Virgin America considers new boarding: baggage-free passengers first

by Alison Brick on

It happened to me the other day. I had my plane ticket in hand and stepped aboard the soon-to-depart airplane, but couldn’t sit down. Why? Because of the 15 people in front of me who needed to find spots in overhead bins for their carry-on suitcases.

We all know that the boarding process has slowed down because of baggage fees. More people are opting to stow their suitcases as carry-ons rather than check them.

Virgin America is testing a way that might speed up the entire process.

It would mean that anybody without carry-ons would board first. Then, everybody with carry-ons would board second.

I think it’s brilliant. Fewer people would be in the aisles, meaning that the folks with bags might be able to find overhead space more easily. And hey, fewer people would be annoyed. It has the potential to work, and I’m glad to see that an airline has the foresight to consider it as an alternative to the norm.

That said, I might personally choose to stall, if given the choice. I usually prefer to be one of the last people on the plane (I’d rather spend my time standing in the airport than sitting on the plane). If others rationalized the delayed boarding in the same way, would that just negate all of the positive aspects of this new system?

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Ten reasons why I dislike the airport

by Scott Carmichael on

I hate airports. It never used to be like this, because most of my travel used to take me abroad. I always looked forward to spending some time at the various major international Airports.

Most of my travel nowadays is between US airports, and it is obvious all my years of international travel spoiled me for life. There are just a handful of decent airports in the US, but the vast majority are just a disgrace. Even airports that act as the gateway to the nation greet tourists with dull and uninspired buildings, rude staff and confusing public transport.

Call me negative Nancy, but I’ve listed ten of the things that annoy me the most when I’m at the airport. Let me know in the comments whether you share any of these things.

Lines

Lets face it – unless you are an elite level flier (or you are flying out of a quiet airport), your trip is going to mean you’ll be standing in line, just so you can stand in line, so you can stand in line.

You’ll encounter lines at the check-in desk or check-in computer kiosk, you’ll be in line for security, you’ll be in line at the gate, you’ll be in line at the air bridge, and you’ll be in line on the plane waiting for someone to spend their first five minutes on board slowly getting comfortable. Lines suck, and unless you are really mellow, lines are a sure way to get your trip off to a bad start.

The “security” checkpoint

TSA staff rank up there with most other bureaucrats. There vast majority of them are good people out there, but plenty of them stand around the security area radiating total and utter contempt for the traveling public.

Basic help is rarely available, and any time the stress of travel makes you forget to empty your pockets or remove your laptop, you find yourself on the receiving end of a monkey in a blue shirt yelling at you. Sadly, all this harassment is done under the disguise of keeping us safe from terrorists, which is the magic word that allows people to be rude.

Poor seating

Airports spend millions on art, but when it comes to providing decent seats, they must shop at IKEA. Even though airports know they’ll often need to take care of you for several hours, the seating they provide is horrible. Of course, it wouldn’t surprise me if it is just done so they can force you into their overpriced restaurants, because spending $6 on a beer appears to be the only way you’ll get a decent place to sit.

Baggage fees

In the past, once you’d paid for your ticket, the only money the airline would get out of you would be for a decent drink on your flight. That has all changed with airlines demanding money for checked bags. A family of 4, each with 2 bags can easily find themselves parting with $200 at the airport.

Concession stands, restaurants and stores

Who doesn’t like paying $10 for a stale sandwich or a 2 day old bagel? Airport food sucks, is overpriced and is usually inedible. There are a couple of airports who managed to find a decent restaurant, but the vast majority consists of bad sandwich stores and greasy fast food.

With a couple of exceptions, US airports also offer a dull array of stores. Just how many people actually shop at the airport Brookstone? Would it hurt them to start offering some real choices? One quick look at Amsterdam, Dubai or Hong Kong shows how a real airport shopping center should be.

Public transportation

Very few US airports have the luxury of a decent public transportation system. When these places were designed, most architects forgot that not everyone would be traveling by car. Even some of the busiest airports in the world (like JFK in New York) didn’t get a decent public transit system till several years ago. Others, like LAX don’t have any direct connections (other than a poor bus service).

As usual, some of the airports outside the US show us how things should be – Hong Kong has a high speed rail service connecting the airport with downtown, Amsterdam has an underground train station linking the airport with most Dutch stations, and even Heathrow offers arriving and departing passengers multiple rail options.

The executive lounge

The “executive lounge” is where elite passengers and people traveling in first class can relax separated from the commoners. In the US, the lounge is a dark and poorly designed room, where you can trade a drink coupon for a beer.

