Any decrease in flyers, I wonder

Old Jul 16, 2014, 1:52 pm
  #31  
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: MCI
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DH and I have been taking long trips together since we met in 1997, sometimes going to Europe twice in one year. That's been cut WAY back. Part of it is that Coach seats on long-hauls got too uncomfortable and DH never fit in them very well anyway (he's over 6 feet tall). Add his creaky back into the mix and we really can't fly in Coach on long-hauls without it taking him a week to recover. Loyalty programs are worth less and less, so the number of European trips we take has been cut significantly.

What's really changed, though, is our domestic travel. We drive nearly everywhere and now that I'm retired it will only increase. My brother was incredulous that we drove from KC to Columbus for a family wedding. My parents, who had a nonstop from CLT, didn't make it because their flight was cancelled and they couldn't get there in time. Ironically, when my nephew, son of that same brother, was married in CLT, we planned to fly and didn't make it to the wedding. Same reason. Same airline. We have upcoming trips planned to Atlanta and Texas (2 more weddings). We'll be driving. Same for our Christmas trip to visit family in NC/SC.

It's not just the TSA: pre-check and allowing my 75-year old husband to keep his shoes on have helped somewhat- it's the whole mess. We just got back from Alaska- sort of had to fly to get there in reasonable time- and flying is an ordeal. Inconvenient schedules, changes that extend the 3-hour layover you had when booking it to 7 hours, moving a 7:30 AM flight to 6:20 AM, connections that take you a thousand miles out of the way... at least 3 of the 7 segments were Alaska Airlines, which seems better-managed than the others. When a flight lands "only" 1/2 hour late, they've exceeded my expectations. That's sad. And there are no negative consequences to the airline (fines, mandatory refunds to passengers) if they dump a whole plane load of people into ORD 3 hours late, other than having to get people with missed connections out whenever it suits the airline. That's just wrong.

Thanks for letting me rant.
Athena53 is offline  
Old Jul 16, 2014, 1:59 pm
  #32  
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
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My rule of thumb for business travel < 350 miles drive.
But sometimes have stretched that to include CHI/ MSP (400 miles)
CHI/ MCI and even have done CHI/ PHL on a number of occasions.
Just not worth the TSA hassle and airplane crowds and delays.
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 1:59 am
  #33  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
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Originally Posted by FliesWay2Much
I disagree.
"Disagreeing" without offering any substantive support for your disagreement is meaningless.
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Old Jul 17, 2014, 6:08 am
  #34  
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Originally Posted by Blogndog
"Disagreeing" without offering any substantive support for your disagreement is meaningless.
As was your lengthy attack. I'm more succinct.
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Old Jul 20, 2014, 10:07 am
  #35  
 
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Originally Posted by FliesWay2Much
As was your lengthy attack. I'm more succinct.
I didn't engage in a "lengthy attack," I simply referred you to a peer reviewed journal article, published by a team of subject matter experts, each respected and reputable within their fields, who applied accepted methodologies to arrive at a conclusion that was different than yours (yours apparently being simply an unsupported assertion), and which has not been subject to any meaningful challenge from within the academic community.
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