Apr 14, 2015, 10:52 am
Last edit by: jspira
This thread covers the 2015 Pre-Flight Air Travel Pet Peeves poll, conducted by Frequent Business Traveler magazine in conjunction with FlyerTalk.
You can view the results by clicking here
After reviewing the results, please also take part in the discussion below and talk about your favorite peeves or add peeves that weren't touched upon.
Next year's poll will be created using input from the current year's discussion so please do contribute in the thread.
You can view the results by clicking here
After reviewing the results, please also take part in the discussion below and talk about your favorite peeves or add peeves that weren't touched upon.
Next year's poll will be created using input from the current year's discussion so please do contribute in the thread.
What Are Your Top Pre-Flight Air Travel Pet Peeves? The 2015 — and First — Edition
Apr 16, 2015, 1:59 pm
#16
Formerly known as caveruner17
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: ORD
Posts: 432
Too many times I've gotten off at an international destination and need to figure out how to get to my hostel. Madrid had 15 minutes free. Good enough to figure out what I needed to do!
Apr 16, 2015, 2:00 pm
#17
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: ANC
Programs: AS MVP
Posts: 101
1. TSA agents yelling like army sgts.
2. Why isn't there a full massage spa at Seatac???
3. I suffer from pelvic pain. So, when I see any place that doesn't have high tables or bar for me to stand at makes me angry.
4. Traveling with family members that aren't travel savvy like us.
5. People that bring stinky food onboard.
6. People who make loud phone calls especially close to take off.
7. Coach passengers coming up to F bathroom.
8. Parents who make ZERO attempt to calm a screaming baby.
9. Flight attendants in F that are very slow to fill drinks or see how you are doing.
10. Getting exiled to the N gates in SEA for connecting flight.
2. Why isn't there a full massage spa at Seatac???
3. I suffer from pelvic pain. So, when I see any place that doesn't have high tables or bar for me to stand at makes me angry.
4. Traveling with family members that aren't travel savvy like us.
5. People that bring stinky food onboard.
6. People who make loud phone calls especially close to take off.
7. Coach passengers coming up to F bathroom.
8. Parents who make ZERO attempt to calm a screaming baby.
9. Flight attendants in F that are very slow to fill drinks or see how you are doing.
10. Getting exiled to the N gates in SEA for connecting flight.
Apr 16, 2015, 3:25 pm
#19
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,574
1. The incredibly limited functionality of airline websites.
2. Inability to redeem miles, even for extremely off-peak routes/dates. I get why finding 4 J seats together to Paris in July is tough. I *don't* get why finding 2 Y seats to Toronto in February is so difficult.
3. Airports that don't have good strong mobile service throughout the facility. I don't know why this is so troublesome in some places - FAA rules on where the cell towers can be, airports not allowing microcell equipment in the terminals, the mobile providers themselves simply not having a good enough network - but it's frustrating. Even moreso when the airport doesn't have a good, strong, free Wifi service throughout the terminals.
4. Airports that have far too few options to sit down for food/drink. I might not complain (much) about the prices if there's a nice bar or restaurant actually serving decent food. Example of a place that seems to have it right: PDX. Example of a place that is on the right track but simply needs about five times as many total seats: ORD Terminal C. Example of a place that is hideous, awful, and isn't fit to call itself an average Greyhound terminal: the WN section of LGA.
5. I'll second the lame oversell offers, although my pet peeve is perhaps as much with my fellow fliers as it is the airline. I was on a flight the other day where the offer was $150 for 3 hours' delay. Goodness, I hope nobody bit on that, thus reinforcing the airline's behavior.
(I boarded: never heard if the volunteer was needed.)
6. Travelers who are disorganized, inefficient, seemingly without purpose, or otherwise unaware of their own bodies in space as they clumsily and slowly move through an airport.
2. Inability to redeem miles, even for extremely off-peak routes/dates. I get why finding 4 J seats together to Paris in July is tough. I *don't* get why finding 2 Y seats to Toronto in February is so difficult.
