Why We Fly
 

This is not really UA specific (except for the UA references below) and I fully expect it to get moved somewhere more generic, but I thought I'd post it to the UA forum anyway, since Mileage Plus was what brought me to FT in the first place.

I suspect that many of us FT members, as much as we like to whine, actually do enjoy flying in airplanes. As painful as it is to make an extra stop, get re-routed in the middle of a MR or have to spend the night doing laps around SIN, there's nothing like a take-off roll to illustrate the singular down-side of the Prius in the garage, and who hasn't pretended on final that they were the hero civilian who had to land the plane after the pilots ate some bad fish for dinner. Also, as experienced fliers, it's fun to be in-the-know whether it be asking the ticketing agent about a specific nuance on your "DM Card" or showing the RCC check-in person a printout of their own rules.

Case in point, I'm about to try Virgin America. I fully expect long delays, missed flights, non-working IFE, and I fully expect to complain about it here on FT. However, it's fun to try out a brand new airline!

I remember when the 747 UD was a first class lounge. A bar, place to play cards, food, etc. Certainly F has gone downhill since then, but on the other hand, Pan Am didn't have 12 daily non-stops from SAN to SJC either, and the "IFE" were those headphones with the tubes you'd plug into holes in the seat. Now, would I trade XM Radio for some 8-track tape playing through a speaker in my headrest? Maybe, maybe not. Certainly on some days it would be fun to lounge around upstairs, but on some days Channel 9 and a Diet Coke is all I need.

I fly today since I have no idea what the future will have in store - either for my own personal life, the economy, or geopolitical forces. I figure why let the opportunity escape me now!

I'm 27, so I missed the golden age of frequent flying - but in 30 years, I may be speaking about today as the golden age, so I keep doing what I do.

El encanto de volar (The enchantment of flying)

This xmas card that Lan sent awhile back sums it up. Sometimes I still feel like the kid in the card. Other times, it is a royal PITA. But I know that still, once in a while, it is the former.

I fly pretty much because my job allows me to. I fly free on Southwest, and super cheap on almost every major airline, and get fantastic discounts for hotels and car rentals. I'd be nuts not to take advantage of it as much as possible.

I'm a Go-See-Do kind of guy
 

While Mrs runarut is perfectly happy flying around just for the sake of flying, I'm more of a destination type of person.

Flying on commercial airlines hits all of my major panic buttons. Too many people so close together and so confined. Plus I'm not wild about the uncertainty of it all. Total loss of control for me. Also, I really like how polite and helpful airline employees are here in the US. NOT!

But don't get me wrong. I love the destination part of it all. I want to go places, see stuff, and do things. Can't very well drive across the oceans.

One last thing. Mrs runarut talked me into mileage running just to get Executive Platinum on American. Sitting in the front of the bus with the beautiful people does improve the travel experience.

I don't expect to be doing mileage runs much anymore. I don't really like flying for the sake of flying. I want to spend time at the destination which generally doesn't include airports.

I fly because most of my clients have been 2500+ miles away from me for the last few years. Before that I flew because my job required me to fly.

On the side now, I fly because the actual flying is what is creating the information for part of my income (no I didn't become a FAM)

I like flying because: I can wake up one morning in my home and go to bed that night (many time zones away, and in a bed that's not moving 500 mph) somewhere completely different, be it different weather, different food or a different language. I enjoy the change that travel offers.

I used to love flying because it meant I was heading somewhere new, exotic, or just away from where I grew up. It was exciting to think that I'd be going some place unique! And airports felt like the kind of place where that fun all starts.

Then I finished school, moved seven timezones away, and found myself able to fly all the time thanks to a couple conferences and cheap weekends away. And a strange thing happened: I started liking the flying part a lot more. And the feeling of being in an airport never really went away. Sure, it's mostly shorthaul and in the back of the bus, but I don't really mind. That said, those few trips so far up in front have completely brought back that feeling I had as a kid going some place fantastic (even if it is the same longhaul I do all the time). Still, that feeling of being on the plane, just about to depart, can't be beat.

It's looking out the window at a major international hub (probably why I love LHR) and imagining all the places I haven't been yet, and the people going there on airlines I haven't travelled with. There's just something about that feeling.

