Why I Try to Avoid Flying

[ItsOver]

Well, it's certainly not much fun anymore.  From being packed in like sardines to this:



https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-03/u-s-airport-pat-downs-are-about-to-get-more-invasive

This week, I had to make a journey from the Houston area to Austin, sans car.  Rather than take Southwest, I thought I'd try Greyhound.  I hadn't used them since my freshman year in college.  Other than being in a kind of sketchy area of Houston, I was pleasantly surprised.  Walked into the terminal, got my ticket, no sweat.  Sat in the waiting area, without being strip-searched, scanned, or otherwise abused.  30 minutes later, I board on time, plenty of room.  Didn't even have to wear a seat belt or set in a waiting pattern forever, wondering how much we were going to bounce around in turbulence.  Got to Austin, on time.  No hassle, no problems, free wifi, all for $16.  Flying, you suck!

[Taaroa]

Houston to Austin isn't much of a trip though. Maybe you'd be singing a different tune if you were say going between NY and LA.

[ItsOver]

Houston to Austin isn't much of a trip though. Maybe you'd be singing a different tune if you were say going between NY and LA.

No doubt.  I'd be driving myself.  Road trip.  No problem here, though.  I have no desire to go to either of those commie hell holes. Austin's bad enough.

[albrecht]

No doubt.  I'd be driving myself.  Road trip.  No problem here, though.  I have no desire to go to either of those commie hell holes. Austin's bad enough.

Next time take the megabus. Less unsavory characters, free WiFi, and drops you in better parts of each town. And, especially if you are booking in advance or during not peak times you can get very cheaply. They serve many other cities also, including in Europe.
www.megabus.com

[ItsOver]

Next time take the megabus. Less unsavory characters, free WiFi, and drops you in better parts of each town. And, especially if you are booking in advance or during not peak times you can get very cheaply. They serve many other cities also, including in Europe.
www.megabus.com

Thanks for the tip, Albrecht!  Looks to be about the same price to Austin as Greyhound.  This was a last minute trip, so not much time to check options.

I had no problems with Greyhound.  Both Houston and Austin terminals weren't bad at all and no hassles, plus convenient to the Htown Metro.  I just walked from one to the other.  The Austin Greyhound was very close to where I needed to be, up by 290 and 183.  I just about had the bus to myself and surfed the net with the Wifi for the trip. 

I'd definitely go either Greyhound or Megabus to get to any nearby city over the airline.   Much less hassle and very cheap.  Commercial flying is just an overall pain-in-the-butt for me.

[Taaroa]

I'd definitely go either Greyhound or Megabus to get to any nearby city over the airline.   Much less hassle and very cheap.  Commercial flying is just an overall pain-in-the-butt for me.

If it makes you feel any better, in the developed world American airlines are probably at the bottom of the pile for passenger experience (they are also known for paying pilots relatively poorly). A couple of years ago when I was looking at flights into the north east I was only considering using non American airlines for this reason, but even well regarded airlines like Emirates and Japan Airlines were using older and/or higher density cabins into the country (possibly because of lowered expectations).

including in Europe

Probably be easier and faster to use trains for most of Europe.

[albrecht]

If it makes you feel any better, in the developed world American airlines are probably at the bottom of the pile for passenger experience (they are also known for paying pilots relatively poorly). A couple of years ago when I was looking at flights into the north east I was only considering using non American airlines for this reason, but even well regarded airlines like Emirates and Japan Airlines were using older and/or higher density cabins into the country (possibly because of lowered expectations).
Probably be easier and faster to use trains for most of Europe.

Same thing, to an extent has happened in Europe. Market fragmentation, deregulation, and cost/labor concerns. No longer a few carriers here or total-access HUBS, nationally supported/subsidised carriers, etc and consumers wanting 'cheaper' flights. I'll still take our cheap flights, like SWA etc over Easyjet or Ryanair with their total lack of customer service, luggage costs, bait-and-switch tactics, etc. Even if it is nice to get a flight sooooo....frigging cheap (at least when I used them) and ensuring you know you often aren't, really, flying into the city show but an airport often many miles away.

ps: I love trains and wish we had more of them here but the issue is the time, infrastructure cost, etc not practical in all places. Even in Europe some places often some combination is the best method....drive than park and take train into city-center, take the train to the airport, etc. But trains are nice, if you have the time, even for distance travel because you can relax, they rarely crash, can see stuff (though often when approaching cities the worst parts of them,) drink (your own stuff usually,) meet interesting people and situations, etc.

[Taaroa]

Same thing, to an extent has happened in Europe. Market fragmentation, deregulation, and cost/labor concerns. No longer a few carriers here or total-access HUBS, nationally supported/subsidised carriers, etc and consumers wanting 'cheaper' flights. I'll still take our cheap flights, like SWA etc over Easyjet or Ryanair with their total lack of customer service, luggage costs, bait-and-switch tactics, etc. Even if it is nice to get a flight sooooo....frigging cheap (at least when I used them) and ensuring you know you often aren't, really, flying into the city show but an airport often many miles away.

It's happened in most places, but for sure Europe is probably the most extreme (but they also have many many more flying options than in the US carrier wise).
Customers are greedy - they want cheap flights but the same level of comfort you'd have gotten for a fare decades ago, seemingly oblivious that their penny pinching is the reason for the drop in comfort. Chances are they wouldn't be able to afford to fly (or not as often) if it wasn't for the low cost airlines, and they certainly don't grasp how expensive and complicated airline operations are.

Also I should say that airport security is a headache everywhere, but the TSA seems to just do things very inefficiently. Here for outbound international flights they have probably 6 security queues with xray machines and metal detectors, while the time I went through JFK they only had 1.

trains in Europe

Europeans like to complain about how unreliable and expensive the trains are whenever given the chance. They don't know how lucky they are.