Traveling.
It leaves you speechless then turns you into a story teller
As you well know, my sweeter self is quite the avid adventurer, having travelled to over 50 destinations in the past year alone, I am a firm believer in living with no excuses, and travelling with no regrets.
Unfortunately, this ethos is constantly being tested. As the frequent traveller meets one challenge to the next, little things we have come to enjoy and assume as human rights (though irrevocably they are not) become a growing pile of weights burdening us as we trudge our way through.
Regrets no, but resentment? Plenty.
In today's rant about the "other" side of travelling, let's take a look at a couple of things that really make my blood boil, leaving me with a fresh dose of resentment right from the get go of my travels!
Budget Airlines
The very definition of a Budget Airline is that they sell cheap tickets 👍.
Except.. they're really not cheap at all after you take into account the insane charges for simple things like choosing a seat, altering a booking, adding hold luggage and even printing boarding passes at the airport. All these extra fees add up to essentially a not very cheap ticket at all. In fact, it's probably more expensive than flying with a non-budget airline.
But it doesn't end there..
Exorbitantly priced garbage food.
Bar the free bag of peanuts, most budget airlines will charge ridiculous amounts of money for "premium" food and drinks. So, what, the strategy to make people spend $20 on garbage is to chuck them crap for free, then make them pay undue amounts of money for anything better? Oh, I forgot that, that kind of relative pricing psychology is age old business practice.
Oh well. At least I can get a second round of peanuts?? Pretty please???
Any volunteers for the next flight?
Overbooked flights are some what industry standard practice. Beating up and dragging elderly men off for refusing to take the next flight however, hopefully not.
I haven't had the "pleasure" of being physically abused and maimed for drawing the unlucky straw, but I have been asked to leave the plane after checking in, boarding, sitting down, seat belts buckled and ready to fly.
Apparently economy flight tickets are not fungible, because someone else with exactly the same ticket has priority over me despite not even being on the damn plane!
For the inconvenience bestowed upon me, surely some form of compensation would be just? Well, that would be too inconvenient for the airline and their razor thin margins.
Airline status quo
People are cheapskates and will continue booking with us, even if we treat them like livestock - we'll just say they're being disruptive and belligerent then proceed to re-accommodate them if need be.
Boarding
Normally, people expect to arrive at the airport at least 2 hours before boarding to buffer against unforeseen circumstances. The problem is, budget airlines would prefer if you had to jump through as many hurdles on your way to your seat as possible.
Check-in 👍
Boarding Pass 👍
It's 6am, and boarding time is 8am. Things are looking good.. now, to wait for the gate announcement.
07:45 - Gate D45! ( Average walking time to D45 : 15 MINUTES ! )
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07:50 - Gate closing in 5 minutes!
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07:55 - Gate closed
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07:55:01 - Sorry, the gates are now closed, we cannot let you board the plane.
Meanwhile, to rub salt in the wound, I can see all the passengers still chilling in the waiting area. It's a scam I tell you! How did all the passengers get there before me!?
Sound familiar? It's not a coincidence that the gate number was announced late, or the fact that it's physically impossible to get there unless you're a professional athlete. I guess under-funded sports teams fly budget these days.
Is it really worth the mental anguish, physical abuse and blatant manipulation of passengers for the sake of saving (if at all) a bit of money? Apparently so. Remarkably, passengers who repeatedly feel disappointed from flying with Budget Airlines, continue to gamble and subject themselves to below par service to save a couple of bucks. Ironically, the whole point of going on vacation is to take away stress, not add to it!
Do you fly Budget?
在过去的一年里，我很幸运去了50个地方旅游，我认为一段理想的旅行是，说走就走，没有借口也没有后悔。很不幸，我的这种想法不断的被挑战。在一段旅行中，总有你预料不到的故事或者事故，不断挑战着你的耐性和脾气。在今天的文章里我想告诉大家我旅行故事的另一面，那些让我在旅行中难以忍受的事情。
廉价航空
对于廉价航空最准确的定位就是，他们非常便宜。然而这个定义其实有些偏差，廉价航空并不廉价，它身后藏着各种隐性的消费，例如换坐，改机票的钱=重新买一张机牌的钱，多加一件托运行李，只能带一件有规格的随身行李上飞机（多出的继续加钱托运），甚至连换个登机牌也要另花钱。这样看来，说起来好听的廉价航空，需要你另付上各种琐碎的小钱，才能起飞。
贵的夸张的烂食物
除了送你一包小花生，如果你要吃真正的食物，喝饮料，都是要另买的。一个简单的三明治经常要接近20美金，并且也不是什么好吃的三明治，它的质量不敢恭维。这大概是历史上长久的商业秘密，送你一包又干又难吃的花生，让你以为你买到的三明治是米其林水平了，其实这2种食物，放在日常生活中，你都不会选择。好吧，至少我可以再要第二份的花生。
哪位志愿者愿意坐下一班航空？
航班超载貌似是航空产业中的普遍现象，但是把人打昏再拉出去就不是了吧。我并没有经历过这样野蛮的行为，但是我曾经已经check in，坐上飞机，系好安全带之后，被空乘人员询问过，是否愿意留下来坐下一班飞机。好像经济舱的票是不可以替代的，但是在这种情况下，经济舱的票也分高低了。这种情况带给乘客的麻烦应该补给乘客一些好处，但是这对于廉价航空来说也太艰难了，本来他们能赚到的钱就不多。
航空公司的回应是，他们不愿意改政策，因为选择廉价航空的乘客是冲着价钱的好处选择他们的，就算他们做的再差，这些乘客为了贪小便宜或是省钱，还是会跟他们飞。就算航空公司把乘客当作动物一样拉出去，也不会影响他们航空的生意。
登机
正常情况，乘客会提前至少2小时到机场，为了避免突发情况。但是这个廉价航空从来不介意给你带来很多麻烦，你想顺利赶上飞机，就要越过重重阻碍，像奥运会场上的跨栏一样。Check-in 👍 Boarding Pass 👍现在是早上6点，还有2个小时到要登机的时候，看起来一切都很顺利，现在就是等着大屏幕出登机口的号码。7：45宣布登机口，7：50被告知登机口还有5分钟就要关了，7：55登机口关了，7点55又1秒，我到了，可是他们不让我进，说登机口已经关了。可是我从大厅走到登机口，至少要15分钟，所以完全不可能赶到。航空公司肯定以为我也是奥林匹克的运动员，我们要跑步像世界冠军一样，才能准时到达登机口。
坐廉价航空可能会有精神上的压力和身体的摧残，好像是这样子，很多人虽然对廉价航空不太满意，但是还愿意继续尝试，希望自己侥幸没有碰上这些不理想的情况。可是我们开始一段旅行，不是为了消遣解闷，得到精神放松的吗？你们飞不飞廉价航空呢？
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