JetBlue Has Spoiled Me
I flew American Airlines for the first time in a few years yesterday. It was cramped, uncomfortable, and crowded. I could tell they’ve stuffed in extra rows of seats since the last time I flew them on anything but a shuttle. The snacks were bad, small, and expensive ($4 Cheese plate: One piece of cheese, four crackers). Beth liked the movie (Horton Hears a Who) but they charged $2 for headsets.
We had to change planes in Dallas. Flying mostly out of New York, I had grown accustomed to direct flights, but there aren’t so many from the OC. Both segments were late. The flight to Dallas by about half an hour due to mechanical problems. Apparently some sort of starter device on one of the engines failed. We had a tight connection in Dallas that we were worried about, especially after Beth noticed in the in-flight magazine that American would no longer pay for hotel rooms even when a missed flight was clearly their fault. However we made the connection with time to spare because the flight from Dallas was over an hour late. The plane was there, but the pilots weren’t. On the positive side the Dallas airport is only the second airport I’ve ever seen with a Popeyes. Surprisingly the other is not New Orleans.
We had to pay $15 to check Beth’s bag in Orange County. I tried to carry mine on, but the airline made me check it at the gate. At least they didn’t try to charge me $15 for it. Then they sent it to Nashville. Don’t ask me why they sent it to Nashville, but they did. Maybe I should have paid the fifteen dollars. They promise I’ll have it back today. I am at least grateful that I took the time to open my bag in the middle of the jetway and remove my prescriptions and valuables before letting them have it.
I will definitely be avoiding American in the future when I have a choice, and it’s time to cancel that Citibank AAdvantage card.
