Picky Flyers - Are you one?

Would love to hear about that.

Was more worried about getting to the airport.

Spent the previous night in a Karaoke/ Hostess Bar below the Hotel Koryo. There were 2 hostesses there and my friend and I were the only customers. Place seats about 50.
With one hostess each, and a fair bit of Shoju in us things got a little steamy. My girl had her hand on my inseam all night, then dragged me off to a corner of the bar for some 国際交流. Bit of groping and oral fluid exchange.

Woke up with a deadly hangover and was shitting myself all the way to the airport, as I presume Kim Long Dong does not like the dirty non pure round eyes making out with the pure pure ones.

Our minders got us to the airport with about 20 minutes to spare, last to check in, plane was boarding as we went thru immigration. And only relaxed when the door closes and we pushed back.

Flight itself was not to bad, but it was on a 25 year old Russian Tupolev I believe.

After take off the land gear was raised with a massive thud that shook the plane, and required a change of underwear in Beijing.

Inflight entertainment was all propaganda. Food was bollocks, but no worse than an LCC.

Flight Attendants were quite hot.

Didn't really feel like a 1 star airline though.
 
ANA/United Business almost exclusively these days. Wouldn’t trust any of the Chinese airlines with my information or my life and Singapore Airlines never has any good deals out of my area. I will say I prefer United Polaris over ANA Business due to price point and comfort. Service is way better on ANA though.
 
Singapore Airlines used to be so good I promised to fly even Tokyo-Osaka with a stopover in Singapore just to drool at their girls.

Once was in a midnight flight where they had four flight attendants for three passengers in the back of the plane. Ended up dating the Japanese attendant for about six months.

But when your year has almost 100 flights with more than 50 of them being between Japan and Europe you know you are not having a good life in general.

So you get all those miles just when you have decided never to fly again unless someone points a gun at your head. :D
 
I was traumatized over 20years ago using different American airlines. I live pretty well with my vow since then to never set foot on any American airline;) I won't be too picky about short distance flights, if I ever felt a desire to visit the US again.
The only airline that is totally on a ban list, even for short distance flights, is Air France, for their ridiculously small leg space.
I'm very fortunate in that I fly almost exclusively between Europe and Asia for the last decade. There are so many great airlines providing on those routes. Thai airways, Singapore airlines, cathai Pacific, JAL or ANA, .... My choice usually depends on the destination and if I want to do a specific stop over. I have only been semi satisfied with Arabic airlines so far and I generally try to avoid any and all European airlines for long distance flights. It's not that they are as terrible as American ones (besides air France), but the Asian ones are just usually a few notches better regarding service and the modernity of the planes/on board facilities, especially the entertainment system.
I'm neither short not small, but for private trips I always fly economy and only premium economy, if there is a good deal. I just always find better ways to spend the money that would go on an upgrade:) For business it's usually determined by the travel policy and the schedule. Long distance over night flights with meetings the next morning just don't work in Economy;)
Apparently I'm a bit of an outlier here, as I value a modern entertainment system, friendly staff and edible food/sufficient drink higher than huge seats. Airlines that shut their entertainment systems if the first/last 30-40min of a flight (hello Etihad e.g.) score in minus territory big time. Middle seats are a no go though, unless I'm sandwiched by two hot ladies:cool:
 
One other thing with the London City-JFK flight, is the runway at London City's too short for an A318 to takeoff with enough fuel to get to New York, so there's a refueling stop at Shannon. The compensation, though, is Shannon has one of the few US border preclearance facilities outside North America, and the BA flight's the only one there at the time, so it's really quick.
 
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One other thing with the London City-JFK flight, is the runway at London City's too short for an A318 to takeoff with enough fuel to get to New York, so there's a refueling stop at Shannon. The compensation, though, is Shannon has one of the few US border preclearance facilities outside North America, and the BA flight's the only one there at the time, so it's really quick.

Ah, that's BA1, the replacement of Concorde, flight number-wise. You don't have to go to Heathrow and don't have to queue for hours at passport control in JFK Terminal 7, which save a lot of time indeed.
 
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Back in the 90’s / early 2000’s it was pretty common to try and sweet-talk the lady at the check in and ask for an upgrade. This almost never worked BUT the next best thing if you were turned down was just to ask to be sat next to a cute girl. That worked more often than not.

Im too old to ask for that without coming across as a sex-offender now so I dont do it anymore. Also nowadays pretty sure someone would call the police if they heard you asking.
 
Back in the 90’s / early 2000’s it was pretty common to try and sweet-talk the lady at the check in and ask for an upgrade.

I never asked for an update but I did try to sweet talk the lot of them girls. My update rates went way downhill when the girls got replaced with the machines. I never got anywhere with them despite being quite fluent in machine language.
 
