Flight Attendants Reveal Their Worst Passengers

[wackysleet]

Probably the one topic about flying that annoys me most, it states quite clearly at check-in the size and quantity of hand luggage, including the weight that one is allowed on a flight, it appears from my observations that the majority of passengers completely ignore the rules simply because they are nothing more than selfish bas---ds that obviously the rules do not apply to and the airline cannot escape criticism after all part of the reasoning behind the quota is for safety so why not check what is being taken on board, so do but the vast majority do not.

Part of the problem is that for many years the airlines pretty much ignored the guidelines themselves. I always followed the rules, but would get annoyed when I would see other passengers bringing all sorts of packages and suitcases and you-name-its on board. Then things tightened up, and it's been difficult to wean passengers onto following the rules. In the old days I would call in and ask questions, now I just mostly look it up on the internet if I have a question about it. It all seems pretty simple, but then again I tend to be a rule-follower.

Me too, but most of the time it's just so they do not have to wait at the carousel, they take all their luggage on board.

[Birdman]

Nothing had ever annoyed me on all the flights I have done. Even not with Aeroflot, Tarom, Biman...many years ago.

I simple relax with earplugs until I get of. Really do not care about others with chicken, climbing gear or whatever as hand luggage. It's up to the airline and up to them.

During night flights I refrain from food to not strain the stomach and sleep well.

What is it with FA again? Never noticed any issue. They bring F&B, if you want and that's it. Very ok.

[tartempion]

Probably the one topic about flying that annoys me most, it states quite clearly at check-in the size and quantity of hand luggage, including the weight that one is allowed on a flight, it appears from my observations that the majority of passengers completely ignore the rules simply because they are nothing more than selfish bas---ds that obviously the rules do not apply to and the airline cannot escape criticism after all part of the reasoning behind the quota is for safety so why not check what is being taken on board, so do but the vast majority do not.

One things that really annoys me the about flying is this:

I always (unless flying Business class) reserve an isle seat. And since I am a Gold card member on a few airlines I tend to board early. Now sitting in my isle seat while others board I would love to have a free beer for every time some inconsiderate passenger is boarding and strikes me in the head with their; bag, purse, backpack, or what-ever while walking down the isle. I usually board with only a small back-pack. It contains my laptop as well as a few personal items. And every time I am walking down the isle I hold this back-pack in front of me and below my waist so I do not whack anyone up the side of head..... I wish others would be as considerate.

I always fly EVA. and like you have their gold card and always book an aisle seat not wishing to disturb people if nature calls but your right about the backpacks, now everyone seems to be carrying them, great big lumps sticking out and of course they turn around and you get a smack in the face, on the buses in London it's really bad, they don't seem to think what they are doing.

Jeez, what a bunch of whiners here....

Live and let live, who cares?

I always book a window seat, board late if travelling cattle class, don't care at all when traveling business class (as often as my wallet allows it) I go for a pee before boarding in the lounge (have gold) and fly with Middle East stop to relax lounge again. In the window seat no one bothers me mostly and I don't care for the idiots who don't behave, nver utter a word to neigbours etc.

I always enjoy my flights and I have been flying on business for 20 years every two weeks, now just for traveling.

Now the worst passengers I have seen were deadheading pilots. Absolutely without any manners. (I worked for a cargo airline and we had 14 seats in the top of our 747/200F's, I traveled many times with these people on board)

[gorshar]

Re: excess carry-on baggage.

I think if airlines could do a better job to ensure that passengers checked in luggage would arrive in one bit (no theft, no breakage) people might be less inclined to carry so much on board.

Re: Trying to get drinking water from the air hostesses. With regulations prohibiting passengers from carrying bottles of liquid on board, airlines need to be more sensitive to the hydration needs of their passengers.

[IMA_FARANG]

There are so many things that annoy us, (me), I will have to have a think about them, but as Crudy21 said, we are paid to a job and being annoyed comes with the job. Does not make me hate it.

Off hand are some of my pet peeves.

1. Parents come on board with babies and children and just hand them to us and expect us to babysit them for the entire flight while they watch movies and eat dinner and still demand drink after drink while I have a baby hanging off one arm. They are usually the same parents who don't even bring clean pampers or babyfood and complain why we don't we have any on board. We do carry but they still complain it's not the right brand!

