Sunbunny31

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Acclaimed Answer

Travel pet peeves - professional traveler version

After getting back from a trip this past weekend to Chicago, I have a few vents about travel in general. My observations are around people, companies, and organizations who should know better, not your grandma who hasn't traveled by herself before, or the disorganized family, or the melting down toddler. Here's my list - what will you add?:

1) Hotels that have thick carpeting in the hallways, like they have no idea we have wheeled luggage that does not roll on their carpets. (I'm looking at you, Marriott). I just love getting to the hotel after a long day of travel and then having to get an additional workout just dragging my bags to my room.

2) Fellow travelers, especially those who are younger, who stand right against the luggage carousel so you can't get to your bags. I'm not talking about children, I'm talking about 20-30 something professionals who should know better.

3) Airlines that beg for everyone to gate check carry-ons, only for you to see wide open spaces in the overhead bins when you get on. (bonus points if you have a connecting flight and they strand you without said bag they begged you to entrust to their care).

4) Tracking apps that don't work. Don't tell me my luggage is delivered to Carousel 1 when it's not there, and after 40 minutes, it shows up with the other 30 bags you forgot to get off the tarmac. Love the idea of a tracking app, hate that it's inaccurate.

5) Confusing airport signage, and somehow it's always around rental cars. Am I going up the escalator or over to the ground floor counter? Where is the rental car pickup (MSP is the WORST for this, I challenge you to find a more confusing domestic airport). Come to think of it, MSP also has confusing shuttle pick up locations. Basically just bad.

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26

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Pachacuti

Politicker

8

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

(1) HTFU
(2) What kind of seasoned traveler checks a bag?
(3) Again, who checks a bag?
(4) Again, who checks a bag?
(5) ok, legit

Sunbunny31

Politicker

8

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Hockey equipment. No carrying some things onto a plane.

butwhy

Politicker

2

Solutions Engineer

No, but seriously though. Why on earth would you check a bag?!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

12

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Also, y’all are guys, yes? If I’m gone for a week and there are events, women’s shoes become an issue. You can’t make do with some loafers and some tennies. So no judging unless you’ve literally walked in my shoes and/or traveled with kids/family. You check bags.

TennisandSales

Politicker

3

Head Of Sales

ill back you up on this.
the women ive traveled with all have hair straighteners/curling irons/blow driers, WAY more clothes than me and my male coworkers, because women cant wear the same part of an outfit twice (at least thats what society tells them) while I can wear the same dress pants and suit coat 3 days in a row as long as I change my shirt no one cares.
So, check your bag! you good!

butwhy

Politicker

3

Solutions Engineer

I am a woman, but I am a light packer. I have done two weeks out of an overhead bin bag.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

7

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Not my style, but good for you. Out of curiosity, are you also a sailor? Many of the people I know who pack light are sailors.

And this is also weird, but my daughter collects snow globes, and those cannot be carryon (unless I find them in the airport) so there's that.

butwhy

Politicker

2

Solutions Engineer

Haha, not a sailor! I am just super anal about having my bag with me so that I am not forced into annoying delays or logistics and I learned how to scale down packing after traveling 40/50% for work for a decade.

Snow globes are a great present! I would probably be too nervous to check them though, like when I got my Mom real decorated eggs from Prague. All breakables go in my under seat bag!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

5

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I don't want to jinx myself, but I've gotten pretty good at packing breakables. I DID have a micellar water open in flight this last time, though. I brought that bottle simply because it shouldn't have opened, but it did, and then the plastic bag I had it in had a hole in it. Oof. Fortunately only water, so no biggie.

