V-Flyer

Hi all

I've just read Decker's stance on (not) flying BA (see the Catering Fiasco thread) and the reasons why...it's got me thinking

Are there any airlines you just WOULD NOT travel on - except in extreme circumstances??

I'd probably avoid flying out of Chechnya [8D]:D

Any others?

Well this is going to sound strange,but until I got on this board and started chatting with the people here the airline that I would of refused to fly on was VS.

Not that strange - I was put off VS for a long time as I thought it was "gimmicky" and too small to go anywhere where I wanted to fly [:I]

I've never plucked up the courage to try Garuda though (several colleagues used it and reported "glitches" with the aircraft that would have terrified me!!)

There are a lot of far east airlines I would not fly and most African ones too! Mainly because of lack of maintainence on the equipment!

Apart from that, I guess BA are near the top of that list, especially long haul, and pretty much any airline where I could take VS on the same route

The Orange one.

Foz xxx

Originally posted by fozzyo
The Orange one.

Foz xxx

*snort* - just choked on my tea!

Originally posted by fozzyo
The Orange one.

Foz xxx

Oh yeah, forgot about them! I do hate them with a passion! Flown a couple of times with them (never my choice) and always been a nightmare.

I was going to say RyanAir,but honestly that was to easy a shot.

There are some discount euro airlines that actualy do a good job,Europa i've used alot and they've come through everytime,though one one flight booked 6 months in advance thorugh VH they changed the the flight time 11 times,VH started by sending an automated type letter telling me of the change,by number 6-7 I emailed them back and asked WTF.

By number 9-10 a lady from VH was e-mailing me personaly[y] to let me know there was a change..The last one started ..

Hi Dave it's ******* again,well guess what this is your new flight time 11am lets hope they stick to it?

Of course I checkout of my hotel,head to LGW only to find out that the flight was leaving at 4.30pm !!!

Spent an enjoyable day up with the anoraks looking at planes take off and giving general directions outside of arrivals to tourists..well someone has to do it.

I tend to judge airlines on a case by case basis, looking at things like the plane.

I flew on an old DC10, and I'm not one for being a nervous flyer, but the noise that thing makes is so loud I couldnt help but feel slightly nervous.

That being said, I have flown Ryanair and "The Orange One" a number of times and never had a single problem. The scramble to the gate and seat etc is a little offputting, but as far as punctuality etc goes all has been well.

The one airline I would probably have to say no too would be Air India. They may not be true but I have read way to many horror stories online about them. Rusting planes, Jumbos coming into land the the tower advising that they have no wheels down so do an emergency go around (scary stuff!), to flooding toilets on board the planes.

Bahamas Airways, they are a joke

WinAir did annoy me not inconsiderably a year or so back....

The Orange one

Hahahaha Ditto!!!

The Cat is a cat of strong opinions, so...

Apart from any LCC, Alaskan springs to mind: if I want religion shoved down my throat I'll go into a place of worship. I don't expect religious tracts with my food!

Currently I am not flying bmi in protest at their new fare structure and other "enhancements".

On, and we cancelled our flights on SANSA in Costa Rica due to a couple of fatal crashes in the last 5 years. China Airlines probably falls into the same category.

BC

I don't have a "hate list" - the plane/seat I'll be travelling in are the main considerations - for example , I wouldn't fly VS PE on a 343.

Originally posted by InsertNameHere
I wouldn't fly VS PE on a 343.

I'm doing that next week and the week after [:(]

I agree that in general its the overall seat/plane/airline that I make my decision on (e.g. First class on some airlines I would choose but no chance in their Economy cabin). LCC's are now a no-no for me, even Southwest here in the US I don't use unless I absolutely have to.

http://www.airdisaster.com/ is a good place to start though for some of the lesser known airlines!

Varig...Only ever gone economy with them but they were the 2 worst flights I've ever had[xx(].

Love topic - may seem very snobbish, but i don't do LCC's. BMI are currently on my tentative list for the same reasons BlackCat listed. Until a couple of days ago, I was going to move over to BA (shock horror I know) for my EMEA flights but really wondering whom I'm going to use now.... Fortunately with some work over in MUC I think it will be LH.

