Another airplane, another delay

Sanguine

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 4:04 am

luppamom wrote:

Personally, I really like SouthWest's policy. (I haven't used it in awhile, but this is what it was 3 yrs. ago.) Open seating. You sign in online 24 hrs. or less before flight and get a number. You can pay a little bit more money (it really wasn't crazy) and you could get a priority boarding which means a good number w/o having to race to the computer. Then, you could sit wherever you want. I think all airlines should do this. First class obviously would have to be done separately. Families w/ children are usually pre-boarded so they would all have seats together. Then, if there are a few men traveling, they could join up. Or they could wait until the plane is mostly filled up choose a seat that is most comfortable for them.

On ELAL??? Rolling Laughter

. The Chareidim aren't the only Jews that think they own the Israeli airline. And now with only one piece of luggage people bring enough carry-on to fill another seat. I can just imagine the Israeli couple sitting in the aisle and window seat and putting all their Target purchases in the middle seat and growling at anyone who requests to sit there. SouthWest is American. ElAl is Israeli - Need I say more?

luppamom

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 4:40 am

Sanguine wrote:

On ELAL??? Rolling Laughter

Sanguine, you got me laughing on that one!

DrMom

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 6:35 am

luppamom wrote:

I love Southwest's system. Although I didn't know you could pay more for first pick -- I liked their flat egalitarian seating process. It also encourages people to show up on time.

Raisin

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 6:47 am

DrMom wrote:

I love Southwest's system. Although I didn't know you could pay more for first pick -- I liked their flat egalitarian seating process. It also encourages people to show up on time.

I hate it. Ryanair used to have this policy (they copied southwest) but it was horrible travelling with children with them. At first they gave priority boarding to people with kids, but they stopped that some years ago. So, if you can imagine, travelling with a few kids. Little kids can't stand in line for 40 minutes. So I would sit down and wait to board last with my kids. Of course by then all the seats together were taken, so we would have to shuffle round seats and ask to change, because a little kid can't sit with a stranger. Although I was always tempted to leave my 2 year old with someone else... Smile

. And boarding with a stroller and all the kids bags takes longer. Once I travelled to a family simcha with ryanair with some siblings and their kids. (we got really cheap tickets) I was with 3 kids, my 2 sisters with 7-10 kids each. We all waited to board last. I promise you, boarding us delayed the flight 30 minutes.

Now they have introduced more family/people friendly policies and set seating so you are guaranteed to sit with your party, but STILL no priority boarding for people with little kids. Which is just stupid.

Chayalle

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 10:36 am

luppamom wrote:

So it's not only the ultra-Orthodox!

No it's not only the ultra-Orthodox. I've posted before about the DL man who refused to be seated next to my special-needs brother on a flight to Israel (Delta). Long story, but the guy was switched, and both my brother and I (and my DD at 21 months) ended up with 3 empty seats to stretch out on (well, I had my baby to share it with, and he had it to himself!)

luppamom

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 10:56 am

Scrabble123 wrote:

I don't like Southwest's policy. That is absolutely ridiculous.
US Airways assigns seats on many of their flights. You cannot choose, however if you insist on a particular seat, you may pay around $100-$150 extra to get it (think window, aisle, etc. etc.)

What's ridiculous about it? Other than Sanguines scenario, it makes so much sense. I'm not sure if it was clearly described but basically there's two or three groups depending on the size of the flight. The As are mostly people that paid for priority boarding. I just looked and "Early Bird Check In" is $12.50. Definitely affordable especially since luggage is free last time I went. After the early birds, the numbers are given in the order that the person checked in. For example, let's say I checked in online exactly 23 hrs. and 59 mins. prior to the flight, I would likely get s/t like B10. If you checked in when you got to the airport, you would probably get a C and wouldn't have much choice.

You only stand up when it's your groups turn to board and you stand in order. IIRC, they priority boarded wheelchairs and families. As long as they do this, I don't see what the problem is. I like being able to choose my seatmates.

saw50st8

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 11:02 am

Chayalle wrote:

Were they claiming they couldn't sit next to him for religious reasons or just because they were obnoxious?

I think one of the reasons it's so grating is that the Charedim who stop everyone else from leaving are doing so under the guise of "religious practice" that if they really cared about it would either figure out the solution before the flight, buy multiple seats to avoid this issue, travel with other men so it's a non issue, stay home or some other creative solution.

Obnoxious people are everywhere. I hate when obnoxious people highlight my religion as the reason they are acting like that.

As to how common it is - my friends post about it every couple of months, most recently a flight from Brussels to NY.

Scrabble123

Mon, Apr 13 2015, 9:05 pm

luppamom wrote:

A person has a right to choose their seat on a flight. It may impact items that you bring with you for travel, and impact you booking on that particular flight. There is a big difference between a window, middle seat, and an aisle, and customers have a right to know what type of seat they will be seated in (although it sometimes does change). Some US Airways flights do not assign seats until check in, which is just as frustrating as the scenario with Southwest, although you may pay around $120-$150 for a seat of your choosing which I may have mentioned earlier in the thread.

luppamom

Tue, Apr 14 2015, 4:25 am

Scrabble123 wrote:

I still don't get it. If you pay or check-in early, you are pretty much guaranteed the seat of your choice (and can pack accordingly).

I am thinking that if a man (who does not want to sit next to a woman for any duration of time) is using a popular frum travel agent, it may be worth it for him to ask if there are other frum men traveling on the flight and to put him next to them.