When a woman missed her Hong Kong to San Francisco flight last week, she threw a spectacular fit at the boarding gate.  See for yourself:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbVw7entkxg[/youtube]

According to the airline, she was able to catch another flight just a few hours later.  If this had happened at a US airport, I’m guessing she would still be being detained by airport police.  It makes you wonder what was so urgent, and why she wasn’t there on time…

You get to see some crazy stuff at airports.  I’ve flown a lot the past few days, and the highlight of my latest trip was spending a four hour layover in Atlanta trying to get some work done while the teenage girl next to me at the gate loudly and dramatically broke up with her boyfriend over the phone.  Yep, it took four hours.  If only I’d been videotaping, maybe I could have the next YouTube sensation.

Something about traveling can turn people into the worst versions of themselves.  It always puts me in a bad mood to watch the TSA manhandle my personal belongings on my way through security, so I can understand how people get grumpy when they fly.  In any case, if you’re not going to bring a camcorder, you might as well show up at the airport with ear plugs and a sleeping pill.  It’s my preferred way to travel.

Sometimes it’s fun to plug your headset into the airplane seat radio and listen to the air traffic control channel.  But imagine flipping to that frequency in time to hear “We’re unable [to land].  May end up in the Hudson.” I would not handle that well.

Flight 1549 approaches the Hudson River

Yesterday, the Federal Aviation Administration released the tapes of the communications between air traffic control and US Airways flight 1549, which landed in the Hudson River on January 15th.  You can listen to the exchange between Captain Sullenberger and air traffic control here, or read the transcript here.  The entire exchange takes just about two minutes.  What amazes me is how calm all parties remained throughout.  It’s not everyday a plane loses both engines and has to make an emergency landing, but there’s no panic in either voice, even when Captain Sullenberger repeatedly tells ATC “We can’t do it.”

After discussing various runway options for emergency landing, Captain Sullenberger is forced to turn his attention to the pressing matter of landing the plane safely, wherever he can get it down.  His last words to ATC are “We can’t do it.  We’re going to be in the Hudson.”

A witness captured the moment the plane hit the water in this photo

Just like that.  And then he landed the plane like a pro, like this was just another rough day at work.  While Captain Sullenberger brought the plane down safely, ATC employees scrambled to put together an emergency response.  The transcript of that conversation is available here.

A commuter ferry is the first on the scene to rescue passengers on Flight 1549

After Flight 1549′s two-minute discussion with ATC, the plane was in the Hudson about a minute later.  Thanks to the cool heads of the captain and crew on Flight 1549, and the quick response of the ATC and the commuter ferries, NYPD, FDNY, and Coast Guard rescue workers, all 155 people on board Flight 1549 escaped safely.  Watch a video of the rescue here.

Having worked in customer service for a few years, I know from experience that people will complain about anything and everything.  (Someone once accused me of ruining Christmas when I told her that daily maid service was not included in her vacation house rental.  Another person became upset to learn that our ski resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains didn’t have any giraffes.  Really.)  Sometimes, people are just being jerks.  People have been trained to expect free stuff when they complain, so you get used to a lot of bitching and moaning.

Customer service agents have to learn to find the humor in these complaints, because if they couldn’t laugh it off, they’d go crazy.  I know in my days of working the phones, I actually appreciated the more irate customers, for they provided the best comic relief.  I was much less cooperative with abusive customers, but then when I was done with them, my coworkers and I enjoyed making fun of them for the rest of the day.  If you really want to be heard, the first rule is to not be a jackass about it.  And humor always helps.

Take, for example, this complaint letter, written by a Continental Airlines passenger in 2005.  This particular passenger was upset about his seat, 29E, right next to the airplane lavatory.  His complaints are legitimate, but his letter is just plain funny, complete with illustrations!

Did Continental remove row 29 from all its crafts, per the customer’s complaint?  Fat chance.  If he’d just written a letter griping about the smell, he probably would’ve been largely ignored, too, but if I’d been the agent handling this complaint, the passenger’s creativity certainly would’ve earned points with me, and I probably would’ve tried to give the poor guy a refund, corporate policy be damned.

In another fantastic letter of complaint, a Virgin Airlines passenger went straight to the top, addressing his letter directly to CEO Richard Branson.  This guy describes, in hilarious detail, the stress, confusion, and woe caused by the in-flight meal, and he included actual photographs!

