Anger Management!
 

Hi all!

I have just re-qualified for gold in 3 months, and it has been highly frustrating. Almost every flight I have been on has been delayed (quite substantially), or cancelled, and I have had to be re-accomodated. Now granted I have predominantly been flying stateside, however the joy of flying is beginning to lose it's lustre. It is getting to the point where the CSR's in some airports even know me by name!

Now I realise that all of here enjoy flying to a greater degree than is normal, however I've gotta ask how do you deal with these continued annoying impingments on your life? (By the way none of these flights have been for business, they were all off my own dime, and for social events.)

Is it just me? Do people just carry around a stress ball, or maybe you carry a punching bag in your carry on. Please enlighten me!

Free booze in the lounge usually works.

What took you so long? :D

A man after my own heart!


Lounge Desk: Sorry Mr MAN Pax, there's a three hour delay on the MAN flight this evening.

MAN Pax So you should be sorry! Only three hours? So much Gin, so little time! :D


PS: Am I the only one that drinks wine out of the highball glasses as the piddling wine efforts provided by BD are way too small (IMHO). Hic.

And that's the really annoying thing about being stuck in US lounges - no free booze. I needed a drink when I found out that you had to pay for drinks in US lounges. What's the point of even going to the lounge?! :)

Knowing that I have a few hours when I can legitimately switch off my mobile phone is a great source of relief. This alone makes the air travel experience relaxing and worthwhile.

Enjoy the delay - go to the lounge
 

Further to a recent comment, I don't really mind the odd delay now and again. For instance, I was in CDG yesterday, rushed to the airport as I was running late only to find out that due to bad weather in England (quelle surprise) the plane was 60 mins late. So I just headed to the lounge, there was hardly anyone in there and the lovely lady in the lounge kept me up-to-date with the latest news. So, I just grabbed a Time and Conde Nest Traveller mag, checked some emails, grabbed a bottle of wine and had a nice relaxing time. Yes, delays can be frustrating, but I thank my lucky socks that as a *A Gold card holder, I can at least sit the delay out in style. Especially since I bought a cheapie Y ticket.

Of course, if I were not priviledged enough to go into the lounge and had to endure the delay by sitting on that nasty white seating up in the dep lounge at CDG, I would have been the first to get miffed. As it was, I only got tipsy. I find it a very mellow way of dealing with the issue at hand. :D

Flying domestically in the US really smells!
 

I think that's what makes it soooooooooooo painful. Most of the smaller airports don't have lounges, so I get stuck sitting on the outside worn out seats, (you know the ones I mean, those which look like someone had a severe bout of diarhhea and failed to make it to the restroom...). Then if I am in an airport which has a lounge I have to fork over a hideous amount of money just to dull the pain.

What amazes me is that the UA and US gold elites don't even have access to the lounges if they only fly domestically. I would go insane...

It has also made me appreciate flying in Europe so much more, as I really think the US carriers treat their elites and passengers like dirt. I am soooooo glad to be a BD elite.

Rant over!

:D

The US airlines overall treat their elite flyers better than the European ones do - in terms of benefits and awards. It is just the lounge product in the US which generally is of lessser quality than anywhere else.
The reason always given for that is the high load these lounges must accomodate. But that does not justify why an international F lounge in the US does not even match a domestic C lounge of an Asian or European carrier.

What you are perfectly right about is what concerns flying US domestic. I can get into the RCC lounge with my LH gold card but not with my UA one. This has some entertainment value :) .

Boys and girls... do I have news for you. Check this out -- you don't have to pay for your booze at UA RCCs anymore (well, at least for the first couple of drinks):

Taken from the AC Forum (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...&highlight=RCC):

S*RCC/ADMIT UPDATED 03MAY2004

* * * UNITED RED CARPET CLUB ACCESS GUIDELINES * * *
FOR US AIRWAYS NEWS >S*R.U

* * RED CARPET CLUB MEMBER ACCESS * *
A VALID RED CARPET CLUB MEMBERSHIP IS REQUIRED
GUEST POLICY:
WITHIN US: TWO GUESTS OR SPOUSE AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN
OUTSIDE US: ONE OR SPOUSE AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN
MEMBER MUST ACCOMPANY GUEST(S) AT ALL TIMES
FOR CURRENT MEMBERSHIP STATUS... CHECK MPM
MEMBERS TRAVELLING WITHOUT THEIR MEMBERSHIP CARD
MAY BE ASKED TO STEP ASIDE SHOULD THERE BE A LINE
AT THE CLUB ACCESS POINT AND SHOULD BE ASKED TO WAIT
UNTIL THE LINE CLEARS

