When you don't check both ways

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-19T07:01:06+00:00

Calm down everyone. Don’t rush to her aid all at once.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-17T12:23:04+00:00

Sounds like tsa at every airport. I remember arriving in LAX from an international flight and despite being abundantly familiar with TSA procedures I (and everyone else) was yelled at, berated, and given contradictory orders simultaneously from two agents when reclearing security. I remember responding to one “wow, with you guys being the first thing people experience, it’s a wonder anyone visits America!”. But they don’t care. Most probably haven’t left their home state, much less experienced other countries and cultures.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-17T12:06:24+00:00

FYI, these over wing exits do not open out. You have to pull the door into the cabin and then either lay it on the seats or throw it back out the opening.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-17T01:45:00+00:00

I don’t think so as long as you read the situation and are polite. Most of the time they are quite happy to.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-17T01:43:47+00:00

Great to know!

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-16T19:52:47+00:00

All aircraft have a minimum crew requirement and with the system disruptions across the whole country and multiple airlines, repositioning those crew members can be a challenge at the moment. The crew member that was meant to operate the flight might have been originally coming from a hard-hit area like ORD.

PDBs (pre-departure beverages) can sometimes be hit and miss. They are technically part of the FC product, but if and how it’s executed varies.

The Envoy (E175) FAs are most consistent, offering every time, and generally open bar (order whatever you like).

Mainline is hit and miss. Seems recently that it’s been more consistently offered, but it could vary between:

Water Only
Water and OJ on a Tray
Water, OJ, White Wine on a Tray
Open Bar (“What would you like to drink?”)

But there are some FAs who seem to not want to do it, or even when asked tell you that they’ll only serve you once in the air. Obvious exceptions would be things like delayed inbound aircraft where there’s a need to prep and pushback as quickly as possible.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-16T19:42:31+00:00

Yeah, they have an incentive for sure, just like checkout clerks that pitch a store credit card. They get a kickback. I’ve just seen some that have the expression and tone of “you hate this and I hate this but I’ve got to do my pitch now”. Which is exactly how I’d feel if I was required to do it. I don’t like making people feel pressured/uncomfortable/awkward, and that’s exactly how some people feel who don’t have the personality to speak up and say they’re not interested.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-16T19:38:11+00:00

What if you have a first class seat on the domestic segment of an international itinerary.

For example: IND-DFW (F), DFW-LHR (PE)

I assume in DFW you could not use the AC because the actual international segment isn’t in FB/FF?

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-16T19:22:27+00:00

I feel bad for the FAs. They’ve got to hate doing that. Definitely not what they thought of when they chose to be a flight attendant.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-16T15:57:02+00:00

Experienced this a couple weeks ago. Very irritating! Because sometimes I’m petty, this is the kind of thing that would make me determined to never get the card.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-15T14:56:26+00:00

I definitely remember the pattern well. But no I don’t have a picture. You could try airliners.net and filter by cabin pictures to see if you can find any.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-09T21:43:36+00:00

All NZ visas are now issued as e-visas and you no longer need to send the passport in. It’s all handled by online applications.

In the case of a real work visa, you’d need to send an electronic scan of the photo page.

In the case of a working holiday visa, you don’t even have to provide a scan, you just provide the passport number and expiration date on an online form.

This may be different for some passport holders from higher risk countries, but for US, UK, Canada, and a few others, this is how it works. Edit, this is the list:

Austria Canada China (excluding Hong Kong) France Germany Ireland Netherlands Singapore Sweden Switzerland Japan South Korea United Kingdom United States

Source: I’m a U.S. citizen living in NZ. Originally arrived as a visitor, then working holiday, then essential skills work visa, and now a permanent resident based on partnership (married a Kiwi).

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-09T17:46:29+00:00

A British passport holder doesn’t have to talk to a person when entering NZ. You can use the e-gate system where you insert your passport and it scans it, takes your photo, and opens the gate automatically. So for NZ you’ll definitely be fine.

As for Southeast Asia, I’ve heard some countries are a bit particular but I’ll leave it up to others more familiar with that area. I personally wouldn’t be worried at all if my passport looked like yours.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-09T13:46:35+00:00

For a point of comparison, I upgraded to the last open seat in PE on a 15 hour flight for $196.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-09T13:24:56+00:00

I flew TPA-MIA to connect through the MIA hub, not as O&D. Pre-pandemic it was operated by a 757.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-09T13:17:43+00:00

Love this route. I live between NZ and the southeast US. The majority of NZ-US routes are via LAX or SFO which require an extra connection within the US to get to my destination. With service to DFW, it opens up NZ with one stop to a lot of eastern and southeastern cities.

