[Ipg-smz] The Case for Checking a Bag - Gay Mag

[Sharon Fisher]

This is why I fly Southwest.

On Wed, Oct 30, 2019, 2:57 PM Gabe Goldberg via Ipg-smz <
ipg-smz at netpress.org> wrote:

> Author writes:
>
> Travel is a chaotic, exhausting experience exacerbated by people who
> forget the social contract the moment they step foot in an airport. I
> travel constantly. I chase miles and have status on three airlines. I read
> websites about how to best manage airline and hotel loyalty programs,
> airline credit cards, and the like. I have an app that shows me where every
> single plane currently flying is and other aviation geek information. I
> have an app that lets me listen to air traffic control chatter. There is a
> small park near the edge of LAX where I sit and watch incoming planes
> landing. I have favorite planes (Airbus 380, Boeing 787, Boeing 757, Boeing
> 737) and planes I truly despise (CRJ 700, Embraer 145). In short, I have
> made a necessary condition of my work something of a hobby.
>
> As you might expect, I have a great many travel-related opinions, most but
> not all of which are wildly uncharitable. For instance, United is Satan’s
> airline and I will take almost any convoluted route to avoid flying them.
> Alaska Airlines planes smell weird. The food on American Airlines flights
> is worse than what I imagine dog food tastes like. Delta serves delicious
> Biscoff cookies and the flight attendants wear festive purple uniforms. The
> Atlanta airport is a cruel mistress. There is a bathroom attendant in the
> Charlotte Airport who likes to sing gospel as she does her work, serenading
> weary passengers and she is a delight. LaGuardia is unspeakable. You
> basically have to walk ten miles from the gate to customs in Montreal. The
> Indianapolis airport is the best airport in the United States; fight me.
> There aren’t nearly enough women or people of color serving as pilots. It
> is incredibly grating to get a chatty pilot who wants to narrate the entire
> flight when all you want to do is sleep or stare into the Grand Canyon. The
> way people treat flight attendants is, for the most part, absolutely
> disgraceful.
>
> ...
>
> I reserve my most passionate opinions, however, for carry-on luggage. If
> you are ever wondering if you should check your luggage or carry-on, the
> answer is that you should check your luggage. I don’t care why you want to
> carry-on your luggage. You should check your bag. I say this with the
> caveat that air travel is prohibitively expensive and baggage fees are
> horrible and if you can’t afford the fees, you do what you must. For
> everyone else, check your bag.
>
> In 2007, airlines began instituting baggage fees to offset the cost of jet
> fuel and once they realized they could charge for luggage and other basic
> amenities of air travel, there was no looking back. Once people realized
> they were going to have to pay even more than the cost of their plane
> ticket to travel, all hell broke loose with carry-ons. Suddenly packing for
> trips of most any length became an exercise in austerity.
>
> Writers, in particular, love to discuss the ways in which they contort
> themselves toward austerity to go on book tour. Nearly every writer active
> on social media has discussed, at length, how they will travel or have
> traveled with only a carry-on suitcase for a five-day trip or ten-day trip
> or three-week trip. It is something of a competition, as if there is valor
> in self-imposed deprivation. They offer tips, like rolling your clothes or
> stuffing your socks in your shoes or traveling without toiletries. They
> talk about wearing the same, increasingly soiled outfit for days on end
> because hey, you can wash it in the hotel bathroom sink or not.
>
> https://gay.medium.com/the-case-for-checking-a-bag-b0f92968a852
> --
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