Just need to vent...

No nut on bolt, not threaded into anything. Two guys on a 10-ft pipe on a breaker bar did not budge the "free" bolt but broke the breaker bar.

2015 Subaru Outbacks salvaged from hurricane flood damage apparently.

 

Another vent. I just got back from off the plane, and because of my own stupidity I paid some $400 more. #1 because I reserved the wrong week for parking my car and #2 some lady "helped" us figure out how to get through the security line but I didn't realize we were being signed up for some sort of yearly membership.

 

Uber and plan fifteen minutes to spare.

 

I've never used Über. There is no Über in my town. The city is 4 hours away, so either drive in or come the day before on the bus for $80 per person.

Time is not hard to figure out. We were there 3 hours early.

 

Last time I looked Gunnison has airlines flying in.

 

I was trying to save money. Obviously it didn't work. Usually it's two or three hundred more per person to fly in and out of Gunny. But I'll try to do better next time I fly, whenever that might be. I hadn't flown since about 25 years ago.

 

I have to admit I don't like flying in today's cattle car airlines.

 

Well, the good news is I got this Clear membership cleared up (pun wasn't intended, but it works). Come to find out, they gave us 2 free weeks of membership and they were going to charge EACH of us $199 for a year starting on December 15th. I seriously thought that it was part of the checkout procedure. It seemed like some sort of advanced security that they could tell who you are by your picture and perhaps some sort of AI.

This is all new to me. I never had to go to some touchscreen machine to print boarding tickets before. There used to be people behind a desk you could talk to. I think next time I'll be safe if I just leave my credit and debit cards at home and just send myself some cash in advance for food and gas.

So I only lost $220 or so for paying for the wrong parking date. Now I just need to see if I can get the refund the $50 for the week I'm not going to be parking there.

I really liked the people running Delta Airlines though. All really nice folks, ready to help or answer any question. The same with the Enterprise Rental company.

But I wish there were signs at the security areas not only that travelers shouldn't yell at the workers there, but that the workers shouldn't yell at us travelers. I had no idea there was another line and a simple "Would you please go to the next line over there" would have sufficed quite well. I also didn't know I wasn't supposed to have our boarding tickets in my shirt pocket either. I guess that could be considered a felony judging by the way I got yelled at for not emptying my pockets.

 

I wonder if there is any Über here. I wonder how one would even find out. There was a taxi, but he couldn't make a living at it. Of course there's a free provided van for drunk people so they don't have to drive. Oh well, it was only -37 °F windchill just a couple days ago here. We can walk to the airport here.

 

Still waiting for my first Uber - but then....I stopped flying when dot.gov stopped buying my tickets.
I might try military Space-A someday.

AMC Travel

I'm Cat-VI but hey.....there are always empty seats - riiiight?

 

I fly a few times a month for work, and it's very different than it was 25 years ago. Even with all my experience it's not hard to get a little detail wrong.

Two weeks ago was the first time I attempted full family vacation travel, and even with my frequent-flyer wits fully engaged it was not exactly stress-free.

So don't feel too bad, it really is a lot to keep up with.

 

Deregulation decades ago changed everything in US air travel. Seats have reduced space, maybe 50% now. Airlines don't worry about having ac on while on the ground in 100f weather. The stewardpersons usually don't want to be there. Later security was crudely implemented and underfunded so it was literally driving cattle to slaughter while inspecting their genitals at the kill station. All for slightly reduced airfares and "freedom" for the airlines to do whatever they want.

 

That would be a heck of a conspiracy.

No, it's airports pushing policies that are good for airports, airlines pushing policies good for airlines, the TSA doing their government-mandated thing, Clear trying to make money on their own private security system, airport tenants trying to keep their heads above water, and oh yeah, the travelers themselves might be walking in low on experience or possibly with all the ordinary complications life brings.

Most of those interests are only slightly aware of each other. The only place this gets totalized is for the individual travelers themselves.

 

Pre-deregulation flying was a heck of a lot nicer. I only got to experience that as a kid.

I know it also cost a lot more.

 

YEP!!
It's cheaper now...for freight AND folks.

And you know what?
It's safer now too.
-Even for Boeing's planes.

It may not be 'fun' but deregulation worked for the airlines - perhaps all too well considering how crippling it would be to our supply chains if the government ever had to exercise their option to use the CRAF programme......
https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104583/civil-reserve-air-fleet/

 

Unless you end up paying over $600 in surprise costs and add-ons to your $400 worth of tickets. It's cheaper for those that know how to use the system and aren't ignorant imbeciles like me.

 

Its not cheaper unless you book way in advance. Parking used to be free and there were no add ons.

Fly a real Canada Air and immediately see the difference. Their coach is our business class. It takes some perspective and not just rhetoric.

 

Oddly I just checked. I had booked back at the beginning of September. I thought it was $400 for both, but it was actually over $800 for both of us. That was on the cheapest flight, on the cheapest days of each week in the cheapest city within the state.

I just checked for next week and it's $177 for each passenger for a week, again, Monday to Monday on the same carrier at the same airport. So that's some $650 more I paid even though it was a couple months in advance and not a week in advance. Of course last week was a holiday and I didn't know I wouldn't have a job this week.

Oh well. Like I said, I don't have any plans on flying again for the foreseeable future, so it doesn't matter. Maybe several years in the future I'll get enough courage and save up enough to try it again. But I really, really, really need to save for some other things like retirement first, maybe a house too. I just visited a good friend who's in his 80's and has to work full time and has been living in a camper with his wife and cat for the past several years.

 

What I mean was cheaper since deregulation.
According to the Googles, airfares have decreased by about 50% when adjusted for inflation.
TIFWFW....