General Reports

[Member #4698]

Some interesting conversations on flying, but I can't recall when I flew on any airline without a preassigned seat and I would be damn pissed off if my fully paid seating was altered at the last minute by the airlines. On intercontinental routes I fly mostly Star Alliance: United, Swiss Air, Thai Air, ANA, etc or Sky Team: Delta, Air France, Korean Air, and China Eastern. In Asia I fly Air Asia, Thai Air, Singapore Air, Cebu Pacific, Philippine Air ect, but again all with preassigned seating and under most circumstances except an emergency, I would not fly any other way. I like the aisle (more leg room) and up front as much as possible for faster entry and exiting. On the intercontinental flights I pay up for more leg room. One time a pretty passenger asked me to change seats so she could sit with her boyfriend. Her seat was a middle seat several rows behind my seat. I politely told her why I wouldn't trade. I also don't like sitting next to babies. Most, not all make a racket at some point in the flight. But what I really don't like is sitting anywhere near someone who is sick and coughing. Wow that pisses me off more than just about anything. Hey take some medicine and cover your face, you ass hole.

But more important than all these pet peeves is the fact that flying used to be fun back in the day and it is a god damn pain in the ass now and the fault is mostly with the airlines. They are ass sucking bastards and they don't give a shit about their passengers comfort or repeat business. They only care about maximizing profit on every flight so they design the planes like cattle cars sticking as many passengers on a plane as possible and they construct tight scheduling algorithms to minimize empty seats on every flight. They have it down to a science. And they are always devising new ways to charge their customers ie squeeze more profit per ticket.

I will say this, however, that there is still a palpable difference between the Western Nation Airlines and the Asian Airlines. The Asian National Airlines are better. My preferred way to fly to BKK from Florida, USA is the Euro route because it is a couple of hours shorter duration that the trans Pacific route and because the plane lands in BKK in the morning instead of 9:30 or later in the evening with the Pacific flights. So, I often fly on a United Airlines ticket: Swiss Air MIA to Zurich and then Thai Air to BKK. The difference between flying Swiss Air or any Western country airline and flying Thai Air is amazing. The Thai stewardess are nice and actually try to make passengers comfortable. What a novel approach. 555. On my last trip I flew the Trans Pacific route free with miles on a Delta ticket. Delta was Delta per usual no surprise, but China Eastern Airlines which I flew from BKK to Shanghai on the 1st leg of my return flight was surprisingly nice. Will wonders never cease. But leaving BKK at 2 AM really sucks. Another reason why I don't like the trans Pacific route.

But when I am in Asia I fly all the local Asian carriers, again always with preassigned seating. So as for BKK arrivals and departures, I hate Swampy. Who doesn't? Their immigration lines are outrageous. To make visitors wait in line, sometimes up to an hour just to get their passports stamped so they can enter Thailand and spend money in the local economy is an insult. Compare it to Singapore or even Jakarta immigration. It is unbelievable. I realize I can buy fast track Thai entry. I might do that next trip although I have noticed on numerous entries that the lines are not that bad on the Thai Airlines arrivals from Europe. Anyway, to avoid the long immigration lines I tend to fly Air Asia in and out of DMk a lot for short flights to neighboring Asian countries. Much less hassle at DMK although when you fly that way you are stuck with mostly Air Asia. LOL. You can't win! They won't let you win. 555.

So this is my aviation blues. I hate flying. It used to be fun. It used to be adventurous. Shit, I remember before 9/11 I used to bring weed on board planes and smoke in the plane's bathroom. Hell, I remember when smoking cigarettes was allowed on planes and planes were usually only 75% full. Back then I used to fly Miami to Ams lying down, fully stretched out sleeping in my own entire 4 seat middle row. Those were the days. I would then lay over in AMS for a couple of nights, get stoned in the coffee shops and wander around the red-light district. And then fly off to BKK arriving on a half full plane in the morning BKK time. Nowadays, I don't care what WESTERN airlines you are flying with, it's flying by cattle car. But we put up with it because we don't have much choice and because we know that when we arrive in SE Asia we are actually arriving in the land of milk and honey. But I wonder what the profit margin would be if an Airline began flying a certain number of intercontinental flights charging more money for their tickets obviously, but designing the plane throughout with decent size seats and reasonable space between seats. Would the consumers support such an offering or is the public hooked on so called minimal pricing. I don't know, but it might be an interesting experiment for one Airline to try. Who knows? It might be profitable and then it could catch on.