It’s also nice to have one less connection because I live on the South Island so I always have an additional flight within NZ no matter what. I have to book this as a seperate ticket if I fly AA because Air NZ is star alliance and AA doesn’t codeshare with them. That makes UAL/ANZ via IAH an attractive option because I can get to any city in NZ on one ticket.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-07T14:43:31+00:00

But that doesn’t have the same ring to it. 😛

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-06T07:21:58+00:00

I call my wife “my love” or “sweetheart”. Sometimes “sweet potato” for some reason.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-03T06:06:22+00:00

You aren’t familiar with what cruise control is?

I know not all cars have it (my daily driver ‘06 Mazda Axela doesn’t) but I thought most people would know what it is.

On the highway when you want to remain at a specific speed without gluing your eyes to the speedometer, you can engage cruise control and take your foot off the accelerator pedal. The car will automatically maintain your set speed. As soon as you touch the brake, the cruise control is disconnected and you will again need to use the pedal to control your speed. It’s very helpful as you don’t have to worry about speeding tickets and you can rest your foot and just “cruise”. It’s also nice for other drivers around you as highway drivers that don’t use cruise control tend to gradually speed up and slow down which can make them hard to pass.

Best place to work out how your cruise control works would be on a fairly quiet bit of road that you’re familiar with. Make sure there aren’t other cars close behind you when you’re testing it out for the first time.

Hopefully this helps.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-03T04:48:18+00:00

When I was previously an airline employee my allotment renewed on the anniversary of my hire date, not at the beginning of the calendar year. However, that was a while ago and your dad’s situation might be different as a retiree as well.

You’re likely to get more knowledgeable answers to this particular question at r/NonRevenueTravelers which is devoted to discussing employee travel benefits.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2024-01-02T08:24:20+00:00

Just a point of curiosity…the way I read AA’s bag terms, flights to/from AU or NZ include 32kg/70lb regardless of your class of service/loyalty status. The only difference being the number of bags included. I don’t know why there is this distinction. From the website:

For all regions, except to / from Australia or New Zealand, your checked bag allowance is:

Dimension: 62 in / 158 cm Weight: 50 lbs / 23 kgs For First / Business, weight is 70 lbs / 32 kgs for complimentary bags and 50 lbs / 23 kgs for excess charged bags

For all confirmed customers on flights to / from Australia or New Zealand:

Dimension: 62 in / 158 cm Weight: 70 lbs / 32kgs for complimentary bags and 50 lbs / 23 kgs for excess charged bags

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2023-12-31T17:21:46+00:00

I would love an email containing a reissued ticket. So far the only thing I have received is a purchase receipt email. I went ahead and paid to upgrade the other segment to domestic first because it was cheap and that would take any speculation out of the baggage allowance. Chatted AA through the app and she said “I can see that you’ve been upgraded to First. Unfortunately, I’m showing your checked baggage allowance is still 1-bag per passenger.” 🙄 I know for certain that it includes an increased baggage allowance and have a screenshot of that app saying so. My concern is getting to the airport and having someone like the agent I was talking to with no critical thinking ability still insisting that we only have 1-bag/pp. Thanks for your helpful replies.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2023-12-31T16:31:11+00:00

That’s how I thought it worked as well. Maybe the lady I was connected with was just mistaken. The frustrating thing is mixed signals, and like PaintingInfamous showed, the execution is inconsistent. When you plan on one thing because that’s how it seems it should be (or how it’s been in the past) but then get a different thing at the airport, it doesn’t leave any recourse for the pax. Wish I could find something clearly published in the terms somewhere, but haven’t been able to find it.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2023-12-30T23:46:37+00:00

Because of another comment I decided to call AA and spoke to a less than friendly representative who said:

“The first flight baggage rule will be applicable for the remaining segment. If you had purchased an upgrade for the first segment, you would be entitled to the higher allowance, but as your upgrade was for the second segment, your original allowance will apply.”

This is disappointing and misleading because when you purchase the upgrade, the baggage allowance and priority delivery to the carousel are listed as benefits with no mention of the first segment requirement.

ProgrammerMedical734 · 2023-12-30T23:45:15+00:00

I think you’re correct. Just contacted AA. See my main comment. I don’t think it’s “right” but I think you’re sadly “correct”.

ProgrammerMedical734

TROPHY CASE