I have to say, I think I am a pretty easygoing and understanding person. But air travel pisses me off. Look, if planes are delayed, or if there's weather, or if the shit just hits the fan, I can understand that. Sometimes things happen, and nobody is at fault.
But what I can't get past is the unbelievably awful quality of customer service. Airlines are just
the worst to deal with, and they are heartless. This past summer, the wife and I were going to go to Europe, and it happened to be right toward the end of the period when the Icelandic volcano was erupting. Planes were back in the air, but my wife and I both have some lung-related health issues, and our doctors advised us not to go until the dust cleared more. We called our international airline to tell them we had to cancel, and wished to reschedule the trip at another time, due to the above reasons. Mrs. L. and I both have enough experience with airlines to know that a cash refund was as likely as them sending us flowers and a free blowjob, so we were frank with them that all we were seeking was a credit for future travel. It took us until a week ago to finally wrangle it out of them, after our lawyer threatened them with legal action. And that kind of thing is all too typical.
Delays will be inevitable in a travel business. Fare increases, fuel surcharges, and fees for alteration of ticketing and rebooking may be perfectly justifiable. But if I'm gonna put up with that, then dammit, give me a comfortable seat, and don't make me feel even more like a sardine than I already do; don't charge me for crappy-ass airplane food if there even is any food; don't give me bullshit about how my Kindle or my iPod has to be turned off, as if my devices will somehow cause "The Return of the King" to appear on the flight scopes, and the radar to play Cheb i Sabbah, making the plane go down in a cataclysm of English literature and electronic music; don't harass me and give me the stinkeye because I'm a big guy; don't charge me just for having luggage; don't make me wait in ridiculously long lines and then not have decent seating at the gate; don't get in my face when I come to you with a customer service issue; and don't treat me like I'm just a pain in the ass waste of your time. I am your customer, and I am paying you a ridiculous amount of money to travel with you. Treat me well and I will give you loyalty. Treat me poorly, and I will seek out your competitors. And when the whole damn industry treats me poorly, I will consider travel alternatives, and vacation options that don't involve flying, whenever I can.
Fuck you, airlines. Remember your place.
/rant
heh, heh....