SADNES5

Politicker

2

down voters are marketing spies

Actually no joke. I read (gate check, nope, and bag carousel)

Both big nopes. Invest in packing cubes and a steamer. You can get 3 suits and 2 pairs of shoes as well as civvy clothes in a good carry on.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

7

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Yeah, I have many reasons why I end up with checked bags most of the time. Day trips or short overnights, for business travel, carryon no problem. My trips are usually much longer.

jefe

Arsonist

4

🍁

I usually end up checking a bag, but always have what I REALLY need for for the first day or two in my carry-on

Sunbunny31

Politicker

5

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

That's the protip right there. I have enough to get by with me. Only once was I caught a bit unprepared, and I KNEW BETTER and DID IT ANYWAY. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

8

Bravado's Resident Asshole

I’m in 100% agreement with you.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

8

🦊

This really makes me look forward to traveling next month. I think you just convinced me to drive.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

6

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

hahahaha. I'm driving to SoCal for personal travel next month, driving back up, then flying down the next day for work. Sigh.

braintank

Politicker

7

Enterprise Account Executive

You came to MSP and didn't even DM me :(

Sunbunny31

Politicker

5

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I was there this summer! Might be there again in February, I think (delightful time of year to be in Minnesota!). If I DM you, will you come guide me to the rental cars?

SADNES5

Politicker

2

down voters are marketing spies

Buddy! I'm downtown until Wednesday! Been here all week.

butwhy

Politicker

7

Solutions Engineer

People in the gate doing Facetime calls with no fucking headphones, airlines that aren't boarding priority first still instead of back to front idiotic boarding, 80% of airports are still half-way shut and nothing is open after 5pm or before 8am, and airports who have moved their Uber pickup to a garage so far away you might as well walk to downtown (looking at you fucking SFO and Vegas).

Sunbunny31

Politicker

7

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Who’s doing back to front boarding? I haven’t run across that yet.

butwhy

Politicker

3

Solutions Engineer

All of the airlines started it during pandemic, it was so annoying Almost all are back to normal, but American and JetBlue are airport by airport ime.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

4

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Interesting. I have AA booked for personal travel in October, and we're toward the front of the plane. Thought I was avoiding boarding group 3 for once.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Had to come back to this. Row 8 for AA flight. Weirdly late boarding group. No room in the overhead space for the carryon. The chuckleheads in the back of the plane ditched their bags forward and nobody in our two rows (8 & 9) got to use OUR OVERHEAD BINS. So until people can not behave like selfish twits on an aircraft, I hope back to front boarding is brought to an end.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

7

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I have more!

International travel gates that have no charging ports. You expect travelers to check in 3 hours early, kill time in your airport, and then board a plane for a very long flight with depleted batteries on their personal devices. Bad plan. (This is SFO, most recently Lufhansa).
Protip I follow is to carry a charger, but still.

Pair that with non-working outlets on planes, either so loose they don't hold the plug, or just not working. Again, bringing the portable charger is a must.

SaaSam

Politicker

7

Account Executive

The one that gets me is when someone in an isle seat acts like it's the end of the world when someone in an interior seat wants to go take a piss.

You likely chose the isle seat, buddy, so think about that shit before you bitch and moan about standing up for 5 seconds.

On a recent flight to Chicago a dude with a supposed bad knee asked if I'd switch him seats, I was isle he was middle, because his knee gave him fits if it was flexed for too long. I didn't mind giving him my seat because I've been there done that with knee issues.

This MF actually had the audacity to get shitty with me about 30 minutes into the flight because my shoulder was touching his.

I am generally a nice guy until someone gives me a reason to be shitty. That, coupled with the fact that I'd been up since 3:30 that morning meant I wasn't having it. I said, "Well you can either sit in the seat I paid for and keep your fuckin mouth shut or you can take your seat back and bitch about your knee for the next 3 hours." He chose to keep his mouth shut.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

8

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

The audacity of you to touch his shoulder!

(how broad are your shoulders, anyway?)

Has he not flown before? You don't have any personal space to speak of in the standard seats. Way to be a jerk to someone who helped you out. Middle seat is a sacrifice.

SaaSam

Politicker

5

Account Executive

I'm not a huge guy by any means, but I don't exactly have a narrow frame either. Very much a wrestler's build short dude with a broad frame

Sunbunny31

Politicker

8

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Basically, a person.

Some people.

Fenderbaum

Politicker

6

Retired Choirboy🪕

Are we related? LOL, my long-lost brother.