3. Airports that don't have good strong mobile service throughout the facility. I don't know why this is so troublesome in some places - FAA rules on where the cell towers can be, airports not allowing microcell equipment in the terminals, the mobile providers themselves simply not having a good enough network - but it's frustrating. Even moreso when the airport doesn't have a good, strong, free Wifi service throughout the terminals.
4. Airports that have far too few options to sit down for food/drink. I might not complain (much) about the prices if there's a nice bar or restaurant actually serving decent food. Example of a place that seems to have it right: PDX. Example of a place that is on the right track but simply needs about five times as many total seats: ORD Terminal C. Example of a place that is hideous, awful, and isn't fit to call itself an average Greyhound terminal: the WN section of LGA.
5. I'll second the lame oversell offers, although my pet peeve is perhaps as much with my fellow fliers as it is the airline. I was on a flight the other day where the offer was $150 for 3 hours' delay. Goodness, I hope nobody bit on that, thus reinforcing the airline's behavior.
(I boarded: never heard if the volunteer was needed.)6. Travelers who are disorganized, inefficient, seemingly without purpose, or otherwise unaware of their own bodies in space as they clumsily and slowly move through an airport.
Apr 16, 2015, 5:25 pm
#23
Join Date: May 2006
Location: BOS and ...
Programs: UA 2MM, AA 600k, DL 500k, Hyatt GP 1M, HH Gold, Rad. Gold, CP Gold, Miracle Fruit-su Club
Posts: 9,950
Fiction and Non-fiction
Fiction and Non-fiction
1) When the airline's queuing procedure is a fiction. At most United gates nowadays, there are literally 50+ people in the Global Services line, and few in the following ones. I have glanced at their boarding passes as possible, and many are not GS or First. And the gate agents let them pass. Southwest, on the other hand, gets it right after all these years of conditioning. (Actually, "we" do.) Never thought I'd be making this comparison in this direction.
2) Pervasive news televisions with sound rather than closed-captioning in the gate areas throughout a terminal. Or there's a small area in the terminal, almost like a smoking area, where it's quiet. OK, comparing it to a smoking area, that's an exaggeration. But when it's necessary to sit far from the gate for quiet, far enough to miss announcements, that's too out of balance. And not an exaggeration. OK, I know, smarten up.
NB to a couple of seasoned commenters above: You should know better by now.
1) Never try to book two or more free seats together - especially in a premium class - or you'll face the Evil Algorithm.* Book them separately and immediately work to seat the passengers together. (This is until we're all paying to stay out of the middle seat. But then, it's game over, anyway.)
2) Bring an empty water bottle through security. Back in the beginning, this wasn't allowed by TSA, but it has been for years now.
* The Evil Algorithm assigns a value to the risk that two might pull, up until the last minute - a risk that the airline won't share.
************************
ETA: +1 to Skallywag72 re the guys who put their bags in the overhead near the front of the plane and their seats are a ways back, and to beachmouse re bathroom stalls not big enough for a rollaboard to join one. And to pinniped re wifi quality. Many agencies who provide wifi to public areas (and bless them for doing so) really need to install a new generation of hotspot/router technology with at least an order of magnitude greater bandwidth in the era of streaming.
1) When the airline's queuing procedure is a fiction. At most United gates nowadays, there are literally 50+ people in the Global Services line, and few in the following ones. I have glanced at their boarding passes as possible, and many are not GS or First. And the gate agents let them pass. Southwest, on the other hand, gets it right after all these years of conditioning. (Actually, "we" do.) Never thought I'd be making this comparison in this direction.
2) Pervasive news televisions with sound rather than closed-captioning in the gate areas throughout a terminal. Or there's a small area in the terminal, almost like a smoking area, where it's quiet. OK, comparing it to a smoking area, that's an exaggeration. But when it's necessary to sit far from the gate for quiet, far enough to miss announcements, that's too out of balance. And not an exaggeration. OK, I know, smarten up.
NB to a couple of seasoned commenters above: You should know better by now.
1) Never try to book two or more free seats together - especially in a premium class - or you'll face the Evil Algorithm.* Book them separately and immediately work to seat the passengers together. (This is until we're all paying to stay out of the middle seat. But then, it's game over, anyway.)
2) Bring an empty water bottle through security. Back in the beginning, this wasn't allowed by TSA, but it has been for years now.