Branson actually telephoned this customer to thank him for the constructive criticism, but defended the meal service, saying that it’s very popular on the Indian flights.  I give kudos to Sir Richard for reaching out to his customer, but I have to take issue with the idea that this is good Indian cuisine.  There’s nothing I love more than a good Indian dinner, and just looking at this passenger’s photographs is making me retch.

"What is this? Why have I been given it? What have I done to deserve this?"

Read this letter in its entirety here, and be sure to flip through the photo gallery.  It almost makes me glad that most airlines have stopped serving meals.

Here’s a tip:  Everyone complains.  If companies gave refunds for every complaint, they’d all go broke.  If you have a legitimate complaint, then by all means speak up, but keep in mind that the person you’re talking to is probably not the person responsible for whatever went wrong.  Whatever it is you’re bitching about, they’ve heard it all before.  The best way to get someone to pay attention to you is to make them smile.  Kudos to those who can find the humor in these situations.

Songs about cities, landmarks, and roads are often so much more relatable than any other kind of ballad.  Music has a way of making everything beautiful, and preserving the beauty in a memory, which is why associating certain songs with your favorite vacations make those memories some of the best.

There’s nothing better than a great song about a great place, and there’s no shortage of music like that in the world.  That’s why right now, as I’m stuck at home, sick in bed and sad that I can’t do anything, I’m digging into my music collection, pulling up the tunes that remind me of all my favorite places and happiest times.

Here are five of my favorites:

1.  Loretta Lynn feat. Jack White – “Portland, Oregon”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuC_l3ymXhM[/youtube]

A great song about one of the greatest cities on earth — what’s not to love?  The tune even sounds like Portland.  It’s a city with a lot to love and a lot to fall in love with.

2.  Eddie From Ohio – “Old Dominion”

Don’t be fooled by the band name — these guys are from Virginia, and proud of it.  Bassist Michael Clem penned this song as an entry in a contest for a new state song.  Legislators dropped the ball and never declared a winner, but rumor has it this song was on the short list.  It’s tough to celebrate all that’s great about this place in a four-minute song, which is why I forgive Clem for failing to mention my hometown.  Here’s a clip of the group performing the song at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival last year:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NUVzDkLAPk[/youtube]

3.  George Hamilton IV – “Abilene”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV_7Dhmh03c[/youtube]

I grew up listening to this song on car trips with my parents, the two of them singing along to the wistful melody.  When I was very young, I thought Abilene was a girl — it made sense to me, since the singer obviously feels a deep love for her.  Listening a little more closely now with my adult ears, it still sounds like a love song.

4.  Dar Williams – “The Ocean”

This song about an unnamed town at an unnamed ocean could be about almost any oceanfront town.  Listening to the song is like walking on a beach in the autumn — it’s a fantastic escape.  Personally, it reminds me of some of the more remote beaches in the pacific northwest.  I sort of prefer not knowing the specific town she’s singing about.  It’s easier to put myself in the song when I can make it about anywhere.

Sorry, I don’t have a clip of this one — but you can buy the CD!

5.  Simon & Garfunkel – “America”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxd0zawaIu4[/youtube]

If you don’t agree that this is one of the most beautiful songs ever written, then we can’t be friends anymore.  It makes me want to go exploring, see new things, and sing along.

What’s your favorite song about a place?  Let me know, and maybe I’ll include it on my next list.  It’s hard to select just five.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, it seems only right to feature some of my favorite places in my favorite state.  There are so many great places for a romantic Valentine’s Day weekend getaway — whether you want a rustic mountain cabin, a sightseeing extravaganza, or a relaxing oceanview, we’ve got it here in the Old Dominion.  Here are some of my favorite getaways:

The Lower Falls at Crabtree Falls

Crabtree Falls — Rent a cozy cabin just a few miles off the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway in Nelson County for a beautiful weekend getaway to Crabtree Falls.  This is a wonderful escape for hikers, because you’ll be surrounded by miles of the most scenic trails in the state.  From the bottom to the top of the falls is a mild 2-mile hike with lots of overlook points at the cascading falls — the highest vertical drop east of the Mississippi.  You’ll also be right where the Appalachian Trail passes through Nelson County, and very near several other day hikes along the Parkway.  At night, enjoy relaxing by the fireplace in your cabin, or step outside for the most incredible view of the night sky you’ll ever see.  With so little development in the area, the stars shine like nowhere else over Crabtree Falls.

