Comments on: Is it time to boycott air travel?

By: Mrmiller1066

Mrmiller1066 — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:54:00 +0000

I recently decided to drive instead of fly from Colorado Springs to San Diego. Roughly 1800 miles round trip. I spent a grand total of $540 including gas, food, lodging. As per usual I saved my receipts and when I got home I decided to make copies of them and send them to Frontier.
I wrote a nice letter about the scenery I’d seen, the Grand Canyon, the vast open spaces in the Southwest and the fact that not once did anyone from the TSA stick a wand in my crotch. I never heard back from them…..surprise. ..but I have to tell you…It sure felt good telling them about the money and time I didn’t spend with them.

By: Estelle Edwards

Estelle Edwards — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 17:11:39 +0000

For those who don’t know, here is the link to the boycott Meetup group I created to protest the TSA.

http://www.meetup.com/National-Boycott-of-Airline-Travel-2011/

By: Estelle Edwards

Estelle Edwards — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 04:55:11 +0000

I’d like to take this time to speak to everyone on this board. This country is moving in a direction that is un-Constitutional: the expansion of police powers with unreasonable searches and seizures. I know that most of you are commenting on the cost of air travel — fees for different things that are getting out of hand. However, please consider boycotting the airlines to protest the current TSA/Homeland Security measures.

By: W. Kanger

W. Kanger — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 23:18:46 +0000

One more thing: If being treated like criminals just for wanting to get on a plane (or near an airport) is not enough, we have to put up with poor service and actually pay for it. Now don’t get me wrong. I am not in favor of flying with terrorist and something needed to be done since airplanes are such popular targets for ex-associates of the CIA (I’m digressing). But, when we are a paying customer we deserve to be treated as such. At the very least treated as a customer who might possibly come back again and spend more money.
A few years ago Richard Branson, owner of Virgin was interviewed. He was expanding his market in the US and said, we cannot help what is happening in the airports but, when passengers are on board our planes they deserve to be treated well. To be treated like paying customers. I have never flown Virgin so I can’t measure how well he treats his customers but, he seems to be on the right track. I just wish is planes were going where I go…. when I have to go by air that is.
My personal travel is never by plane anymore. When I was a kid, vacation usually meant a road trip. And I enjoyed those road trips as I do now. It takes me back to a time when getting there was as much fun or more than the destination.
It is past time for an airline boycott.

By: W. Kanger

W. Kanger — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:55:44 +0000

This post was written in Feb 2008. The air travel situation has gotten worse since then. The airline trend is to charge for every thing they can as a separate charge. And this will continue as long as we continue to pay it. For those who think that a boycott will not be effective or that it takes a large number to be effective consider a how much a 5 or 10% drop in your income would hurt you. Or consider how investors react to a slight miss of as little as 1% on an earnings forecast. It WILL get their attention.
Right now the standard line from airline executives is that they are unbundling air travel cost because not everyone uses all the services such as luggage, the rest room, etc. How about the airport departure fees, administration fees, TSA fee, etc. A typical ticket these days has over $100 of fees not included in the quoted ticket price. And that does not include the luggage fee or some of the new optional fees being collected. They must think they are pulling one over on us.
I say it is past time for a boycott. If you found this post while looking to see if anyone is calling for a boycott then by all means start boycotting. Mine started in 2005. When I have to travel for business reasons I use a couple of rules:
1. Is the destination more than 8 hours by car. If not, I drive.
2. I avoid at all cost those airlines that have shown me poor customer service
My airline no fly list is:
American – they left me in a hot, stuffy, jam packed sardine can on the tarmac at DFW for 5 hours while the airport was closed because of weather. There were no flights going anywhere yet they would not turn around and go back.
United – rude flight attendant dumped a tray of drinks on me. She was walking the aisle with a tray full of drinks because the pilot had ordered the drink cart to be parked because of rough air. The airline said she was following procedure.
Alaska – is about a gnats ass away from making the list. They had been charging for baggage for about a year and were unable to provide a receipt (illegal in some states) online. And I have been asked for the receipt when checking in. They have since fixed the problem.
Flying ain’t what it use to be and I am not talking about “the glory days of air travel”. They airlines are taking it to new lows every month.

