Airplane Diaries

Maximizing your miles: Have at least Gold status on United? Take a connecting flight instead of flying direct. It's free to switch as long as the same flight class is available.  

The art of double dipping... Getting bumped from one flight, only to be rescheduled on another airline. Can you say double miles! 

Security 101: Put your roller board wheels first on the scanner/conveyor belt. If not, your bag will get jammed and TSA will yell at you. Ask the rookie traveler it just happened to at LGA. 

Guy sitting behind me finds his seat on the plane. He sees that no one is sitting next to me and proceeds to put his backpack on the seat. He uses the seat belt and buckles his backpack in! Did he really think American would allow that?  

Want to get bumped (voluntary denied boarding) and the airline needs your seat? Negotiate. It just may work...

Looking for extra leg room and flying an A320? You can have that on select planes by sitting in the bulk head. The wall between first and economy doesn't go to the ground, allowing you to stretch your feet as you want.

Why do a "final destination check?" If a person made it on the plane these days then they deserve to go to wherever that plane takes them.

Complained about the lack of DirecTV on my last flight (as it was promised). The flight attendant told me to call DirecTV. She was a winner. 

United CEO Jeff Smisek was on my flight yesterday. I recognized him when some of the flight attendants didn't at first. It's great to see the CEO believing in his product. 

Dear senior citizens on UA at LAS: Just because there's 29 people on standby doesn't mean the airlines will need your ticket. Furthermore, what the airlines offers you isn't negotiable. Keep dreaming about that 5-star hotel you're not staying at. 

One hundred eighth graders fly out of ORD on a class trip. TSA asks every one of them if they're 12 or 13 because if you're 12 you don't have to take your sneakers off. Really? Just let them all go through!