Passenger Observations

Frequent fliers, I am still amazed to this day that there are so many frequent flyers who don't understand the ins and outs of business travel. They think because they are silver or gold or platinum that they should get whatever they want from anyone at the airlines. How absurd is this? These business people are usually fairly smart but they don't understand that the people that they are dealing with are only parts of the process, they cannot effect change or be agents of change.

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One business owner was trying to explain to a Gold Customer Service representative that he was willing to incur extra costs by flying into a different city and paying for a rental car to drive home so that the airlines wouldn't have to provide him a room at a hotel, therefore he should be automatically upgraded to first class on the flight to the other city. The two fallacies in this argument are that the airlines will provide him a room when a flight is delayed or cancelled due to weather, and that the person he is talking to can understand his business argument and be an agent of change for the airlines; it is the completely wrong audience for the message.

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On a flight home from Washington National recently a very burly gentleman was removed prior to the door being closed for the words he used to convey the lack of the issue that their should have been when the guy was moving luggage in the overhead around to fit his carry on. The burly guy was quite stern in his response to the other passenger. I was a little dismayed that they only removed the one guy and not both. Flying out of DC I would think they would have removed both passengers. The guy they left behind spent the whole flight blabbing about it to everyone around him. In the end he got what was coming to him. The Federal Air Marshals did pull him aside once the plain landed and let him know that the Air Marshal saw everything. A bit of a pay back.

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On a recent flight from Detroit to Newark I heard the best line for someone not wanting the window seat. They pleaded with the passenger next to them for the aisle seat and mentioned that they have a urinary issue and will need to get up often to use the lav On this short flight, how absurd of an excuse. The guy didn't get up once during the flight, but it was a valiant effort to change seats.

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One of the craziest passenger experiences I had was on a Delta flight to San Jose where while on the taxi way and just about to hit the run way, the guy next to me, gets up and runs to the lav He had been holding it really bad and wasn't feeling good at all. He made it to the lav, but not quite in time. When he got back to seat, you could smell the stench of him, yuck! We eventually got a new place in line and took off, with that wonderful fresh depends scent the whole trip to San Jose.

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One a flight from Detroit to Anchorage my wife made me slum it in coach and we got stuck with a typical Detroit couple behind us with their Red Wings jerseys and hats on that had definitely had one too many drinks at the airport bar. They shouldn't have been let on the plane. They did not shut up for the entire five hour flight! Not once did they shut up. They ordered more beer from the flight crew, who actually gave them more, much to my dismay. Though I was hoping that it would help them become tired and fall asleep, but I wasn't that lucky. What a way to start a nice relaxing vacation, NOT! Needless to say, we upgraded to first class for the trip home to keep away from the commoners.

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My biggest pet peeve for other passengers is when they never shut up and you can hear them from several rows away! I absolutely cannot stand this, it drives me crazy. I have no need to listen to what you are blabbing about, I don't care, I want my peace and quite, like in church, stop invading my personal space and shut the f-ck up!

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