posted
I wonder if any of the "don't flys" around here would be willing to share their reasonings for such.
I'm sort of one myself; likely the next time I will be on a commercial flight will be when a family emergency next occurs in New York; my Father's going going and subsequent death during 2001 (our last weekend of normalcy was his Memorial) was the last occasion I had to be on an aircraft.
I'm "not afraid'; just don't need the crowds in the terminals and on-board as well as the paranoia. Being retired, I have 52 weeks of vacation a year; I'm further of adequate financial means to use Amtrak sleeper for overnight journeys, or if the journey is by auto, to "tie up' each night at pre-booked hotels 'not exactly' Days Inn or other assorted Mom and Pops (any left out there?).
In this life, I have traveled 3/4th of the way around the world (Vienna to the East, Bangkok to the West) as well as set foot in all fifty states, so I'm not exactly untraveled. But in retirement, such is a "been there done that".
So maybe other "non fliers' will choose to share their thoughts and reasons here.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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It's not that I don't want to fly: I can't fly.
There's something wrong with my eustacian tubes and my eardrum will perforate if I attempt a landing at sea level.
Personally, I would love to be able to jump on an airplane and get to Chicago in just four hours.
So it's really not even a hypothetical question to me any more. I simply cannot fly.
Posts: 324 | From: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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One of my traveling campanions in my youth had a healthy outlook on flying: If they would fasten a chair on top of the wing, fly fifty feet off the ground, and not go over 100 mph, he could tolerate flying. Even when I have flown, I was glued to the window trying to see as much detail as I could below.
When my son worked for America West I got to fly for free. I only did it once. It was still overpriced. On the train I get to move around, talk to different people, and get a look through the window at all the small towns and wilderness.
Though I have not flown since 9/11, I am mostly annoyed by all the security precautions. Personally I would be more afraid of sloppy outsourced plane maintenance than of terrorists.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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I am not a don't-fly -- I'm a private pilot as well as a railfan. I own a small plane, but do not habitually travel from place to place aboard it -- it is too small and, as airplanes go, too slow. I hate to fly commercial, for all the usual reasons. I will if I have to be somewhere and time is pressing. I also will if I am feeling broke; between major cities, flying commercial is much less expensive than an Amtrak sleeper.
I guess that, like Mr. Norman, I am a throwback to the Age of Travel, when the getting there was more of an adventure than just being there. If a train is available, a sleeper room can be had,my exchequer can stand it and time is not of the essence, then I will not fly.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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I don't fly any more. I do not wish to get the hassle at the airports,spend time figuring out what I can take, ,getting to Denver and having my luggage in Miami,Further I do not wish to sit in a seat built for children spacewise with my knees up to my chin trying to dodge the back of the seat in front of me. Lastly the thought of being cooped up in a sardine can for hours on end is too much. I like the train where I can stretch out, walk around, talk to people and enjoy the view. Somehow even if you can see out the window of a plane clouds get rather boring after a while. I guess, Mr. Norman, that about sums it up.
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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Flying makes me tense. While I would take a plane in a family emergency, or maybe if I ever go overseas again (one way; I'd try to come back on the Queen Mary!), I cannot see flying when I don't have to. To me, it is like starting out my vacation by going to the dentist.
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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I am a very nervous flyer. Every takeoff, landing, and change in flight attitude really bums me out. I did recently have a very nice flight (really three flights) from Salt Lake City to New Orleans, but time was of the essence or I would have down the Zephyr/CONO bit. I share Mr. Norman's sentiments almost exactly; I too am retired although not as well-traveled as him.
By the way, it seems that Henry and Gilbert are both from Chicagoland. Sounds like you two guys ought to meet over a deep dish pizza somewhere.
-------------------- Ocala Mike Posts: 1530 | From: Ocala, FL | Registered: Dec 2006
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I'm not a don't fly, but as many others I intensely dislike all the new (but necessary), forever changing carry on board rules, and seats you need a shoe horn to slip into. Also as Train Lady says...having the seat in front of me practically on my knees. And when an aircraft is full to capacity,as they usually are, a tense feeling takes hold of me. All types of travel create tension for me to a certain level. When I travel on a train I can transfer into relax mode much more easily.
Posts: 498 | From: New Hope, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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I do not like to fly. I am too tall (6'4") and a little too wide to fit comfortably in the alloted seat size. I do not like navigating through most airports (although I find Albuquerque's rather nice). I do not like going through security. I do not like the concourses. Just too.......too what everyone else has said.
