The US airlines are dinosaurs
Even the US general populations thinks their airlines excel in poor service
I love this title, while taking the tram from the main terminal at Las Vegas airport to the D gates to catch our Delta flight home. This comment came from a fellow passenger and he was “American”, so yes even the US general population is as ticked as I am when it comes to their aviation industry. “Let them go bankrupt” was another comment another traveler stated.
My commitment to you
I promised myself never to blog when I am angry or upset. So I am trying to be extremely positive here 
Here are some tips and tricks and a travel advisory for my fellow Canadians who frequently travel to the United States and who are upset with how the US airlines nickle and dime you to death. Plus excel in providing a level service slightly lower your local Taco Bell (Actually I had good service at Taco Bell).
Sure, the US has JetBlue, Southwest and others who are in pretty good shape and from what I hear from my colleagues, actually know how to take care of a person. The challenge here is this. Only the fat and near bankrupt airlines serve Canadian cities and some of us do not enjoy the luxury of hitting a border town like Buffalo to hop a flight within the United States. So, we are stuck with Delta, United, US Airways, American, Continental and perhaps a few others.
I have a lengthy list of things which really get my blood to boil when traveling south of the 49th. However here are some tips to help my fellow Canadians.
- Whenever possible, fly WestJet or Air Canada. Why? Both airlines give you two bags included with your ticket. You can book an Air Canada ticket and get on United or US Airways and still have your two bags (including golf clubs) for free.
- You can get almost anywhere in the US flying Air Canada or WestJet.
- When checking in online, always use the WestJet or Air Canada booking reference on the US airline website. This way you still get your bags for free when checking in. Never, ever, ever check in at the airport, they will charge you for the bags. The clerks at the counter only know what they know and their knowledge of how Air Canada, WestJet or other Canadian airlines work is extremely limited.
So here is my little rant!
Today, my bride and I are leaving Las Vegas heading home to Calgary. We had to pay $40.00 to check our bags. We are flying Delta, not my choice but we won the trip so oh well! Have you noticed how hard it is to store small articles in the overhead bins on US airlines? We don’t have this problem in Canada, why? Because our travelers don’t have to pay for our bags and therefore not trying to cram a bunch of stuff into the overhead bins on the planes.
I am sure there are some folks who can’t stand Air Canada or even WestJet…before you pass judgement on our great Canadian arlines, travel on a US airline for a day and you will understand why incidents of “air rage” are on the rise in the good ole USA and why we feel like we are broke after a day of travel.
Tell me your US travel nightmares, leave a comment if you wish. Also, I would love for someone to share some great experiences with me. I do have a few, usually it is because Skywest is servicing the connection flight from Denver or Salt Lake.
I hope I didn’t appear to bitter
Brett Gilmour
Twitter: brettgilmour
on November 18th, 2009
“Is it poor customer service or simply pay-as-you-go?
In March I flew to Florida from Calgary. We had to pay for EACH piece of checked luggage, only carry-on was included and only 1 piece of carry-on. They expected us to bring just 1 small bag for a 10 day trans-continental flight.
On the same flight no food was included. We can’t carry on drinks anymore and we were dissuaded from bringing food onboard. 6 hours is a long time to go with no food for my 4 year old. The a la carte menu was sold out by the time they reached our seat, passengers at the front of the plane had eaten it all. They offered us a 2nd tiny bag of pretzles instead. yum, yum.
WestJet and others have reduced the allowed weight of checked luggage from 72lbs/bag to 50lbs/bag. Sufficient for most people but if you are checking skis and boots, scuba gear or in my case photography equipment, 50lbs is just not enough. ATA approved shipping cases alone weighs 32lbs leaving room for just 18lbs of equipment so I paid another fee. Stuart, you had it good.
The “perks” on planes have been declining since the 80’s. I don’t mind because I can fly to Ottawa to visit family for much less than I could in 1990’s. Perhaps the new model of paying-as-you-go serves the crowd better than having everyone subsidise heavy users like myself.”