* The Evil Algorithm assigns a value to the risk that two might pull, up until the last minute - a risk that the airline won't share.
************************
ETA: +1 to Skallywag72 re the guys who put their bags in the overhead near the front of the plane and their seats are a ways back, and to beachmouse re bathroom stalls not big enough for a rollaboard to join one. And to pinniped re wifi quality. Many agencies who provide wifi to public areas (and bless them for doing so) really need to install a new generation of hotspot/router technology with at least an order of magnitude greater bandwidth in the era of streaming.
Last edited by Firewind; Apr 16, 2015 at 5:40 pm
Apr 16, 2015, 6:49 pm
#24
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: VPS
Programs: IHG Diamond, Delta PM, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 7,266
Limited food options from about 8:00pm to 6:00am. I know that there are probably staffing issues and all and it's not practical to have a lot open those times of days, especially at smaller airports, but I'm getting in at 10:45 after cascading airport delays meant I haven't had anything other than airline kettle kibble since noon. Is it too much to ask that the vending machines designed for this off hours action are actually vaguely functional and that my Sprite is not room temperature? And that the food side has something other than chips and candy bars? I'll grossly overpay for a Clif Bar at that point.
Apr 17, 2015, 2:42 am
#26
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Miami, FL
Programs: UA 1MM, AA Plat, Marriott LT Titanium, Hyatt Glob, IHG ♢ Amb, Hilton ♢, Hertz Pres
Posts: 6,017
i agree - these two should've been part of the poll choices. Would've ranked higher than many of the other choices.
I'd also add moving my baggage once it's already in the overhead. I've had times where I've boarded early, places my bag up there... and then some johnny come lately comes in with a bag and the airline personnel move my bag away from my area to make room for their bag. This bothers me
I'd also add moving my baggage once it's already in the overhead. I've had times where I've boarded early, places my bag up there... and then some johnny come lately comes in with a bag and the airline personnel move my bag away from my area to make room for their bag. This bothers me
Apr 17, 2015, 5:37 am
#27
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: PIA, MLI
Programs: DL DM, Hilton DIA, Wyndham DIA, IHG Spire AMB
Posts: 29
Apr 17, 2015, 5:53 am
#28
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: ORD
Programs: United 1K (Star Alliance Gold) IHG Platinum
Posts: 226
-Inefficiency in general really upsets me. This morning I took a flight from LGW to CDG. In all it took 4+ hours, including taxi ride to LGW and a slightly delayed flight. However the actual in-air time was maybe 40 minutes. Can't the processes be streamlined so that we can get through this quicker? If the airlines want my money, give me a way to save time. Even though I'm a fairly loyal Star Alliance flier, I would ditch them in a heartbeat for a company that would save me time standing around doing nothing.
-Probably my biggest overall pet peeve are clueless passengers, but I can't really blame them. If people don't fly often, they need a bit of help, which clearly is not being provided. TSA should make first-time fliers watch an instructional video before going through the line. Additionally, instead of treating their customers like garbage, they should find out how often they fly, or are they new to a particular airport and then send an email with information. New and/or infrequent fliers should be required to agree that they've read it. This could even be beneficial for FF's going to a new airport. Yes, we can all do research on a new airport, but who has time? How hard would it be for an airline to send you an email about the airport. It's just a nice thing to do and it would at least reduce the number of idiots..
-I will say communication, but with a note about United. I don't love everything they do, but they do text me and email me the second there are delays. I fly other SA frequently because I like their food/lounges/services more, but none communicates as well as United.
-Preparation in event of cancellation. Nothing worse than sitting around the airport for HOURS while your flight is continually delayed, only to find out at the end of the evening that your flight isn't taking off. When this happens, even the best airport staff falls short. Don't they have a plan in place? It always seems like chaos unleashed yet this stuff happens every day. Airlines: this is your absolute worst moment from a traveler perspective. You need to SHINE.
-Crappy lounges are a huge pet peeve. My company spends a ton of money to fly me in business class all over the world. The lounge is a place where I can get some of that money back. I can sit and relax and catch up on emails and perhaps unwind with a drink, especially before an all-night flight. However, especially in the U.S. (United..ahem..United) this is such a rare ocassion. While the lounges seem to be improving somewhat, they still pale in comparison to pretty much any lounge overseas. I guess I'm ok with U.S. lounges sucking, but at the very least, the crowd has got to go.