Outside the US, the executive lounge is a completely different story – airports like Heathrow and Hong Kong offer lounge amenities from complimentary spa services to noodle and ice cream bars and an assortment of top shelf liquor. The contrast is amazing. Upscale in the US means grabbing a cracker before someone beats you to it. Upscale abroad means trying to pick which of the various freshly cooked meals you’d like.

Parking

Parking at the airport is a huge scam. There is no logical explanation why a parking spot should cost more than a couple of bucks a day. Arriving back home from a 2 week trip, and having to fork over a $210 to get your car back is a rip-off.

Even short term parking can be a nightmare – $10/hour is not unheard of, and a simple departure delay could mean you are out $20 just for the luxury of waving goodbye.

Drop-off lanes

Does anyone know when dropping people off at the airport became such a pain in the ass? Most airports now employ security staff equipped with whistles and bright orange vests who have been programmed to ensure nobody spends more than 20 seconds saying goodbye to their loved ones. Travel is stressful enough, but these bottom feeders make things far worse than it should be.

Gate lice and the boarding rush

We’ve all seen them (perhaps you are one of them) – the people who hang around the boardin
g door making sure they can get on board the plane before anyone else. They are called gate lice, and they make a sport out of completely ignoring all requests from the gate staff.

Even though they never seem to be in the first boarding group, they’ll still stay put, and as the people who are actually eligible for priority boarding make their way to the gate, they won’t budge. When people walk past them with “boarding group 1” in hand, they’ll stare them down. I hate them, and wish they’d all just stay home.

Galley Gossip: Can an average Joe date a flight attendant?

by Heather Poole on

Hi my Name is Mark and I’ve wanted to date flight attendants for years, but like a lot of guys I don’t get the chance to chat with them much. When you see one that’s friendly and smiles a lot and is nice, those are the ones you want to kidnap and take home to mom and can I keep her….LOL. There are many that are snotty and hateful and you want to tell them what they can do with their job. My opinion is that the job gets the best of them and they get big headed. My question is this, is there a dating site where an every day Joe like myself can find a flight attendant for dating? Is there such a thing? Can you write me and let me know or I’ll keep looking, I guess.

Mark,

The answer is yes, an average Joe can date a flight attendant. Just like an average Joe can date a nurse or a lawyer or a sales clerk or whoever it is Joe wants to date. All he has to do is ask! It all boils down to the approach. Of course Joe’s personality has a lot to do with it, too. Always remember, nice guys get nice girls, and you’ll be fine. They do!

You mentioned that you don’t often get a chance to chat with many flight attendants. Well that’s your first problem, Mark, and it’s a big one! Communication is the key to any relationship, especially if you want it to last. If you aren’t able to say hello and make small talk with the one hovering over your seat waving a beverage napkin, how on earth are you ever going to ask that special someone out? My advice to you is to start by opening the window. What I mean by that is ask a simple question like, are you laying over in (insert city)? Do you know of anywhere good to eat in (insert city or airport)? Ask an open ended question that the flight attendant can easily answer. Simply say something other than what you’d like to drink. Don’t forget to say please and thank you, and try making eye contact when you do so. Kindness goes a long way.
As for kidnapping a flight attendant, I do believe you’re joking. (At least I hope you are) And that’s a good thing – the joking, not the kidnapping! It means you have a sense of humor. Flight attendants prefer fun passengers over miserable passengers. As for taking your flight attendant home to mom and “keeping her,” please don’t use that line ever again. Most women I know won’t find it funny. Only because mom is the last person we want to meet at the end of a long work day. Not to mention, we don’t like to be “kept.” Against our will. In a tent. In the backyard. Regardless of what mom may think. I’m just saying…

It’s unfortunate to hear you’ve come across so many unpleasant flight attendants. But telling a person where to stick their job, regardless of how unprofessional they are, isn’t exactly the best way to react. It’ll only scare off any other flight attendants you may be interested in. Personally, I don’t know many flight attendants who are snotty and hateful with big heads. Big hair, maybe. But a big head? No, not a one. I mean we pick up trash at 30,000 feet for a living from anywhere up to fourteen hours a day after a ten hour layover at a dumpy airport hotel! What I do know are a lot of flight attendants who are tired and hungry and often times treated not very nicely by aggrevated passengers looking to take out their frustrations with the airline on someone, anyone! And that person usually ends up being the flight attendant who gets stuck listening to the complaints for hours on end. Take advantage of that situation, Mark. Be a breath of fresh air and become the guy who understands how hard the job can be. Flight attendants love to be understood.