[Mr Enternational]

Maybe this had something to do with it.

[BKKguru]

I have seen hostesses ask guys to change seats to facilitate others.
<snip>
If people wish to sit together, they can pay the premium to do that.

"If people wish to sit together, they can pay the premium to do that. ".

You are missing the point. Three years ago, there was NO fee to select a seat in Economy Class.
It does NOT cost the Airline any extra Dollars to assign seats in advance. This is a ploy to grab more Dollars from the Economy Class passenger.

To be clear, I am only talking about full fare airlines, not Budget Airlines like Air Asia, Ryan Air etc.

As you point out, this does put an additional burden on the Cabin staff.
This excludes United Airlines, where Economy Class Passengers have the same status as garbage.

BKKguru

[PedroMorales]

I do not see why you have to pay a premium to sit families together? If they increased the fares to incorporate grouped seating I wouldn't notice an increase of $20 in $5000 worth of fares.

As far as protecting my family I will go "Rambo". You do not know my family dynamic's and I will not explain them here so I do take offence that you are quick to judge me and imply that I have some reason to hate Arabs? I actually think Aussies, my nationality are noisier on planes and can't get my earphones on fast enough!

The other passengers did gladly change seats but I do not see that as their responsibility because the airline does have a duty of care and I am sure that extends to more then just taking off, flying properly and landing safely.

In regards to giving others a bad name I haven't had an experience of a mid air punch up so maybe I am not such a big ass hole as you imply.

If you decide to start your own family revisit this situation and tell me you would allow your child to sit next to a total stranger on an overnight flight with the airline telling you to suck it up.

Most airlines allow you to buy seats together for a premium. If your seats are not allocated together, too bad as you did not pay extra to get them together. Although children, the old or the infirm are reasons to sit together, people always try to bend the rules so the airline has to be rigid. Some crew are ruder than others. Most are fed up of a minority of passengers bending the rules in ways big or small. My last flight, crew were complaining out loud of the huge size of the carry on luggage of the usual parasitical suspects. The future of airlines is budget and pay for every and all extras. Penny pinchers are making the same complaint about them (paying extra to be seated together) as you are here.

I was assaulted on a plane. Luckily I had one of the crew as witness and got the scum bag arrested (pushed over and then had my face squeezed when passing him). I have changed my MO and fly less often as I find those with entitlement issues to be pains both in the airports and on the planes.

The only upside, as I say, is I get to bone a few crew. And wonder why they put up with all the BS of their horrible job.

[Rob Jones]

I am bonking two airline hostesses on a P4P basis. Our pillow talk consists of stuff like the above. The airline sells you getting from A to be safely. All others are incidental they tell me. That includes seats. If there are children involved, most people would gladly change seats. I have done it several times and seen it done many times more. I have seen hostesses ask guys to change seats to facilitate others.

You, on the other hand, want to go all Rambo straight out of the traps. You sound like one of those guys who object to Arabs or others speaking Arabic on flights and definitely the type of guy who starts trouble and gives mongers a bad name.

If people wish to sit together, they can pay the premium to do that. I've had to sit beside grossly obese people who are so disgustingly fat one seat belt is not enough for them. I've been in punch ups on flights. All the airlinbe wants to do is move passengers from A to be and land in one piece. It is a crap job dealing with ass holes. It's only upside is I get good bonks at a cut price rate out of it.

I do not see why you have to pay a premium to sit families together? If they increased the fares to incorporate grouped seating I wouldn't notice an increase of $20 in $5000 worth of fares.

As far as protecting my family I will go "Rambo". You do not know my family dynamic's and I will not explain them here so I do take offence that you are quick to judge me and imply that I have some reason to hate Arabs? I actually think Aussies, my nationality are noisier on planes and can't get my earphones on fast enough!

The other passengers did gladly change seats but I do not see that as their responsibility because the airline does have a duty of care and I am sure that extends to more then just taking off, flying properly and landing safely.

In regards to giving others a bad name I haven't had an experience of a mid air punch up so maybe I am not such a big ass hole as you imply.

If you decide to start your own family revisit this situation and tell me you would allow your child to sit next to a total stranger on an overnight flight with the airline telling you to suck it up.

