
This wasn’t me exactly but I had a similar issue when the flight attendant wanted me to stop using my FAA-approved medical equipment 30 minutes prior to landing. It made no sense because it stayed in the same location on the floor by my seat, whether the equipment was switched on or off. They said it was because I was in a lie-flat seat on Hawaiian, but there was adequate space under the seat in front of me anyway. No other airline tried to get me to stop using my medical equipment during my flight, even when seated in lie flat seats or anywhere else on the plane. I’ve sent an email to the President of Hawaiian Airlines about this issue and he’s looped in the Head of Operations. This is crazy that the airlines are having policies that are endangering the life and safety of passengers by arbitrary choices and edicts they are issuing.
I was on a very crowded flight in economy. A young attractive woman came on with a pillow and bunch of bags. She started talking very loudly about how she wasn’t going to sit in the middle seat. It was the airline’s fault, blah, blah.
A flight attendant came over. He (maybe she) was black, initially very nicely asked her to sit in her assigned seat. She started to wiggle her finger at the flight attendant. He said her, “Honey, if anyone is going to wiggle their finger, it’s going to be me. If you don’t park your behind (he used the A word) in the seat and keep your mouth shut, I am going to personally escort you off the plane.”
I think the whole plane wanted to clap their hands. We were all on our best behaviors the whole flight because no one wanted to get on his bad side.
It used to be that flying was a sort of “ritzy” experience - amazing customer service, meals, accommodations (pillows!) on the plane. These days you’re lucky to get a 1/2 glass of soda and a bag of SunChips that is so small it contains like 4 SunChips and a few crumbs.
That’s fine, just get me to my destination! But can anyone share the differences of plane trips of old and the “luxury” you may have experienced???
Imean, not necessarily luxury, but in coach you used to get a proper meal in those “China” plates with real silverware, main course, bread roll, little salad and fruit/dessert.
Where the luxury has increased a lot is international business class but of course you pay for it. It used to be just bigger seats and a better amenities kit, now the whole lie flat, some aircraft pretty much have you in a private pod once you’re lying down, great food, some airlines have a business class bar area with proper barman and seats etc.
I haven’t flown first class internationally but obviously that’s even better.
LOL maybe “luxury” is a stretch but multiple food items already beats that .5 ounce of SunChips!
I have never flown business or first class (and don’t expect I will because I personally would not use my $$ for that) but yes, even just talking about non-business/first class, how things have changed.
I have another incident…
Until D2 had a dog, I was not comfortable with animals. On a flight a woman sat next to me with a dog (emotional support dog, she claimed). I asked to be moved saying I was allergic to dogs. The woman was very rude about it saying I was making a big deal out of nothing. Luckily they were able to move me few seats over.
Then came the snack time when they were offering half cup drinks and chips. When I asked for peanuts, they told me no because the lady with the dog had peanut allergies.
I think I mentioned this in another thread, but Delta used to have an airpass for non-US based travelers (you could fly anywhere in the lower 48 as a standby passenger). The backpacker trick was to time the flights with those that offered meal service (which was all laid out on the handy schedule you took from the airport).
We flew business class on ANA to Narita. It was lovely. Very comfortable beds and a lot of space abc the food was delicious! We were entitled to go to the lounge at Narita airport where they had a noodle bar and I believe a sake bar. We had very comfy seats that lay flat as well. It was much nicer than 1st class on American or Hawaiian.
When S and DIL fly 1st class internationally, they get free PJs anc other goodies.
I remember that there was a brief time – mid-to-late 90s, maybe? – when coach class airline food was actually getting pretty good. Back then, I used to fly American and United more often, and I recall that they would feature fresher food and some regional products. And did anyone here ever fly Midwest Express? Warm chocolate chip cookies, legitimately good food, and beer or wine included in coach class. Then 9-11 happened and in its wake, air travel stumbled and the amenities never came back (along with some airlines). But for a few years there, things were actually improving.