Hosshead

Opinionated

4

Retired

Yes! Now that's my kind of response! LOL

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

6

Sales Rep

It’s gonna be in-flight wifi for me! Always some hope of being productive for 4 hours during the flight but instead me being pissed off signing into the vpn over and over again

sketchysales

Politicker

5

Sales Manager

Don't sound like such the seasoned traveller there bud. You learn to ignore the small things and things like carpet thickness In a hotel doesn't register.

As per Pachacuti, why are you checking bags?

And MSP has a train to the rental car location that's arguably a lot easier to navigate and find than O'Hare or many other US airports.

Hit 132 flights for 2022 last week, it gets easier with time and the points you highlight are literally the most minor bugs I find on my journeys.

There's much larger bugbears such as the number of infrequent travellers that have premium credit cards clogging up lounges and people who try to down the tsa line without tsa and those That stand up the second the seatbelt turns off and dropkick their rucksack into your head.

And for discomfort, try being on standby.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

10

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Yo. Personal travel. I travel quite a bit both professionally and with family. The thicker than they need to be carpets don’t bug you? Fine. Today I feel like venting about the small things. It’s just bad planning by the hotel, and I’m all about function over form.

I explained the bags above. Note this instance was personal travel, and the day they let us walk on the plane with hockey sticks and a giant bag full of gear will be the day I have gotten my own plane.

I’m not sure what it is about MSP that gets me, but twice I’ve been fooled by signs in the terminal that point me to non-existent car rental counters in that terminal. I go once/year in the summer, so I tend to forget what I learned the last time and get on the train, and ignore the signs.

I tip my hat to you, road warrior, I don’t travel as much as you, but it isn’t my first rodeo either, considering how long I’ve been doing this.

sketchysales

Politicker

4

Sales Manager

Fair enough on the bags for personal travel, sorry missed that!

As for carpets, I do understand your peeve, every now and then something like that gets you, usually after something more annoying like a cancelled flight or some dong playing candy crush with no headphones on full volume on the plane.

MSP I find just head for a elevator and press the bottom floor and that takes you to the transfer train.

Sorry my remark was probably a bit snarky, I didn't mean it to be.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

8

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I’m definitely cranky myself. No harm done!

I recall going to a huge company SKO a few years ago. I brought a big suitcase because I had a fabulous party dress for the closing fancy dinner and damned if I was going to crush it. In line to check in with hundreds of colleagues, and I’m next to a sweaty dude with a very small airline captain carry on who looked me over and smugly bragged how he could travel for a week with just the small carryon. Dude, I could too if I wore the same thing every day. Can’t do that as a woman in sales at a conference. Also he looked like he smelled of the same outfit. :)

Sunbunny31

Politicker

8

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Also, I was kind of soliciting those bugbears when I started this post. My issues may not be yours, and of course I may have left some good ones off. I am sleep-deprived and kind of cranky, so ymmv.

And I have been the last seat boarded on a return flight home with Southwest. That was fun.

sketchysales

Politicker

6

Sales Manager

Urgh, yes that is the worst. Middle seat, row 32 and no over head locker space left, that is the worst.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

5

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Don't forget the seat back up against the aft lavatory for extra pleasure.

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

4

Sales

Number 1 is secretly the most horrible. Your plush hallway carpet is terrible. Stop with that shit. When my four wheel luggage switched to off road mode (2 wheels), I’m upset. It should always be in sport mode.

Also and this has always been a pet peeve, light switches that are harder to find and solve for than the final round of legends of the hidden Temple annoy me to no end.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

7

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I’ve had rooms where I had to call maintenance to get the lights off - and they had issues. Some of the smart rooms are too smart, and once things start to get a little old and overused, they become an issue.

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

4

Sales

I love when none of the wall sockets will hold a plug. They are all too beat up from cleaning unplugging their vacuums rapidly. Gotta rotate all my devices on the one USB charger lol.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

5

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Or they still haven't refreshed the rooms and you have to search for ANY plug and then end up with all your electronics in the bathroom on the counter using the one available working outlet.

Filth

Politicker

4

Live Filthy or Die Clean

Anything with tracking that is inaccurate infuriates me. I'd rather it said "we don't have any idea sorry" than it give me a standard answer for unknown answers.