By: Liz Zollner

Liz Zollner — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:37:21 +0000

I have been commenting on this for many months. We have quit flying for any travel in the US and Canada. We drive. This summer we drove a loop from Tampa to western South Dakota and back. We drove to St Pete Beach in September. Tomorrow we will drive to the beach in the Florida Panhandle for ten days. By the time we fly to Ecuador in May 2010, we will not have flown at all for 18 months, and have no other plans to fly, either. We simply will not fly domestic, and if we could drive to the Galapagos, we would. Flying is nothing but pain, hardship and brutality for passengers. It can be avoided, if not entirely, then mostly. Boycott, and make it known among your friends and on the web.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:22:14 +0000

Boycotting airlines might work but it would have to be something huge, a nationwide boycott with national media attention. It would have to continue for a few months to really effect change and of course have a knife to the throat of any politician who utters the word bailout in relation to the airline industry.

There are many people who work for this industry that would be effected. The loss of major airlines in the US would be inevitably picked up by international companies and the loss of many jobs. But here is the real kicker, Air travel is very wasteful and inefficient. It just simply isn’t the best way to move man and material around the country or the world for that matter. Time and effort needs to be put into alternatives it really threaten the airlines into lowering their costs.

By: cris

cris — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:50:41 +0000

I’m boycotting, I was going to London but it’s just too much, even just to go to London, the price at FlightCenter.ca says 99* but the * means $430 in fees/taxes, so screw them I’m keeping my money until I see * meaning $100 or less.

By: Delisa

Delisa — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:54:55 +0000

I agree, I was about to book a trip home to GA, and found out that I will not be saving as much money as I thought. The $15.00 baggage fee, the PFC, the 911 security fee, it is ridiculous. I’m driving. I have officially started my boycott, am sending this page to all my friends.

By: Linda

Linda — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:46:44 +0000

Airlines are crazy! They charge high flying prices! They charge for food! They charge now for checked baggage! Yes, it’s time to boycott airlines. Drive. We need to send petitions to airlines and let them know the public is fed.

The truth is we need to send petitions to our politicians and let them know we are fed up and want them to experience the exact same things we, the public, experience. They get the perks! We do not!

By: John R. Cordner

John R. Cordner — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:26:35 +0000

With the exception of the types of emergency travel mentioned in other posts, I started my boycott about a year ago. And I don’t find myself restricted to nearby travel.

The Amtrak station, nearest to my home, is about a one-day drive away–approximately 300 miles. If you opt for travel in a sleeper, the fare is the same, or sometimes higher, than first class air. Also, you need to get used to being bounced-around in your bed at night. However, all this is worth getting-away from the attitudes, cramped conditions, and scams that go with domestic air travel.

By: Carole Jonas

Carole Jonas — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:27:50 +0000

My husband and I are definitely refusing to fly in the near future. We will be driving round trip between the Seattle area down to Southern California in March — instead of flying. We will be going to South Carolina (and back) from Seattle to check out housing in July — driving, not flying. All of this is because of the egregious ways we are treated as the flying public. I wouldn’t call our decision a boycott, just a preference for avoiding the monumental hassles of airport entry, security screenings and the ghastly flight experience.

By: Steve Savage

Steve Savage — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:15:37 +0000

Hey – Thanks to everyone for commenting on my boycott idea, and being polite about it. I realize it’s highly unlikely to be able to be coordinated or to succeed, it was just my 2-cents’ worth. And aside from all the other really good points made above, I have to admit I was really intrigued by Jasper’s comment that perhaps it is the business clientele that should boycott. I think he has a good point because communication substitutes exist for them as well, at least to some extent and under some circumstances. My only final thought would be to remember that revenue, and hence profit, for the leisure and airline industry is marginal. It’s the last customers whose revenue falls straight to the bottom line. Start taking them away and things could quickly get painful for the L&T industry.

By: Hoffnung

Hoffnung — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:35:27 +0000

Agree with thrust some comments above: we can book away, but how will the airline we are avoiding realize this is a protest? Additionally, in case of checked bag fee, has UA announced what the policy is/will be for small cap RJ flites where there is no room for a roller that might ordinarily fit into overhead bin on a full-size jet

By: Karin

Karin — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:05:06 +0000

Jasper’s comment on Feb 12th was right-on-target. WELL-SAID! I completely agree with you that a boycott could only work if the business industry were the main participants in it. When you need (or simply want) to travel a longer distance, you simply cannot drive. Whenever I need to fly (usually to Europe), I simply book whatever airline is the cheapest. E.g., if Continental is cheaper than SAS, I see no reason to boycott an American airline, if it’s still cheaper than the European one. If the price difference is negligble, I select the European airline. However, I believe that airlines of other countries are no more honest than our airlines here (with some notable exceptions).

I also agree with the previous posting that were pointing out how the government is constantly bailing out the airline industry. Maybe it’s time to let them take responsibility for themselves (although it might raise flight tickets even further). It’s simply a complicated situation that doesn’t have one single simple answer.