2. Parents who think that little Johnny or Mary is so cute running up and down the aisles from first class to economy class screaming, yelling, grabbing everything in the way and of course disturbing other passengers. When told to control their children they of course have a go at us and call us names.

3. Passengers when finishing their meal ring the call button and demand we clear the tray even though we still serving other passengers.

4. Passengers when finishing their tray put in the middle of the aisle.

5. Passengers not sitting in the correct seat and when told to move complain this was the seat they asked for and refusing to move while the correct passenger is standing in the aisle blocking the boarding of the aircraft.

6. Passengers using the toilet at the beginning of the flight and stealing everything they can lay their hands on including the toilet paper. This happens mostly out of the asian countries.

Oh so many more. I'll have to have a think. ha ha!

I was once on a Saudi Arabaian Airlines flight from Dhahran to Bombay (Mumbai now). The Muslims onboard would not flush the toilets if a Hindu was waiting, and vice versa. By the time we reached Bombay, every lavatory was filled with human feces. And it smelled.

The only time I had to chase down a stewardess was on a JAL flight. I was bumped up into business class as the plane was full (two flights were combined into one aircraft). The JAL stewardess brought out Japanese green tea after the meals and offered it to each Japanese passenger. I kept trying to get her attention and ringing the attendents bell, but she ignored me. I finally got up and walked over to her and tapped her on her shoulder. I asked for the green tea. She seemed astounded that a non-Japanese would ask for green tea. I had to explain that I happened to like Japanese green tea. But she did remember, and after the next meal, she offered me the green tea.

I was in the middle seat one flight, with two very large people on either side. The stewardess actually offered me one of the flight crews seats (it was a long night flight, so they used those seats to catch a quick nap in). I took it. This was on Singapore Airlines, by the way, one of my favorite airlines to fly with.

[monkeycircus]

so long as they let me have a beer AND a gin and tonic, without looking at me like im a criminal, everythings just fine

[richard_smith237]

As one of the posters on this forum has already mentioned – Its not the quality of flight attendants that has deteriorated but the quality of the passenger.

It’s the drunks, chavs, hookers who believe they are now a cut above because they have their hansum man, families with unruly children, people who cant sit still for more than 30 mins, those who demand ‘superior’ service and those who fail to understand the concept of basic manners… just a few of the things that irritate me as a fellow passenger….

I refuse to fly in economy because my fellow passengers make it so much more of a hassle.

Its not difficult to be a considerate and a responsible passenger: pleases’, thank-you’s, be quiet, be respectable to others around you, control your kids, don’t have unreasonable expectations… If you want first class treatment pay the fare.

As a conclusion I would offer that it’s the expectations that passengers put on their own behavior that has changed.

This said there are some cabin attendants who should not be working in a service based industry, but every passenger has a right to fly (within reason)....

[marsteele]

The best attendants are on thai airways very friendly. Qantus would have to have the worst in the world and you pay more for the honour.

[babuhavas]

this topic is still active.

strange.........

[v2drinkers]

What annoys me about flight attendants.

Most are great but a small number give them a bad name (as in any proffesion)

I was flying back from Thailand once in cattle class and on an aisle seat the person in the seat in front of me reclined their seat and went to sleep. I thought the seat was great because his reclined so far and was looking forward to my meal and then getting some sleep myself. When the meals came along it became apparant the seat in front of me was broken and reclined way to far as I could not get to eat my meal without the seat back hitting the food. I asked the flight attendant to wake the person so that I could eat. They replied ' He's asleep we cant wake him.'

At this point it became apparant I could not even get out of the seat as the back of the other seat blocked me.

The flight attendants didnt even care when I handed them my food back telling and showing them I couldnt eat it. I was basically told its my choice!

In the end so that I could go to the lavatory I had to push the seat back up with my knees. At this point the customer in front complained to the flight attendants as I woke him up. The senior flight attendant came over and attempted to tell me off for my actions. I pointed out that because of their staff and the lousy state of the (thai Airways) plane I had not been able to eat, get up and go to the lavatory etc. No apologies to me were forthcoming and they decided to move the (fat) man in front up to first class.

I have never flown Thai airways again since then and never plan to again.

[koto]

Flight attendants reveal their worst passengers

IF you've left the door open while peeing, if you listen to music while they try to talk to you or if you've tried to grab a seat in the crew rest area – then flight attendants hate you. Flight attendants from around the world have broken their silence to reveal the things that passengers do that really gets under their skin.