Wintergreen Resort — Okay, it’s no Aspen, but Wintergreen has some of the best skiing in the southeast.  Like any good ski resort, Wintergreen also has a tubing park, and plenty of indoor activities when you’re ready to come out of the cold.  For something really romantic, head to the spa together for a relaxing massage.  Check out Wintergreen’s Valentines Day Getaway specials here.

Virginia Beach — It’s not exactly a great time for sunbathing, but there’s something very peaceful about the ocean in winter.  No crowds, no screaming kids — just you and your sweetie and the sound of the waves crashing below you.  Anywhere in Virginia Beach is an easy drive to historic Jamestown, Yorktown, and Colonial Williamsburg, so you can squeeze in some sightseeing and education, if that’s the kind of vacation you enjoy.  February is also peak season to enjoy a whale watch off the Virginia coast.

These are just a few of my favorite escapes in the state that prides itself on love.  Virginia really is a romantic place to be, and it’s hard to go wrong no matter where you go.  I’ll be in Northern VA, just outside of DC, over the holiday weekend, where the city is alive with the very tangible hope that comes with our country’s new administration.  There’s romance in that, too.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Passengers stand on the wings of US Airways flight 1549 shortly after the plane lands in the Hudson River

Fear of flying in an airplane is one of the most common phobias in the modern world.  People often ask me about it and how to overcome it, and the truth is, even as a frequent flyer, I do still get a little bit nervous on every takeoff and landing.  I think that’s perfectly normal.  Nevertheless, I think logic is a very good tool for getting over the fear of flying.  The truth is that flying is just about the safest way to get from point A to point B.  (My dad is sitting in his desk chair at home right now saying, “That’s what I’ve been saying all along!)

Plane crashes do happen, but really quite infrequently.  It just seems more common because of all the media coverage each incident will get, and the fact that when there is a crash, it is usually fatal.  It’s difficult to put this in perspective, especially for folks who don’t fly very often — but those crashes are a minuscule percentage of all flights.  Look at it this way:  even if you fly very infrequently, you probably fly at least as often as you buy a new vacuum cleaner, right?  (Please pardon this ridiculous analogy; it’s been a very long week.  Just go with it.)  People don’t just buy a new Dyson every time they run out to the store, do they?  Yet even as infrequently as people buy new vacuum cleaners, there’s still enough demand for an entire store that sells nothing but vacuum cleaners to stay in business for 20 years in my small hometown.  More people are buying vacuum cleaners than you’d imagine.  And you and just about everyone else in the country are still flying more frequently than people are walking through the doors of that small town vacuum store.  All of this is my attempt at a cute way of saying that millions of people fly every day.

Of those millions, very few will ever experience so much as bad turbulence, let alone a real airline emergency.  Even most crew members go their entire careers without any major incidents.  So unless you’re training to fly a kamikaze mission, your chances of ever being involved in an airline accident are incredibly slim.  On the other hand, you probably drive or ride in a car just about every day, and I’ll bet you already know that there are hundreds of highway deaths every day in the United States.  If you’re not afraid to drive, you shouldn’t be afraid to fly.  You may not be steering the plane, but I can just about guarantee that your pilot has more flight training than you have driving experience.

On that note — does US Airways Flight 1549′s Hudson River landing make me more nervous to fly?  Absolutely not.  If anything, I feel even safer.  This was an extraordinary emergency situation in that the plane was still climbing from its takeoff when the engine(s) quit.  At 35,000 feet, the pilot would have had much more time to prepare for an emergency landing, and would have had a better shot at returning to the airport for landing.  Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger had to act very quickly to keep his passengers safe, and he succeeded heroicly.

Every member of Flight 1549′s crew remained inside the plane until all of the passengers were safely evacuated.  Passengers from flight 1549 praised the crew’s professionalism and calm efficiency.  Captain Sullenberger and his crew set a superlative example in putting passengers’ safety first, and they got all 150+ passengers safely off the plane before getting themselves to safety as well.  That doesn’t make me afraid; it gives me confidence:  even in a worst-case scenario, those flight attendants and pilots are prepared to take care of their passengers.  These guys are heroes.  And I’m confident that another crew in the same situation would be just as stellar.  That’s why I always thank my flight attendants and pilots as I’m leaving a flight, even if i slept through the whole thing — because I know that they were there for me, even though I didn’t need them.

