Maui No Ka Oi - except for AC's annoying lack of enforcement on carry-ons once again. Me and the missus just returned from a wonderful 2 week stay on the Valley Isle. Our itinerary was YYC-YVR-OGG-YVR-YYC. Had to do the Vancouver shuffle as I wasn't able to get the AP flights on the direct YYC-OGG. No matter. Shelled out for 12AC on all 4 legs on the E190s & the Pineapple. Really wanted to please the missus. The crews were great, the Pineapple was OK -I read & slept. So where does the skateboard enter our vacation you ask? We board the E190 , get to our row 12 bulkhead seats, I go to put our regulation carry-ons into the bin above our seats, and there is a humungous skateboard in our bin-big wheels up. Neither of our bags will go in.
No crew member nearby to assist. I glance at the pair seated in 13AC. Mom & nerdy teenager looking down at their feet. We jam one of our bags in above the oversize toy, & lucklily we can put the other one across the aisle above our neighbours seats 12DF. Skaterboy kicks my wifes seatback a couple times on the way to YVR. We can live with that.
Boarding the Pineapple at YVR- we are one of the last to board courtesy of the Plaza Lounge's snacks & drinks. Go to our seats, I reach up with my carry-on- &- you guessed it- that damned skateboard is in our bin! Again we are forced to put our bags across the aisle and apologize to our neighbours.
This time I get teenager pushing my seatback all the way to Maui. Not really hammering it . Just enough to be a bit annoying. I suffer( a little) in silence.
FF to OGG Thurs night. I can't believe it- guess who's in 13AC again. Guess whats in the bin above 12AD. Thanks to the large overheads on the Pineapple, we are once again able to go above 12EFG with our stuff. Now I'm
doing a slow burn. I had watched agents at the jetway at OGG tagging stuff for gatecheck- but not the dreaded skateboard- they let it go. Skaterboi begins to push the back of my seat right after takeoff. I've had enough & I
turn back & tell him to cease & desist. He mumbles a "sorry" & only does it 4 or 5 times over the next 5 & 1/2 hours. YVR departure lounge- we see Skateboard family sitting a few rows away. Wife & I decide we will be gate lice & beat them onto the plane & claim our rightful bin before they can
put the damned skateboard in. But wait- they stand up, and approach the agent who is gatechecking oversize stuff near the gate after the announcement. I think- finally! Nope- they call Priority boarding- Dad is an Elite! We are doomed. The agent lets him go by with the thing.I decide I am going to get the FA to tell them they have to gate check the damned thing. We get on- I approach FA - she finds a spot for our stuff in the last bin of Exec right in front of us, and avoids the confrontation with the Skateboard family. It didn't ruin our vacation, but it has definitely taken my disdain for AC's lack of carry-on enforcement up several notches.
My rant is over. I'll go back to watching my tan fade now.