While there are dating sites like crewdating.com, I recommend using a regular on line dating site. Only because you don’t want to limit yourself to just women who wear navy blue polyester, do you? Keep your options open! You never know who you might meet. Back when I was single and dating on Match.com, I dated quite a few doctors who were interested in flight attendants, but I also dated men who were interested in dating just me. I ended up marrying a guy I met the old fashioned way – on a flight. Eight years later we’re still going strong.

If you’re truly serious about dating a flight attendant, Mark, check out the following letter from Lewis, a guy who knows what it’s like, really like, to date a flight attendant, and you might just change your mind. Life with a flight attendant might not be what you think.

Good luck!

Heather

PS. Lewis walked down the aisle last year with a wonderful woman who works on the ground, not in the air, and is now living happily ever after.

A LETTER FROM LEWIS …

Dear Heather,

I thought I’d add a different perspective…what it’s like to be the guy who is dating a flight attendant. ALL red-blooded American men dream of dating a flight attendant. My turn finally came and I was in awe. I then was rather surprised that the glamorous life we were led to believe didn’t really exist. I found flight attendants have one of the toughest lives out there, and to this day I don’t understand how they endure it. My suspicions are…those who can’t take it drop out in the first year, leaving those who can.

I had absolutely no idea that flight attendants (god forbid one slip and say stewardess) didn’t merely go to the airport in time for a morning flight, fly during the day, only to return and sleep in their own bed each night. I was introduced to the world of “trips,” “bidding,” and “seniority.” Since Delta hadn’t hired in many years, my particular flight attendant with many years seniority was still at the bottom of the list, meaning her four day trips frequently consisted of frequent short hops.

I was horrified…and mystified…that essentially flight attendants get paid door closing to door opening. ALL that work-heavy time boarding….is their “contribution to the airline.” All the time waiting with the door open for a mechanical delay is on them. All the time waiting for the last granny to deplane and wait for a missing wheelchair…again on them.

They report two HOURS before a flight….out of the “goodness of their heart.” I was even surprised they weren’t paid on layovers. My strongest belief is that flight attendants should be paid from the second they check in on the first day of their flight until the second they check out on the last day of their flight…even if this means the semi-artificial high flying time pay is reduced. I AM aware that those with seniority would take advantage of this and suddenly WANT the short hops, leaving those with less seniority with the longer flights, but even still…I feel that since they are on company time and rules even when on a lay-over…they should be paid.

It’s not as easy as a flight attendant may feel on their companion. They are gone for four days, on a average, for a trip. The night before a trip, gosh forbid their partner turn on the TV…they need their rest….and forget romance that night either. The night they return, they have a desperate need to get rid of the frozen smile on their face, and have zero desire to talk…they HAVE been talking for four days. The first night home, their companion is to have wine, dinner, a hot bath ready and to ready mute, but at their beck and call. Now six out of seven days have been used. The day after a trip, their companion better be darn ready to go out on the town…it’s their night to party, shop, enjoy the town.

I was extremely surprised to find out a flight attendant wasn’t ecstatic to hear from their loved one at length during a lay-over. I THOUGHT, how nice, they’re alone in a room in a hotel, so they would appreciate a long phone call for companionship. Instead they are working at removing the fixed smile, have been talking all day, can’t really have a drink to relax, and basically want to be alone, probably catching a sports event on TV. I was even surprised that sports was big in their lives until it dawned on me….they can’t really get into a TV series, as they will miss so many episodes, so they learn to watch something that is a one-time event.

So, their life is tough, and their companion has to be totally understanding. I was absolutely unable to understand when economic times got tough, that somehow the airlines felt the flight attendants must be the source of their economic difficulties, so removed crew meals. Let me get this straight…away from home, so no access to your own fridge….so you have to BUY a ridiculously-priced airport sandwich? Let me get this straight, no crew meal, so you have to serve meals to all the passengers, but not get to have one yourself? At Least the CEO’s did away with their own corporate dining rooms. (AS IF.)

Then some bright guy figured out….hey, they have nothing to do after passengers deplane, let’s have the FLIGHT ATTENDANTS clean the plane! Ignore the fact that they aren’t getting paid at that point and essentially every flight attendant I’ve ever met has chronic back and knee problems.

Still, I just can’t help it. I still adore flight attendants. I still am in little boy awe of these goddesses of the sky. I think their absolutely PERFECT grooming and make-up is so appealing. (I’m aware that that perfect grooming comes at a price of yet ANOTHER hour of their own time in their room preparing for the flight…but wow, the results!)