You leave the door wide open when you pee.

"One of the most annoying things passengers do is not closing the lavatory door," celebrity flight attendant David Holmes from Southwest Airlines said.

You double order your drinks.

"Asking one flight attendant for a drink and before they get back with it, asking another flight attendant for the same drink, is bad news," Bethany Burke, a flight attendant from Florida, US, said.

You tap flight attendants on the shoulder to get their attention.

"Passengers tap me to get my attention but then don't give me eye contact when talking to me," Mr Holmes said.

"Passengers wouldn't take off their headsets when I asked them if they wanted food or drink," ex-hostie Susan, who worked for Qantas for over 20 years, said.

"When I ask passengers if they'd like something to drink, three times out of five the response will be 'Wha?' And that's a 'wha' without the 'T'," Heather Poole, flight attendant for a major US carrier, said.

"'Something to drink?' I'll ask again, and while I ask this question I find myself wondering why you haven't taken off the iPod or those giant Bose noise cancellation headsets covering your ears when you see me standing at your row."

You stuff your bag to breaking point and then ask for help to stow it away.

"The worst is when people bring a heavy bag onboard, then tell me that they can't lift it overhead because of a bad back," Mrs Burke said.

"Lifting your bag into the overhead bin is not, nor has it ever been, part of my job description. Honestly, I don't know what bothers me more, the fact that a passenger will come on-board and expect me to lift their bag, or the fact that they actually get upset when I won't lift the bag," Mrs Poole said.

You complain about the overhead bin being full and make a fuss about having to put your bag in the rows behind.

"Passengers who get annoyed about the overhead bins near their seats being full, and then say the word "ridiculous", are so annoying," Mrs Poole said.

You order a special meal and then change your mind at the last minute.

"I hate it when passengers order a vegetarian, kosher or fruit special meal and then want a regular meal instead," Mrs Burke said.

You're messy and inconsiderate.

"There'd be so many people who'd just throw things on the floor right in the middle of the cabin, such as newspapers they've finished with or rubbish," Susan said.

"Surprisingly, it's no different in first class, they're just as messy as the other passengers."

You read up about getting free upgrades and pull all the tricks to try and get your way.

"Another annoying thing is the tricks people used to play to get upgraded," Susan said.

"You could see the pattern for a lot of people, but if they win it's just rewarding them for bad behaviour."

You expect to be told the moment you change time zones.

"Passengers often want to know exactly when they should change their watch when crossing time zones," Mrs Burke said.

You try and take over the crew rest area.

"Trying to sit in our crew rest seats, which are sacred to us, is a very bad idea," Mrs Burke warns.

You enter the galley without permission and loiter.

"Unless you've actually been invited into the galley (it does happen), you do not step onto the floor for any length of time," Mrs Poole said.

You spill water on the toilet floor and leave without cleaning it up.

"People would leave water on the floor after using the toilet, forgetting about all the other passengers who may slip and fall," Susan said.

You have unrealistic expectations of your air travel experience.

"I saw a first-class passenger chuck a hissy fit as we didn't have the right flavour of yogurt onboard. A bit unrealistic," Susan said.

*** Flightcrew1 - your comments please.

Being a people pleaser, is not an easy job, to many people are to involved in their own little movie, to think about others or their feelings, welcome to the new world and head sets

I_BELIEVE.bmp

[Green19]

The best attendants are on thai airways very friendly. Qantus would have to have the worst in the world and you pay more for the honour.

I became a mile high member on a qantas flight, London to Bangkok, the flight attendants had offered several bottles of wine which ultimately led to the new membership for me and the fine lass sitting next to me. This never happened on Thai airways, I havn't flown them for years now.

[Mitker]

From my flying experience (as a passenger), my sympathy goes with no doubts to the crew.

I still enjoy flying but must admit that my main anguish is to discover what specimen will be the passengers surrounding me for the next hours I'll be captive in the aircraft. Memories include:

• passengers emitting awful odors from all sources I let you imagine. Same goes for sounds.
  
• passengers who don't bother going with their baby to the lavatories and change their diapers on their table next to you even if you didn't finish eating - with no apologies of course.
  
• careless passengers letting their children run wild screaming, playing football against your seat for hours until they collapse.
  
• and the usual loud, drunk, passenger who - in the middle of your sleep - grabs the back of your seat to reach his seat more comfortably and then release it as a catapult when installed.
  