When I must fly (which is generally twice a year or so), I try to look for direct flights so that I only go through the boarding ritual one time. Fact, I would drive up to five hours to find a non-stop flight. For instance, last summer we needed to visit relatives in Texas. We found a non-stop flight to Austin from Nashville, TN and were happy to drive the four hours to avoid changing planes en route.
So......I'm not a non-flier as such yet but I would like to be by choice. Perhaps my health and my Guest Rewards points will hold out until my retirement and I will be taking the train both ways thereafter.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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I'm disabled and use supplemental oxygen, so it's easier to go by train, and Amtrak allows me to bring my own travel oxygen. The airlines charge up to $100 for travel oxygen.
Besides, I love sitting in the comfy train seat and watching the scenery go by. It's hard to get excited looking at scenery from 30,000 feet (with the exception of traveling to Hawaii -- after being on the plane for several hours, those islands look great even from the sky!)
Posts: 26 | Registered: Dec 2003
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I'm definitely not afraid of flying; I earned my private pilot's license about nine years ago and promptly started flying aerobatics (my private pilot checkride prep, with an instructor, included spins and recovery under the hood at night). However, I've been grounded for medical reasons for the past few years. My last commercial flight was in 2000, from Houston to New Orleans and back.
I'm not completely opposed to flying as a means of transportation; I'm willing to do it on the boss's nickel. I'd even pay for it if I absolutely had to be "there" in a minimum amount of time. However, for my past few vacations, I have had enough time to spend that scheduling a few days for the journey itself has not been a problem. We couldn't have afforded to spend much more than four days at Disneyland to begin with, so the two days coming and going on the Sunset Limited actually extended our vacation and provided some much needed depressurization time after the hustle and bustle of the Mouse House.
To some people's way of thinking the train is too slow, but I look at it this way: We couldn't have driven to California that fast unless we had driven straight through, and if we had tried to drive straight through (with six kids!) everyone would have been wiped out when we got there. As it was, we all arrived in pretty good shape and had a great time.
Sometimes a train is simply not available or too inconvenient, as in my 2003 trip to Durango and Reno. In this event, I prefer to drive, staying off of the interstates and on the "blue highways" as much as possible. Once again, I like to budget time for the journey and avoid the mentality which says to "be there" or bust.
One of these years, I'd like to have enough time and money to be able to take a trip to Europe in style. Ocean liner style, at least one way. My dear Uncle Sam paid for my first around-the-world voyage, aboard the USS Missouri; I'd like to be able to do it again some day on my own nickel. There are few sights to compare with entering Sydney harbor for the first time by sea.
So I take trains, ships, or back roads whenever I can; fly or drive Interstates whenever I must. I am fortunate that over the past few years there has been much more of the former than the latter.
-------------------- --------Eric H. Bowen
Stop by my website: Streamliner Schedules - Historic timetables of the great trains of the past! Posts: 413 | From: Houston, Texas | Registered: Mar 2006
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I'm only a reluctant flyer going from NYC to DC and Boston. The ungodly cab fares from my home or work to LaGuardia, the lines, the surly TSA agents, the "war on toothpaste," the constant weather delays at LGA, gate holds, departure holds, being stacked up waiting for weather to clear, waiting for checked luggage, not being able to use my cell phone or Treo on the plane, no power outlets like there are on the Regional trains...I could go on and on.
As far as the rest of my trips, I'd gladly take the train if I was able to take more time off work and wasn't generally in a hurry to get where I'm going.
Posts: 76 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I have to second the person who has had some serious trouble with the ears when flying . I perforated my left ear drum 15 to 20 years ago, and although it does not bother me much in daily life, the last time I took a plane, the pain was unbelievable and almost unbearable, especially during the landing pattern. Not just annoying or discomfort, really, really bad. I also couldn't hear a thing for many hours after we landed. I love to take the train, but it would be nice to be able to take a plane now and then. Heck, it would make more Amtrak trips possible if I could take a plane one way, and the train the other. If anyone has any good ideas how to eliminate or substantially reduce this ear pain while flying. Let me know. I was chewing gum, but it didn't help enough. Not painful, but as far as Amtrak travel goes, I also remember a late night in the lounge car with everyone's ears 'popping' at the same time as we came out of what I assume was the "cascade tunnel" on the westbound "empire builder".
