With all the fees, route cancellations and general airline b.s. that has been plaguing the friendly skies over the past few months, it's no surprise that people are bitching. What's amusing is that most of the bitching is coming from the elite class of passengers, who actually get gourmet meals, seats that recline to beds, and non-stop alcoholic beverages.
Do you think I was happy on an 8-hour flight to Rome with no video monitor to watch movies and stale vegetables that made me so sick I had to tell people waiting in line for the airplane bathroom, 'You don't want to go in there'? No, but I dealt with it.
So why do other people feel they're entitled to a different type of behavior from airlines just because they paid a little more? Chris Elliott, MSNBC travel correspondent and travel expert, takes a look at the first-class cry babies and offers some advice to behaving properly in your seat, n matter how much you paid for it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Is it really the first-class passengers who are bitching - or does that just make for a good story? I bitch all the time and I've never flown first class. I'm already getting amped up for my first run-in with some airline who wants to charge me $30 to check my bag. Seriously, they won't let you on the flight without a bag (you might be a terrorist, but if your piece of luggage is bigger than "acceptable" overhead compartment size you have to pay? Grrrr...
You make a good point. But I think the point of Elliott's story is that just because someone paid more for their seat, does that give them the right to yell louder? Your point about baggage fees is excellent - economy-class passengers have to pay for additional luggage, but first-class passengers don't. What makes their gripe about airline food any more or less important than our gripe about baggage fees?
If, as collective airliner passengers, we were to corral our valid disgruntedness, perhaps progress would be made.
Thing is, the airlines kind of have us by the neck. I mean, what is the parallel alternative to flying? If, on late notice, you need to get from Boston to LA for a business meeting, weekend wedding, whatever - what are you going to do? And, even if you did have notice, are you going to take extra days off to drive there (and back), take a train, etc.??
I completely agree. There is really no alternative to flying so travelers are subject to the rules and regulations of the airlines. But if we know this and we have no alternative, is there really need to create uproar?
Post a Comment