[Banana Boi]

I still fly KLM because there are the odd flights KLM has that are dirt cheap. One example is Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta in business class with lay flat seats for 3600 baht. Jakarta to KL is slightly more at 4000 baht. Includes 2 free check in and 1 carry on bag. Economy is 1215 baht but with only 1 check in bag and a carry on. Pretty impressive price for a 2+ hour flight.

If other airlines offer true business class at these rates please let me know.

[Smoothy]

My company once booked me on KLM to USA as was supposedly cheaper. Unfortunately as I was a long time away from home, I had significantly more than the standard luggage allowance and maybe got charged 200 euros for extra luggage, making it not cheap at all.

Funny, that's the exact same reason I haven't flown KLM in 20 years. They charged me a bullshit 84 euros for a tiny carry on bag that I have never had to check with any other airline ever. I bring it with me everywhere even to this day. I told them at the time that if they wanted to do that, I would never fly KLM again. They didn't seem concerned, so I have not flown them again and hopefully never will.

[Syzygies]

Just like baggage fees, this is fast becoming standard practice.

Lufthansa charges a fee for advance seat assignment (Economy Class only).
There is NO fee if you select the seat 23 hours before departure.

For airlines, this is another revenue opportunity, although much less than the Baggage fee lottery.

~BKKguru

I have found once on entering an aircraft, that my seat assignment had been changed even after I had checked in without my permission, but maybe related to trying to seat families together. Sometimes a flight is changed to a different smaller aircraft too.

My company once booked me on KLM to USA as was supposedly cheaper. Unfortunately as I was a long time away from home, I had significantly more than the standard luggage allowance and maybe got charged 200 euros for extra luggage, making it not cheap at all. These days I prefer to book flights or hotels myself, or at least specify them, based on my special criteria which is not purely the price, but also flexibility to change, luggage allowance, etc.

For Hotels, proximity to work location and transport is very important. I hate wasting time travelling too much every day.

[PedroMorales]

Experienced this with Qatar and KLM recently while travelling with my family. I have no problem if I don't get to sit next to the wife or friends when flying but both airlines where separating kids from their parents. We managed to get my wife and daughter seated next to each other but I witnessed other families, on different flight's, not being so lucky. I asked the guys at Qatar, who were the hardest to convince that young girls shouldn't be seated away from their parents on an overnight flight, do I tell them or contact the police upon landing if my daughter was molested in any way? When I said I would take a photo of the person seated beside her and ask to see their passport and explain what I would do if I felt that any discretions occurred did they make an effort to find a solution.

This practice has a lawsuit waiting to happen at the best outcome and a disaster at worst if a child is harmed.

I am bonking two airline hostesses on a P4P basis. Our pillow talk consists of stuff like the above. The airline sells you getting from A to be safely. All others are incidental they tell me. That includes seats. If there are children involved, most people would gladly change seats. I have done it several times and seen it done many times more. I have seen hostesses ask guys to change seats to facilitate others.

You, on the other hand, want to go all Rambo straight out of the traps. You sound like one of those guys who object to Arabs or others speaking Arabic on flights and definitely the type of guy who starts trouble and gives mongers a bad name.

If people wish to sit together, they can pay the premium to do that. I've had to sit beside grossly obese people who are so disgustingly fat one seat belt is not enough for them. I've been in punch ups on flights. All the airlinbe wants to do is move passengers from A to be and land in one piece. It is a crap job dealing with ass holes. It's only upside is I get good bonks at a cut price rate out of it.

[Rob Jones]

Just like baggage fees, this is fast becoming standard practice.

Lufthansa charges a fee for advance seat assignment (Economy Class only).
There is NO fee if you select the seat 23 hours before departure.

For airlines, this is another revenue opportunity, although much less than the Baggage fee lottery.

~BKKguru

Experienced this with Qatar and KLM recently while travelling with my family. I have no problem if I don't get to sit next to the wife or friends when flying but both airlines where separating kids from their parents. We managed to get my wife and daughter seated next to each other but I witnessed other families, on different flight's, not being so lucky. I asked the guys at Qatar, who were the hardest to convince that young girls shouldn't be seated away from their parents on an overnight flight, do I tell them or contact the police upon landing if my daughter was molested in any way? When I said I would take a photo of the person seated beside her and ask to see their passport and explain what I would do if I felt that any discretions occurred did they make an effort to find a solution.

This practice has a lawsuit waiting to happen at the best outcome and a disaster at worst if a child is harmed.