Of course, most passengers are ok, but when the lottery turns against you, better be an expert in meditation during the whole flight. And no matter the nationalities. Lack of basic education knows no borders, Farangland included.

As passengers, when we only have to deal with our immediate "mates", I think about the nightmare of being a crew who has to stand dozens of these careless individuals in a fully loaded jet.

This in mind, I don't really understand some generalizing postings attacking the F.A.

[skippybangkok]

SQ is the worst in terms of using O2's / iPhones. What miffs me is how SQ can be so hyper about a neutered Phone ( no signal at all ), and there are donzens of laptops with their Wifi on.

Wifi and mobile phones use totally different signal frequencies (2.5Ghz or 5Ghz for Wifi - 900Mhz to 1.8Ghz on Mobiles). The lower range frequencies of a mobile are more likely to interfere with frequencies used in the cockpit.

For all intents and purposes, a 1800 Mhz ( or 1900 as some phones are ) is not far off the 2.3 and 2.5 ghz spectrum. 900mhz and 5.3 ghz........ it might hold some what ).

[Texpat]

Some of my wildest fantasies include flight attendants.

[peteyperson]

I can see your the type of passengers who expects us to treat you better than you treat us. Personally I do my job and do a darn good job. It's neither glamourous or exciting and is very tiring after finishing a 8 day trip. Luckily every flight is different with different passengers so we can put up with most any kind of unpleasantness for one flight sector. I've been flying for over 20 years and I still put a real smile on my face when I meet passengers and constantly give extra service to those who are pleasant.

As several posters said. If you are friendly we will also be friendly. If you are curt we will be curt right back. Making a small joke as one poster mentioned about "the bar being open" goes along way.

I think everyone should have to work six months in customer-facing role. It's a real eye-opener. You think everyone is the same as you and instead you find a Noah's Ark of different kind of animals. Fairly quickly you can pickup signals from patterns of behaviour (good or bad) that are similar. I've also more recently worked 2.5 years in Customer Service on the phone.

What you're reminded about is that serving other people is an exhausting job. It's pretty thankless and low paid work. It's too simplistic to say if you don't like it, don't do it. In reality, especially in economic times like this, a job is a job. You would get some true assh**** on the phone who would be rude and still expect service. People blatantly lying but you couldn't call them a liar. Many calling and not bothering to even stop to say hello before they launched into their problem.

You give decent service to all, but I would always bend over backwards to assist those who were nice to me. That's just human nature but especially true when a good percentage of people were unpleasant or downright hurtful. It is not easy to speak to one customer who's been rude to you, then wipe the mental / emotional slate clean and deal with the next customer as if nothing happened. You can do it, but you go home mentally fried with no energy in the evening for yourself. This is why the job is exhausting. When you do get someone who is being polite and friendly, then this really makes a refreshing change.

I used to work at a garage and one guy phoned in. He owned a converted minivan to transport his terminally ill disabled son around town. He was concerned that the road accident the vehicle was in repair for might have caused oil to leak from the electronic ramp and that the tracking on the wheels might be knocked out of alignment. Over time you get a good feel for people, when they're being honest and when they're not (I was amazed how dishonest people really were). Other times people would use a son/daughter with a disability to try to jump the queue on the repair schedule, get their vehicle delivered back faster, etc. This guy however wasn't doing any of that. Now when I talked to the transport manager, he would simply ask me, "what were they like on the phone?" What he was asking was, "Were they nice on the phone?" If they weren't, he wouldn't squeeze an extra job into a busy afternoon, but if they were, he'd do me the favor and fit it in. With this guy, I got the ramp checked out for free, and the wheel alignment checked within 45 minutes and then called him back to let him know. This is the largest garage in Europe with over 300 cars being repaired, so changing three people's schedules is not so simple. I also told him that he was "a class act", that nice guys don't always finish last and we dropped everything to get this sorted for him. The engineer who I got to drop everything to get to check the ramp immediately, and the workshop he asked to immediately schedule a wheel check, all wanted to know what the guy was like... If he hadn't been nice, the engineer would have kept to his initial response to me that the vehicle wasn't badly damaged so the alignment check wasn't needed (so not scheduled) and the wheels wouldn't have been knocked out of alignment. I explained the family circumstances. The engineer replied, "I'll do it right away."

