Recent air travel

[+ Pensant]

For the first time since February, I took a flight to Seattle on Alaska in premium economy on Thursday. The flight was supposed to be 5 hours but we took off early and arrived 50 minutes early. The plane was absolutely spotless. I was in 7D and the middle and window seats were empty. The flight crew were great and all the passengers complied with the face mask requirement. Before boarding, I washed my reading glasses in the restroom using soap and water and then dried them off with the Dyson blower. It really worked, as I experienced no fogging during the flight. It was really one of the more pleasant flights I’ve experienced. The FA even handed me a can of Alaska Amber.

 

At TSA pre✅ the staffer told me she didn’t need to see my ID! That’s a new one.

[+ Bryan Dube]

For the first time since February, I took a flight to Seattle on Alaska in premium economy on Thursday. The flight was supposed to be 5 hours but we took off early and arrived 50 minutes early. The plane was absolutely spotless. I was in 7D and the middle and window seats were empty. The flight crew were great and all the passengers complied with the face mask requirement. Before boarding, I washed my reading glasses in the restroom using soap and water and then dried them off with the Dyson blower. It really worked, as I experienced no fogging during the flight. It was really one of the more pleasant flights I’ve experienced. The FA even handed me a can of Alaska Amber.

 

At TSA pre✅ the staffer told me she didn’t need to see my ID! That’s a new one.

 

what hub were you flying out of if you don’t mind me asking? And how filled was the flight? Were airports busy? Lines? I’m flying sfo > jfknext month on the 25th and just a bit anxious that I won’t be able to social distance. Apologies for the hundreds of questions. Haha.

[+ pdxleo]

I'll be taking my first flight since February in a couple of weeks, a work trip PDX to STL. Gotta admit, I lobbied real long and hard to get out of this, but the contract has to be fulfilled by the end of the fiscal year. First time since I can remember having trepidation about travel, glad to hear about a members' pleasant experiences.

[rvwnsd]

I'll be taking my first flight since February in a couple of weeks, a work trip PDX to STL. Gotta admit, I lobbied real long and hard to get out of this...

Wow. My employer has done a complete 180 from yours. No travel for work and no vendors traveling to see us. I was supposed to visit a vendor in India and the kibosh was put on that very quickly. We aren't even being summoned to our corporate parent overseas, which used to be quite a regular thing for some folks. It is all virtual now.

For the first time since February, I took a flight to Seattle on Alaska in premium economy on Thursday. The flight was supposed to be 5 hours but we took off early and arrived 50 minutes early. The plane was absolutely spotless. I was in 7D and the middle and window seats were empty. The flight crew were great and all the passengers complied with the face mask requirement. Before boarding, I washed my reading glasses in the restroom using soap and water and then dried them off with the Dyson blower. It really worked, as I experienced no fogging during the flight. It was really one of the more pleasant flights I’ve experienced. The FA even handed me a can of Alaska Amber.

 

At TSA pre✅ the staffer told me she didn’t need to see my ID! That’s a new one.

That's great to hear. FWIW, I flew to Hawaii on Alaska (from San Diego!) a few years ago and it was a wonderful flight. Honestly, it was better tan Hawaiian.

 

I intended to visit family in Chicago this summer, but between COVID-19 and the protests my brother pretty much ordered me to stay home.

[+ Pensant]

what hub were you flying out of if you don’t mind me asking? And how filled was the flight? Were airports busy? Lines? I’m flying sfo > jfknext month on the 25th and just a bit anxious that I won’t be able to social distance. Apologies for the hundreds of questions. Haha.

From BNA. BNA was very quiet as was SEA. The flight was half full. Really a nice experience!

[+ DERRIK]

Just bought ticket to Tokyo in December

[JTtorretto]

Since the beginning of the pandemic & relocating my home base temporarily to SF [ I live in NYC ] I’ve traveled continuously and without too much issue. First went to Waikiki for a month, then back to SF and subsequent stints in Houston and Dallas.

 

The first few flights I were on in mid March sometimes only had a handful of passengers. However, this past Wednesday on a UA flight from IAH to SFO it was pretty full, sans the middle seats (in the economy cabin).