A bit of bad weather always makes it even better. This might be due to reminding me of family holidays in early February, after a January of -30 to -40 temperatures. It may help to grow up in Sask to fully appreciate that part of the experience.

It gets a bit more dulled as I rack up the miles and new flights, but it's rarely dull or mundane, and there's a lot of world out there left to see! I just have to get a few longhauls booked with my travelling companion to explain to her just why I value status ;)

I do not like take-off.
I do not like landing.

I don't mind the flying part.

Dad once said my early fear of getting on the plane had nothing to do with flying, but more to do with me not being at the controls. He's probably right.
Even so, I fly right now out of necessity more than anything. Later on, it will be limited to one trip a year or so, I hope. I really do not like takeoff and landing.

For the next five years...five TATLs each year. It's enough to keep me in low-tier status, if I can ever decide on one carrier.

Why do I fly? Because taking the boat would take too long.

Flying itself really isn't any fun anymore. I fly alot for business and being wise in how I book allows me to earn enough miles to use them for what I really love - travel to someplace new and the experiences of another place\ culture. I love to explore and learn new things but the flight itself? The best thing is that I tend to sleep on planes.

...and walking takes too damn long, particularly with luggage. :D

Actually, I hate flying. :p

Me too. I hate flying. It's just that I'd rather fly than spend 4 days on a train when I'm going to college across the country.

Well, I'd much prefer to be the Otto Pilot. :p

Seriously, I never really outgrew my fascination with airplanes....but I fly primarily because it beats driving down to ONT or LAS a couple times a month and it is the most efficient way across the Pacific to reach Cebu or Kauai.

This. I love just looking at the departure boards at a place like LHR or DXB and imagine getting on each of those flights...

I like flying so that when I land I can go onto flyertalk and complain about it!

Just kidding.

It is the adventure of it all. Going to new and exciting places, people watching at the airport and getting to see all the aircraft close up.

Because we can.




(Actually, I have a vague suspicion that the secondary reason I have for plane trips seeming so special - the first being that I love new places - is that I'm actually quite scared. I've read that a passion for peanut butter - I'm guilty of that too, btw - can be inspired by a slight intolerance. The body becomes addicted to the hormones released when it's consumed. I wonder if being in a plane is a bit like that for me. I am terrified of enclosed spaces. planes aren't that small but they are high and difficult to leave in a hurry. Adrenalin rush, maybe?)

- I wish I could fly right up to the sky but I can't

- You can

- I can't

I love take-offs and landings. Even though I'm no pilot, I can appreciate the skill and professionalism that it takes to fly the jet, and those two events, I think showcase the pilot's skill the most. Well, also crises, but I don't really like those - too scary! I also love seeing new people and new places, so I love travel in general. Unfortunately, all the discomfort of being crammed into too-small seats in too-dry air pretty much ruins all the fun for me anymore. I hate flying as much as I love travelling. If I could, I'd beam over to wherever I needed to be.

I get to the airport early always, because I love flying, but I don't like the hurrying. It doesn't always work of course -- unexpected delays, close connections, etc. -- but it's a great feeling to relax before you get on a plane and watch the planes take off and land through the window and to know that you will be on a plane like that shortly.

pc

Why we fly?
 

AAmerican clAAims they know!:)

Flying is not anymore fascinating, because I have every year about 200 flights for business.

I fly to get to work. I fly to get to interesting destinations around the world to experience new places, people, cultures, etc.

On it's own, I do not inherently enjoy being enclosed inside a metal tube hurtling through space at high speed, jammed in with hundreds of other people, unable to move around or leave when I want to.

Perhaps some enjoy the simple act of flying but, in today's environment, I can't understand why. After 2000+ flights and 2 million miles, there's no excitement in it.

I no longer enjoy flying domestically here in the US but I still enjoy international travel quite a bit. ^

For me it's:

- The thrust that pushes you back in your seat when you start to power down the runway

- Landing somewhere totally new where you've got no idea how things work or how things are done

- The weird feeling inside you when you're walking around airports, even on business it feels like a bit of an adventure

- Occasionally because it's the quickest way to get to someone close to you

And I wholeheartedly agree with everyone that has said they like looking at the departure boards in international hubs with all kinds of destinations listed and thinking "hmm, I could actually go there right now!" :)

Don't like the landing - but like the bit once you feel the thrusters ease when you know that you've landed safely :)