Comments on: The delights of air travel http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/ Same old blog, brand new place Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:29:45 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5.2 hourly 1 By: Aberdeen Airport Car Hire http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/comment-page-1/#comment-162856 Aberdeen Airport Car Hire Mon, 04 May 2009 11:12:37 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/#comment-162856 That was some trip with all those delays, sorry to hear about that That was some trip with all those delays, sorry to hear about that

]]> By: Cape Town Accommodation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/comment-page-1/#comment-127027 Cape Town Accommodation Wed, 04 Feb 2009 10:25:50 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/#comment-127027 Amazing how so many flights are being ground right now at Heathrow airport. A little snow, and 650 planes grind to a halt. Will be interesting to see how Cape Town airport handles the influx of visitors coming for the FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa. I know the <a href="http://www.cometocapetown.com/" rel="nofollow">Cape Town Hotels</a> are already having a fit trying to get everything ready for the event... Thanks for the post, very relevant! Amazing how so many flights are being ground right now at Heathrow airport. A little snow, and 650 planes grind to a halt. Will be interesting to see how Cape Town airport handles the influx of visitors coming for the FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa. I know the Cape Town Hotels are already having a fit trying to get everything ready for the event…
Thanks for the post, very relevant!

]]> By: J http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/comment-page-1/#comment-117152 J Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:52:40 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/#comment-117152 "Well, I think it is legitimate to complain about how much worse commercial air travel has gotten over the last two decades (much worse) and even the last few years. The reasons why are complex, but one major contributor is that we have WalMart-ized air travel" Trouble is, Trinidad is far more representative of the typical airline customer (his focus on price, I mean;). If price is your primary consideration, commercial air travel has gotten quite a bit better over the past two decades. "The ancillary nonsense of checking in and immigration control and baggage transfer seems especially devised for maximum aggravation. I would love to sail across the Atlantic in a ship, just to avoid the desperate urgency that surrounds air travel" If you think these things are different when you're traveling by ship, avoid cruises that originate or terminate in a country you're not a citizen of. “Well, I think it is legitimate to complain about how much worse commercial air travel has gotten over the last two decades (much worse) and even the last few years. The reasons why are complex, but one major contributor is that we have WalMart-ized air travel”

Trouble is, Trinidad is far more representative of the typical airline customer (his focus on price, I mean;). If price is your primary consideration, commercial air travel has gotten quite a bit better over the past two decades.

“The ancillary nonsense of checking in and immigration control and baggage transfer seems especially devised for maximum aggravation. I would love to sail across the Atlantic in a ship, just to avoid the desperate urgency that surrounds air travel”

If you think these things are different when you’re traveling by ship, avoid cruises that originate or terminate in a country you’re not a citizen of.

]]> By: Doc Searls http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/comment-page-1/#comment-117088 Doc Searls Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:42:15 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/#comment-117088 George, you're right about big west coast airports. In my experience the worst to go through is SFO, because any ground weather shuts down one runway (by law -- the two main runways are <800 feet apart). For that alone it's an awful hub. LAX, with its more widely separated runways, is better. Given the politics of the Bay Area, it looks like we'll never have more widely separated runways there. George, you’re right about big west coast airports. In my experience the worst to go through is SFO, because any ground weather shuts down one runway (by law — the two main runways are <800 feet apart). For that alone it’s an awful hub. LAX, with its more widely separated runways, is better.

Given the politics of the Bay Area, it looks like we’ll never have more widely separated runways there.

]]> By: Doc Searls http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/comment-page-1/#comment-117087 Doc Searls Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:38:55 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/#comment-117087 Joseph, et. al., we did consider renting a car and driving to LAX or SFO, and taking Amtrak to Burbank. In fact, we explored pretty much every option. The problem was that, at the far end of those options, the available flights were oversold. Since we have a house in Santa Barbara, and SB is hardly a hellish place to wait around, we just went home and waited for the next booking to work out or not. Finally on Saturday we got an SBA-SFO-IAD-BOS routing that had us to BOS before noon Sunday. It was a redeye from SFO to IAD, but not too bad, except for when I spilled the icewater on my lap and stayed awake for the following hour. Coulda been worse. Joseph, et. al., we did consider renting a car and driving to LAX or SFO, and taking Amtrak to Burbank. In fact, we explored pretty much every option. The problem was that, at the far end of those options, the available flights were oversold.

Since we have a house in Santa Barbara, and SB is hardly a hellish place to wait around, we just went home and waited for the next booking to work out or not. Finally on Saturday we got an SBA-SFO-IAD-BOS routing that had us to BOS before noon Sunday.

It was a redeye from SFO to IAD, but not too bad, except for when I spilled the icewater on my lap and stayed awake for the following hour.

Coulda been worse.

