Pay money to get beaten up air lines..

Discussion in 'Everything Else' started by OG10, Apr 10, 2017.

  1. Before I came to the US Khai warned me about your boarding system..

    Little did I know that unless you fly first class or have some kind of uranium status on a frequent flyers club you are barred from getting space to stow your crap..I experienced this once last year, and then upgraded every single domestic flight I went on, to first class. I couldn't hack the BS.

    So today you might have seen this shocking story:

    Seems pretty awful.. have you had any bad experiences on domestic flights?
  2. All the North American airlines overbook flights. I've always witnessed someone takes the bounty. Air Canada once offered $700 to take a alternate flight 2 hours later. So $800 to take a flight next day is really low. They should've offered more money.

    What's bullshit is the 'randomly selected' part. It's random but not everyone on the flight is valued 1:1. Probability of being chosen decreases based on status with airline, price of booking, and who you booked through. A discount ticket is more likely to be selected. I almost always book through discount sites so if people didn't take the bounty I'd probably have to leave my seat.

    All of this also applies to hotels. I have been bumped from hotels a lot since I pay a fraction of the sticker price. They always give you comparable accommodations nearby, so I've never really cared.
  3. #3 cmdrmonkey, Apr 10, 2017
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2017
    Refuse to give up your seat for $800 when you're a doctor who needs to be at the hospital the next day and the airline overbooked the flight, get knocked unconscious by power tripping cops and dragged off the plane

    They could have just offered the guy more money. United are huge shitbags though so that wasn't going to happen.

  4. My bad experience was during the Bush administration. Good ol dubya flew over Oakland airspace so my flight at the Oakland airport got grounded... sat in the plane for over an hour before they just outright cancelled the flight. This was a Southwest flight. They then transferred me over to Continental (when they still existed by themselves) for a much later flight. Keep in mind that this was well before smartphone/tablet era so I literally just stared at a wall until I dozed off at the airport.

    The good part was that the original flight on Southwest was super packed and would've been an uncomfortable flight. The Continental flight I took back to Orlando only had like 5 people on it so I just sprawled out across 3 seats and chilled.
  5. #5 cmdrmonkey, Apr 10, 2017
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2017

    • lol lol x 2
  6. #6 bfun, Apr 11, 2017
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2017
    Mildly interesting airline stories? I got a few!

    I don't feel well: The lady in the seat behind me got up out of her seat as we were preparing to land. She said she didn't feel well and then collapsed. Two girls then got out of their seats to try and help her and the pilot started an emergency medical landing procedure. It was the fastest landing and the fastest taxiway trip I ever experienced. Unfortunately, it was also followed by an extremely long wait as the medical staff had to board and leave the plane with the passenger.

    Lightning strike: I was somewhere over the Pacific when the plane got struck by lightning. Pretty sure I saw a flash in front of me or maybe I just lost my vision for a second. It sounded like a bomb went off. Oddly, everyone just went dead silent and stayed that way until the pilot said it was a strike.

    Bad Child: I was on a flight with children without parents. Apparently one of the kids was so bad the stewardess moved the child from the back of the plane and put him next to me saying, "He’s going to sit next to you". I assumed she'd hope I would scare the kid into behaving but I didn't give a shit and he started pulling the hair of the lady in front of me. When she turned around and looked at me I just said, “not my kid”.

    To the beach: I was on a small flight with just one stewardess. As soon as the plane landed the stewardess came out of the back of the plane in a bikini and got off before all the passengers did.

    Freaky Flight: This was Pre-911. I was catching a super late flight out of LA when the airline reported that our plane was having issues and they were getting a new plane. There were literally only about 7 people on that flight. So the new plane arrives and it's a freaking double decker 747. I got on the plane and never saw a passenger or attendant the whole flight. I also sat near the stairs and to this day I regret not having the guts to go up the stairs to the bar. Actually, I assumed there was a bar but maybe there wasn't anything up there. I’ll never know.

