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I was on flight 299 (IAH-DEN) last night and F went out with at least a couple of empty seats. The rear cabin appeared full.

How *Not* to do a MR
 

Rule 1: Do not get excessively drunk with another FTer at a D.C. bar having 300+ beers to choose from, when you have an outbound flight at 6:00am
Rule 2: Definitely do not oversleep, making it to the airport 10 mins before your IAH departure, only to get rerouted DCA-EWR-SJU. At least DCA-EWR was F, but missing the IAH flight meant I didn't get to try the new F breakfast.
Rule 3: Ponder whether MR is worth it whilst suffering from back-cramps (Row 15, non-reclining exit on 752) on 3.5hr flight to SJU. Also, struggle mightily not to be sick due to sleep deprivation and general hungover rancid feeling (thankfully, I managed to keep from doing so).
Rule 4: Wuss out after next morning's SJU-IAH, declining to fly remaining IAH-DCA-IAH sectors due to persisting rancid feeling.
Rule 5: Only Q-Up and Mistake fare MR's from now on. 8 Hours of CO Coach was enough.

One is never that drunk until you wake up and realize that you're still drunk and you can't eat or drink anything. :td:

Never felt that way...I'm a professional. :cool:

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Question for you more frequent LBB flyers...



Are operations and customer service always as bad as they were on Sunday? And... How often do they oversell the 4:15 flight (last one of the day)?



I listened closely and heard them talking about how they were overweight and thought about volunteering but they wanted to put me on AA through DFW and this would have stranded my S/O.



The CO employee could not explain to the people who lost their seats as to why. This same guy was extremely rude to passengers inquiring as to whether or not they would make their connections. He even told a couple that they would be fine with a 30-45 minute connection to AMS. I explained to the couple that they would be lucky to make that connection and told them the quickest ways to get to E.



There was an elderly man using a wheelchair as a walker and he walked himself down the jetway, almost losing control just a few steps in. I told him to sit in the chair and I walked him down to the plane. What if this guy slipped? Or, what if I lost control of the wheelchair and he was hurt?

I've never had much issue with the service at LBB, but it is an Express station, which means the employees may not have the same level of experience and training that you experience at CO hubs and larger stations. I must say that not assisting an elderly passenger who needs a wheelchair is not good. Even if the man didn't ask for assistance from any of the CO agents, it should have been evident he needed help if he was using a wheelchair in the manner you describe.

Oversold and overweight flights out of LBB aren't unusual. IAH-LBB used to get DC-9s and fill them close to capacity; since 1999 it's just been an Express destination, with a few more frequencies. Since the CRJ was introduced, weight has been more of an issue. On my last LBB-IAH flight, we bounced on takeoff, and seemed to have a hard time starting to climb, due to the fact that the plane was carrying 50 passengers in seats, plus a couple of lap children, plus 3 crew, and luggage. The crew didn't declare the flight overweight and get volunteers to take a different flight, but probably should have. It would help if CO would put one 735 a day on the route, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

What bar has >300 beers in DC???? I wanna go!

Brickskellar - Near P & 22nd. Has a basement dive-bar feel to it, but the beer selection is nothing to be sneezed at...

So this is where post counts go to be inflated....I'm off Wednesday, maybe I'll read this whole thing.

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I did not want to start a new thread but I am curious, how do you guys (and gals) maximize upgrade "potential"?

The FAQ is somewhat unclear about the standby list for upgrades, such as whether or not you are auto placed on the list at the 2 hour mark (my assumption is no from the way it is worded).

So for you non-plats, how do you increase the odds? (I guess you plats can answer :P)

I maximize upgrades by trying to avoid peak times, using NW on some routes, and looking at KVS before buying a flight to analyze how that flight appears to be selling in F. I'll not only look at the flight I'm considering buying on the day I'm traveling, but will look at the same flight on the same day of the week over several weeks. Also, doing a search on Continental.com with the "upgrade using miles" checkbox selected helps as well; if the mileage upgrade is available, it is often a sign that F doesn't usually sell out and an elite upgrade has a better chance of coming through.

And some of it is trial and error. If I'm flying the same route on a regular basis for a year or two, I'll often figure out which flight seems to work for upgrades, and stick to it. For example, I learned that CO 1015, IAH-DFW, departing around 2:45 PM on Mondays, is almost a guaranteed upgrade, even when it's operated by a 735. There are other IAH-DFW flights I could take on Mondays that are sold out in F well in advance, but I found that this one was usually not filling up in F until the Platinum and Gold EUA windows (sorry Silvers, but it usually is a 735). So I started buying that flight, and have never missed an upgrade on it when I have to go to the Dallas area for work. Likewise, I've done this on other routes, such as IAH-DEN, IAH-MSP, and IAH-ATL. Usually my travel plans on Mondays are pretty flexible -- as long as I'm at my client by 8:30 AM on Tuesday, it doesn't really matter much what time I fly out of IAH on Monday. If I'm flying back home on Friday, I have most of the day to choose from as well (but if I'm returning Thursday night, choices are more limited).

I've missed very few upgrades this year as a result... although next Monday's DTW-RDU flight on NW may be my second missed upgrade on NW, and the first time I've sat in Y on a DC-9 since 1997 on TWA! At least I have an exit row.

Oh it's not just about inflated post counts. Even posts about getting wasted and being so hung over you miss flights have a purpose here!

Wow! I actually was there in grad school (a long, long time ago). I have a vague recollection of going in, but absolutely no recollection of leaving... so it must have been a great time!

Didn't realize it was still there, so I'll check it out next time I'm in town.

Thanks, ALCO!

John

I wouldn't go so far as to claim they have a "purpose" ;)

Sure they do. In a way, it's like warning the rest of us not to do screw up our mileage runs with lots of beer the night before an early flight. Not that we'll listen...