• Inconvenient “convenience” fees – I think this one bothers me the most. That said, I experienced the fees far more in Japan and Australaia than I did here, so it’s yet another case of the US catching up with the rest of the world. The “convenience” fee that I don’t mind is the exit row and other extended legroom options as Virgin America charges for them. I don’t agree with the airlines that make these available only to elite level, they should be available to those willing to pay. It’s interesting to see how it’s going to shake out with booking fees, as I’ve mentioned before.
• Gridlock on the ground: the sequel – I agree with Christopher here, Mass Transit. Last school year I was commuting 80+ miles a day on school days from Nyack -> Suffern -> Midtown or Astor Place. I was killing my car and my sanity. Now with the internship in Manhattan, I take the TZ Express from Nyack to Tarrytown, where I pick up MetroNorth. Someone else fights the traffic and I get to read or sleep, sounds like a win win to me.

So maybe it’s not the end of the world…

While I realize the issue(s) facing those interviewed:

Like many other frequent business travelers, he finds that there is only one airline whose flight schedule fits his needs.

“I’m not loyal,” he adds. “I’m just a hostage.”

it bothers me.

Maybe I’m spoiled in the NY area where I have, at minimum, four viable airports (HPN, EWR, LGA and JFK) and innumerable airline choices but I find it very hard to imagine an airport where there is a monopoly. Or if not a monopoly, a time monopoly. If the traveler’s schedule is so strict that only one makes it, how does s/he tolerate the unavoidable delays?

In an article on SmarterTravel.com titled “Frequent Flyer Resolutions for 2008,” he wrote, “My first resolution is to continue my gradual disengagement from mileage programs.”

In a way, that’s what I’ve been doing. I don’t want to feel tied to one program. Granted, there are times I wish I didn’t do this in order to more easily attain elite status, but I don’t mind being non-elite for the sake of my sanity. A good example is Virgin America, eleVAte hasn’t launched officially and even when it launches it isn’t likely to be aligned with any of the Big Three, but the flight times and prices are good. To me, it’s about more than mileage.

…interesting FlyerTalk discussion on the article as well…

I’m not sure where it stemmed from, but something interested me enough to sign up for a book ring of  Go: An Airline Adventure last fall. I adored the book and subsequently read Nuts!, which I also loved and this morning started Blue Streak. On Mt. TBR I have From Worst to First and just mooched A Spirit of Greatness.

Confession time, I’ve never flown jetBlue or Southwest. Southwest doesn’t have a ton of options from the NYC area and on several occasions where I’ve intended to fly jetBlue, something comes out cheaper. My recent flights to and from LAX are a classic case of this. I’d love to fly into BUR because it’s so much less insane than LAX (although I’ve become somewhat immune to that insanity having been through there some 10 times in 2007) but the times are awful (red eye gets into JFK at 5 AM and the price just isn’t that good. Virgin America is ahead of them by leaps and bounds and even the legacy carriers usually work out better. For me there has to be a compelling reason to go to JFK – VX is, jetBlue isn’t.

My question is: what, if anything, should I do with this airline interest.

The safety demonstration!

This isn’t exactly the one I saw, but it’s pretty close. I love that their planes have done away with the obsolete no smoking sign and replaced it with something useful and I adore the seatbelt comment. Good way to make people pay attention.

ETA: The Travel Blog Carnival has launched and it’s already garnering some attention. I look forward to my turn to host it.

• with the exception of HPN, I need to allow at least an hour to get to the airports. This applies whether I’m driving from home or taking mass transit from work. If I’m going via mass transit to HPN, then that’s an hour too.
• two hour arrival time, again that’s with the exception of HPN. The NYC area airports are such a zoo that <2 hours, even without luggage, worries me.
• 1 hour flight (roughly for a 350 mile drive)
• de-planing, meeting people or getting tround transport, travel time from the airport…

Yep, five hours gone. That’s not to say I haven’t broken that “rule” on several occasions — namely when I don’t feel like driving to Rochester or the fare is so good that it’s not worth it once you figure in gas and tolls. I usually end up regretting it, partially due to the issues discussed in the recent Today in the Sky. Travelling through the NY airports just isn’t smooth.

It’s interesting to look at the Bradley-Newark flight that Jeanne Leblanc discussed today. Ignoring the fact that the flight is of no use to me personally — I’m almost equi-distant between the two, slightly closer to EWR – the drive is probably < 3 hours even with traffic. I’m guessing it’s of use to business folk but I can’t imagine what time it might save, even without the delays.

As I plan travels — I keep the 5 hour idea in mind. The break-even point is going to change though with:

• more flights from HPN, and in the Spring/Summer I’ll be willing to risk the midwest connection in either DTW or ORD
• the rising cost of gas and NYS Thruway tolls (although I do have EZ Pass). Note: for all four years of college it cost $9.95 each way between the Exit 16 toll barrier and exit 45 for 490/Roc – this was before the EZ Pass discount was much of anything. This weekend (I won’t take the toll-free 17/390 in the winter) it was $10.85 each way to Exit 43.

I flew from JFK to LAX and that was a nice flight. Highlights:

• mood lighting — much less harsh than typical airline light, I almost didn’t need my eye mask.
• IFE/Red Network – lots of fun both for the ability to order food on demand but also for the games. Loved that it was active from boarding to de-boarding, meant that we could continue to play Mahjong as we sat on the taxi way at LAX waiting for a gate. Also the flight journey was GoogleMaps which was fun to play with.

The main downsides? The cost of the food and limited selection of same is easy to overcome. Will bring my own next flight. However going to Kennedy is a royal pain. I can’t help being spoiled, EWR is far less of a hassle to get to. I’d love it if VX flew from EWR but that’s not going to stop me from flying it. The price is good, as is the service.

Plus, you can’t beat he novelty factor at this stage.