* * * UA AND STAR INTERNATIONAL TRAVELERS * * *
UNITED FIRST INTERNATIONAL AT ALL CLUBS ON SAME-DAY
TRAVEL... ONE GUEST ALLOWED... TWO DRINK CHITS SHOULD
BE PROVIDED AT THE GATEWAY.
UNITED BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL AT ALL CLUBS ON SAME-DAY
TRAVEL... NO GUESTS ALLOWED... TWO DRINK CHITS SHOULD
BE PROVIDED AT GATEWAY.
* * * INTERNATIONAL DEFINITION * * *
TO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES EXCLUDING SAN JUAN
CUSTOMERS WHO TRAVEL TO CANADA MEXICO ARUBA AND
ST THOMAS WILL BE TREATED AS INTERNATIONAL AND
CUSTOMERS WILL HAVE ACCESS TO THE RED CARPET CLUB
THIS APPLIES TO UA CUSTOMERS(F XF NF C XC NC)
AND STAR GOLD CUSTOMERS ONLY ..SAME DAY TRAVEL IS
REQUIRED AND THIS INCLUDES CONNECTING STATIONS
ON SAME DAY TRAVEL AS LONG AS THEY ARE IN F OR C
CLASS FOR THE ENTIRE ITINERARY......
FOR EXAMPLE: LAX Y ORD F YYZ...ACCESS IN ORD ONLY
FOR EXAMPLE: LAX F ORD F YYZ ...ACCESS IN LAX AND ORD

* * STAR GOLD ACCESS - OA STAR ALLIANCE CUSTOMERS * *
STAR GOLD CUSTOMERS (EXCEPT UA AND US AIR STAR GOLD)
TRAVELING ON A SAME DAY STAR OPERATED FLIGHT
HAVE ACCESS TO RED CARPET CLUB ON DAY OF TRAVEL
CUSTOMER SHOULD PRESENT STAR GOLD CARD
AND BOARDING PASS FOR STAR OPERATED FLIGHT
* * SEE NOTE BELOW FOR UA AND US * *
** NOTE UA AND US STAR GOLD CUSTOMERS HAVE ACCESS
ONLY IN CONJUCTION WITH INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL* * *
GUESTS MUST ENTER THE LOUNGE WITH AN ELIGIBLE
STAR ALLIANCE GOLD MEMBER AND MUST DEPART ON A
STAR ALLIANCE MEMBER AIRLINE BUT MAY TRAVEL ON A
DIFFERENT FLIGHT.
TWO DRINK CHITS SHOULD BE PROVIDED AT GATEWAY.
ALL CARD HOLDERS AND GUESTS SHOULD BE TRACKED
-STAR ALLIANCE ACCESS SEE: >S*RCC/ALLIANCE
-US AIRWAYS RECIPROCAL AGREEMENT SEE: >S*RCC/US_AIRWAYS

Yes, yes, that's all well and good, but what about us non-drinkers? Do they serve Irn Bru in the lounge, like bmi?

They do in LHR International DC. Don't know about any other lounge in the UK though.

Nope, quite agree. In fact, I can better that. I'm a closet white-wine spritzer addict (it helps disguise the taste of the BD wine and reduces acid reflux - a win/win in my book) and you'll find me in the LHR domestic lounge with a PINT GLASS of pinot grigio topped off with soda water and lots of ice. Sadly there aren't any pint glasses left in the EDI lounge. I think I broke the last one on my third refill during a particularly long tech delay.

As for anger management. Being almost exclusively a leisure traveller means I'm less likely to be under pressure when flying so I can afford to be relaxed. When travelling alone I am super-relaxed about delays and cancellations because I don't feel responsible to anyone. Just means more time for great people-watching, book-reading and free-drinking ;)

Stut hits the mark; I work in a beseiged office environment where the phones ring constantly all day and urgent, abrupt communication is the norm. Having a mobile phone switched on, even at night or on holiday, is written into our contracts. Flying is one of the few times when I can turn off the mobile and be in my own world without fear of interruption.

Also helps if you can make the best of anything. I got stranded overnight in DEN by storms last December. Just checked myself into a nice hotel (thank you, travel insurance) and enjoyed the city's Christmas parade and got a huge chunk of my gift shopping out of the way, too. ^

I completely agree with the above comment. However, is this going to last ?. I have started to read worrying articles in recent months about how the technology of newer mobile phones will soon allow them to be used on board without interfering with the flight controls.

I pray that they never allow people full use of mobile phones at 35,000 ft as this would IMHO be a nightmare. :eek:

I think it's (unfortunately) inevitable. In flight email is going to be bad enough - I'm actually going to make sure I avoid the planes with in-flight internet for as long as possible (if I stick to flying AC transatlantic then I should get away with this for several years yet :D )