    Turbulence: I think it was 2000 when I was coming into London. They were having some of the worst storms in over a decade and the turbulence was so bad that I somehow managed to hit my head even with my seat-belt on. The flight attendants were determined to keep providing service even though the trolley was going airborne. They were just laughing like it was some kind of challenge. Bastards. I always keep my seatbelt extra tight since that flight.

    Ticket but no Ticket: You might actually remember this recent one. I had a layover in Vegas and on my way to my next flight I found out that my ticket for the next flight had been canceled and the money refunded to my card. The airline never provided a reason or even tried to contact me. So I was stuck in Vegas for about 11 hours while I waited for another flight.

    Reservation but no ticket: Not really sure what happened here but I got to the airport with my confirmation number but couldn't get a ticket. The lady at the counter said no ticket for you. I went the line for people with problems and they could not figure out why I didn't have a ticket despite having a confirmation number for a ticket. The fairly disgruntle employee said they could still issue me a ticket but the price went up from $300 to $1200. Luckily I was able to play the contracted fair card and got the ticket for the original price. The lady seemed pissed that she couldn’t screw me.

    Fake Boarding pass. I was flying out of Vegas with some friends when the TSA agent in the front of the security line tells us that our boarding passes are fake. So security rounds us up and takes us to the office for bad people. Once there our passes are verified as real and we are on our way. I always wondered if there was some alternative reason they pulled us out of line because the story never made sense. We had just gotten the passes from the ticketing agent.

    At least you’re not dead: Was on a flight where the movie stopped working. People started moaning and the head stewardess, who was already getting a reputation as a bitch said, “Just be happy that you’ll land on the ground alive.”

    Thai Hooker: Had a long red eye flight and managed to get a bulkhead seat with tons of legroom. Problem was that it was just enough room that a person could stand there without being totally rude. Anyway, at some point, a man dressed as a pilot and a woman dressed like a hooker get in front of me and start groping each other. It was super awkward. The people next to me were asleep so they didn’t notice and I tried to look away but our feet are literally touching. The stewardess didn’t do anything to stop the show which was slowly turning into dry humping. Finally, the pilot in the cockpit got on the intercom and tells everyone to get to their seat in an extra stern fashion that I know was meant for this guy who may or may not have been the copilot. They got their shit together and left me alone to ponder what the hell just happened.
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  7. Nothing else too exciting. I tend to have a lot of ticketing issues and my coworkers get worried when traveling with me. Apparently, they also have more issues when I'm around. I had my luggage lost 4 times and destroyed once. I was reimbursed for the destroyed luggage and the lost luggage was only a big issue twice. Once I didn't get my bag until 5 days into a 10-day trip. Another time I was forced to go to a Walmart at 1 AM in Jackson, MS to buy nice clothes for a meeting the next morning. Buying nice dress clothes at Walmart can be difficult but it's down right scary at the wrong Walmart. This one had armed police patrolling the store. I've had a few issues with rentals cars too. Once I was checking out at the rental car counter at 11:59 PM and when the time went past midnight the system messed up and started charging wrong cars to the wrong people. I didn't know until I got the bill. That took a few days to get fixed. Another time the company simply lost track of the car I rented and their system showed that it went missing rather than being rented out. They were a little surprised when I returned it. I'm not sure what would have happened if I'd been pulled over in that car. I also had a rental car company charge me for hail damage despite having never been in a hail storm. My insurance picked it up but I still had to pay the $250 deductible.
  8. United lost about $1 Billion in market value today.

  9. I was flying back from the east, and was on a flight that typically takes workers to Dubai, so it was empty in First class. I got a bottle of Champagne to myself and a a spare one as a gift :)

    The worst thing about first class is when they declassify the section for plebs, when this happens I usually ask for compensation and usually get a £200-500 back and an auto upgrade from Business on future flights.

    British Airways is getting worse and worse though, I'll have to switch next time :(