I found it funny how basically EVERY flight attendant will name the SAME city-city flight as the horror flight, the OMG NO I have to fly from this one city to THAT one city? MOST of the flight attendants also have the same celebrity they chose for horror stories. I was sad, that even though International flights have the best pay, the best time spent for hours paid, that it wounds flight attendants with the time changes and hours, so they get burned out.

Congratulations on your blog, and keep up the good work.

Lewis

Taking a look at new in-flight food with a United Airlines executive chef

by Scott Carmichael on

To many people, airline food has long been nothing more than the age old question of chicken of beef. In recent years, most airlines made some pretty big changes to their food offering. United Airlines was kind enough to invite Gadling to their world headquarters, for a sneak peek behind the scenes of their newest food and beverage lineup.

The highlight of the visit was an executive chef from United’s catering partner. This great chef explained to us how a meal is designed, how freshness is ensured, and what kind of food travels well (and what does not).
Preparing airline meals

When preparing airline food, the executive chef works alongside meal planners from United Airlines. Domestic US food is prepared at local catering stations, and the executive chef travels to each and every one of them to train the local staff.

Some ingredients (like tomatoes) don’t fly very well, and their moisture will turn any sandwich into a soggy mess, so those are avoided. The same goes for the granola yogurt, to prevent the granola turning into a soggy goo, it is stored in a separate container inside the product.

When designing the current food selection, United Airlines held focus sessions with their customers. The airline held 12 different focus sessions, and interviewed 3000 customers. The feedback included more organic options, and the option to upgrade. Even though many customers responded that they’d prefer healthier food, the “classic” option remains the most popular, and who can blame them – Jelly Belly’s and Goldfish crackers are a great in-air snack.

The same goes for the a la carte selection – even though the lineup includes healthy choices, the Lays Stax chips are the number one seller.

Now the new lineup is in production, the airline continues to gather customer feedback, as well as feedback from flight attendants. Cabin crew have access to a system that collects their sales and customer satisfaction results. In addition to this, they collect information on a daily basis from the credit card terminals.

All this information is gathered and it gives the airline a really good idea of what is selling (and what is not). Regular audits even take a look at the trays coming back from passengers, to get an idea whether a particular ingredient isn’t working out.

Choice Menu snack boxes

Obviously, times have changed, and being fed is no longer a given. We got to sample all the various snack boxes sold on United Airlines (domestic) flights. The selection was surprisingly decent – they currently offer four different snack boxes:

Active – Stoned classics tortilla chips, Heinz Salsa, Blue Diamond almonds, Think Fruit chocolate, Pomegranate Power Bar, Newmans Own Organic Raisins, Hannah’s Honey cured turkey stick

Classic – Kettle backyard BBQ chips, Oreo cookies, Jelly Belly gourmet jelly beans, Pepperidge Farm goldfish crackers, Sparrer beef salami, Gourmet Cheddar Cheese spread, Pepperidge Farm cookies

Luxe – Rondele peppercorn Parmesan cheese spread, Pepperidge Farm crackers, Food Should Taste Good tortilla chips, Oloves Mediterranean olives, Wild Garden hummus dip, Real Torino bread sticks, Ashers dark chocolate pretzel

Organic– Late July organic cheddar cheese crackers, Terra Nostra Organic dark chocolate square, Kettle Valley Organic fruit snack, Nature’s Path organic pumpkin flaxplus granola, Bare Fruit Organic cinnamon apple chips

The Active and Classic snack boxes cost $6, and the Luxe and Classic boxes cost $7 , which is actually a very good deal, considering the amount and the variety of food. Personally I would also like to see a more kid friendly version, but that is my only minor complaint.


A La Carte products

Flights also carry an a la carte selection with the following products: Lay’s Stax chips, Toblerone bar, Walkers Shortbread cookies, Fisher Salty Nut mix, Clif Bar Oatmeal Raisin Walnut and Odwalla Banana Nut nutritional bar. These a la carte items are $3 each.