For a flight attendant’s perspective on the Flight 1549 story, check out my friend Heather’s blog here.  She’s always got great stories about flying and being a flight attendant, and she’s posted quite a bit already on US Airways Flight 1549.

Still need gift ideas for the globetrotter in your life?  Thanks to all the new luggage restrictions and rules from the FAA and the airlines this year, we could all use some new bags.

A nice, large bag is always a plus.  I prefer duffel bags to actual suitcases, because they’re more durable and versatile.  All my suitcases have scuffed, cracked corners and temperamental zippers, whereas my duffel bag can take plenty of hits.

I got a bag similar to this one at a Samsonite outlet last year, and it’s perfect.  It’s large enough to pack clothes for at least two weeks, and when it’s full it’s just under the 50-pound limit.  It’s got wheels, but can also be worn as a backpack, so it’s easy to travel with, even when it does weigh 50 pounds.

For carry-on luggage, make sure you pick something that’s within the latest size restrictions.  This is 45 linear inches in most cases, or something like a 9x14x22 bag.  Check the size carefully before you purchase anything — just because it says it’s approved for carry-on use doesn’t mean it will be.  Of course they’re going to tell you that.

Wheels might seem convenient until you try to cram your bag into an overhead bin.  The bag isn’t large enough to be too heavy to carry, so forget the wheels.  Backpacks are my preferred carry-ons.  They even fit in the bins on those tiny turboprop planes.  LL Bean has long dominated the backpack market, but most of their goods are going to be too big by carry-on standards.  eBags is a great place to shop online for things like this.

Lastly, the right laptop bag is essential.  Having an FAA-approved style will save you lots of hassle at the airport security checkpoint, so make sure you brush up on the guidelines found here.  Sleeve-style bags are the cheapest and simplest, but whatever you get should come with a handle (many sleeves don’t).  Also be sure you buy the right size case for the computer it will be carrying.

When buying luggage for someone else, you can’t go wrong with classic black, but I think colors and patterns are better.  A distinctive bag will reduce the chances that someone else will grab your luggage by mistake either off the baggage claim or out of the overhead bins.

Don’t forget that cute luggage tags make great stocking stuffers, too!

Every year, I tell myself I’m never going camping after Labor Day again, but somehow I always find myself huddled by a camp fire in November, wearing at least three sweatshirts and wrapped in blankets, cursing myself for agreeing to yet another late fall campout.  It’s just too flippin’ cold to have a good time.  Even when I camp in the summer, it’s always the cold rather than exhaustion that chases me into my tent for the night.  I’ve tried bundling up in my sleeping bag by the camp fire, but I almost torched myself the last time I did that.  Camping with me is always a comedy of errors.

I recently discovered a new sleeping bag design that is really perfect for people like me.  The Lippi Selk Bag is not a bag, really, as much as it is the world’s warmest set of footie pajamas.  The Selk Bag offers full body coverage and freedom of movement at the same time, with little zip-up holes for your hands so you can keep plucking your banjo or passing the bottle of bourbon around long after the sun sets and the temperatures drop.

The Selk Bag makes for a better night’s sleep, too, because your movement isn’t restricted the way it would be in a traditional sleeping bag.  Selk Bags make cuddling much easier for campers, too.

The bags are rated to keep you comfy in temperatures as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit, are down or polyester filled with a nylon shell, and come in two sizes.  You can find the bags for sale all over the internet, but the best deal I’ve found is at Amazon.com, where the bags start at $149 for the basic model, the Lippi Selk Bag One.

I’ll admit that these bags look totally ridiculous, but aren’t they completely adorable, too, in their own weird way?

I’m really glad the internet has been around as long as I’ve been driving. I’m just about the world’s worst navigator, and even though I’m actually quite adept at reading a map, I’m always second guessing myself when it comes to my route. I used to use MapQuest and Yahoo! Maps to plot my course into unknown territory, but even that stressed me out, because the two sites never gave the same directions, which meant that at least one of them was wrong.