Posts: 38 | Registered: Dec 2006
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My wife and I have not flown since 1988. She is very up-tight even thinking about it. Since discovering the joys of Amtrak travel in 1986, we now CHOOSE to go by rail, especially since 9/11.
I taught U.S. geography at the college level for years. I enjoyed observing the changng landscapes and taking colored slides from the train, many of which I used in classes. On many occasions, we detrained somewhere, rented a car and visited places where the train doesn't go.
We are retired senior citizens and so are not in a rush to get anywhere. We like the leisure of the train, talking with people in the diner, etc. I can't agree more with the idea that the trip is as important as the destination - sometimes more so.
I know the arguments about how safe flying is, as compared with auto travel for instance. We just prefer the trains.
Posts: 127 | From: Worcester, Massachusetts | Registered: Jan 2007
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I haven't flown since 1998. You see, I have a number of handicaps. I'm 6'1" for starters, and I always got the middle seats on an airplane. I take that back. Once I got a window seat. It was on a DC-9 and I could adore the engine bell the whole way there. I recall going on flights where they never fed us (despite leaving at 10:00 in the morning and arriving at 3:30 in the afternoon) and the ubiquitous "Airline Cocktail," a cup crammed full of ice, four drops of soda and it's full, and they kept the can, mixed with six mini-pretzels. Every time I flew I didn't like it. The first time I was nervous about flying. The second time we sat in Atlanta waiting half an hour to go anywhere. I know that isn't much different from a CSX or UP AmExperience, but you have to stay locked down that whole time. The next time they didn't feed me anything. The time after that was three or four days after TWA 800 exploded when they though it was shot down. The next time we hit minor turbulence and landed in a lightning storm. The last time I was sleep-deprived and couldn't sleep next to that engine. I'd rather take a train which remains in contact with earth. I'd rather get up and spend my own money on what I wanted to eat. I'd rather get the dining car experience where you sit down with three complete strangers and have a decent meal together whilst carrying on conversation. I'd rather take a train where I fit into the seats. I'd rather see where I'm going, even if it is Elkhart and junkyards and bums and the ever-changing Hudson Shantytown. These things are a part of this country where they are conveniently swept under the carpet in airports. And I had to take a bus back home two weekends ago. Buses combine the cramped accomodations of an airplane with the lack of cleanliness in the restroom of a port-a-john (on wheels, swaying back and forth, at 75 miles an hour). Not that the train does a whole lot better, but I almost lost my lunch (didn't eat any, good) with what I saw at the bus station waiting to board. I don't have a problem with flying, it's what I turn into when I get on board with a bunch of uptight people who also can't move around for hours. I'm comparing coaches to coaches. Your basic, rock-bottom fare (long distance) gets you an Amfleet II coach with more legroom and the same physical dimensions of airline first class. Besides, I carry my pocketknife with me everywhere I go. That means I can't take a plane anywhere anymore. The agents were grumbling at me in 1998 when I put it in the tray and sent it through the metal detector. I don't have to twist my spine into knots to look out the window on a train. The windows aren't all scratched up on a train. A little cloudy, yes. Amtrak's employees, while not a glowing ball of sunshine, at least are not the super-fake Disneyesque stewardesses.
I'm taking the train. This year. In a big way.
Posts: 391 | From: Schenectady | Registered: Jan 2002
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I like the topic. I am a former business owner who sold my company six years ago and retired early.
Prior to retiring I was lucky to get 2 or 3 weeks vacation a year. With so little time there was no option but to fly to our destinations. Go go go to relax.
Other than a trip to the Caribbean for some scuba diving I really no longer fly. It is my choice. The flying portion itself does not bother me at all. Getting to the plane and off the ground is the hassle.
If my wife and I are going somewhere I usually leave a week early by train (she is still employed) and she flies in to meet me.
I made the decision not to fly and just slow my life down a bit. Riding the train has helped accomplish that task. I too have the financial means to use the bedrooms on the trains and stay in whatever hotel I choose but must thank my wife for her contribution to my train travel. She makes full use of her Guest Rewards Mastercard.
I live in south Florida and there is nothing like having my wife drop me off at the station on her way to work ( 20 minute ride) for whatever trip I am about to undertake. I step out of the car, walk 20 feet to an outdoor bench, sit and read the morning paper for a few minutes. Shortly after, I am boarding and enjoying a hot cup of coffee in my Viewliner bedroom.
