Anecdotally, Southwest flights now take much longer to board because of the stupid checked luggage fee they just introduced.
I’d pay $60 more per flight just to not have to deal with other people screwing with giant carry on bags, and the repeated announcements that there’s no room in the overhead compartments.
As a bonus, they also set the sizes for checked luggage slightly below industry standards. Good luck finding something close to but below their linear inch limit. I figured this out because instead of checking three small bags, the family now checks one that’s right up to the weight + size limit.
They used to be the best domestic airline (due to enshittification with all the other carriers), and also one of the cheapest. They could have just raised ticket prices by $50 on average and still have been one of the cheapest.
Instead of realizing they were the premium choice, they’re racing to become one of the worst airlines. They even recently announced they’re going to charge extra for legroom early next year.
I wonder how much it will cost them to move the seats around so some of them have inadequate legroom, and how many rows that’ll add.
Anyway, yes, flights have gotten much worse in the last ten years.
> I’d pay $60 more per flight just to not have to deal with other people screwing with giant carry on bags, and the repeated announcements that there’s no room in the overhead compartments.
It’s been awhile since I’ve boarded less than Group 4 on Delta. But I don’t remember it being that bad even with group 5 - Silver medallion, credit card holders and economy travel.
I tend to board Group 5 and have had only one flight in the past three years where I wasn't able to put my bag in the bin in my row. That flight was one where they decided to force gate checking before the bins were even half full. Lots of disgruntled passengers then.
It also matters where you are flying from I assume. Flying Delta from ATL (former home airport) with a lot of business travelers would probably be different than flying from MCO (current home) with mostly once a year family vacationers. Group 5 was a breeze out of MCO.
I notice the difference when flying out of MCO with for instance TSA+Clear now and flying out of ATL with TSA+Clear where everyone has it.
Other things like the one Delta lounge is never at max capacity at MCO. But we have to find one (using the app) out of the 9 Delta lounges + Centurion lounge at ATL that’s big crowded.
We still end up flying in and out of ATL a lot to see friends and family.
I’d pay $60 more per flight just to not have to deal with other people screwing with giant carry on bags, and the repeated announcements that there’s no room in the overhead compartments.
As a bonus, they also set the sizes for checked luggage slightly below industry standards. Good luck finding something close to but below their linear inch limit. I figured this out because instead of checking three small bags, the family now checks one that’s right up to the weight + size limit.
They used to be the best domestic airline (due to enshittification with all the other carriers), and also one of the cheapest. They could have just raised ticket prices by $50 on average and still have been one of the cheapest.
Instead of realizing they were the premium choice, they’re racing to become one of the worst airlines. They even recently announced they’re going to charge extra for legroom early next year.
I wonder how much it will cost them to move the seats around so some of them have inadequate legroom, and how many rows that’ll add.
Anyway, yes, flights have gotten much worse in the last ten years.