Californication
I’ve finished packing. WOO HOO! After the fiasco last year (where Randy’s luggage didn’t appear for a few days), we’ve gotten smart and now mix our clothes in each other’s luggage so that if one suitcase gets lost we still have clothes to wear.
Poor Randy, though. Since he’s got business to conduct, in addition to the shorts, jeans, and t-shirts (like I’m bringing), he has to pack two suits, dress shirts, dress shoes, and ties. He’s also bringing out four BIG bottles of wine that he had been storing at our place for our friends in California.
Still, he managed to fit it all in. Oh, and he got us bumped up to first class so at least we’ll be getting a meal on this flight. It’s shocking to me that you can get away with not serving food (or even free snacks) on a 6+ hour flight. I’ve even taken flights to California that didn’t have movie screens. And just yesterday I read that United Airlines is removing the movie equipment on all continental domestic flights. Yeah, not just stopping movie service, but removed the entire equipment from the planes. Apparently, that 500 pounds will save them $10 million per year in fuel costs.
But 500 pounds is just two chunky people…will that really make that much of a difference on a plane that seats around 200 people? I fear other airlines are going to follow suit. Personally, I find this rather short-sighted. It’s just going to prompt people to take airlines like JetBlue, who offers free snacks AND free in-seat TV screens. It’s just going to remove a competitive edge. Plus, someday, fuel prices,airline ticket prices, and the economy will balance out and then they’ll just have to re-install everything again.
Just my two cents. Besides, who am I to say? Though, considering that I didn’t go to California for 9 years yet this will be my fourth trip in one year, these long haul flights seem to becoming a more frequent thing for me. At least I have my iPod.
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Hmmm…you’re among the frequent-flyer elite, thanks to Randy’s good influences, but I rather suspect that the way that the economy and air travel prices are likely to level out (unless someone invents a coal-powered plane…yeah…right…) is that air travel habits and affodability will go back to the way they were in the 1960s or early 70s..much more a luxury for the few, than the general skybus it has become, with far fewer players serving fewer locations and less frequently. Now, the GOOD news on that is that flight times will get shorter (probably already have) and delays fewer…I think the fastest recorded year for commercial flight times, door to door, was something like 1972…democratization has slowed things down, considerably…
SO, count yourself among the fortunate few…and maybe the rest of us will get decent rail service someday…
Personally I find that an in-flight movie seems to extend the experience for me. I guess I expect to land after the movie is over, regardless of the length of flight. When they then show two hours worth of sitcoms after the movie I start to get antsy, like I want to get out and push or something.
Those seats are heavy too, get rid of them and pack more people in with a new “open seating plan” I should have been an airline exec. with this great idea.
It’s not United that’s doing that; it’s Useless Airways since they’re in the deepest financial doo-doo of all the major airlines. None of the other airlines followed suit, certainly not Untied!