I just read an amusing article about airport annoyances at www.abcnews.com/sections/travel.

It mentioned that seasones travelers have started carrying universal remote controls with them to the airport so they can reduce the volume or shut off the TV sets blaring CNN Airport News. I thought this was hilarious...some road warriors think of everything!

The article also mentioned the rip-off of charging up to $2 for a luggage cart. As in Europe, the carts should be free to the traveler but subsidized with advertisements.

In Maui -- they charge a $1.50 for the cart.
Some other airports too (those which I can't
remember, maybe SFO?) I don't have change
and I think it's ridiculous to pay for the cart so I lug my bags around or check them
in right away.

That's a good idea, Mileage Addict... let
them put small ads on the carts to pay for the service. The one drawback is that we
are already bombarded with ads all over the place (To me the most annoying are ads during
the inflight entertainment and 965 ads before
the movie at the theatre/cinema starts!)

TOO MUCH COMMERCIALISM!!! ME-OW!!! CATMAN

Here's another airport annoyance (I did not
read the abc site yet People who take up
three, four, five seats with luggage,
books, clothes, shopping bags or stretching
out. I don't have club membership and sometimes when I get to the gate early I'd like to sit on a seat and NOT the floor (esp
when I'm in business attire.) CATMAN

You're right Catman. Another thing that annoys me is the way people crowd the gate before boarding time - even when they know that they're not eligible for preboarding. This makes it really difficult for the people who need to speak to the gate agents, as well as for the people who will be preboarding. They don't seem to realise that it doesn't get them to their destination any sooner.

Great entry BaoBab... If you read my Maui Post you probably saw that's what happened at
Maui and the flight attendant got so annoyed
she slowed the boarding process.

Some people are in such a rush they'll "run
down" the elderly and children just to take
20 minutes to load their oversized bags in
the overhead and sit down! CATMAN

shutting off a tv or turning it down sounds like a totally selfish thing to do ...

Just move to an area where there are no speakers/tv

You are right Beckles... I guess some people
think the lounge area is like their living
room at home and they can do whatever they
want.

If I don't want to listen to CNN (Esp: when
I'm on vacation... I am in the news Biz...
I puton my walkman headset and listen to
music.) CATMAN

At the Las Vegas airport, while on the moving sidewalks, you hear all of these "famous" people announcing over the PA...stand to your right, so people can pass you on the left. So why do people continue to stand side by side and block the whole sidewalk??? Don't know about them, but I am in a big hurry to go lose all my money at the Blackjack tables.

We're in PHX so we fly lots of Southwest flights (we don't like our "hometown airline" AmericaWorst). Those you of you unfamiliar with this cattle-car with wings operation -- they hand out colored and numbered boarding cards. They board in order if 1-30, 31-60, etc.

At the gate there will inevitably be two or three people (usually the ones with golf bag sized carry-ons) with boarding cards #104 and #113 plunked right in front, just behind the red velvet rope, camped out, forcing everyone to move around them...

My pet airport peeve!!

Catman ... good meow to you. I am with the ground crew in Meowi (ooops I gues that should be Maui). This morning at SJC, my home town, the AA ground crew announced that "Gold & Platinum card members were free to board. If your FF number is not on your boarding pass (which includes your status) please have your card out and available for the review. We will not accept EXPIRED cards." She then mumbled something like people try pull that one all the time.

Good Meow to you, TravelCrazy. I hope your
traveling's going relatively well.

Interesting thing about the elite cards:

At Toronto's Air Canada terminal for U-S
passengers there are check-in areas for
"regular" passengers and "elites" (Aeroplans
and Star Alliance Gold for United PremEx (ME)
and 1K can check in together at a separate counter.)

I was behind a woman who was an regular Mileage Plus member, saw the short line and went right there. She got mad when the ticket person explained that this was the
line for the Aeroplan and Star Alliance elites. She kept complaining until the agent
reluctantly let her through. But the "elite
wannabe" held up the line several minutes.

I went to a gate agent and said "Can I be here as a Star Alliance Gold?" The agent said
"At this point, I'll take anyone!"

So Air Canada's watching the elite cards as well. CATMAN

You gals and guys have done a really good job of covering my pet airport peeves; I've only got one that hasn't been mentioned by someone -- A family of 36 people preboarding the plane together in order to get the one member of the family who's under 12 settled in.

I was on a Southwest flight last year, and no lie, they had: 1. Mommy; 2. Daddy; 3. Grandmother; 4. Grandfather; 5. Older brother; 6. Older sister; and 7. Uncle/friend of the family/total stranger *all* go on the plane together to seat 8. Younger sister, who, if she was under 12, must have been into growth hormones big time.

Now friends, if it takes this many people to take care of one very mature-looking pre-teen, I don't really think I want to be locked up in the same airplane with her! In fact, I don't think I want to be in the same TOWN with her.

Thanks. I feel better now.

I have seen children as young as six get on
the plane (In fact one 7-year-old told the
flight attendant "Oh my mommie told me to
sit down, put on the seat belt and be quiet."

This child you talked about Hneckets needs
to be given some breathing room. The gate
agent should limit the number of people helping children/elderly on board to ONE
family member.

IN fact some of the kids are better travelers
than some of the grown up who whine about
everything!

Maybe it was Southwest which May be flying
without a net. But before I growl at SW further I must confess I have never flown
this airline and should do so just for the
experience.

I think before I do I'll try out the free
drinks at the Continental Gold clubs. CATMAN

Regarding paying for luggage carts, I too don't like paying for them, but I think YYZ (Toronto) has the right idea. You have to put in a Loonie ($1Cdn) to get one, but if you return the cart to a stand, you get your Loonie back, so it hasn't cost you anything. If you don't return it, you're paying for the card "round-up" labor. They have the return stands well positioned for travelers who are clearing customs with baggage and then re-checking their luggage for onward flights. This is the case for both inbound to Canada and Outbound to the US on Air Canada flights.
When I was at SFO in August, carts still cost $1. They cost $1.50 at SJC. But rental cars at SJC are much cheaper, so I prefer flying to SJC despite the 50 cents extra for the carts.

Southwest recently changed preboarding policies. They now must sit in row 14 or higher. This is behind the wing exit toward the back. It saves boarding time when general boarding begins. Also you must have a special preboard card that is given when you check in. Apparently people with high boarding numbers were trying to jump the line this way.

Dealer, thanks for clarifying the luggage
cart fee at YYZ/Toronto Pearson. I saw the
fee and just moved away. But I only had
one bag so it wasn't any big deal. CATMAN