Comments on: Protest paying for soda or water on USAir and it might be free, maybe

By: American Airlines Points Gun At Foot - Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat

American Airlines Points Gun At Foot - Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:23:16 +0000

[...] The flight attendants had to pitch credit card applications over the PA and in the aisles, they charged $2 for a bottle of water or cup of coffee, and there were ads on the tray tables. Oh, and US Airways doesn’t do planeside check – they [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 07:29:50 +0000

Just how much of a subsidy is one can of soda for my fellow passengers, anyway? Sheesh.

By: Cheap Traveler

Cheap Traveler — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:19:18 +0000

I can’t fathom why anyone still flies on USAir unless they just haven’t been reading the news and get caught with one unpleasant surprise after another. But then a second flight? Why would they subject themselves to it again?

I feel sorry for the poor business travelers living by a monopolized hub like Charlotte. What a nightmare.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:01:21 +0000

I wonder when manufacturers start making beverages < 3.5oz in sealed packages to get pass TSA and the charging airlines.

Avoid AA and US like the plague (maybe the UA,NW,DL,CO when they ratchet up their nickel and diming…)

Why don’t they just double/triple the cost of the airline ticket and be on with life in general…

By: Nick Hawkins

Nick Hawkins — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:18:04 +0000

Airplane bathroom water safe to drink? Wasn’t there some boy scout a few years ago who did a test of plane water and found it to be filled with all sorts of disgusting things?

By: Hapgood

Hapgood — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:42:36 +0000

Bringing an empty water bottle through a TSA checkpoint *should* be OK. But as we all know, the cornerstone of the TSA’s Security Strategy is “unpredictability.” So it’s entirely possible that the Transportation Security Officer who happens to be processing you will decide that your empty bottle is a prohibited item. At which point you’ll cheerfully toss it into the garbage can full of dangerous explosives and thank the Officer for keeping the Homeland secure (doing anything else is, of course, at your peril.)

The TSA and its hard-working Transportation Security Officers are continually evolving security rules and procedures in response to a constantly-changing Threat Environment. Passengers who carry empty bottles clearly are the latest threat to aviation. They threaten the ability of airport vendors to gouge their captive customers, and the ability of airlines to cut their losses by “monetizing” potable liquids.

By: AKFlier

AKFlier — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:59:27 +0000

Why is bringing an empty water bottle on a trip declasse? (Note correct spelling — don’t use French if you’re too declasse to spell properly!) I’ve always traveled with my own water containers, even before 9/11. My reasons are: 1) it’s cheaper (is this declasse or am I just a good capitalist?); 2) tap water is safer and better quality, in almost all Western countries, than bottled water, which (in the US) does not have to meet Safe Drinking Water Act standards, is not fluoridized, etc.; and 3) the billions of people buying water in single-use plastic containers are disproportionally contributing to global warming, wasting precious fossil fuels to manufacture the bottles, transport a heavy, readily-available substance vast distances, and dispose of the empty plastic containers. I want nothing of this kind of ignorant conspicuous consumption.

If you want control over your money and hydration, and you want at least some peace of mind about how your decisions do or do not contribute to the destruction of the planet we all share, bring your own bottle. If you’d rather fork over $2 for something that’s virtually free, and be held captive to the schedule of the aircraft’s beverage cart, while leaving this world a worse place, then by all means pat yourself on the back about how “classy” you are and buy your water in that single use container. I’ll be the person sitting next to you rolling my eyes at your selfish ignorance.