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Comment by scarface_74 | Hacker News Reader

My wife and I travel a lot as a hobby - well over a dozen times a year since Covid lifted.

For the frequent traveler who is loyal to an airline, a lot of those problems go away.

We are Delta loyalists and both Platinum Medallion.

1. When we buy a main cabin seat, we get upgraded immediately to Comfort+ for free.

2. When we go to the airport, if we don’t use curbside check in (and tip), we get to use the Sky Priority Checkin line and have two free checked bags

3. We have TSA Pre-Check and Clear to skip the line

4. After check-in, we head straight to the Delta, Amex Centurion or Priority Pass lounge where we have plenty of seating free food and drinks (alcoholic and non alcoholic)

5. When boarding, we get to board early because of our C+ upgrade (Zone 3) or worse case Zone 4 and have plenty of overhead space if we need it and get to be situated early.

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Related: Am I the only one that lives in a (mid size and prosperous US city) and does not have a preferred airline company because my choice of operator depends on destination and availability rather than choosing one among many airlines for a given destination and date? The city I live in rhymes with “Charleston”.

Poorly worded question - I’m glad you guys know how to travel well together and often. The only thing I miss about my college girlfriend was when we got an overnight delay in Denver and the crazed associate told us “I don’t fucking know” when we asked about the details of our hotel she said: “I mean this sucks but it’ll be okay hahaha”

I try to perpetuate that mindset nowadays lol. End monologue

These are all of the places you can get direct flights to from CHS. We have flown there once.

https://www.flightsfrom.com/CHS

If you don’t fly often, airline loyalty doesn’t matter. I just don’t hate myself enough to fly Southwest and deal with non assigned seats even though they do have the most non stop flights from our current airport

Thanks a lot for this search engine. I always wanted to be able to search this way, direct flights from xyz airport.

You have to create the URL yourself.

It is flightsfrom/airport code/optional airline code

For instance these are Delta flights from CHS.

https://www.flightsfrom.com/CHS/DL

https://www.flightconnections.com/ is IMO nicer for exploring all airlines, you can just click on airports on the map.

+1 recommendation, I use it all the time to see where you can get to and from given a specific airport

Southwest is easy. Board, sit down, done.

Well first you have to set your alarm to be exactly 24 hours before check in.

Then if you are flying with another person there is no guarantee that you two can find a seat together.

Then you might be in the middle seat.

>does not have a preferred airline company because my choice of operator depends on destination and availability

That's certainly the line that can't be compromised, ultimately you fly because you wanna get somewhere. But finding and choosing favorite airline(s) has many perks that aren't easily quantifiable, enough that many frequent flyers choose to focus their patronage for those benefits.

I'm personally a Delta fanboi because Northwest was my childhood airline on family vacations. My Delta SkyMiles account goes all the way back to 1998 when my dad opened it for me as a kid, back then it was Northwest WorldPerks.

Small tangent story: Delta SkyMiles was instrumental in my getting an AMEX credit card as my second ever card with merely 6 months credit history as a literal newcomer nobody to the credit world. It's been my favorite card to carry ever since.

Boston isn't a United hub but I can get to most places with a fairly reasonable flight option from there. The main exceptions are Raleigh (which is short enough that I don't care much) and London for which I change planes rather than take a BA non-stop.

Amazing to meet another HNer from Barlston, Maine! Go Dingoes!

Yes, having lots of money makes life easier. I don't have the networking skills to be management, so I'll continue to travel once every three years and be lucky for that.

Yeah, how much of modern travel (and life in general) comes down to how much you can afford...

Flying is not that expensive if your airport is served by the Ultra Low Cost Carriers like Spirit or Frontier.

You can build those skills if you want to! Keep that in mind.

The fact you can skip most of the friction by spending more money shows that the friction is not really there for additional security.

Clear just helps you get to the front of the TSA Precheck line and its airport dependent and time of day whether it’s any faster than regular TSA Precheck + DigitalID.

But we are talking about $85 for five years for PreCheck.

But as far as security, the only difference pre check makes is that you don’t have to take your belt and shoes off.

I mentioned earlier that newer scanners don’t require you to take electronics out of your bag whether or not you have PreCheck

PreCheck probably makes less of a difference than it used to. But, as you say, if you fly any amount, getting PreCheck (or Global Entry which comes with PreCheck) is a drop in the bucket in terms of money.