[Wimble]

Singapore Airlines is really hard to beat. I love their lounge in Singapore. But I can't always use them. Though I was fortunate enough to use some of the ladies.

I actually like Eva the few times I have flown them. Their prices are great the ladies are not too bad. Years ago, when I tried them, I hooked up with 2 of the ladies. They were unattached so they were able to show me around town.

[MakeItOrBreak]

I'm spending 11 days in Thailand and wondering how I should break it up between Bangkok and Pattaya. From what I've read here Pattaya is a little cheaper, less crowded but the woman aren't as attractive. Does anyone have advice on how many days I should spend where?

I am fairly inexperienced for both but I would personally opt to spend more time in Pattaya since it is easier layout for you to get the hang of in such a short time. If you have read up on Bangkok and prepared I think both works.

I been to Pattaya off season and saw plenty of pretty ladies so that shouldn't be a worry. Hopefully someone with more experience in both locations can provide more guidance.

[D Cups]

My two really big hates are babies screaming or young children jumping around uncontrolled by parents, and if get unlucky to be close to a really stinky passenger.

Ya, babies you almost have to put up with but screaming kids who are uncontrolled by their stupid parents no excuse for. On my last flight cross country to Atlanta on Delta the broad next to me was so fat her blubber actually pinned me against the side of the airplane for five hours. She was ugly, too, and had no tits. It was all blubber. Airlines should force obese passengers to pay for two seats or upgrade to first class. Sheesh.

[BKKguru]

Unfortunately EVA is now charging a fee if you want to select a seat more than 48 hours before departure. Within 48 hours it's still possible to select a standard seat for free.

https://www.evaair.com/en-us/booking-and-travel-planning/fare-family/introduction-of-fare-family/#seat (click on 'Charges')

Just like baggage fees, this is fast becoming standard practice.

Lufthansa charges a fee for advance seat assignment (Economy Class only).
There is NO fee if you select the seat 23 hours before departure.

For airlines, this is another revenue opportunity, although much less than the Baggage fee lottery.

BKKguru

[Smoothy]

My favorite airline is Lufthansa. For an Asian airline Cathay is the best although EVA is generally much cheaper and offers great flexibility in date changes and free seat selection.

Lufthansa? Haha. I haven't flown it in about 10 years, so maybe it has improved, but I have flown it about 10 times and I think that's one of the worst airlines Internationally. They have the smallest distance between economy class seats of any airline I have flown on International routes. I'm short, and my knees touch the seat in front of me on that airline. That's crazy. I can handle it for shorter flights like Jakarta to Bangkok, but I flew Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Buenos Aires once, 16 hour flight. I had the window seat and the guy seated next to me in the middle seat was around 6 foot 6. His knees had to be spread into both my seat area and the seat area of the guy in the aisle due to lack of space. Miserable flight, miserable airline. They did used to have the cheapest flight from Jakarta to Bangkok for only $200 usd roundtrip about 15 years ago so I would take that flight once in a while, but had it not been far cheaper than the other airlines I would not have taken it. I equate Lufthansa with the US carriers. Crap. When I fly business class on it, it's fine, but business class is fine on almost any airline other than Egypt Air or Air India.

Cathay is about equivalent to Singapore airlines (although Singapore Airlines has hotter stewardesses and is a bit better overall in my opinion, also I like the Singapore airport better than Hong Kong). Eva is good and a favorite of mine since it is cheap as well as good. The bread rolls on Eva are the best on any airline, not that that matters much. I like ANA too, but I don't like the Japanese food they serve. Korean air is also not bad. It does seem I prefer the Asian airlines, but Qatar Air, Emirates, and Etihad are all quite good as well.

All of the US carriers are crap as far as service, leg room, and amenities. I also don't like many of the European airlines. I avoid pretty much all of them including Lufthansa, KLM, British Airways and Air France. The best I have flown out of the European airlines was Swiss air. There are some good airlines in Australia, but the stewardesses are rarely ever attractive. All of the African carriers are crap. Even South African Airways is nothing special. Kenya airways is supposedly one the best in Africa other than South African Airways, but they always lose my luggage. I hear good things about Ethiopian Air, but I have never flown it. I haven't found a South American carrier that I would say is great, but there are some decent ones. When I'm down there, I just pretty much roll the dice and fly whatever has the best flight times.

Of course, all of us probably have a different opinion on the airlines based on personal experiences.