All these things remind me that when being served by anyone, be especially polite and give them a genuine smile. It's much nicer for you, and then often respond in kind. You get favors you wouldn't have gotten otherwise. The more I remember this, the better service I receive. Also true when you're angry at the company, but take that out on the unfortunate soul who happens to answer your phone call and didn't screw up.

P.S. Every Merc owner was a nasty rude piece of work. Many sports car owners too. You could tell the Merc owners just from their attitude when they came on the phone, you didn't even have to look up their vehicle make. The "I'm way better than you" and sense of entitlement were obvious from the bad attitude. 

Petey

[Brigante7]

Flight attendants reveal their worst passengers

*** Flightcrew1 - your comments please.

They missed one - when the arsehol_e trolley dolly wakes you up to ask if you want your meal, drives me fuc_king mad that does and they wonder why you have a go at them.

Brigante7.

And when WE don't wake you up for your meal, you still have a go at us. We never win either way. We provide do not disturb stickers in the amenity kit in economy class but hardly anybody does not use it

I've never had a go at anybody for NOT waking me up, and have never heard of an airline having Do not disturb signs. If I wanted a meal on a flight I would stay awake.

Brigante7.

[Brigante7]

What annoys me MORE than anything is forum members quoting the entire OP just to say a few words. eh! Brigante.

<deleted> is that all about?

Ain't got a clue. Eh! bednner.

Brigante7.

[Brigante7]

I wonder if the flight attendant haters on this thread have ever had to work in a job that deals with the public in a service position.

Actualy I do, I deal with the public everyday, I have a small 1 man business serving the public on a daily basis so I do know what it is like.

Brigante7.

[Chaimai]

I've never had a go at anybody for NOT waking me up, and have never heard of an airline having Do not disturb signs.

Brigante7.

I experienced them on my last set of QATAR flights. Good idea.

[Brigante7]

My worst experience with a FA was on an Emirates flight from BKK to Dubai. Had a problem with a muslim passenger in front of me and the FA refused to back me up when the other passenger was making a scene and accusing me of assaulting him (Never laid a had on him), finaly the co-pilot was called and because they were all muslims I was told to stop causing a problem (I was sitting still and not saying a word to any of them), have never flown Emirates since.

Brigante7.

[phetaroi]

I wonder if the flight attendant haters on this thread have ever had to work in a job that deals with the public in a service position.

I'm probably one of the people you are calling "flight attendant haters", and I have to say that you are terribly exaggerating the postings on this topic.

The topic began when the OP posted an article about crazy passengers flight attendants had experienced. Fair enough. Having worked in a public service profession my entire life, I am guessing the flying public somewhat reflects the general public. The vast majority of flyers are just there, ask for little, and are nearly invisible. A few passengers are exceptionally friendly and thankful to FAs. And a few are pains in the butt.

In response to that original article, several of us related the other side of the story -- specific stories of poor service by individual flight attendants. Flight attendants are pretty much like the general public. Most do a good job. A few do an outstanding job. And a few are not very good.

How does that critique make us "flight attendant haters"?

Do the stories BY flight attendants make them "customer haters"? No...they're just relating some individual stories.

I would guess that the quality of behavior (for wont of a better word) of the average flight is attendant is much better than that of the average flyer. But we must keep in mind that the passenger is paying for a service, while the flight attendant is being paid for providing a service. When I fly, frankly it's a big ticket item. In the past month I've spent $4,000+ flying business, first from Washington to Salt Lake City, and then from LAX to Bangkok. The flight attendants on the initial Delta flight were "good". Nothing negative to report. But also nothing exceptional to report. The flight attendants on the Thai International flight were a step above. Excellent, if a little formal. Nothing negative to report. Then again, I asked for little. Let's see -- I asked for water twice and directions on how to operate the entertainment system once.

And, in general, that's been my experience over time. My main flying complaint is the airlines themselves...with American (as in the nation) domestic flights. I flew Northwest most often for years, simply because once you get in a frequent flyer program, you think so much about building up your miles. It got to the point on Northwest domestic flights that I felt like cattle being herded. Not by the flight attendants...just the whole process.