I think PreCheck probably goes faster too because people with PreCheck mostly know the drill.

Also because the drill is less likely to change at random.

I did have to take my laptop out of my bag flying out of JFK the year before last and they said you could only have one electronic in your bag even with TSA Precheck.

That hasn’t happen before or since. At that time I had a client laptop, my company’s laptop (working in consulting), my iPad, and an external USB powered portable monitor in my carryon.

Yeah, that's not normal. I usually have a laptop and iPad and haven't had to take one out with Pre-Check in the US.

Good if it works for you but are you aware this is unhelpful for most of everyone else?

TSA Precheck is $85 and is good for five years

Clear is $189 a year or $239 (?) for two people.

Before TSA existed we could get through security without paying the extra $85. Why doesn't the TSA just pre-check everyone? It just feels like a scam to me.

It's just more examples of enshittification over the decades. Nevermind the checkin, the premiums for first class are absurd (and nowadays there's at least 4 different tiers of flight, not just 2), you don't get free snacks anymore, seating is smaller, etc. Those times of treating customers with respected ended quite a while ago (except during COVID of course. But that's mostly over).

>customers with respected ended quite a while ago (except during COVID of course. But that's mostly over).

I definitely didn't feel respected during covid. There was a mask rule, standard for the time, fine. But then they give out drinks, okay. They were extremely strict, you must sip your drink and have your mask on again within less than a second. Long sips, unacceptable. Pause in your sip, unacceptable, there needs to then be two sips with an intermediate remasking. The air staff were quite 1930s Germany as far as the rigor of their enforcement of this rule. This has all the charm and beside manner of a driver laying on their horn 200ms after the red light turns green. Quite bizarre, the mask fetish, when most passengers were vaccinated and there's this huge vector of spreading the disease called touching things with pathogens on their surface aka fomites.

Where was this? When I travelled here in Europe we could just take our mask off while eating/drinking. No second rule. That would indeed be super annoying.

What I find annoying these days are those people who theatrically mask up and then look at you like you're supposed to do the same. Luckily it's very uncommon in aviation now. A bit more in the metro but they can just walk elsewhere if they want.

It’s even dumber when people mask up and don’t put the mask over their nose.

Unless you fly an ULCC, you get snacks for flights except for really short flights.

You still can.

TSA requires a background check and fingerprinting.

Yeah, but why can't I just do that once for free instead of an ongoing subscription?

Ok now do Platinum Medallion, per year.

Well…

- Amex Delta Platinum Card - $350 Annual Fee and you get a companion pass - buy one get one free round trip ticket anywhere in the US, Mexico, Central America, or the Caribbean and a $150 hotel credit.

- Amex Delta Business - the same benefits except a $200 hotel credit.

- Amex Delta Reserve - an up to first class companion ticket and a $200 Hotel credit + lounge access.

It takes $15000 MQDs to reach Platinum Medallion. But if I flew less, I would only care about Silver Medallion where you get sky priority Checkin and preferred exit row seats (extra legroom) for free.

Just by having those two Platinum cards would give you the $5K MQDs to get Silver. Either of those cards give you free checked bags. Medallion status gives you an extra checked bag.

You get 1 MQD for every dollar you spend on flights and $1 MQD for every $10 you spend on the Reserve or $20 you spend on the Platinum. You get $2500 MQDs for each of those cards.

I got the other $7500 MQDs last year between flights and credit card spend.

Both of these only apply for US citizens or permanent residents so no, it's not just about paying some amount of money to avoid the theatre.

So all that friction is just schemes to get you to pay up more.

Me and my partner/friends travel with some privileges due to my work in air transport industry, so business class seats on trans-oceanic flights for 150$ or so

Still hate the experience in comparison to modern rail.

But security theatre is apparently necessary, see "golden age of hijacking" 1968-72: over 300 events in five years, that's a hijack a week!

> well over a dozen times a year since Covid lifted

And you don't give two fucks about the negative environmental impact of flying? Or at least, feel a little shame or entitlement?

Yes, I’m sure the plane wouldn’t take off if I wasn’t on it…

As soon as they build a tunnel under the Atlantic or make widely available solar-electric "steamers" that can cross it in less than a week with four-figure ticket prices, I'll be thrilled to take that option.

