News and notes from around the interweb:
- I see this same complaint about Delta, United and American posted to social media every day and the airlines do nothing to solve it. Here’s why gate agents make you check your carry-on bags even before the bins fill up.
@united why are you making travelers gate check bags when there are literally 10s of open bins? Dishonest to tell travelers there is no room only to come on board to see bins are less than half full. Ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/d5SKthM9zD
— Jessica Schupak (@whatssheeating) February 11, 2025
- My tribe may not actually control Hollywood, the media and financial markets but apparently we do control Hyatt earnings? Blame the Jews!
Shares of Hyatt Hotels fell as the company said fourth-quarter business was hurt by the presidential election—and the High Holy Days. …The news sent its shares down nearly 11% in early trading. Part of the reason, the company said: group demand that was impacted by the election—something other travel companies have noted in their own results—but also “the shift of the Jewish holidays.”
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur occurred in early October last year after falling in September, or the third quarter, of 2023, which could have kept more Jewish travelers home to observe the holidays during the period.
- New Orleans airport is sinking
- Space in front of a passenger is theirs – up until the seat back or bulkhead in front of them. There it is. That’s my ruling.
If there’s no seat in front of you, whose space is it? @garyleff pic.twitter.com/XrPOaZANDj
— Matt Colbert (@MattCAviation) February 12, 2025
- Flying Blue elites lose access to complimentary waitlist and discounted purchase for Delta Comfort+
- Barclays and Wyndham have renewed their co-brand agreement but with recent changes to the ‘Business Earner’ card I’m not sure how much people care.
“Blame the…” and “your tribe” …oof. Your words, not mine.
‘If those (bigots) could read, they’d be very upset.’
Regarding the FB elite loss of access to Delta comfort+: big deal. Delta never honored it before, and I’ve not been less than 20 deep on the upgrade just. In any case, from my perspective, this “premium” airline has refused its legal duty of care, claiming that its decision to involuntary downgrade me is the responsibility of the European originating airline to reimburse, then refusing to reply when said airline forwards the request. And it’s not like the regulation is ambiguous on this point.
Their crappy treatment isn’t worth the premium. So, I ain’t hurt: that’s codifying what should be common knowledge: avoid DL, and if you end up on DL, remember that they will, at least in my experience, use almost every dirty trick to profit off of you. So act accordingly.
That’s cool that they tried to solve the sinking issue bayou-sing pilings for the new terminal at MSY.
(I’ll see mysef out)
Here’s the problem. The gate agent doesn’t know whether bin space will run out but if it does that’s likely going to force the flight to leave late. So gate agents proactively prevent the problem. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can have gate agents not force gate check but be willing to accept late flights when it becomes a cluster fu&K as people try to swim upstream with bags. Choose your poison.
@George: Are gate agents unable to count?
I know the count can’t be exact, but could not also a FA be tasked with stopping more bags from coming on the plane at the door if the bins fill up when they are still coming down the jetway?
On the overhead space issue, we know why gate agents don’t care so much about ‘your’ bag–they’re hustling to get everyone on-board and keep their schedules–they overworked and underpaid, so they ‘work their wage,’ so to speak. Gary has already reported on this in his earlier post (which he linked above). My hope is that passengers continue to highlight the issue via social media or complaints to the airline, which may help get the message across that we’d actually like to try to put our bags up first, even if we need to eventually gate-check. Give us the option, please.
I’d take the pink tag, walk down the jetway and simply carry my bag on. But then, I usually board fairly early.
…and I don’t wanna swim.
Boarding is taking waaaay too much time and same for deplaning.
Airlines should check more bags at the gate.
Of course, they should simply include free bags in the ticket.
“Space in front of a passenger is theirs – up until the seat back or bulkhead in front of them. There it is. That’s my ruling.”
If there is an exit door in front of you, people wanting to stretch their legs sometimes use that area. Some even knock into your outstretched feet. The photo is of a much more defendable space.
I’ve never seen much benefit to Skyteam status, and it seems like the little it has is deteriorating. . *A Gold has solid lounge benefits and OneWorld Emerald has free seat selection.
I blame the carry-on debacle on entitled jerks who carry more than they should be allowed, then take up all the overhead space from people who actually follow the rules. You’d think this would be better in first class but it’s often actually worse with off duty pilots and road warriors going on the plane with 2-3 bags that just won’t fit under the seat in front of them. The result is a bit of a mad rush for Zone 1 boarding to get ahead of the entitled ones so you can put your one bag above you. The people breaking the rules are the most pushy to be first on the plane because otherwise they might have to gate check the bags they shouldn’t be trying to bring aboard in the first place.
On a recent flight with large bins the couple across from me both put their rollers, carryons and coats in the overhead. The woman also stuck her pocket book and bag up in the bin. The overheads in front of me with full and the plane off with at least a dozen empty seats. This is why gate agents proactively are aggressive in checking bags.
Take a look back in history at pictures of the interiors of 707’s and DC-8’s in the 60’s and 70’s. Little to no overhead storage (and people nicely dressed!). Usually, it was an open shelf, in which to place your coat or jacket, not your 3 wheeled, moss-covered credenza. If I were king, I’d do away with overhead bins altogether. They waste time enplaning/deplaning. They can be dangerous. They take up a lot of room. Carry On’s be gone! : )
Well, too many people take advantage of the bagging rules. It used to be a certain size carryon and 1 “personal item” ie… Briefcases and purses. Which now people are taking 2 full size carryon (somehow this became a carryon and a full backpack which takes up 2 paces in the overhead.) opinion: They should be turned away at security and made to check the other bag then.
I love how some arm chair blogger thinks he knows better…..
We have no rights anymore they do what the want with us.