Fresh Choice Menu items before 10am

These products are part of the United Airlines Choice Menu Fresh Items. On flights before 10am, passengers can order one of three fresh items:

  • Traditional blueberry muffin ($3)
  • Continental breakfast – apple croissant, strawberry yoghurt, cranberry crunch snack fruits ($5)
  • Gourmet deli plate – deli ham and turkey, pepper jack and cheddar cheese, hard boiled egg, dried apricots, almonds and Pepperidge farm crackers ($9)

Fresh Choice menu items after 10am

After 10am, the menu changes to sandwiches and salads. The salad selection offers three different choices;

  • Southwestern chicken salad – Romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, black beans, corn, red and yellow bell pepper strips and a salsa ranch dressing on the side.
  • Chicken Caesar salad – Grilled chicken, red and yellow bell pepper strips, shredded parmesan cheese, croutons on a bed of romaine lettuce, served with a classic Caesar dressing on the side.
  • Mediterranean salad – Romaine lettuce, kalamata olives, chick peas, red and yellow bell pepper strips, crumbled feta cheese, served with a Greek feta cheese dressing on the side.

Each salad is huge – definitely enough for a decent lunch or dinner. All salads come with their own pouch of dressing, and cost $9 each. Salads are designed as a “production plus three days”, which means they are designed to be loaded, and cooled for three days. All ingredients are designed to hold up just fine for this three day period.

In addition to the salads, you can also order an assorted cheese tray with Havarti, pepper jack and cheddar cheeses, dried apricots, almonds and assorted Pepperidge farm crackers for $7.

The sandwich selection offers the following choices:

  • Caprese sandwich – Roasted marinated tomatoes, low fat mozzarella, fresh baby spinach, pesto sauce on a tomato and herb focaccia bread.
  • Roast beef sandwich – Roast beef topped with romaine lettuce, horseradish mayonnaise on Ciabatta bread.
  • Turkey sandwich – Smoked turkey topped with romaine lettuce and sundried tomato aioli on multigrain bread

Each sandwich comes with a bag of potato chips and sells for $9. In addition to the before 10am / after 10am lineup, the airline also sells a $3 strawberry smoothie and a mixed berry yogurt parfait ($5) all day long.

Behind the scenes

The United Airlines team was very open, and no question was off limits. When asked what they learned from offering “branded” food back in 2005, they answered that the licensing fees involved with this food did not make sense. I have to agree with them – I’d rather have a good quality $6 United Airlines sandwich than a $10 Bennigans sandwich with the same ingredients, and the market obviously agreed, because the Bennigans chain went out of business last year. Focus groups also showed that customers did not value brand names as much, which came as a surprise to the airline.

The United Airlines team also listened to some of the ideas we had for them – and tips like online discount coupons for food, and the option to pre-order food were mentioned. Of course, since these were just random thoughts, nobody knows whether they’ll actually make it to reality.

Availability of food

The snack boxes are available on all flights over 2 hours, and the fresh food is only loaded on flights 5 hours and longer. This chart shows what you can expect on your flight:

All purchases can only be made with credit/debit cards as cash stopped being an acceptable form of payment last year.

I tried several of the dishes being sold on their flights, and really did enjoy them. I’m happy to see such a decent selection, but I still can’t help but have happy memories of the time when food was free, and dinner was a nice warm meal. That said, the snack boxes and fresh food do seem to offer a good balance between healthy and decadent. Thanks to United AIrlines for inviting us, and giving us a sneak peek of their current in-flight food lineup.

The future of airline food

Nobody knows which direction airline food is heading. When most of the major airlines removed free meals, it looked like airborne food would be gone for good. As competition heated up, airlines once again started to pay close attention to their onboard services.

New competitors like Virgin America are not only offering food, they are offering award winning dishes, and the ability to place food orders from the comfort of your seat-back entertainment system.

I’m secretly hoping that airlines will start making more use of online services, allowing passengers to place food orders when they pay for their ticket. This will remove surprises and may help families traveling with kids be more prepared for longer flights. In addition to this, airlines may need to start creating more variety. The United Airlines selection may appear to be quite impressive, but if someone is flying the same route twice a week, these dishes will become pretty boring.

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JetBlue selling $31 Halloween tickets – today only!

by Scott Carmichael on

If you’d rather fly somewhere than go door to door asking for candy on Halloween, then check out this deal from JetBlue.

Today only – and for travel starting on October 31st after 12 noon, you can book tickets for just $31 from any city, to any city.

I took their offer for a spin, and there are indeed plenty of seats still available from many destinations. With deals like this, you have to be quick though, as you are up against thousands of other people.

The fine print is simple – you need to book today by 11:59pm MT. Your departing leg must start on October 31st, after 12 noon (local time). Of course, the other minor detail is that your return flight will be the regular price, unless you plan to go up and down in a day.

You’ll find the deal here, along with the exact terms and conditions.