Ditto for a high-speed rail network throughout the continental US.

Until then, it's simply unhelpful to try to shame people for not opting out of employer-mandated travel or limiting their vacation days to a 300-mile radius (or insisting that they spend multiple of those days driving).

Shame is unhelpful, but limited air travel is definitely helpful.

How large of a percentage of your income do you give to help the less fortunate? Did you choose a career for the money or did you decide to choose a less lucrative career in a non profit?

I don't understand? Are you accusing me of being imperfect? On what basis? :)

Then should I do nothing or should we all do nothing? The perfect is the enemy of the good.

What sacrifices are you making to the lifestyle you want to have “to save the earth”?

And no one can answer the question of how my flying in a plane that was already going to fly reduces emissions.

I could also clutch my pearls and say people who drive into work instead of choosing a job that allows them to work remotely and refusing to be in an office would help climate change.

Of course that would be silly and self serving. I bet everyone criticizing me would love to be in a position to have unlimited PTO, work remotely and be able to travel more.

Not that we are rich - we are 50, empty nesters, downsized our home and moved to a state tax free state along with other fixed cost saving moves

And no one can answer the question of how my flying in a plane that was already going to fly reduces emissions.

you can worry about your carbon footprint or not - your choice - but this is about as silly of a statement as they come. this is like being nazi in Auschwitz and going “well someone else would commit these heinous crimes so what’s the difference if I do it.” you do your part - that is what you are in control in and what you can decide on based on your beliefs. but to say “well shit, this plane gonna take off anyways so imma just jump onboard and take a couple of seats that are available” is not an acceptable argument

Did we just invoke “Godwin’s Law”?

Did you choose a job where you didn’t have to go to work and cause carbon emissions?

You purposefully chose a job where you decided to drive into work. Did you buy a house close enough to work to walk or ride a bike?

Whet sacrifices have you personally made to reduce your carbon footprint?

It really doesn’t matter what I did as you were the one commenting on but I’ll amswer

Did you choose a job where you didn’t have to go to work and cause carbon emissions?

yes, I am a contractor and have been working from home-office since 2007

You purposefully chose a job where you decided to drive into work. Did you buy a house close enough to work to walk or ride a bike?

yes, I also chose a private school for my kid which is nearby and we bike to school weather-permitting roughly 75% of the time

Whet sacrifices have you personally made to reduce your carbon footprint?

I drive EV. My wife and I donate 10% of all our pre-tax earning significant portion of which goes to Oceana. I installed solar panels on my house long before it was even remotely economically feasible… We try to do our part, even in cases where it is a bit of theatre more so than actual benefit (recycling for instance)

> [...] limiting their vacation days to a 300-mile radius (or insisting that they spend multiple of those days driving).

Why? Why does everybody think that they've got the God-given right to fly thousands of miles away to just lie at a beach for 3 days and come back? Why don't they realize that they are probably already very fortunate in life and with that fotune comes some responsibility?

Maybe it's not helpful shaming them, but the more we de-normalize this behavior, the fewer people are going to do it.

So why don’t we all just stay at home or bike everywhere?

Do you have a better way to cross the ocean? Or should I never leave my city? Should I drive across the country?

> use curbside check in (and tip)

Oops. You’re supposed to tip for those?

Yes. They don’t get paid by either the airline nor the airport. They work entirely on tips

Front line airport security is outsourced to entirely unsalaried, unwaged workers.

That sounds…not so secure?

What exactly is an “unwaged worker”? They don’t work for free and most jobs aren’t salaried and shouldn’t be.

But here is more information about it

https://www.tsa.gov/for-industry/screening-partnerships

weird flex but o.k.

this seems really expensive

As are a lot of hobbies.

What we don’t have is an expensive car - we bought a cheap new car that is less than half the median cost of a car in the US. We don’t have expensive housing - we downsized to a 1200 foot condo after our youngest graduated. We don’t have state taxes - we moved to state tax free Florida. We also don’t have any debt besides the condo that we put 30% down on. Our mortgage is much lower than the average mortgage.

In the grand scheme of things, our travel budget is less than 10% of our gross comp and I don’t work at BigTech (been there done that). Even half of that is offset by not having to pay state taxes which we did before we moved in 2022.

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