Wanna make sure you have plenty of comments to sort through

"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch) 01/25/2018 at 11:31 • Filed to: None

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Take a stab at people who complain about flying.

Good times ensue. Look I’d like better seats, with more legroom and all the accoutrements of yesteryear back too (where are my clip-on wings dammit!)...but what cost are you willing to ascribe to those things? The market says “cheap” and so we get “cheap” flying. Frankly I still find the idea of ripping the air a new one in a pressurized, air conditioned, crap on board capable metal tube 6 miles high is still pretty amazing and especially when you factor in the price of a ticket.

Even then you certainly have the choice to pay for many of the things we’ve lost in the race to the bottom as well.

I also realize your mileage may vary but I’m not ever uncomfortable on a flight. The seats aren’t great, and it’s no ones idea of a pleasure cruise but its far from the worst way to get from A-B.

Its safe, its cheap, its reliable in its base form and its everything you want it to be if you are willing to pay what it takes. Maybe I have low standards of comfort? I don’t know. I love flying.

For Sweden > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 11:49

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Try telling them flying is better than high speed rail

MonkeePuzzle > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 11:50

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pfft, you slacked. all you said is things are pretty good. what you SHOULD have done is thanked Obama for flight, then blamed Trump for the new bathroom situation, but then doubled down by saying you think the new bathroom configurations are making america great again.

end it all with a “I’m With Her” hashtag

CalzoneGolem > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 11:52

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Try telling them flying is better than low speed bus

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 11:56

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The only flight that I have been uncomfortable on has been Spirit Airlines. And it was not due to the non-reclining seats, being able to only bring a backpack for luggage, no entertainment, no drinks, and not even getting a free boarding pass printout or electronic ticket alternative. No, it was just uncomfortable as hell seat pad! I have never sat in an airplane seat that I thought was super plush or somewhere that I could sit every day forever, but never has it really been truly uncomfortable. Its always just a seat, fine for up to 5-6 hours without really being remotely an issue. But on Spirit it really was less comfortable than the bus I took to get to the airport!! Its a shame because I liked how cheap the flight was and I was willing to deal with everything else. I brought a pillow for the return trip and sat on that, making it livable. Maybe I am too boney for the seats? Maybe you are supposed to have a huge layer of fat to sit comfortably on those flights?

Also, its the people who fly Spirit that also made it unpleasant. On “normal” airlines you get “normal”, inoffensive people. For some reason Spirit attracts all of the whackos and weirdos and the cretins of air travel. It is bizarre but totally true. This is likely due to how Spirit usually operates in the territory of “Save $0.35 now, spend $35 later” and how that is justified as “cheaper” to those people. For me it was a solid $2-300 savings versus other airlines for that route/time that I was restricted to so it was worthwhile for some mild inconvenience.

WilliamsSW > CalzoneGolem 01/25/2018 at 12:00

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I like Obama’s High Speed Bus plan - best of ALL worlds

My bird IS the word > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 12:00

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SmugAardvark > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 12:01

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Do I wish I had more legroom? Sure, I’m 6'3". Do I wish the seats were more comfortable? Sure, everyone’s butt gets tired after sitting in one position for long enough. Do I wish food and drink options were better on flights? Sure, an actual meal would be wonderful from time to time.

Are these going to lead me to choose to drive across the country instead? Absolutely not. Flying is quick and relatively cheap. I can easily accept reading a book for four hours in a slightly cramped seated position rather than spending a few days behind the wheel of a car.

Profit margins are teeny-tiny for airlines, in large part because the price of fuel has gone up much quicker relative to the cost of a ticket. I get it, and I’m willing to accept some minor annoyances for the convenience of being wherever I need to be in such short order.

ttyymmnn > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 12:03

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I was going to reply with the Louis CK “chair in the sky” video but in on a high school wifi and it’s blocked.

No matter how awful the experience is, I am always thrilled to be in the air, to experience the wonder of hurtling through the sky in a flying machine.

WilliamsSW > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 12:07

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Flying is absolutely dirt cheap as compared to “yesteryear” and you adjust for inflation - no one ever seems to remember that.

And you have many choices when it comes to flying - sure, you can spend pennies to fly Spirit if you want, but if you don’t like that, fly economy on the majors.

Or pay a bit more for extra legroom up front on the majors.

Or buy a 1st class ticket

Or just drive, FFS. No one forced you on the plane at gunpoint.

Wacko > MonkeePuzzle 01/25/2018 at 12:11

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HammerheadFistpunch > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 01/25/2018 at 12:16

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I hear spirit is terrible, so I don’t fly them. I guess if I was trying to get to norway from London maybe but otherwise, I can choose to afford something a little better.

random001 > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 12:24

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You must not be freakishly tall, like me...

HammerheadFistpunch > random001 01/25/2018 at 12:25

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I have much sympathies for the population on the edges of the curve when it comes to flying.

LOREM IPSUM > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 12:26

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In 2016, United Airlines net profit was 2.3 billion dollars.

The airlines can afford to make travel more pleasant, but profit is more important.

Nick Has an Exocet > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 12:27

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Lol. You’re the reason I had 17 notifications this morning :)

Nick Has an Exocet > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 01/25/2018 at 12:27

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I had the same experience with Frontier. The seat reminded me a seat at Fenway Park.

