Airlines

G

gsoda3

250+ Posts
just curious what your opinions of each airline are as of recently.


united- worst of them all. they've gone bare-bones on their planes: some of their planes seem like they're from the late 70s early 80s, have no tvs, no controllable a/c vents, and weak service.


us air- not bad, they still have good entertainment on flights (tv, radio) but their in-seat radios don't always work.

expressjet - great airline. they fly smaller planes but they're newer planes so they're smooth. xm radio on the flight, good service. no tvs.

virgin - i haven't flown on virgin yet but my family says it's great. mood lighting, lots of legroom, good food, personal entertainment system consoles in each seat.


i haven't flown on delta, continental, or american in a while. any opinions?
 
All I fly is American (primarily due to points). I *think* they are the largest US carrier so with that you have pros and cons.

Pros- abundance of flights so if you miss one or a flight gets cancelled, you have options to get home. Unfortunately flights home to Austin on a Friday night are ALWAYS full.

Cons- I would say 90% of my flights in 2007 were delayed. I was Platinum (which just means I travel way too much) so when scheduling meetings, etc I always did so with the anticipation of a delayed flight- no bueno.

I think delays were pretty much the norm for all airlines, so I will continue to fly American in '08. Maybe give Southwest a shot.
 
USAir - absolutely the worst, in my opinion. They had huge problems integrating the America West acquisition (especially the IT systems). On one flight, I had to wait 2 hours to check in when their computers failed, and they had to write all the boarding passes by hand. Their union workers also have a tendency to call in sick en masse on the busiest holiday flying days.

Delta - not quite as bad as USAirways, but close. Same issues with workers calling in sick.

JetBlue - great inflight experience with free DirectTV and snacks. But they've grown too rapidly and can't seem to cope with operational difficulties like bad weather. They're notorious for leaving passengers stranded in planes on the tarmac for up to 8~9 hours.

American - biggest network and most convenient flight schedules, but average service.

Continental - best domestic carrier, in my opinion. Decent service, meals in coach, and a fairly broad and deep network and schedule.

Frontier - decent, flights include DirectTV
Southwest - annoying lack of assigned seating

Also, given a choice, I would pick pretty much ANY foreign airline over a domestic carrier. Pity that our government doesn't allow foreign airlines to compete domestically.
 
I fly out of two small airports semi-frequently (Billings,MT and Cody, WY), so I get to have the pleasure of flying small commuter aircraft.

SkyWest into SLC is a fantastic little airline. Even when there is weather problems, they are good about getting you home. United sucks out loud--why would you charge extra for an exit row seat? I always expect to get stranded anytime I fly United.

Frontier is a great airline if you are on one of the bigger jets--if you have to fly the Bombadier Q400 operated by their Lynx subsidiary, the service is usually terrible.
 
I'm executive platinum on American, and they treat me well. That wasn't always the case, and I totally understand the frustration the occasional traveler has. Also, I've always like Southwest - their attitude is usually superb to the others.
 
I fly Frontier every chance I get. From Austin, you must travel to Denver, but from there you can get wherever you want. Not good for East Coast destinations, but otherwise they are my first choice.

As others have noted there is good service on-board (my adult beverages are free), TV (mine's free), and I have not once been delayed. I wholeheartedly recommend them.

My back-up airline is SW. I fly them when Frontier doesn't provide service nearby, or for flights to the East Coast where Frontier's schedule is out of whack with my needs. SW is what it is. It's good old reliable Southwest. Planes are always packed (ugh), I usually end up hopping through 2 or 3 stops before I get where I'm going (ugh), but again, I've never been significantly delayed when using them.

As a last resort I will fly Northwest. For example, in three weeks I get the joy of traveling to Fargo freakin' North Dakota. SW and Frontier will get me as close as Minneapolis, but in early March driving the last 200 miles is a real crapshoot. So I went with Northwest, who will fly me directly in to Fargo.

The only comment I have regarding Delta/United is they delayed my luggage on the only flight I have ever flown with them. It wasn't too bad as it was on the next flight in to Charleston, SC, but I had to make an extra trip to the airport to get it 3 hours after I landed.

I will never, ever fly American. Those fucktards have never once gotten me to my destination on time, so I'm done with them. They had their chance and they blew it. And I'll badmouth their piece of **** airline and service to anybody who will listen.

So there you have it. My travel life in a nutshell.
 