And yes, signage is usually terrible, which I find ironic considering it's probably one of the few places where not everyone have an understanding of the language or standard layout of the building.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

6

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Signage depends largely on the airport. Some are very good at it, others, not so much so.

But yes, I'd rather have honesty with tracking. You have a scanned label, you should ideally know where the darned thing is. You can tell me it arrived at the airport (true) but to tell me it was delivered to the carousel is right out. I mean, you scan them in. So where do you scan them in that there is still a potential disconnect between where it actually is and where it is supposed to be?

KingofGIF

Politicker

4

AE

2) and 3) are there worst for me

Fenderbaum

Politicker

4

Retired Choirboy🪕

How about the jackoffs that lean their seat back? That extra two inches for yourself translates to no room for my knees. Coming back from Phoenix, guy in front of me did this, and I asked him nicely if he would put the seat back up. POS ignored me, I asked him three more times, still ignored me. Mind you, he had no earbuds or anything. The flight attendant said I could move four rows back, so in doing so, I had to lean on the back of his seat with my right arm to help me get up. I leaned him back as far as that seat let me, faked an apology, let go, and he should have got a whiplash after the huge lurch forward. He never turned around, once.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

4

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I’m super glad the person in front of my 6’3” son didn’t recline. It would have been miserable for him, with his knees already touching the seat in front due to United still having the worst pitch of any economy. And yes, I looked for exit row, but full flight and later booking than I liked, so bad luck there this time (often I can move us up on check in…not this time).
Glad you got to move, and some people are just jerks.

jefe

Arsonist

3

🍁

All EXTREMELY frustrating.

Did you pick up any Garrett's at O'Hare? I always do

Sunbunny31

Politicker

5

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I LOVE Garrett's, and was going to pick some up downtown, but then remembered that I'd find it at the airport.

But then I get to the airport at 7 pm...and they are SOLD OUT.

So, if you have a later flight, you run a huge and disappointing risk of not getting any!

HappyGilmore

Politicker

2

Account Executive

#3 grinds my gears like no other. Always ask for people to check their bags when it's clear there will be plenty of space.

TennisandSales

Politicker

2

Head Of Sales

hahahah #5!!! i HATE THSI!!! I was in Denver recently, and just trying to get to baggage claim was an adventure. there was construction, and like 4 signs pointing different directions to get to the same place. glad I got more steps in but i didnt need that sort of stress

SADNES5

Politicker

2

down voters are marketing spies

Alright! I've read the thread. Work travel is different than personal travel with the family. 100%.

If travelling with the kids - checked bags is usually a necessity. Make sure you use your status when you book.

Unethical protip carry around a few (priority flags for those times you actually have to gate check where they don't have space in the forward belly and can't deliver the bag to the bridge on the other end)

Another Unethical tip - if they try and make you gate check a bag for bridge to bridge bag - just take the tag off walking down and carry it on anyway. There's always a spot in premium economy you can shove your bag as you walk to 32D by the rear Lav.

Wellss

Tycoon

2

Channel sales

I'll add to this! People eating food with a strong aroma really grinds my gears. A couple flights ago, there was a person in front of me eating fried chicken tenders. Not only did it make me extremely hungry for the remainder of the flight, I just simply don't enjoy the smell of chicken tenders while I'm trying to pass out on a flight

Sunbunny31

Politicker

6

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Next time, I'll bring enough tendies to share. ;)

I'd add fish (why?) or broccoli or anything with pungent peppers, which would have a horrible in-flight aroma.

Wellss

Tycoon

2

Channel sales

That's all I ask ;) If someone breaks out a fish filet mid-air, I'm calling 911

ThatNewAE

Big Shot

2

Account Executive - Mid enterprise

I have so many more to add to this, but guilty as found for sticking my nose against the luggage carousel. :p

Sunbunny31

Politicker

3

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I'm the one who will, without hesitation but with a brusque "excuse me" will push past you to grab her bag. If it hits you as I grab it, oh well. :)

ThatNewAE

Big Shot

2

Account Executive - Mid enterprise

Hahaha ouch ! I shall be careful ! :p

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