Driving has always been stressful for me, and I’m not very good at holding myself together when I get lost, which is often. Luckily, GPS units started coming down in cost a few years ago, and I was able to buy my way out of this frequent stress when I got one of the gadgets for myself. Now, if I stray off course, it’s no problem, because the satellites know where I am and can point me in the right direction.

Having a GPS unit in your car makes the internet seem old fashioned. I no longer spend hours staring at maps and comparing routes between all the different mapping sites on the web — I just get in the car when I’m ready to leave, punch in my destination, and go where the little computer tells me to. It even tells me when I need to get ready to make a turn, whereas with written directions I was always counting off tenths of a mile, which were never accurate on my directions, anyway. I think I paid around $500 for my standard issue GPS a few years ago. Nowadays, that’ll buy you a top-of-the-line product, or five of them, if you act quickly.

Amazon.com is currently offering the TomTom ONE XL 4.3-inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator for only $99.99, and the shipping is free, too. These gadgets normally retail for about $300, so that’s a heck of a bargain. These are a great gift for anyone who drives, and if you’ve never used one before, you’ll never want to go anywhere without one after trying it. The units come ready with maps of the US and Canada, as well as restaurant, rest stop, gas, parking, and hospital locations, so you can always find what you need while you’re on the go. They’ll save you tons of planning time and tons of stress.

Even at full price, I’d recommend these devices, but at such a deep discount, I might even get mad at you if you don’t buy one. And no one is paying me to say that. I promise.

Happy road tripping!

Fees, fees, fees. Fuel surcharges, baggage charges, snacks, headphones, blankets, and pillows — you pay for everything on a flight these days, as the struggling airlines do their best to squeeze every last dollar out of their passengers. Just when you thought there was no possible way to add more fees…

Ha! There’s always a way to ask for more money. Canadian airline WestJet may be introducing still more fees, and while I’m sure I’m not the only traveler growing quite weary of all the fees, fees, fees!, I do applaud WestJet’s ingenuity.

The airline recently surveyed its customers to find out what perks they might be willing to pay $10 extra for, and also what services they’d be willing to sacrifice for $10 savings on their tickets. WestJet wanted to know, would you pay $10 more for:

• Priority boarding — The only perk to getting on the plane first that I can think of is guaranteed overhead bin space. Of course, if there’s no assigned seating, then picking your seat first is definitely worth a few extra bucks, but once you’re in your seat, you’re going to sit there for at least another 30 minutes before the plane even starts moving. Hardly a perk, if you ask me.
• Priority disembarking — This might be worthwhile for folks who have tight connections to catch, as unloading a plane can take a really long time. Also, it might mean that you get to sit in the bulkhead (the front row with lots of leg room), because I don’t see any other way they’d be able to enforce this.
• Expedited baggage delivery — Please. If your time is really so valuable that you’d pay $10 more for the three minutes it would save you waiting at baggage claim, shouldn’t you be on a private jet or something? This is just ridiculous.
• Priority rebooking in case of flight cancellation — Another ridiculous one, if you ask me. If that airline isn’t doing every last thing in their power to make it up to every last person it’s inconvenienced, then they’re not getting any of that business again, and they know that. What happens when two people pay for this and there’s only one seat on the next flight? What happens when there are plenty of empty seats on the next plane, but nobody paid for the priority rebooking? The day that airlines start charging for this is the day that the industry truly surprises me.
• Complimentary meals/hotel accommodations when a flight is either canceled or substantially delayed — Again, this is something that airline better damn well be doing already. This is like buying insurance for your insurance policies.
• In-flight Internet access — Oh hell yes I’d pay for this. I could eliminate an entire carry-on bag filled with all the stuff I bring to keep myself entertained throughout my day of traveling if only I could surf the web from my airplane seat.
• Guaranteed space in the overhead bin — This would be nice, but as long as the airline isn’t going to charge me to stow my bags below the plane once the overhead bin is full, I really don’t need to have it with me. I never get anything out of it during the flight anyway — I usually just pull out my books and crossword puzzles and knitting or whatever before I stow anything.
• In-seat power — On a long flight, it might be nice to be able to keep my laptop alive — especially if I had internet access. I imagine this means equipping certain seats with electrical outlets — but what happens if you don’t sell that service? Do some lucky passengers get seated here for no extra charge? Or do flight attendants have access to a switch of some sort that activates power in the seats? It seems like this might cost the airlines more to implement than it would bring them in revenues…
• Premium snack/meal offering — Barf. The airlines’ idea of “premium” food is a step below the dollar menu at most fast food joints. No thanks. You know you can still bring your own food on board a plane.
• A freshly laundered pillow/blanket set that you may keep after the flight — Again, these are things that you’re perfectly allowed to bring on board yourself. Why settle for that 3×5 piece of scrap felt they call a blanket?
• An amenity kit with earplugs, eyeshades and toiletries to keep you refreshed on the plane — Once again, all things that you can bring yourself if you really want them, and for much less than $10. All the good airlines still give you this stuff for free, though.
• A wait of 10 minutes or less to clear security checkpoints — There are services out there that you can pay for to get through security faster, but there’s really no way to guarantee you won’t be held up. “I know it looks like a bomb, but we’ve gotta let this guy go — he paid his $10.” Yeah. Right.
• Sitting away from parents traveling with babies/small children — Ahhh, yes, now here’s a brilliant idea. Airlines could be cool and seat all babies and their families at the ends of the plane, but that’s never how they do it, is it? Look, you definitely have a right to travel with your kids, but if you and your baby sit next to me, or worse, behind me, I hate you. That’s just the way it is. Babies cry on planes, and somehow even though the roar of the engine is so loud that it’s hard to talk to the person next to you, that baby’s wailing is always the loudest thing on the plane. It seems it’d be more fair to charge extra for the baby, but the airlines will make more money if they can squeeze ten bucks out of everyone who doesn’t want to sit next to the screamer, because here’s a fee almost everyone will pay. Am I right? If only those earplugs actually worked…

