Five hours. No water. None. Not for a two year old.

They can go straight to hell and burn — forever — no water…. Pinhead bastards.

The name of the airline was Delta. Delta. D E L T A. Delta.

BTW the no upsell argument is crap. I’ve been on trains in Europe and been upsold to a sleeper berth onboard enroute.

All the apologists here have been brainwashed into thinking that we, the buying public don”t deserve customer service. Hell, that costs money.

Well guess what, that’s the same argument that all customers care about is price. All companies care about is profit. So there. Invest is better customer service and people will pay a little extra for it. No. They will. Really. They did before deregulation.

I would have gladly paid $30 extra to get my parched toddler some water.

AND… What was that Jetblue “flight attendant” doing sitting on her ass? Shouldn’t she have been on her feet working to deny a thirsty infant some fucking water?!!!?

Give me a break.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-jetblue-travel-toilet-story,0,3402618.story

JetBlue: A PR nightmare.

To your point Ed, that people do move in-flight — Yes, I have seen people swap out seats, move to empty rows and usually after a quiet request to a flight attendant. They are often most gracious and accommodating. But I can’t recall the last time I was on a plane that was as empty as the one your photograph shows. Being crammed three to a row is the norm, and as a passenger, I really don’t want to put up with people changing seats any more than cell phone use, if that ever comes to pass.

I am not affiliated with the airlines (one of the sweeping claims Jeff).

Your original post was essentially an outline of what you observed with some top-level assessments. I have no problem with that. It’s the springboard for commenters who will parse, dissect, layer on analysis and offer counter views and the like and enrich the discussion and make the blog worthwhile. If the original author, and I’ll say this generally, dismisses those arguments out-of-hand then there really isn’t much point it. Things get personalized only after doors are slammed in your face. You did not do that Ed, and I appreciate your restraint.

But United DOES upsell at the gate. Again, they are not as dumb as you are making them out to be. Do they upsell on the plane? No they do not. Perhaps they could, but do you want them to depart 20 minutes later so they can go passenger to passenger asking if they want to upgrade to E+? I didn’t think so. Once airborne, it’s simply not safe (I believe it is in fact illegal according to FAA) to allow passengers to upgrade mid-flight (could be wrong on the legality though but it is a legit safety issue – sudden turbulence and all).

“Look at the pics at my site (linked in the post) — it looked absurd, especially given the fact that the premium seats are indistinguishable from the cheap ones.”

This is also incorrect. The Econ+ seats have a different seat color and have a noticeably bigger pitch (distance between the rows). Btw, I wouldn’t consider Economy + as a “premium” product – it is just a nice perk for frequent fliers or those who upgrade to it. Please keep in mind, I am not trying to be snarky, but you have posted some factually incorrect info that I think deserved to be corrected.

Seems to me United could upsell at the gate, once it was clear that the spacing issue existed.

As for upselling on the plane, people move, and get moved, from seat to seat all the time. Look at the pics at my site (linked in the post) — it looked absurd, especially given the fact that the premium seats are indistinguishable from the cheap ones.

It wasn’t just me, by the way — I was more curious than anything, other people were actively trying to buy seats, and griping about the no-change policy.

Well, no. People did ask politely. A new flight attendant let two guys move up…and then her more experienced colleague came and moved them back to steerage. There was a longish conversation between a guy in a business suit in row 10 and the flight attendant about credit card readers, cash, and so on.

The reaction of the passengers wasn’t hostile, or greedy, more like incredulous and mildly disgusted.

I didn’t pick on the flight attendant, either in person or at my blog. I merely pointed out her powerlessness, and seeming cluelessness.

I wasn’t looking for a blog post, I was looking to get home after a long day’s travel. What happened, happened, and I had a camera with me. People laughed and voiced their approval when I started taking pictures.

That’s the way things work these days — we don’t have to look for material, just recognize it.

United does offer Economy Plus at the gate. As a Mileage Plus member, I would know. Do agents sell it every time? Perhaps not always, if the previous inbound flight was late, but yes, if they have time, they do sell Economy +. Additionally, if you check in online or via one of the Easy check-in kiosks that are available in any of the major United stations, you are asked if you would like to upgrade for a listed fee.

So again, passengers are very much aware of the E+ option or at least they should be. Once on the plane, passengers can’t move around as they please because there are safety concerns as alluded to earlier. But I’m sure you’ll sign up as the industry’s defense attorney should a passenger break their neck when severe turbulence occurs while the passengers is “upgrading” mid flight.

Perhaps those in the industry are not as dumb as you seem to think. Airlines have been listening to passengers by the way. The vast majority of passengers have asked for AND received ridiculously cheap flights and they could care less about service. When people become willing to pay more for better service (like me), you’ll start to see better service. In the meantime, the coach cabin will remain a commodity and service will be minimal, as passengers have voted with their feet for the past decade and chased the lowest price.

Let’s not beat this topic to death. Just want to point out that an airline offering you a choice (in this case United Economy plus) is hardly a good example of a “Fuck you” attitude.

I certainly take advantage of Economy plus all the time and am happy they offer it.

tdc, I’m not sure that economy plus to Nagoya Japan is $30 it could be $50 or higher. But on a 10+ hour journey surely worth the price.

i’ll make certain to put an extra $30 in his lunchbox.

1. he now knows United offers economy plus
2. he hopefully knows that most airlines don’t provide this option
3. United gives him a choice if he plans ahead and books this in advance
4. o-shift explained very well why upgrades / people changing seats in flight are a less than stellar idea

surely they know the seating configuration an hour before the flight.

a little software code here could go a long way in taking care of your “regular” customers, too.