Albeit, holding 1K status with UA, I easily cleared the upgrade list (as has occurred for all of my flights during this nutty time) and First was seated FULL. ??‍♂️

[+ Pensant]

I am 90% certain that I’m booking a trip to Portugal in September. Thinking three weeks. I may ship a cross-bike over and ride from Lisbon to Porto. Lots of hot providers there, too. Hopefully, Covid will have eased by then.

[+ TylerandAce]

I am 90% certain that I’m booking a trip to Portugal in September. Thinking three weeks. I may ship a cross-bike over and ride from Lisbon to Porto. Lots of hot providers there, too. Hopefully, Covid will have eased by then.

That's a beautiful landscape through there. Hidden beaches...most of them clothing optional. One of my favorite stretches of coastline in the world.

[harlow]

I took my first flight a couple of weeks ago to L.A. on American connecting through DFW. In my case both my outbound and return flights were relatively full but a few of us managed to be lucky enough to move around and open up the middle seats. Honestly the only difference to my travel routine was wearing a mask which I didn't mind at all. I was a habitual seat and tray table wiper with Clorox wipes long before COVID. I've always had a stockpile of them because I travel so much so when they disappeared from the stores I was blessed to have some.

[coriolis888]

I am 90% certain that I’m booking a trip to Portugal in September. Thinking three weeks. I may ship a cross-bike over and ride from Lisbon to Porto. Lots of hot providers there, too. Hopefully, COVID will have eased by then.

 

 

 

Rather than go through the inconvenience of shipping a bike and paying the airline excess baggage fees and then having to haul it around with you, here is an alternative that is excellent and the facility has mostly five-star reviews:

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g189158-d9792122-Reviews-Lisbon_Bike_Rentals-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html

[jawjateck]

I booked a trip to Vegas for this week, but have no desire to go. I tried to cancel and/or change the flight for over a week with no success. Delta will accept new bookings on their website (fresh revenue) but that's it. I cannot cancel the flight. I cannot change the flight. I cannot request a refund. No one will answer the phone. No one will answer my messages or emails. It appears to be a ghost ship, completely adrift.

[dcman]

I booked a trip to Vegas for this week, but have no desire to go. I tried to cancel and/or change the flight for over a week with no success. Delta will accept new bookings on their website (fresh revenue) but that's it. I cannot cancel the flight. I cannot change the flight. I cannot request a refund. No one will answer the phone. No one will answer my messages or emails. It appears to be a ghost ship, completely adrift.

Best bet is to check their website, most airlines are allowing at least changes with no penalty. If their website says that and they won't change it then contact your credit card, give them a screen shot of the policy and ask for a chargeback.

[coriolis888]

I booked a trip to Vegas for this week, but have no desire to go. I tried to cancel and/or change the flight for over a week with no success. Delta will accept new bookings on their website (fresh revenue) but that's it. I cannot cancel the flight. I cannot change the flight. I cannot request a refund. No one will answer the phone. No one will answer my messages or emails. It appears to be a ghost ship, completely adrift.

 

 

 

This link might help you cancel your flight:

 

https://www.delta.com/us/en/travel-update-center/how-to-cancel-or-change-your-flight

 

Incidentally, all flights have been impacted by the virus. The link says "if your travel was impacted" - show us a flight that has not been impacted by the virus.

[jawjateck]

I have used every possible link on the website to change/cancel the flight. None of them work. The company is functionally deceased.

[EZEtoGRU]

I won't be flying anywhere anytime soon. Too soon and too risky in my opinion. Having said that, if I were to decide to fly I would go on Delta. They are the only major US carrier that guarantees you will have an empty seat next to you...including in first class. In economy, they leave all middle seats open. In first class they book only half the cabin and will not fill up the empty seats with upgrades. Other airlines (like American) only promise they will try and leave middle seats open if the flight is not full but they will fill every seat if the flight is sold out. Delta caps flight bookings at about 66% of capacity to allow for their empty seat policy. I would be willing to pay extra to fly Delta knowing that the seat next to me will be empty.

[coriolis888]

 

I have used every possible link on the website to change/cancel the flight. None of them work. The company is functionally deceased.