I enjoy both meeting the people on the train and just sitting for hours looking out my bedroom window. I schedule overnight layovers so I never have a connection issue. (Always overnight on my western trips in Chicago. Pizza and/or a Cubs game)
Ray
Posts: 70 | From: West Palm Beach, Fl. USA | Registered: Apr 2004
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I'm a dont fly as long as I dont have to. I spent hours last July waiting to take off in Washington DC and Chicago and promised myself I wouldnt fly again if I didnt have to. It seems to me that the airlines are doing this more and more often. It started out being a rare occurence to wait hours before take-off and that was usually due to bad weather, but now it's almost routine. I also resent having my bags searched on every flight out of Eugene. They are often not zipped back up and once that cost me my meds. Expensive meds at that. No if Im going to be delayed for hours I much prefer the comfort of the train.
Posts: 139 | From: myrtle creek oregon | Registered: Jul 2006
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I've become a reluctant flyer. I love flying, but the hassles of the airports, a few odd encounters with nearly stolen luggage, and the carry on restrictions have made my wife and I less than enthusiastic about flying. When I do fly, and for the past two years, it's been carry on luggage only. No more checking bags. Also, I'll spend the extra cash to fly Midwest Airlines when I can. Direct flights to most major cities from Milwaukee, and all first class seating (two by two). I flew them last week for work, Milwaukee to Newark. It was a pretty hassle free and comfortable trip.
My wife went to the Wisconsin Dells via Amtrak while I was gone. She loved it. We're looking forward to our train trip west in May.
-------------------- Chuck
“Adventure is just bad planning.” - Roald Amundsen Posts: 80 | From: Wisconsin | Registered: Feb 2007
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I am very pleased with the maturity shown here by respondents. This is a topic that could have easily 'gone South' with a pile of 'save our trains' and other assorted advocacy group rhetoric. At an unmoderated forum I could have lived to regret such.
But the responses all seem to be that of the "prefer not' genre, and certainly respected amongst a group that considers 'getting there is half the fun" (an actual tagline used by a transatlantic steamship company).
Let's hear some more.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: I am very pleased with the maturity shown here by respondents.
Man! Here I was about to be all immature and stuff. I don't fly because I am a big guy (hence the name) and I like having space to spread out. Even on Amtrak, I prefer the Superliners because there is so much more space. Planes also miss the silence of a train at 3am. I can never get over how quiet it is in a coach car with 70 of your closest friends sleeping and two big ponies up front chugging away. All you hear is that soft clicking of the steel.
Ok, I did it to myself again, off to book a trip! :)
posted
In an emergency I could fly. I prefer not to for several reasons. Foremost is that I am bothered by claustrophobia the severity of which can vary from extreme discomfort to full-blown panic attack. Add to that the hassle of today's airport procedures and, except in an emergency, it is "Don't Fly" for me.
Dee
Posts: 460 | From: North Central CT | Registered: May 2004
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Mr. Norman, as always, is an articulate and affable moderator, leading a very civilized discussion about a very civilized topic, that of train travel.
I have always loved rail travel and prior to my complete abandonment of air travel in 1999, tried to ride trains whenever I could. As a child I rode Amtrak in its infancy, and as an adult I rode it when time and circumstances permitted. This was, admittedly, infrequent, but I did ride Amtrak periodically, including--most happpily--during my honeymoon.
Throughout the nineties I found myself gradually becoming more frustrated with the air travel conditions described by members here. In the late eighties I had had occasion to work with several former airline employees, and I was very unimpressed with their behind-the-scenes tales. While I realize that raconteurs in every industry could share similarly unflattering anecdotes, I tended to recall their stories while I was experiencing the worst that air travel had to offer.
I also began to become increasingly anxious about turbulence, and motion of the aircraft during take-offs, landings, poor weather conditions, and just about any time that additional motion was experienced. I suppose that I felt that I was not in control. After one particularly turbulent episode in 1999, when I found myself on a typically crowded night flight, I opted to return by train and have not looked back since. Immediately I was reminded of the joys of train travel, and I began to take trips expressly designed to bring out that joy.