For the most part, I can’t imagine paying for these things, but I know that a lot of people really would. I think that if I bring an infant on a plane, though, and the airline is making money off all the people who don’t want to sit near my kid, I should get some sort of compensation, right? Ha. I’ll just get dirty looks from all the people who’ll wish they’d ponied up the extra ten.

In a truly innovative move, WestJet is also considering knocking $10 off your ticket if you’re willing to give up certain perks. Like these:

• Not checking bags — With so many airlines charging $25 per bag now, you’re probably already doing everything you can to avoid checking luggage, right? But hey, another $10 for what you were going to do anyway? Score.
• Not earning frequent flier miles — Most airlines will charge 25,000 miles for a free flight. You really do have to be a frequent flier to get anything out of this. If you only fly a few times a year or less on this airline, this is actually a pretty good deal, unless you’re flying around the world.
• Only bringing aboard one small piece of carry-on baggage — I wonder if they enforce it when they say “small.”
• Being the last to board — Wait just a second. I get more time to finish my lunch/chapter/crossword puzzle, less time scrunched in my seat with no leg room next to the screaming baby and the smelly guy, AND you’ll give me $10 for this? Where do I sign up?
• Using online check-in instead of a kiosk — I’ve been doing this all along. Who wouldn’t? It’s much more convenient. Definitely take this option.
• Using either a kiosk or online check-in instead of a human agent — Looks like they’re trying to lighten their payroll. Sorry ticket agents, but this really is the most convenient way to check in.
• Savings for having my checked luggage to be among the last to be delivered — This I don’t understand. How would this save money for the airline? Wouldn’t they have to do extra work to make sure my bags were the last onto the conveyor belt? Sure, I’ll take $10 for you to unnecessarily inconvenience both of us…
• Sitting in a middle seat — These seats should be cheaper anyway. But for couples, this is great. One of us is always sitting in the middle anyway, just so we can sit together.
• Making no changes to your ticket prior to departure — How many people make changes, really?
• Not getting free water, coffee/tea, juices or soft drinks in flight — Fine, I’ll bring my own.
• Sitting in a seat that does not recline — You know, the three inches that those seats “recline” don’t make much of a difference anyway, except on the leg room of the person behind you.
• Taking a seat near parents traveling with babies/small children — $10 off tickets for all deaf people.

On the savings side, a lot of these things actually make sense, and they’d be easy for me. At the same time, though, this list sort of highlights all the ways the airlines jack you. No matter how much we hate the fees — hidden and exposed — they’re the industry standard now, so we’re going to have to get used to it. At least WestJet is trying to give us some choices here.

What perks are you willing to pay for, and what would you be willing to give up for a discount?