 

 

That being the case, you should make screenshots of your failed attempts to reach Delta. With the screenshots as proof of failed attempts, you can, as suggested by dcman, have the cost of the tickets charged back to your credit card.

[+ Reisr30]

That being the case, you should make screenshots of your failed attempts to reach Delta. With the screenshots as proof of failed attempts, you can, as suggested by dcman, have the cost of the tickets charged back to your credit card.

Perhaps complain on their twitter account; sometimes complaining on social media get some their attention

[+ GregM]

Try Twitter. Delta does pay attention to their Twitter. I flew Delta in January to Lisbon. My flight from Ord to Jfk was delayed and they quickly put me on a flight to Lga with an upgrade and taxied us over to jfk. I thought that was very nice of them and I sent them a thank you message on Twitter. I think it was maybe an hour or less that I recieved a reply. On the way back I got another upgrade free of charge and again sent a Twitter message thanking them and got a reply within the hour. For legacy carrier I'm smitten with Delta.

 

Hugs,

Greg

[+ Bryan Dube]

I booked a trip to Vegas for this week, but have no desire to go. I tried to cancel and/or change the flight for over a week with no success. Delta will accept new bookings on their website (fresh revenue) but that's it. I cannot cancel the flight. I cannot change the flight. I cannot request a refund. No one will answer the phone. No one will answer my messages or emails. It appears to be a ghost ship, completely adrift.

 

I changed my flight with them this past Thursday. They are definitely experiencing higher call volumes rn. But if you do a callback, they will return your call eventually. I have status and it still took them an hour and a half to return my call. But, i swear by Delta. Have been flying them ever since virgin was folded into Alaska and I've had an issue maybe once and that was due to inclement weather they had zero control over.

[+ Keith30309]

I booked a trip to Vegas for this week, but have no desire to go. I tried to cancel and/or change the flight for over a week with no success. Delta will accept new bookings on their website (fresh revenue) but that's it. I cannot cancel the flight. I cannot change the flight. I cannot request a refund. No one will answer the phone. No one will answer my messages or emails. It appears to be a ghost ship, completely adrift.

I had two Delta flights to Miami booked last week - on different days due to weather concerns - and I cancelled one of them the morning of departure and hopped on the other flight. I never “checked in” for the first flight. I cancelled within the Delta app under My Trips. I received an Email confirming it was cancelled and the receipt showing I had $x of eCredits - the full amount of the ticket and tax.

 

From the email:

• Tickets meeting waiver criteria, including all flights departing March 1, 2020 through September 30, 2020 and all bookings made between March 1 and May 31, 2020, will not incur any change or cancellation fees when you book your new flight.
  
• If you canceled a trip that was in March through September 2020 and was booked by April 17, 2020, you are eligible for our waiver extension to book and travel by September 30, 2022. You can find the latest information on waiver policy changes because of coronavirus here.
  

[+ Pensant]

I agree that Delta is the best of the legacy carriers. But, Alaska is the best of the newer.

[+ Pensant]

Rather than go through the inconvenience of shipping a bike and paying the airline excess baggage fees and then having to haul it around with you, here is an alternative that is excellent and the facility has mostly five-star reviews:

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g189158-d9792122-Reviews-Lisbon_Bike_Rentals-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html

Thanks, I was about to research rentals.

[Spursy]

I have used every possible link on the website to change/cancel the flight. None of them work. The company is functionally deceased.

@jawjateck What browser are you using? I've cancelled multiple Delta flights via website over the past few months with no issue. But I could NOT rebook with the resulting credits - the website put me in an endless loop. I was using Edge and my iPhone when this was happening. I eventually tried the same thing using Explorer and - voila! - problem solved. This may not be your issue, but maybe worth a try.

[+ GregM]

@jawjateck What browser are you using? I've cancelled multiple Delta flights via website over the past few months with no issue. But I could NOT rebook with the resulting credits - the website put me in an endless loop. I was using Edge and my iPhone when this was happening. I eventually tried the same thing using Explorer and - voila! - problem solved. This may not be your issue, but maybe worth a try.

 

Thats odd. What would make the site wonky like that?

 

Hugs,

Greg