]]> By: David Gillies http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/comment-page-1/#comment-117054 David Gillies Mon, 05 Jan 2009 06:07:30 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/#comment-117054 I've been lucky, mostly, when flying and have only had weather make one trip longer than it should have been (Costa Rica to San Diego: should've been six hours, ended up fifteen). But the problem with air travel is precisely its miraculous nature. I can get to my native UK, door to door, in 26 hours, whereas up until a few years ago this would have been a matter of days or weeks. But 26 hours of constant, frenetic activity is horribly exhausting. The flying itself is the most pleasurable part of the trip. You're sitting down, being waited on hand and foot, and unless you fly into a mountain there is nothing to worry about. The ancillary nonsense of checking in and immigration control and baggage transfer seems especially devised for maximum aggravation. I would love to sail across the Atlantic in a ship, just to avoid the desperate urgency that surrounds air travel. But I don't have time. I’ve been lucky, mostly, when flying and have only had weather make one trip longer than it should have been (Costa Rica to San Diego: should’ve been six hours, ended up fifteen). But the problem with air travel is precisely its miraculous nature. I can get to my native UK, door to door, in 26 hours, whereas up until a few years ago this would have been a matter of days or weeks. But 26 hours of constant, frenetic activity is horribly exhausting. The flying itself is the most pleasurable part of the trip. You’re sitting down, being waited on hand and foot, and unless you fly into a mountain there is nothing to worry about. The ancillary nonsense of checking in and immigration control and baggage transfer seems especially devised for maximum aggravation. I would love to sail across the Atlantic in a ship, just to avoid the desperate urgency that surrounds air travel. But I don’t have time.

]]> By: Victor Erimita http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/comment-page-1/#comment-117002 Victor Erimita Mon, 05 Jan 2009 01:03:35 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/#comment-117002 Well, I think it is legitimate to complain about how much worse commercial air travel has gotten over the last two decades (much worse) and even the last few years. The reasons why are complex, but one major contributor is that we have WalMart-ized air travel. Just as the pursuit of the lowest possible price at all costs in retail has driven service out of the picture and made retail shopping such an unpleasant experience, so has the pursuit of the lowest possible ticket prices for the masses made air travel pretty much as pleasant as cross country bus travel. And this affects all levels of commercial travel. Paying more for first class may get you a bigger seat and a few amenities (though these too are far worse in domestic commercial flights than they used to be.) And some airlines allow you to pay more in coach for more leg room and so on. But the increasingly routine delays, scheduling nightmares, and so on pretty much affect all classes of passengers. And these are at least partly caused by the collapse in ticket prices that in turn resulted in lower profits, cut flights, flights cancelled because not enough people booked the flight, and much more. Well, I think it is legitimate to complain about how much worse commercial air travel has gotten over the last two decades (much worse) and even the last few years. The reasons why are complex, but one major contributor is that we have WalMart-ized air travel. Just as the pursuit of the lowest possible price at all costs in retail has driven service out of the picture and made retail shopping such an unpleasant experience, so has the pursuit of the lowest possible ticket prices for the masses made air travel pretty much as pleasant as cross country bus travel. And this affects all levels of commercial travel. Paying more for first class may get you a bigger seat and a few amenities (though these too are far worse in domestic commercial flights than they used to be.) And some airlines allow you to pay more in coach for more leg room and so on. But the increasingly routine delays, scheduling nightmares, and so on pretty much affect all classes of passengers. And these are at least partly caused by the collapse in ticket prices that in turn resulted in lower profits, cut flights, flights cancelled because not enough people booked the flight, and much more.

]]> By: pchas http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/comment-page-1/#comment-116958 pchas Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:55:50 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/#comment-116958 You should have taken Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner from Santa Barbara to the Burbank Airport--the train station is across the street from the airport. Plus, the trip takes you along some of the most beautiful coastline in California. Have a safe trip home, Patrick You should have taken Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner from Santa Barbara to the Burbank Airport–the train station is across the street from the airport. Plus, the trip takes you along some of the most beautiful coastline in California.

Have a safe trip home,

Patrick

]]> By: Trinidad. Adventist. Gay?! http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/comment-page-1/#comment-116956 Trinidad. Adventist. Gay?! Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:38:32 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/#comment-116956 I love to travel. I also like flying a lot. My thing is not so much comfort as price. What will be the next innovation to lower ticket prices? I love to travel. I also like flying a lot. My thing is not so much comfort as price. What will be the next innovation to lower ticket prices?

]]> By: George Wilson http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/comment-page-1/#comment-116948 George Wilson Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:01:05 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/doc/2009/01/03/the-delights-of-air-travel/#comment-116948 The biggest airports, with the biggest planes, with the most passengers get priority when things get dicey. Santa Barbara might have been convenient but flying from LAX might have been more reliable. The biggest airports, with the biggest planes, with the most passengers get priority when things get dicey. Santa Barbara might have been convenient but flying from LAX might have been more reliable.

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