I’m another fan of Star Alliance. I’m a million miler with United and easily get to 1K status most years. For flights between the US and Japan I prefer ANA over United, but the latter tends to be less expensive. Like TAG Manager I’m picky about airlines and about where I sit. I try to be as far forward as possible and always in an aisle seat. There is nothing I hate more than a long wait to get off the plane by virtue of being way back near the rear.
 
I never asked for an update but I did try to sweet talk the lot of them girls. My update rates went way downhill when the girls got replaced with the machines. I never got anywhere with them despite being quite fluent in machine language.

i never ask for an update either . I mean, its a bit awkward to ask a perfect stranger to update me about her love life, finances, political views , menstrual issues and so on. Theres TAG for that
 
i never ask for an update either . I mean, its a bit awkward to ask a perfect stranger to update me about her love life, finances, political views , menstrual issues and so on. Theres TAG for that

No I meant upgrade for a better seat. All those things I did discuss with the girls while they were looking for a better seat for me.
 
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The new Room seats on ANA business between London and Tokyo are terrific. I’m an ANA/United guy - usually 150k miles or so a year. JAL business is good only because you can buy a bottle of Moriizo shochu for the list price.....

I’d rather walk to the US than fly Delta......
 
I’d rather walk to the US than fly Delta......

I fly Delta to the US, but only to Atlanta. I could dead head on my company’s flights to the US, and then take a another flight to ATL. The inconvenience/hassle/PITA of going through Customs and Immigration, and then having to catch a domestic flight is enough for me to overlook certain things just so I can get a direct flight.
 
The new Room seats on ANA business between London and Tokyo are terrific. I’m an ANA/United guy - usually 150k miles or so a year. JAL business is good only because you can buy a bottle of Moriizo shochu for the list price.....

I’d rather walk to the US than fly Delta......

It’s not so bad. The stewardesses are only 45 year old :)
 
Thank God Northwest Airlines folded.
I used to fly a lot to the States in a job I had in another lifetime, and wound up mostly being booked on Northworst.

Did often get an upgrade if you agreed to a reroute due to over booking. i.e. I was supposed to go KIX-MSP-HOU, but they'd give you an upgrade if you flew via Seattle instead.

Obviously the FA union is strong, as the fitness and quality of the flight attendants was questionable. On several occasions the FA ass was bigger than the aisle, so she kept bumping people on both sides.
Once after meal service, when I had a emergency row seat, the FA looked like she was having a heart attack. She was sweating and breathing heavily. She had to sit down and it took her a good 10 minutes before she recovered enough to even stand again.
 
Obviously the FA union is strong, as the fitness and quality of the flight attendants was questionable. On several occasions the FA ass was bigger than the aisle, so she kept bumping people on both sides.
Once after meal service, when I had a emergency row seat, the FA looked like she was having a heart attack. She was sweating and breathing heavily. She had to sit down and it took her a good 10 minutes before she recovered enough to even stand again.

Shit like that is why I do not want to fly for the Big 3. I have an Air Force buddy trying to get me to come to United, but I really don’t want to work with their, in my opinion, unprofessional cabin crews. The potential paycheck does look nice though.
 
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Thank God Northwest Airlines folded.
I used to fly a lot to the States in a job I had in another lifetime, and wound up mostly being booked on Northworst.

Did often get an upgrade if you agreed to a reroute due to over booking. i.e. I was supposed to go KIX-MSP-HOU, but they'd give you an upgrade if you flew via Seattle instead.

Obviously the FA union is strong, as the fitness and quality of the flight attendants was questionable. On several occasions the FA ass was bigger than the aisle, so she kept bumping people on both sides.
Once after meal service, when I had a emergency row seat, the FA looked like she was having a heart attack. She was sweating and breathing heavily. She had to sit down and it took her a good 10 minutes before she recovered enough to even stand again.
Northwest’s claim to fame for me was losing my luggage when I was flying to a funeral and trying to buy me off with a hundred bucks in vouchers when I had to buy a new suit the next morning...
 
Shit like that is why I do not want to fly for the Big 3. I have an Air Force buddy trying to get me to come to United, but I really don’t want to work with their, in my opinion, unprofessional cabin crews. The potential paycheck does look nice though.

Emirates not an option?
 
Emirates not an option?
They are an option, but not a good one. I’m a 787 captain, and I don’t want to start over on a new aircraft as an FO. Etihad, though, does have Dreamliners. Any of the ME 3 carriers means living over there, and as a Jew I feel slightly uncomfortable with that.
 
They are an option, but not a good one. I’m a 787 captain, and I don’t want to start over on a new aircraft as an FO. Etihad, though, does have Dreamliners. Any of the ME 3 carriers means living over there, and as a Jew I feel slightly uncomfortable with that.
Wow... so basically you can fly your SBs anywhere with you and even frolick with them while on auto-pilot? Thats the life! :)
 
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Wow... so basically you can fly your SBs anywhere with you and even frolick with them while on auto-pilot? Thats the life! :)
I think corporate might question that.
“Who is this person to you, and why should we give her a ticket?”

Dave - “well, you see....”
 
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