Thanks,
Richard

I am in the unfortunate position whereby ORK is becoming mainly a LCC aircraft airport - especially as Aer Lingus is reinventing itself as a LCC carrier (although it is still holding on to many of its full service "frills" such as assigned seating and onward baggage checking) Therefore I have little enough choice but to take Ryanair or the Orange One at times - and if I want to take a VS flight out of LGW well, there is no alternative but the Orange One. [:(] I'd love to say I don't do LCCs but alas, needs must [:(]

What I don't particularly like flying are turbo-props. They are so d*mn noisy. However to fly ORK-DUB again I have no alternative but to fly them as Aer Arann has the monopoly on the route. Why do they always say at the end of the flight "Thank you for choosing to fly Aer Arann" (or any other airline you care to choose) when it is the only carrier on the route in question? [:(!]

Originally posted by HighFlyer

The Orange one

Hahahaha Ditto!!!

Double Ditto with BMI currently in the naughty corner and yes....I'm turning to the dark side for my domestic flights. Mind you I will never hand over money to set foot on a BA long-haul flight..

Regards

Originally posted by honey lamb
Why do they always say at the end of the flight "Thank you for choosing to fly Aer Arann" (or any other airline you care to choose) when it is the only carrier on the route in question? [:(!]

I s'pose you could have walked, or something...

If you think that a monopoly on a route is bad, how bout an entire airport?! Koh Samui airport is owned by Bangkok Airways!

Any Eastern European or Central African country with the world 'Air' in front of it.

And naturally Air Jamaica.

Originally posted by VS_Lover
And naturally Air Jamaica.

To be fair, they're the only airline claiming to offer the "red carpet treatment" to EVERY passenger, and manage to call their A321/A310/A320 aircraft "Lovebirds"![8D]

I also love the way they refer to the A340 as their "Atlantic Limousine"... [:p]:)

EI was one airline I swore off ever flying after a few rotten experiences with. It got to such a stage I was even emailing back and forth with WW! [:0]

Alas nessecity has forced me back on to them on occasion, so we'll see how it goes from here. My last flight with them since the debacle was to AMS and it went reasonably hitch free....so who knows..

LCC's don't bother me terribly. Haven't flown with them for a while, but I never had a problem when flying with FR. Haven't flown EZY yet, but I'd imagine it's no worse than any of them. Charter airlines (Excel, First Choice, Thomas Cook) fill me with dread. I'm not a small guy by any means, and being shoehorned into those kind of configs would kill me!

RE and their ATR's are quite an experience, especially when hitting turbulance on landing approach to LTN. Having a stranger as your seatmate who starts grabbing your arm in terror doesn't help!!

Some of the more "exotic" airlines in Russia, Africa and South American would probably not be on my choice of airlines!

On a slightly more serious note than Air Jamaica, after only two flights ever with DL, I can safely say I'd never fly with them again.

They made a 5.5 hour flight from ATL-SFO feel like a 12-hour redeye. Uncomfortable, appauling service (non-existent) and a severe lack of IFE. I'd have rather spent 1/10th of the price and flown SouthWest.

As I say - Never again...


(As I've mentioned in the past, BA is for use only in extreme emergencies from my perspective, but that's for many, many reasons...)

In my "youth" I spent many years in the Merchant Navy and with the vessels being located in Asia/Australasia it was a case of flying out from the U.K. doing a five month "stint" onboard and flying home.
Obviously we had no say in which airline we flew with as this was arranged by the company.
Normally the flights were with reputed carriers like BA, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, KLM and JAL etc. but a few times I had the "pleasure" of flying with the likes of Garuda and Air Lanka.
I found both of these airlines to be very efficient and actually on a par with KLM and the pre privatised BA.
One of the strangest flights was with KLM on a "combi" flight from Amsterdam to Singapore. A "combi" flight is a combined cargo and passenger flight with the bulk of the space taken up with cargo - and in our case about 30 passengers in the after end.
We had three cabin crew looking after us with free drink (unheard of in those days in economy) and free cigarettes - in little packets of five!
It was a very good flight and we were well looked after, unfortunately we stipped at every "hole in the hedge" between Amsterdam and Singapore - if I remember correctly we had 5 stops.