-Flights that don't take care of UM's. Yes, there may be some here that will complain about crying babies. I'm not one of them. However, what I see are UM's left alone with nothing to do. On some airlines, the kids can't even buy food or tv because it's credit card only. These airlines make BIG bucks on the UM fee but for what? Give the kids some tv, a snack, and some crayons or something. Believe or not, I have even bought TV for a kid sitting next to me because I just hoped that someone would do the same thing for my kids. (well and I didn't want to sit next to an 8 year old who was bored with his toys 20 minutes into the flight)
..That's it for now
-Probably my biggest overall pet peeve are clueless passengers, but I can't really blame them. If people don't fly often, they need a bit of help, which clearly is not being provided. TSA should make first-time fliers watch an instructional video before going through the line. Additionally, instead of treating their customers like garbage, they should find out how often they fly, or are they new to a particular airport and then send an email with information. New and/or infrequent fliers should be required to agree that they've read it. This could even be beneficial for FF's going to a new airport. Yes, we can all do research on a new airport, but who has time? How hard would it be for an airline to send you an email about the airport. It's just a nice thing to do and it would at least reduce the number of idiots..
-I will say communication, but with a note about United. I don't love everything they do, but they do text me and email me the second there are delays. I fly other SA frequently because I like their food/lounges/services more, but none communicates as well as United.
-Preparation in event of cancellation. Nothing worse than sitting around the airport for HOURS while your flight is continually delayed, only to find out at the end of the evening that your flight isn't taking off. When this happens, even the best airport staff falls short. Don't they have a plan in place? It always seems like chaos unleashed yet this stuff happens every day. Airlines: this is your absolute worst moment from a traveler perspective. You need to SHINE.
-Crappy lounges are a huge pet peeve. My company spends a ton of money to fly me in business class all over the world. The lounge is a place where I can get some of that money back. I can sit and relax and catch up on emails and perhaps unwind with a drink, especially before an all-night flight. However, especially in the U.S. (United..ahem..United) this is such a rare ocassion. While the lounges seem to be improving somewhat, they still pale in comparison to pretty much any lounge overseas. I guess I'm ok with U.S. lounges sucking, but at the very least, the crowd has got to go.
-Flights that don't take care of UM's. Yes, there may be some here that will complain about crying babies. I'm not one of them. However, what I see are UM's left alone with nothing to do. On some airlines, the kids can't even buy food or tv because it's credit card only. These airlines make BIG bucks on the UM fee but for what? Give the kids some tv, a snack, and some crayons or something. Believe or not, I have even bought TV for a kid sitting next to me because I just hoped that someone would do the same thing for my kids. (well and I didn't want to sit next to an 8 year old who was bored with his toys 20 minutes into the flight)
..That's it for now
Last edited by burbuja0512; Apr 17, 2015 at 10:16 am
Apr 17, 2015, 6:09 am
#29
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: FRA
Programs: MileagePlus Premier Silver, IHG Spire Elite, HHonors Silver, RapidRewards
Posts: 382
The credit card that gets you priority boarding. I find it amusing that UA now has Group 1, and pre-group 1 (global services), and pre-pre- boarding (uniformed military), and pre-pre-pre boarding (actual slow boarders), all before Group 2 that's for the barely elite and the credit card priority people. That's a lot of levels!
Uniformed military - usually only one or two per flight (my experience, mainly longhauls - domestic may be different).
Actual slow boarders/special needs - same as above.
I guess it doesn't really bother me, but it creates several disparate groups that all feel entitled and simultaneously slighted if they're not the first one on the plane.
Apr 17, 2015, 6:51 am
#30
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 26,288
My only pet peeve, really, is that my prosthetic joint prevents me from taking advantage of TSA Precheck. It does me no good to have it, since the metal in me forces me to the x-ray line, where I still need to pull out my laptop and liquids, take off my belt and empty my pockets.
At least I can keep my shoes on.
At least I can keep my shoes on.