All Things Commercial Flight

[Carrikature]

LOL...I know what you meant about the term cattle call. And thanks for the refresher. I do remember all that ... ugh...I disliked it because if you can't tell a "B" from a "D" or even a "C" etc. you really have to hope someone around you can. As most of them are total strangers...

Alaska Airlines does boarding by row groupings. It's a lot smarter.

[DesertBerean]

I like Alaska Air.

[Jedidiah]

So, are you afraid to fly? Do you love flying? Do you do "air miles" and fly free?

I don't mind flying, and it sure beats the alternatives when going to and from Alaska. What I do mind is that seats now days are way too close together to be comfortable.

I remember my first flight. It was from LA to San Francisco. and cost $12. The seats were comfortable and it only took an hour to make it to SF. I took that flight back and forth several times as I was living in SF and went to visit my folks in Barstow.

[Jedidiah]

I don't mind the actual flying. It's the process getting to the plane that irritates me.

As I say the terrorists have won that one.

[Jedidiah]

I love flying and one of the two things left on my "bucket list" (most of which I completed in my 20s) is to skydive. I don't mean jump out of the plane and have my chute deploy immediately, but to go up to 10,000' and free fall for the first 9000.' Even higher would be better.

Why would any sane person want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane? Oh, sane . . .

[Jedidiah]

. . .I've become somewhat of an expert at getting first class seats at "coach" point prices. . . .

I would love to know your secrets on this.

[Jedidiah]

We signed up for the Alaska Airlines credit card to get miles, and we buy our flights through them. We're making round-trips to Texas twice a year, so it's worth it.



I know a guy that refuses to fly anywhere. If he can't drive there, he's not going.

Yes, I have an Alaska Airlines visa card and I fly free down to visit my parents each year.

I have a friend almost as rigid as the one you describe. I do not recall him ever flying anywhere. He drives outside* now and again, his wife flies out often, but not him.

*Oh, outside means the lower 48, also known as America.

[Jedidiah]

You just reminded me of our tour of the Boeing plant.... several times, I heard the phrase "If it's not Boeing, I'm not going!"

My experience with choppers is that they are way noisy.

[Carrikature]

My experience with choppers is that they are way noisy.

I haven't been in any of the big ones to know this, but I suspect it's similar to buying a car. The more money you spend, the less outside intrusion you can expect. That said, it wasn't that bad in my discovery flight, but we did have headphones.

[DesertBerean]

I haven't been in any of the big ones to know this, but I suspect it's similar to buying a car. The more money you spend, the less outside intrusion you can expect. That said, it wasn't that bad in my discovery flight, but we did have headphones.

I take it a discovery flight means you were on a team gathering information for negotiations or ... ?

[rogue06]

Why would any sane person want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane? Oh, sane . . .

Yeah!

[Jedidiah]

I haven't been in any of the big ones to know this, but I suspect it's similar to buying a car. The more money you spend, the less outside intrusion you can expect. That said, it wasn't that bad in my discovery flight, but we did have headphones.

I was just flying out to remote areas to do surveying. I say I was flying, but I was just a passenger. It was noisy.

[Carrikature]

I take it a discovery flight means you were on a team gathering information for negotiations or ... ?

Nothing that cool. One of the flight schools near where I lived offered a discovery flight for ~$100. It was about an hour of time. We went over the parts of the helicopter, and more or less how it worked. Then we got in, took off, and went to a nearby field so I could learn the various controls. He gave me one at a time to use briefly, then he allowed me to practice hovering a little. After that, we went on a 30min round trip flight over a nearby body of water.

[Cerebrum123]

Having to fly twice a year both ways(or more) for many years meant I got a lot of experience with airports and flying. It was a nightmare, from the time they patted me down* on a random check, to the time the elevators were out, and I had to be pulled up an escalator on a wheelchair, to people constantly bumping into me. Sadly driving thousands of miles was less stressful, and caused less problems than flying.

*I had a note from a doctor warning them against this, but they wouldn't accept that.

[Cow Poke]

By the way......

for those who take comfort from the Word of God that the Lord will be with you when you fly...... Think again!

The Bible says ... and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.