Thanks (blush). I was going to say until reading your parenthetical comment that by discouraging people from checking bags, we would be packing the overheads. But hey, elite preboarding has its priveleges right? Although I did work for a UA affiliate, funny how I don't fly UA, huh? (Hint: Upgrades. Free. Unlimited. I'm actually getting them too and I'm a Silver in LA)

What I try to do when it comes to the operational side of things is do the Paul Harvey "Rest of the Story" type of thing. I try not to apologize for the airlines, because they do have their faults and screwups, but at the same time, I just really, really, don't think the airlines are out to screw people over or lie to them as much as the travelling public might think. Sometimes, for routine matters of assigning delay reasons, you might even have four or five people trying to point fingers at somebody else. There may be several little things contributing to a delay, and the official record (computer) may only tell part of the story. That's why you can get different opinions from different people. 95% of the people that you deal with and that make your flight run are hard working people just trying to do their job with the least amount of headache possible. It's that side of the story I try to tell.