Travel
 

I've been on the road most of the time since mid-April. I've come to the conclusion that travel sucks, especially in the US. Back in April I had a Delta flight from Cincinnati to Paris, then on to Copenhagen. Delta and Air France have some kind of deal where they trade reservations or something and I was on an Air France plane to Paris. The stews were cheerful, helpful, and always where you could see them. Food was edible. SAS to Copenhagen was OK. When we arrived in Denmark the immigration line was short and the woman checking our passports smiled and said "Welcome home!" to my Danish companion, and she welcomed me to "our country" with a smile. The trip back was on a Delta flight and the stews were all surly and were only around when they were serving inedible food. One of them got her back up because I refused to pay for a glass of wine. I had to dig out the ticket info, which clearly stated that "economy plus" got you free drinks. She didn't bother to apologize for not knowing her own company's policies. All in all it was a miserable ride. Back in the US, the immigration beotch yelled at my companion to get back in line when she started to approach the desk with me. I thought, "This is new." She questioned me at length because I couldn't remember my flight number and asked me why I was so nervous as I fumbled through my pockets trying to find the boarding pass. I looked back at the line of 50 or so people and said, "Because when I was back there I was as pissed off as they are about how long it takes to get through this line." She got her back up and brought someone over and the two of them asked me a bunch of questions. Then when I could not find my pass I tried to ask my companion if she had it and the beotch said, "Don't talk to the people in line!" The guy she brought over asked if we were together and when I said yes he got surly with me because we weren't at the desk together. No apology from anyone. When they were through I looked at my friend and said, "Welcome home, huh?" and that brought them back over again. It's like this every time I travel to another country. There I'm welcomed and in the US I'm treated like a criminal for coming home.
As for ground transportation - don't get me started.

My philosophy is travel by your own vehicle and dine at home, not out.

That way you are not as susceptible to inconvenience.

I realize you cannot drive to Europe but we live in a different world now - not as safe as we used to be.

Travel doesn't have to suck, but it often does. There is a rhythm and method to international air travel and once you figure it out, the process becomes less annoying. Above all... stay calm and cooperative, and always be polite with officials.

We came back last year from middle Europe and the contraband dog marked me while in line for customs. I had a packaged dry salami that I bought in Budapest and planned to eat as a snack during our trip. Off to secondary inspection we went. All the US officials were polite but firm and we were subjected to a thorough search. Apparently there are some salami that are legal to bring in and some are not. Ours did not have the proper visa paperwork so it went in the trash. Who knew salami was verboten?? Welcome to LA.

you got to give trash like that a bit of a break..
it's hard seeing all those folks going/having been to places they will never see...
& safety has nothing to do with extending some common courtesy or manners..
sure this place is now a landfill....
still no reason to put scheisse at our doorstep..

Rika

That's it right there. Don't give them a reason to annoy you. They might anyway but don't fuel the fire.

Ian

My heart rate jumps if I even pass by LAX on the freeway. I don't fly, but I pick up family at the airport. That's bad enough.

Going through immigration all over the world has been problem free for me. That is, until I arrive in my own Country and have to deal with the ****head agents at LAX. Nothing like being harassed trying to enter your own Country.

I agree....Been in 23 countries and all 50 states....

In my opinion, Rudeness is most common in California.....

I agree 100% with the airport issue, aircraft, other passengers. I have told my wife that when I go to California/Arizona next winter I drive there and she can either drive with me or she flies and I pick her up at the airport.

It is not only the destination that counts but how you get there. 26 hours driving or 3 hours in an aircraft. It has to be pretty bad when I want to take the slow route...

I travel quite a bit international and in the US and totally agree about knowing the rhythm and signing up for the correct programs in the US (TSA Precheck and Global Entry). I also choose which airports to fly back into carefully, and pretty much avoid LAX at all costs if possible. I also don't really like O'hare as the Internationl Terminal is a SLOW tram ride from the rest of the terminals and if you have a tight connection it can be tough.

I think each airline has its perks and downsides. There is also very different security procedures in each geographic region and I have seen some that are totally for show...

I am off to Bangalore on Firday for just a couple of days....

Bill

I don't understand the security inconsistency. I flew to Dulles on May 25 and going through security I forgot my belt and my glasses. Had to go back through. Flew to Hartford June 12 and started to take my belt off and the security guy said no, you don't have to. I just want to get through smoothly and quickly, but its not possible when there is no consistency.

Total humility and a desire to comply cheerfully are my keys to negotiate the gauntlet of officialdom at borders. Can be hard to muster after a long flight. Feels like those should not be necessary coming into our own country, but the sure are!

Cheers Richard

We just got sent to the group W bench in Frankfurt cause Margaret had not signed her new passport, then on closer inspection both of the boy's were also not signed and they had been traveling with them for years. It was looking bad for them for a while, I thought I might have to claim to not know them for my own good. When they decided we could fill out some papers to clear up the mess. And be on our way.
I did try to keep my Gestapo jokes to myself while in THE ROOM. :-)

Cheers Richard

Security at Dulles & National airports is usually stricter. No sense letting bad people have an opportunity to do bad things at the Nation's capital.

Ever fly in/out of Tel Aviv? It's pretty interesting.

I like to use foreign air carriers to travel abroad. I can't imagine using a domestic carrier for international travel...they're bad enough in the US.

US airports are surely the world's most unwelcoming to incoming vistors. Surly staff, world's longest lines. My wife gets interviewed every time since 1995 , because in 94 some immigration official omitted to enter her exit details into the computer, and despite having entered the US maybe 20 times since then no-one has bothered to alter the records.

Yep petrolhead Heathrow always impresses me how pleasant the Immigration officials are considering how many people go through there. Customs is a non issue
unless you get spotted by the officials.

US is a mixed bag. Phoenix airport is a zoo. Palm Springs is a piece of cake. Size matters - it seems the smaller the airport the better.

For anybody that leaves things at security like passport, wallet, laptop etc how could you do that? :eek:

Another thumbs up for global entry. Best $100 I've spent, but the interview wasnt very pleasant. My vote for worst reentry point has to be Houston, though. Customs and TSA are not often native English speakers, and very surly. Virgin Atlantic has provided the best inflight service, while I havent enjoyed United near as much. South African's seat spacing seemed to be real short also, and made that 20+ hour flight pretty miserable. (they do stop for fuel, but you arent allowed to deplane)

Jack

I have over 300,000 frequent flier miles on United alone.

Be pleasant, when going through security is all I can say. They can really, really ruin your day for no cause.

I went through US customs a week ago, on motorcycle, it was pathetic.
Hateful, angry employees, yelling at people, for no apparent reason.
Total para-military feel.
I got off relatively easy.
In contrast, the Canadian customs guy said " nice motorcycle, have a great ride".

I don't travel much outside the US so my recent trip to Frankfurt, Paris, Bangkok, and ****et was eye opening to say the least. I know flying in the US was bad but I didn't realize just how bad it is compared to the rest of the world. I flew on Lufthansa, Thai Airways, and Bangkok Airways and it was the most pleasant flying experience I've had in 30 years. It cannot be that expensive to have good customer service. And how much could a drink and a real snack cost? All the flights I was on served food and drinks, even the 45 minute hop from Bangkok to ****et.

And customs? Outside the US if you flash a pretty smile and a US passport, you're virtually waved through.

Edit: That's funny, you can't write P h u k e t here :) And it's pronouced "Poo ket"