I'm not saying that I will never fly again but I am emphatically saying that, until something changes in the Land of Corporate Greed, I don't plan to buy any more airline tickets. I am on strike against the airlines. Last January, in the dark and cold of winter, I thought a trip to Chicago in the summer would be fun. Now that June has arrived, I wonder what the heck I was thinking back then? Now, a trip to Chicago sounds exhausting and expensive. A big expense (in my budget) is the $330 airline ticket.
Here's the question: Can anyone out there give me any reason why the airlines get to be so unreasonable about the return or exchange of airline tickets? A reasonable explanation will have nothing to do with "national security". It infuriates me that I can buy a ticket on January 4th, 2013 for a flight on June 27th, 2013 and, no matter what happens, I am stuck with that ticket. I don't get why there can't be a refund on tickets purchased so far in advance? Oh, that's right, Corporate Greed. Someone will throw out "national security" as an explanation but that is so lame. If I get my ticket refunded then my name is out of the system. Where's the problem? Hotels will often have a 72 hour cancellation policy (money refunded if cancellation is within 72 hours of scheduled stay). Why can't there be a 72 hour window in which an airline refund is not allowed rather than a forever window? Why do airlines get to rip the public off like this?
Equally appalling is that I can't even give that ticket to someone else. This is infuriating. Again, I don't buy any "national security" excuse. If I want to give my ticket to my friend, why can't I contact the airline and have the name changed on the ticket? When boarding, the ticket holder will still have to show photo id. What is the deal on this? Right, Corporate Greed.
In addition to these horrible business practices, the airlines stuff people and bags into those planes. They also have the nerve to charge you for your suitcase. Yes, it infuriates me. They try to sell you cardboard that passes as food for some ridiculous price and, in general, act as if they are all that so that you can get from one place to another in a timely manner.
As for me? I've decided that, for the most part, "a timely manner" doesn't matter any more. I like travel. I like broadening my world and exploring other places and ways of living. But, I refuse to support the airline industry. I will go by car, train, boat, foot, or bike. I will not plan to fly again.
Whoa, that’s quite a tirade and I like the disclaimer of the last sentence. That you will not “plan” to fly again.
ReplyDeleteI used to enjoy flying. We haven’t flown in a quite awhile though. In fact I can’t remember the last time.
I don’t like the hassle. I hate that you have to get to the airport 2 hours before boarding. I hate that they take away my water bottle and make me take my shoes off. But, I guess those really are security issues.
But, I also hate that it has become so expensive. I hate that they charge for baggage and have taken away the “luxury feeling” of flying. As you said cramming us into tiny spaces,which by the way, makes a nervous flyer even more so.
If they refunded your ticket, I am sure they would be able to sell your seat to another passenger. So to answer what I am sure is a rhetorical question, Corporate Greed, is why they have such a ridiculous refund policy for sure.
I have to say, I am itching to go somewhere that we would have to fly to, though.
I HATE the hassle of flying. I think the whole take off your shoes business, the no liquids allowed business, and the power hungry TSA's are just a ruse to heighten fear and control people. Just more of my aptly noted tirade.
DeleteI would like to go places where flying is convenient but there is no place I can't go on some other conveyance. And, I must add, I live in an incredibly beautiful part of the world. I can recharge myself with a 25 minute car ride or a two hour bike ride - the thing is, I want to meet strangers and see other ways of doing things. I guess I do that by making blog friends in different parts of the world (and looking at photos of the Jersey shore, for example!).
I've never flown on a plane in my life and this makes me never want to :-)
ReplyDeleteWow! That's impressive, Keith! Good for you! How about traveling by bus, train, car? Have you gotten out of Kentucky via some other conveyance?
DeleteDon't even get me started! I just had an awful experience you'll get my drift when you read part 2 of my vacation post. Horrible!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately there is no courtesy of good faith in big business any more.
We travel from VA to NY frequently and we've stopped flying and take Amtrak. It is a much better experience- less stress and less money!
Go to this blog http://elliott.org/. The guy is fabulous.His blog has tons of tips on how to deal with issues like yours.
If you can't find what you're looking for send Mr Elliot a brief email and i bet he'll intervene. He intervened on my behalf with a problem that I had on my Bahamas trip.
I like that! Take Amtrak. I want to try that (if I ever go anywhere again). Thanks for the link to Mr Elliot. What a wealth of good information. Cool!
DeleteThe corporations have no good reason to change their policies until their customers demand better from them. But their customers won't demand better from them, because many of them can't afford to not fly. (Depending upon their situations.) So, the corporations continue with business as usual.
ReplyDeleteIf we could find a way to make them change their practices... Ah well. I'm sure there's a way, but it'll take all of us.
I'll do my part.
DeleteI don't have any uplifting thoughts about flying. The airlines have us over a barrel. I try to resist an "us against them" mentality, but with the airlines, what else can we think? Customer service is laughable, deplorable even, and when one is charged for every ounce of luggage in a shell game instead of stating right up front how much the flight REALLY costs, well....
ReplyDeleteBut like you, I still have dreams of going to places like Italy, or Japan, and to sail there would be even more wildly, impossibly expensive on a teacher's budget. So if I go one day, I'll grit my teeth and fly. And count my blessings, I guess. And eat lots of pasta and sushi. Ha!
I don't know why--maybe heat-based exhaustion--but that phrase "uplifting thoughts about flying" cracked me up! I'm easily entertained, I guess. ;)
DeleteI have never flown--mostly because of financial considerations--but I have been in a snit about corporate greed in all its many incarnations for a couple of decades now so I can definitely identify.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I finally got a chance to read that Time magazine article about the health care industry that you talked about a while ago. While it did not have any entirely surprising news, the extent of the greed and scammery was so infuriating it almost necessitated an emergency room visit.
Yes, I am still reeling from that article. The whole corporate greed thing is infuriating. My brother wrote a piece yesterday on Monsanto. Talk about wrong!
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