HammerheadFistpunch > Nick Has an Exocet 01/25/2018 at 12:28

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See? It worked!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Nick Has an Exocet 01/25/2018 at 12:35

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I think a ball stadium seat might have been more comfortable honestly...

Mid Engine > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 12:35

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I changed jobs (and took a pay cut) so I don’t have to travel. It’s just not worth it.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 12:37

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Cheap flying in Europe is excellent. Since “normal” flying there is wonderful and gives you a meal and all the nice stuff you rarely get in the US. So the “cheap” stuff there is just the normal stuff here. I particularly like Norwegian though, they were quite pleasant from NY to Bergen, Norway a couple years ago.

The surprising thing about Spirit was just that all the normal stuff I have heard people complain about was not really any different than any other airline. It just made no sense why the seats were so shitty.

user314 > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 12:49

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You’ve never sat in Economy 2: The Reckoning then.

shop-teacher > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 12:49

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I am big enough that flying is wildly uncomfortable. Then again I’ve only flown once in the last decade.

Ash78, voting early and often > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 12:50

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Hear hear.

Also, if you don’t mind taking this letter to my grandmother across the country in 3 days, here’s 50 cents to cover your trouble.

Commercial aviation is the closest thing to teleportation and time travel that most of humanity will ever achieve.

Spoon II > random001 01/25/2018 at 12:56

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Haha, I’m crazy tall, and also somehow too wide for the seats (despite not being overweight). Flying feels like someone just jammed me in an actual suitcase. It’s too bad, because when I was little I loved flying!

Future next gen S2000 owner > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 01/25/2018 at 13:05

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I hate Spirit so much. I used them once for a getaway with the missus and I. Denver to Las Vegas. Not even a long flight. Never again. I’ll walk to Hawaii long before I board another Spirit flight.

Those non-reclining seats are “cozy” according to the seat back reading material.

Quadradeuce > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 13:16

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As a 6'5" tall person, with the legs of a 6'9" tall person (I wear the same pants as my 6'9" brother), legroom is my only gripe. If I had my way, I would strip off all amenities on shorter flights. Anything shorter than 3 hours would have no meal or drink service. Just a snack stand in the terminal that you can buy your own food if you can’t go 3 hours without shoving over-processed salt nuggets into your mow. Get rid of all infotainment, and just offer Wifi, even for a modest fee.

I would gladly strip every amenity out of air travel for just 1 more inch of legroom. And this is why I drive everywhere, including 2600 miles twice a summer to our cottage. Our next car purchase has one criteria: can I sit in it comfortably for 24 hours straight, while leaving enough legroom for my kids in the back.

CodyVella > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 13:49

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I work in the industry and I’ve honestly had it with people who complain about the price of flying or about how uncomfortable/inconvenient it is. All we’ve done is given travelers what they want: The cheapest possible fare. What they don’t realize is the cost at which that comes, and that cost can be comfort/convenience. Hell, most airlines today barely turn a profit, and that’s good enough for them because that’s all they can muster while still keeping customers happy. Where I’m based airline industry workers are some of the lowest paid people around, making minimum wage. All this is done to keep the cost down for the customer.

Then amplify the complaints the rest of the world has by x1000 because my airport is a financial money pit.

smobgirl > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 13:52

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I would (and will) pay more to be comfortable or suffer in silence if I’m choosing to fly for personal reasons. When I have to fly for work and have to take the cheapest flights available because my company needs to make a profit (a significantly smaller profit than the airline industry), I will complain to my heart’s content about the hell that is Frontier and Spirit. In the ten years I’ve been doing this, things have gone from reasonably uncomfortable but tolerable for a domestic flight to bordering on torture. I miss living in a part of the country where trains were an occasional option.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Future next gen S2000 owner 01/25/2018 at 14:12

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I actually really liked that the seats do not recline. I hate reclining my seat on an airplane. And I hate when others recline into me. Airline space is just adequate for me with all seats upright. It only gets uncomfortable once the seats lean back. And apparently it is rude to ask people not to recline their seat in front of you so it just sucks. But I agree, walking to Hawaii instead of flying on Spirit sounds like an interesting prospect. At least the walk would be a good workout.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 15:04

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Or just get into a prolonged discussion with people with poor reading comprehension. MN_Test comes to mind.

nermal > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 16:15

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I generally don’t have a problem with flying, but I’m also not a moron.

I would pay an extra fee in order to have the option to electrocute the person in front of me if they recline their seat, however.

HammerheadFistpunch > nermal 01/25/2018 at 16:21

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nuts to that. If im sitting in front of a normal sized person, I’m reclining.

His Stigness > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 16:59

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I laughed when I saw your comment, and your first response was classic.

HammerheadFistpunch > His Stigness 01/25/2018 at 17:00

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To Jonee?

His Stigness > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 17:16

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I don’t know who it was to, but it was the comment starting thread, to which someone replied with the old plush seats, and you shot back with the graph of plummeting ticket costs.

HammerheadFistpunch > His Stigness 01/25/2018 at 17:25

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yup, thats the one.

random001 > HammerheadFistpunch 01/25/2018 at 20:33

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I think I broke the curve...

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > CodyVella 01/25/2018 at 21:55

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then stop working at newark

CodyVella > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 01/26/2018 at 11:43

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Wrong country lol