No Yelling on Intl. Carriers
Nov 24, 2011 | 4:23 am
#16
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Auckland, NZ/New York, NY/ATL
Programs: DL DM MM, BIS 2.5MM, EK Gold, SQ Gold, Marriott Gold, HH Gold, OW Emerald, HY Globalist
Posts: 5,515
End result, less stress and a much better overall flying experience. On my flight to FRA there was 1 mileage ticket out of 8 passengers in F. On my last flight on AA to PVG a couple of weeks ago no revenue seats in F (all upgrades, non-revs, or mileage tickets) (11 passengers). Both stats from the FA.
This is my least favorite aspect...well this and the seabelt sign coming on if a passenger sneezes.
Nov 24, 2011 | 6:17 am
#17
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: TK*G (E+), IHG Plat Ambassador
Posts: 7,884
Hmmm, I didn't think that AA's manifest would show the booking class of pax, especially when their upgrade inventory, A, is identical to that of the discounted first class revenue fare bucket. There's no way someone would be able to see the type of ticket a pax has unless they look at the fare basis, and I doubt the FA has that information.
Also A-class is used only for SWU's and AAnyTime awards, for 'normal' awards it is Z-class.
Last edited by TPJ; Nov 25, 2011 at 3:29 am
Nov 24, 2011 | 11:56 pm
#19
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,181
I flew from Montreal to Frankfurt on Air Canada.
I can understand having to listen to announcements in the 3 following languages:
1. English
2. French and
3. German
BUT when they started with ITALIAN as the 4th language I was really pissed off as by then I had a splitting headache. And it made no sense. Some FA who enjoyed listening to her voice.
I can understand having to listen to announcements in the 3 following languages:
1. English
2. French and
3. German
BUT when they started with ITALIAN as the 4th language I was really pissed off as by then I had a splitting headache. And it made no sense. Some FA who enjoyed listening to her voice.
Nov 25, 2011 | 9:30 pm
#20
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: NYC
Programs: Just a peon
Posts: 4,569
I think your conclusions are valid but wholly unsurprising. Virtually every single US-based air carrier offers service that is far below that offered by most serious foreign airlines.
I regularly fly all the American Star Alliance carriers as well as AA, and they all pretty much suck. As far as I'm concerned, Jet Blue is also just OK - I appreciate the free drinks and snacks, but honestly, how many cookies am I really going to eat?
I view the state of the US airline industry as another data point in the by now incontrovertible case that the US is now a third-world country. Flying an American carrier is like flying a Latin American carrier (actually, worse - LAN is quite good, at least in the air.)
One of my recent pet peeves is that on several UA flights between LGA-IAD, the flight attendants announce shortly after takeoff that they won't be providing drinks because the flight is too short. This when the flying time is roughly an hour - plenty of time to do the drinks service.
You occasionally get pleasant surprises in the US - I've recently taken some new planes (don't recall which ones) on UA between LGA-IAD and been impressed with the spaciousness of the seats in Y. But then you realize that you're basically on Greyhound with wings.
I regularly fly all the American Star Alliance carriers as well as AA, and they all pretty much suck. As far as I'm concerned, Jet Blue is also just OK - I appreciate the free drinks and snacks, but honestly, how many cookies am I really going to eat?
I view the state of the US airline industry as another data point in the by now incontrovertible case that the US is now a third-world country. Flying an American carrier is like flying a Latin American carrier (actually, worse - LAN is quite good, at least in the air.)
One of my recent pet peeves is that on several UA flights between LGA-IAD, the flight attendants announce shortly after takeoff that they won't be providing drinks because the flight is too short. This when the flying time is roughly an hour - plenty of time to do the drinks service.
You occasionally get pleasant surprises in the US - I've recently taken some new planes (don't recall which ones) on UA between LGA-IAD and been impressed with the spaciousness of the seats in Y. But then you realize that you're basically on Greyhound with wings.
Nov 26, 2011 | 7:42 am
#21
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada
Programs: Mucci of the Dominion of Maple and Moose; Keeper of Sir MightyMoose; BAEC Silver; AC MileagePlus
Posts: 1,311
I think your conclusions are valid but wholly unsurprising. Virtually every single US-based air carrier offers service that is far below that offered by most serious foreign airlines.
I regularly fly all the American Star Alliance carriers as well as AA, and they all pretty much suck. As far as I'm concerned, Jet Blue is also just OK - I appreciate the free drinks and snacks, but honestly, how many cookies am I really going to eat?
I view the state of the US airline industry as another data point in the by now incontrovertible case that the US is now a third-world country. Flying an American carrier is like flying a Latin American carrier (actually, worse - LAN is quite good, at least in the air.)
One of my recent pet peeves is that on several UA flights between LGA-IAD, the flight attendants announce shortly after takeoff that they won't be providing drinks because the flight is too short. This when the flying time is roughly an hour - plenty of time to do the drinks service.
You occasionally get pleasant surprises in the US - I've recently taken some new planes (don't recall which ones) on UA between LGA-IAD and been impressed with the spaciousness of the seats in Y. But then you realize that you're basically on Greyhound with wings.
I regularly fly all the American Star Alliance carriers as well as AA, and they all pretty much suck. As far as I'm concerned, Jet Blue is also just OK - I appreciate the free drinks and snacks, but honestly, how many cookies am I really going to eat?
I view the state of the US airline industry as another data point in the by now incontrovertible case that the US is now a third-world country. Flying an American carrier is like flying a Latin American carrier (actually, worse - LAN is quite good, at least in the air.)
One of my recent pet peeves is that on several UA flights between LGA-IAD, the flight attendants announce shortly after takeoff that they won't be providing drinks because the flight is too short. This when the flying time is roughly an hour - plenty of time to do the drinks service.
You occasionally get pleasant surprises in the US - I've recently taken some new planes (don't recall which ones) on UA between LGA-IAD and been impressed with the spaciousness of the seats in Y. But then you realize that you're basically on Greyhound with wings.
And then there are carriers like CX that do a full meal on a 50-min int'l flight, between HKG-TPE, even in Y. Granted it's tray on, shovel, tray off wham-bam thankyou ma'am. But still...
'too short for drinks'
Dec 1, 2011 | 9:41 am
#23
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Los Angeles,CA,USA
Programs: UA MM, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 931
I kind of enjoyed it but wondering who's dong the work up front.
Dec 1, 2011 | 6:01 pm
#24
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,558
Just did MUC-IAD on UA (gross, big mistake) and the captain came on every 30 minutes and said ONE word, "seatbelts".
No ladies and gentlemen, please return to your seats, etc.
Just "seatbelts".
Pretty tacky!
BTW - on Cathay Pacific in F between Taipei and Hong Kong, which is about 50-60 minutes, they manage to serve a 3-COURSE meal with a hot main, not on a tray, and in separate courses.
But US airlines can't do drinks in the same amount of time?
It's just plain laziness.
No ladies and gentlemen, please return to your seats, etc.
Just "seatbelts".
Pretty tacky!
BTW - on Cathay Pacific in F between Taipei and Hong Kong, which is about 50-60 minutes, they manage to serve a 3-COURSE meal with a hot main, not on a tray, and in separate courses.
But US airlines can't do drinks in the same amount of time?
It's just plain laziness.
Dec 1, 2011 | 10:07 pm
#25
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Southern California, USA
Posts: 1,393
A friend of mine used to fly for CX, she said this was the hardest flight to work. Oh, and she also did inflight duty-free on HKG-TPE v.v. flights.
Dec 2, 2011 | 5:05 pm
#26
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Anywhere I need to be.
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(In J there were some guys playing cards!)