My only bad experience this time was around was at the checkin counter with Delta in Washington. I had two carry-on items, both well within the rules. And I had two bags to check, and one was very heavy, explained because I was literally moving to Thailand on a retirement visa, and one bag contained a fairly heavy piece of photographic equipment. Even though the total weight was within the limits, the weight of the one bag was over what it could be for one bag. Okay, I didn't know it was bag-by-bag, I thought it was total weight per passenger. The check-in clerk barked orders to me to dump everything out and repack right then and there. Huh? Looking back at the many clients waiting in line I thought that was a pretty unlikely scenario. I said I was perfectly willing to pay the few for extra weightage. "It's foolish of you to do that!" Gee....how I handle the situation is my option, and I don't think I should be criticized for selecting the option of paying the fee for the extra weight -- a hefty $175. Now, I relate that story to make a point -- am I criticizing ALL check-in clerks? No! I've found most to be at least pleasant and many to be wonderfully upbeat and helpful.

I'll relate one final story, not at all related to flying. Nine years ago I was promoted to an upper management position. I'd prefer to be vague about the profession, because that would open up another whole thread. But not too many days after my promotion I received a telephone call from someone else in the "company", but at a different location. He chewed me out "up one side and down the other"...not for anything I had done, but for a number of things "my people had done". I assured him that I thought hsi complaints were the exception rather than the rule, but that I would look into each issue. Well, he was spot on in every issue. There were massive changes in procedures after that.

And that is, I think the value of this entire thread. Any flight attendant reading this thread should be asking himself or herself, "Where do I fit into this?" And then improving their professionalism, if needed. They shouldn't be defending all flight attendants.

Every passenger should do the same. We all need to be reminded that we need to act a little more human, as well.

[norwayeagle]

The crew always ! Do what i ask them to do,and they give me there seat to,so i can sit and kill time with them..Guess it is because i am so Cute n hansom( it really helps alot in this world to be cute n hansom) ( not slick) hehe

[BWFC]

I wonder if the flight attendant haters on this thread have ever had to work in a job that deals with the public in a service position.

Actualy I do, I deal with the public everyday, I have a small 1 man business serving the public on a daily basis so I do know what it is like.

Brigante7.

Gigalo?

[gorshar]

Someone made mention of the deteriorating state of passengers...

Hmmm....

Consider this:

You arrive at the airport (San Francisco) three hours before your scheduled departure time (around 1:00 am) for a flight to Taipei (China Air) and then on to Bangkok. For economy class already the check-in line is out the ropes into and down the hallway and encroaching on the Cathay Pacific check-in area in the next zone. One hour and forty-five minutes later you finally reach the check-in counter (did I mention we have a kid with us, a month shy of four years old?). You place your three bags (one each for each person) and are told that one bag is 2 kg too heavy, please move aside and repack your bags so the 2 kg excess is in another bag (like this changes the total weight on the plane? And all three bags together are still underweight...). So you repack your bags. Then you're asked to weigh all your carry-ons (first time ever in hundreds of flights around the world I've ever had my carry-ons weighed at check-in). You've repacked your bags, got your boarding passes, now you have to deal with the US security scrum. That finished it's off to the departure gate and of course there's nowhere near enough seats for everyone. Then, remembering the flight from Taipei to Los Angeles four weeks earlier and how difficult it was even to get a single teeny weeny cup of water from the flight crew, you set off hoping there is at least one shop still open selling water (you're post-security so at least now you can bring the bottle on the plane). You find one, and a single one liter bottle of water costs $4.50!! Still you buy two.

At this point what kind of mood are you in?

Maybe when airlines look at passengers as paying customers and not air freight with mouths, they might have less to bitch about.

There's no doubt that there are impossible passengers, but the kind of customer treatment dished out by some carriers hardly finds me capable of offering any of their employees much sympathy.

And for what it's worth in the 21 years since I graduated university, most of the years have been spent working in some capacity of customer service. For the last five years I've owned and operated a very reputable guesthouse in Cambodia with very high customer satisfaction ratings for service, so I do know a little something about service and what service providers go through.

Edited June 8, 2009 by gorshar

[Razzler1973]

I think the best attendants are on Virgin Airways, the worst in my experience always tend to be North American airlines of some kind (sorry!).

I always go the back to get my own booze, it's just quicker, I don't want someone telling me 'I'll check if we have any' when I ask for a beer ... you better have some or they look at me funny as if it's coming out of their own personal stash of booze! Virgin are never like this, no problem if they give you two beers if you are watching a film

[Birdman]

Flight attendants at Aeroflot in the times of the Warsaw Pact were some kind of guards. They did not allow the slightest attempt to personal requests. One had to sit down where they ordered that to you. Never expect only minimum help to store the hand luggage. To the contrary one had to place it quick unnoticed to avoid a scolding.

