Flying… Its For the Birds!

The more I cruise the more I hate to fly.

I used to love the excitement of boarding a plane. The anticipation of where we would land. The delicious meals that would be delivered to your seat with a smile.

But as planes have got bigger, the comfort and service has diminished. Food has become tasteless and often cold. It is often not included in the price and the food offered to buy is less than you can buy in the local convenience store at home. No excitement there! I was even asked recently on a flight to pay for a bottle of water…not even water supplied!

Even when flying on a ticket that allows you to wait in an exclusive lounge it is often “pot luck” as to whether your wait will be a pleasure. We were recently turned away from a lounge for which we had paid extra for the privilege, because we were an hour too early. Our connection was too long! Isn’t that exactly the reason you want to go into a lounge?

Some airport lounges have an excellent buffet; others do not.  On long haul flights with several extended stops on the one ticket you would expect similar quality lounges. Not so!

One definite disappointment is the Latam lounge in Santiago, Chile. A great facility, it even has a “sleeping” area with actual beds. But where has the food gone? Gone are the cold meats, cheese platters, salads and deserts. Gone is the big black cauldron filled with hot soup they used to offer. Now its just bread rolls, bread rolls and more bread rolls! If management bothered to walk around they would see dozens of abandoned, half eaten bread rolls.

On the other hand if one cruises to a destination, you are not crammed into a tiny seat space and served tepid meals. Some years ago when faced with returning from working in Vancouver Canada to Sydney we took the opportunity to take a “repositioning cruise”. These cruises are offered by many cruise lines at the change of season to follow the summer seasons. They are usually cheaper than pleasure cruising but with all the same facilities. We had three wonderful weeks cruising across the Pacific Ocean for the same cost as the Business Class tickets would have allowed us to be confined in a plane for 15 plus hours. If you have the time, why would you fly?

Don’t get me wrong. I have a long history of flying since I was a child. It is the only way to get somewhere if you are on a tight schedule. But I ask again… if you have the time, why would you fly?