Quote:
Originally Posted by lowside67
As to your point that not being a member of a FFP "allows" you to access those "great" deals... 3/4 of the deals on that page are StarAlliance and would allow you to accrue miles for an Air Canada / Aeroplan FFP.
You seriously have the biggest superiority complex ever for a guy whose advice is pretty spotty on the accuracy and usefulness...
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Thanks for the feedback; sorry you don't find my suggestions useful.
Not sure about the "superiority complex" comment, because I've already conceded that my advice won't work for everyone, and I am certainly open to other opinions and will certainly admit to being wrong if someone makes a good point.
As I've stated a number of times in this thread, the "check your baggage at the gate" strategy really only applies if you wanted to check a bag but didn't want to pay the $25 fee.
The "board the plane last to get a better seat" strategy, on the other hand, applies to anyone who isn't worried about overhead bin space... even if you've already been upgraded, you can still board last and find a better seat away from unwanted seatmates, away from the bathrooms, etc.
To be honest I just posted my tips here in hopes that some RS'ers would find them useful... If you don't agree with it or don't think it will work in your situation, then don't use it... I really couldn't care less. But, I've done this succesfully 25+ times on many different airlines and routes, and it has never once backfired on me, hence the desire to share this strategy publicly with others. If you try it and it doesn't work for you, please report back and let me know why.
Quote:
Originally Posted by meme405
FAA has no such regulation that forces a passenger to have his luggage on the plane he is on... That is just something that the OP made up.
You realize that a lot of flights includes cargo that is being shipped around the country?
It is not just baggage in the cargo hold... Again maybe 10 years ago it was, but not today with the cost of jet fuel where it is...
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Yeesh, and others are questioning the accuracy of my posts?? If you think something I've posted is inaccurate, please feel free to point it out, I'll be the first to admit I'm wrong... but you should probably have some idea what the fuck you're talking about before you accuse me of "making something up".
First of all, I'm fully aware that commercial aircraft carry mail and other cargo freight along with passengers. I've actually even mentioned that in another post in this thread. But it has nothing to do with checked passenger luggage, and freight falls under a whole different set of regulations.
There is something called "Positive Passenger Bag Match" (PPBM) that is required on all international flights (in Europe and North America, anyway). It has been in place for many years, mainly in response to the Air India bombing.
In a nutsell, PPBM means airlines and ground staff use software to match passenger lists (collected by the gate agents and verified by flight attendant head counts) with checked baggage manifests (collected by the ticket agent when you check your bag and the tag is scanned). If a passenger is not on a flight but his bag is in the cargo hold, the airline will remove the bag before they push back from the gate.
The main reason for this is security (can't put a time-rigged bomb in a checked bag and then not board the plane) but it also ensures that airlines don't have to transport luggage back to the original departure airport if someone bails on a flight.
PPBM is not mandatory on US domestic flights because all checked bags at US airports are screened so it's considered unnecessary. After 9/11 there was some proposed FAA regulation that tried to make it mandatory on US domestic flights as well, but it was shot down by airline lobby groups and the screening of checked bags made it redundant. I am not 100% sure on this, but I think some US carriers may have internal policies that require PPBM be used on domestic routes even though it's not government-mandated.
Of course there are exceptions to this... such as if the bag is accidentally misplaced, improperly tagged, not scanned by baggage handlers, or if you miss the flight. But airlines do not intentionally put an international passenger's luggage on a different flight unless there's a legitimate reason, such as a lost bag or a mistake by ground crews. Generally speaking it's far more likely that your bags will arrive late (due to a screwup or lost bag) than early (which almost never happens on international routes).