I did not start out never intending to fly again, but events over the years--obviously 9-11 being one of them--seemed to point to the inevitable conclusion that air travel and I had parted ways. I am very happy to live as I do, even though it sometimes means not attending conferences or other functions if it is not convenient to do so by train. Yet I still manage to take several train trips each year. But my life is structured this way and I am more than content. Posts: 255 | Registered: Nov 2001
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I took my 12 year old grandson from Tampa to Eugene Oregon after Thanksgiving and put him on a plane back to Florida. I asked him how he liked the trip and he replied "the train was better than flying". Out of the mouth of babes. I had never rode the train until 2003 and now I enjoy it so much I do it for fun. Being retired and not having time constraints helps but if air travel hadnt started to get so bad I would have never known how wonderful it is to ride the train.
Posts: 139 | From: myrtle creek oregon | Registered: Jul 2006
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Back in may 2006, I posted, in another forum, some of the following…
“Long distance travel for me, that's San Diego to New Orleans (home town/relatives) Michigan (relatives), Virginia (relatives) by car is out of the question, by personal choice, because I just don't want to deal with” …... and I’ll leave the rest out of that one.
“My wife is capable of driving long distances. However, she cannot fly due to what I call the triple threat. 1) She cannot physically handle the change in cabin pressure. Hell, she cannot handle going over mountains without something happening to her inner ear! She can't equalize the pressure. 2) She cannot handle the claustrophobia of being together with that many people. 3) she cannot handle the sometimes violent motion which occurs during flight (probably has a lot to do with a fear of flying in general, being 35,000 feet above ground without a net.) I've never flown with her, but I've been told they had to pry her fingers out of the arm rest of a Michigan flight and she had to be sedated at her destination.”
I also described in that post, some then recent flight experiences I had to endure for work. Here, suffice it to say they were uncomfortable.
Since then, I’ve had additional experiences in traveling by airline, and car.
By airline:
With different carriers of course, but, in one instance, in order to get back to Virginia Beach for my brother’s funeral (on time), I had to book red eye(s), which had 2 layovers (Houston and Atlanta, of 3 and 4 hours each) and in each instance, had to travel between terminals each time. Total time for a cross country trip: about 15 hrs.
Another time had me getting back to New Orleans through Las Vegas and Houston, again with extended length layovers. This time, 2 of the aircraft were smaller than I’ve ever flown in, and with the most uncomfortable seating ever. Total time across: 12 hours.
On still another flight to New Orleans, this time through LAX, I abandoned the trip. At LAX, the plane, after backing away from the terminal, showed engine malfunction, and returned to the gate. The airline then allowed us to sit there for 2 ½ hrs as they were attempting to “fix” the issue. When they gave up, we had all missed our connecting flights to connections east.
On a trip back from New Orleans, the airline had previously delayed the turn around flight from Denver to New Orleans for 4 hrs at Denver. As we departed 4 hrs late from New Orleans, we arrived in a blizzard in Denver, and obviously had missed the connecting flight back to San Diego. They also closed the airport and I slept in the terminal with 400 close friends.
By motor vehicle:
My mother passed away in October. I was returning to New Orleans with my wife for Mom’s funeral. Knowing we were going to return with some stuff from the house, we determined to drive. It started raining just west of El Paso and it did not stop till we hit New Orleans. Not the piddling water that passes for rain in Southern California, but honest to God, can’t see 4 feet in front of you, downpours, with lightning. That stretch of almost no civilization between Tucson and Houston on Interstate 10 was frightening during that time, from both the weather and acquaintances on the road. We saw a total of 3 fatal accidents on that trip. My wife got an ear infection after that trip, for her ears would not clear after climbing a couple of mountain ranges. And finally, she has decided never again for such a long trip via motor vehicle.
If we could have conveniently taken the Sunset back to New Orleans, on any day of the week (to meet our schedule), and could have relied on its’ schedule, we would have. We’ve taken that trip there and back 3 times before. Driving one way took 4 days, (1/2 day, full day, full day, 1/2 day) to stay safe and alert, with 3 overnight stays in hotels. That’s longer that it would have taken via the Sunset Limited.
We have been able to take shorter vacations in Los Angeles area, Santa Barbara, Oxnard and Solvang, car free. We’ve taken longer vacations across the country to Seattle, Virginia, Michigan and New Orleans, all by train, all with less hassle than that which I’ve described above. Not that they did not have their trials and tribulations, they did. But somehow, it’s different.