Like an above poster, I think having elite status really does affect how you're treated on an airline. I'm 1k on United and get treated extremely well, especially if a mistake is made on their part. That coupled with some of the other benefits, keeps me a devoted customer. Continental has been decent for me also, as I believe their domestic product is more superior than other airlines such as American. I've had terrible experiences on American, Delta, and Northwest. By far the worst airline i've ever flown on is US Airways, never again. None of the domestic airlines are even in the same class as any of the international airlines. Singapore Airlines and Emirates are excellent.
 
The only 2 I reliably fly with are Continental and Southwest. I've never had a bad experience with either of them.
 
I only fly american...don't know why. but that's what I'll pick if I have options. I'll probably spend $30 more to fly american over AirTran or something.

For work though, I always end up flying United...which isn't that bad. I have to make a little hop from NY to NC about once a month and they've typically done a nice enough job.

I don't like Southwest..I don't get the love. When I lived in Tx I would fly it home to Lubbock from Austin all the time...and it's always a custer ****. Just tell me what damn seat I'm in and let me board when I want to.
 
well united is supposed to be looking into merging with continental, and delta looking to merge with northwest. not sure if these deals would affect service at those or the other airlines.
 
Continental merging with United makes me want to
pukey.gif


If the merged airline is run like Continental and is dominated by Continental management, I may just throw up in my mouth.

Agree with poster above....your status with an airline will always effect your opinion. I'm Platinum on Continental but find myself forced onto USAir from time to time. Oh Lord that sucks.
 
I'm a 1K with united and that gets me a bag of peanuts with my red carpet boarding line. Their TransPac service is the best of the US carriers. I have to fly AA ever so often and they are for sh*t. they devote a page of their inflight mag to "if your flight is delayed/cancelled your screwed." So far Continental has not bent me over, but I mainly use their Micronesia routes. Delta, US Air and NW should close shop and die. Thai, Cathay Pac and Asiana should have world-wide routes...... Emirates anit that bad...
 
I have over 2 million miles on Ameriican which gets me Platinum for life. I used to live in Dallas so that is all I flew. I think the airport workers and flight attendants all have pretty sour attitudes. I now live in Atlanta and will probably start flying Delta more. Not sure what to expect, but the change might be for the better.
 
during the last 2 football seasons I flew Jet Blue from NYC to Austin for every home game and was usually within 30 mins of schedule- they got a bad rap for the melt down during the snow storm last year- sure they screwd up but so did all the other airlines - they have worked really hard to overcome that fiasco and do a really decent job- I am moving back to San Antonio in a month and if they ever add routes out of Austin or add San Antonio I will consider them first
they are the most flexible airline I have ever flown and I am lifetime Platinum with AA, and for the money they are far and away the best coach carrier I've flown( they do not over book)
They will give you all the sodas , etc and junk snacks you want--
I still fly AA and Cont a lot and find they both suck in customer attitude, old crappy planes and drinks and snacks
 
I love SW, and I like that the seats are first come first serve. Whenever I fly anyone else, I never seem to be able to get a seat I want, because they are all taken. With SW, I just check in as early as possible, and I can choose pretty much any seat I want. Also, more flights I have been on have landed early than late. I can't say that about any other airline.

The wost airline I've been on is NW. Most of the other carriers are pretty much the same to me. American is usually my second choice.
 
If Southwest does not fly there I don't go. He He... but admit heard
good things out of Frontier and jet Blue (when they got over their
big mess up). But if you learn to accept that flying is just
the getting of one place to the next I absolutely love SWA.

Hookem
 
Southwest's new boarding process is the most demeaning thing I've ever experienced. Line up by number? What the hell is this, grade school? Get ******* assigned seats already. You've done 90% of the automation for crying out loud. They could do it and still make a ton of money.

Worst airlines I've ever flown are TWA and Eastern. There's a good reason they are dead. TWA = Try Walking Across.

The rest are all the same.
 
I only fly AA, Continental, and Southwest.

I seldom have problems with either carrier.

I won't do Southwest for anything over 2 hours. And I love love love their grouping boarding procedure. It's been pretty hilarious watching people try to understand it.
 
Southwest has now changed the boarding rules- now you can purchase highr fare tickets that give priviledged boarding- the top fare now guarantees first 15 no matter when you check in and also the earlier you check in online also defines what boarding group you are in- show up at the airport and check in there and you will be very lucky to be in the third boarding group
 
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