Never look in their eyes, big mistake, they will remember you as a rebel passenger. Not one of the passengers complained about the food = some dry cookies.

London-Singapore had more stops on the way like the local bus.

But I did not care at all.

Once I checked in already at Don Muang, but I changed my mind about 30 minutes before departure. They confirmed to change my booking as I requested 2 days later FOC and brought me back my luggage from the plane.

[wackysleet]

Flight attendants at Aeroflot in the times of the Warsaw Pact were some kind of guards. They did not allow the slightest attempt to personal requests. One had to sit down where they ordered that to you. Never expect only minimum help to store the hand luggage. To the contrary one had to place it quick unnoticed to avoid a scolding.

Never look in their eyes, big mistake, they will remember you as a rebel passenger. Not one of the passengers complained about the food = some dry cookies.

London-Singapore had more stops on the way like the local bus.

But I did not care at all.

Once I checked in already at Don Muang, but I changed my mind about 30 minutes before departure. They confirmed to change my booking as I requested 2 days later FOC and brought me back my luggage from the plane.

Your absolutely right Birdman, I had completely forgotten about Aeroflot, I was subconciously suffering from self induced amnesia, it is without doubt the worst airline I have ever flown, I have never admitted to my closest friends that I have flown with them.

[bonobo]

Flight attendants at Aeroflot in the times of the Warsaw Pact were some kind of guards. They did not allow the slightest attempt to personal requests. One had to sit down where they ordered that to you. Never expect only minimum help to store the hand luggage. To the contrary one had to place it quick unnoticed to avoid a scolding.

Never look in their eyes, big mistake, they will remember you as a rebel passenger. Not one of the passengers complained about the food = some dry cookies.

London-Singapore had more stops on the way like the local bus.

But I did not care at all.

Once I checked in already at Don Muang, but I changed my mind about 30 minutes before departure. They confirmed to change my booking as I requested 2 days later FOC and brought me back my luggage from the plane.

Your absolutely right Birdman, I had completely forgotten about Aeroflot, I was subconciously suffering from self induced amnesia, it is without doubt the worst airline I have ever flown, I have never admitted to my closest friends that I have flown with them.

Aeroflot!  Don't bring back those nightmares!

Complaining about THai two-tierd priceing for foreigners?  Try Aeroflot for domestic tickets.  Foreigners pay a huge premium.  Flying in witner to the Urals?  Well, stand in line outside on the tarmac for 45 minutes with your luggage in hand while the wind whsitels past you--and this is in one of the major Moscow ariports.  THen you get to stow your own luggage in the belly of the plane as you climb up a ladder into the passenger compartment.  When you get to your seat, the seat back is broken and only lays flat, so you sit straight up without a back.  Food service?  A cookie and a paper cup with some sort of kool-aide in it.  

Out of the 6 or so Aeroflot flights I ahve taken inside of Russia, well, those 6 probably rank as my bottom six flights in my life, and that includes military transports!

[wackysleet]

Aeroflot! Don't bring back those nightmares!

Complaining about THai two-tierd priceing for foreigners? Try Aeroflot for domestic tickets. Foreigners pay a huge premium. Flying in witner to the Urals? Well, stand in line outside on the tarmac for 45 minutes with your luggage in hand while the wind whsitels past you--and this is in one of the major Moscow ariports. THen you get to stow your own luggage in the belly of the plane as you climb up a ladder into the passenger compartment. When you get to your seat, the seat back is broken and only lays flat, so you sit straight up without a back. Food service? A cookie and a paper cup with some sort of kool-aide in it.

Out of the 6 or so Aeroflot flights I ahve taken inside of Russia, well, those 6 probably rank as my bottom six flights in my life, and that includes military transports!

There was/is? a program on tv in britain called ....Airport, well there was a rather large and plumpish gentleman that worked at the desk of a well known Russian airline, one day being desperate to get back to Bangkok to see my wife I went to L.h.R. to get a flight well sods law being what it is everything was full, in desperation over to terminal 2, again nothing available but one clerk suggested I try the russian airline, arrive at the desk and ask, yes sir, we have plenty of seats, what is the price of economy?, how are you paying sir, cash or credit card, whats the difference says I, well for cash it's 310 pounds {I think} but credit card is 390 pounds, they obviously needed the foreign currency.