“One thing about trains...it doesn't matter where they're going. What matters is deciding to get on!"
-------------------- Ernie Posts: 30 | From: San Diego, CA, USA | Registered: Sep 2000
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I had to fly from Tampa to Calif. and Oregon in the summer of 2005 for family emergencies. I did it, but it wasn't easy for a white-knuckle flyer.
Flying is uncomfortable. Discontinuing decent food was a huge mistake.
I've always loved trains, though on the west coast of Florida, it's a challenge to board one.
Discovered cruising last Nov. and love it -- once you're on board, you don't have to do anything but have a good time and meals are excellent. Crusing again in March.
Posts: 133 | From: Florida, U.S.A. | Registered: May 2004
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I suppose I should mention one more factor. During the period that I was learning to fly, I was also working at Hobby airport, behind the scenes as a maintenance man. I got to see a lot of the baggage handlers in action....
I don't plan to ever check luggage on an airline again, at least until they come out with an armor-plated suitcase. Some of those guys seemed to be competing against each other for distance. They could fling those suitcases 20, 30 feet!
-------------------- --------Eric H. Bowen
Stop by my website: Streamliner Schedules - Historic timetables of the great trains of the past! Posts: 413 | From: Houston, Texas | Registered: Mar 2006
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Last time I flew was in March 2000 to Las Vegas- I will fly if time demands it, or if the place is (like Las Vegas) unserevd by train or (like Europe or China) you have to fly to get there. I'm not afraid to fly, I no longer fear death as I did on my first flights. But if time and money allow it, I'm on the train!
Posts: 510 | From: Richmond VA USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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I end up flying more than I would like to because of work, but I hate it. I am 6'3" and, though a bit overweight, I am just a big guy anyway. If I were skin and bones, the mere size of my skeletal self would be a little too big for those dang chairs.
I don't like the hassle. I tend to just check eveything but a small bag with some reading material, pencil and paper, and a spare change of underwear in case my luggage ends up in Orlando. I don't like having to take my shoes off and put my belt through security. I don't like being glared at as if I were a suspect. I don't like the fact that my wife, whose father was from Lebanon, seems to get hassled way more than would be random.
I don't like not being able to get up and move around. I don't like (usually) not being able to see what's below. I don't like arriving in airports. I much prefer train stations and depots because they tend to be much more central. The space on a train makes me more civil, and, I think, tends to encourage people to interact with one another, whereas the tight quarters on a plane tend to make people turn inward if not become mildly hostile to the jerk who keeps elbowing you every time he turns a page, or the woman who just shoved your knees downward and knocked your shins when throwing her seat all the way back.
I am not afraid of flying... or at least not for the usual reasons. I figure that my odds of running into terrorists are far lower than the odds that the plane may suffer after being worked on by a mechanic who couldn't help but let his mind wander after being informed that his pension had just gotten punted.
I don't like feeling dehydrated by all that elevation change and pressurized recirculated air. I don't like being cramped up. I don't like those tiny little bathrooms. I don't like running into those ridiculous signs in the airport that tell me what color the terror alert is, as if most of us even know the little color-coding scheme or can even do anything about it while on a plane.
I don't like coming off the plane and having to wait for my ears to adjust from the constant jet engine noise. I don't like being forbidden to carry a bottle of water through security. I don't like having to explain that my empty bottle, which I plan on filling at the first fountain after security, is in fact not a prohibited item in that it is EMPTY.
I don't like watching them wave preferred group passengers through the uncrowded security line while the rest of us have to run the entire cattle chute to be checked out by a small portion of the total capacity of the the security stations (e.g., in Portland, they frequently have 1/2 or fewer of the stations open).
Posts: 4 | From: St. Johns, Portland, Oregon | Registered: Feb 2007
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The hassle of driving to and from airports seems, understandably, one major reason for favoring the passenger train for travel. For me, even with all the problems with Amtrak, it is the only means for both fun and scenic travel...I always incorperate train travel into any vacation plans.
I would really like to see more secure parking lots at small-town Amtrak stops. For example, Martinez and Davis are good access points for both the Zephyr and Coast Starlight. If they had multiple-car, very secure parking, I think more people would be interested in taking the train. I would not drive up to either Davis or Martinez and park for more than a few days. Even entirely new stations, with easy road or freeway acces as well as large, secure parking, I think would vastly increase public enthusiasm.
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
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