Post your flight hassles at MyBadFlight.com
David Pogue is happy about a new website that lets you share your bad flight experiences, called MyBadFlight.com.
For Pogue, it all comes down to Chicago.
In March, a series of canceled flights meant that I spent 20 hours getting from New York to Omaha, thanks to “weather” at Chicago O’Hare.LinkIn April, I was supposed to speak in Palm Springs, Calif. But all my flights were canceled, thanks to “weather” at Chicago O’Hare. So the only way I could get there in time was to fly to LA, rent a car and drive three hours through the middle of the night.
In May, I got to sleep for 2.5 hours—on a cot in a utility room at a sold-out hotel—after my original flight was canceled, thanks to “weather” at Chicago O’Hare.
Also in May, my flight circled for so long over Chicago O’Hare (thanks to “weather”), the plane ran out of fuel and had to land in South Bend, Indiana. By the time I finally arrived in Sacramento, it was 6:30 a.m… just in time to get ready for my 8:30 am keynote talk.
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wow. i can't stand hearing my sister's stories about her flight problems. i can't imagine reading strangers' accounts...
If it takes you 3 hours to drive from LA to Palm Springs in the middle of the night, you might want to go over 30 mph. I can make it in 90 minutes at rush hour.
Delays at one of the world's (the world's at times in the past) most busiest airports? *shrugs* Now I've heard everything!
Oh and for good measure: "weather".
It's a little like the guy who went to the doctor's office and said "Doc, it hurts when I do this." Doctor said (wait for it): "So don't do that!"
Anyone who allows themselves to be hubbed through O'Hare deserves their dice roll.
Always choose second-tier regional hubs (Minneapolis, Cincinnati etc) if humanly possible. And don't book a tight layover on a route you don't personally know tends to fly on time unless you have other options in case of failure.
This website is not ready for prime time. Looks like it's buggy as hell, already has spam posts, and doesn't have a preview so there are tons of blank entries.
Why the scare quotes around "weather"?
As Patrick Smith points out in his excellent "Ask the Pilot" column, it is "weather." Pilots are guiltier of oversimplification than lying to you:
The whole column is a good read and well worth your time, incidentally.I highly recommend Flightstats. It's a free registration, and you get historical ontime performance of airlines, airports, and specific flights. This way, if you're considering a particular flight, check all the legs with Flightstats to see if any stand a good (say more than 75%) chance of being on time.
Flying to Las Vegas has gotten me to a plane flying home a couple of times, and for less money than the suggested hubs. Give it a look next time some says "can't".
Hmm, a web site where people get to bitch about flying. The purpose, again?
No airline is going to read it, and it certainly won't fix genuine issues. I'm a *frequent* flier, and appreciate what enormous cock-ups the airlines can manage. That said, the crap I hear from 90% of the public when they bitch about flying is so ridiculously uninformed I almost think they deserve whatever happened to them.
Oh, wait. Maybe there *is* a purpose to the site - it'll keep them all in one place.
the site is crap. No commenting system, horrible late 90s look and feel. A good idea, doomed to fail because of poor execution.
Y cn’t cntrl th rlns, nly mng yr bkngs nd vlblty t thm bttr.
Try sng TrpSync, (trpsync.cm). TrpSync s th nwst nd mst ffcnt nln bsnss trvl bkng tl tht’s spcfclly dsgnd t ccmmdt SMB bsnss trvlrs nd ths n thr cmpny wh bk thr trvl. TrpSync s fr t s nd thr r n bkng fs.
TrpSync’s ftrs ncld;
• TrpSync s Cmpltly Mbl – Y cn bk flght, htl rm r rntl cr rght frm yr wb-nbl PD r Smrtphn!! Nvr gt stck t n rprt gn.
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• n ffc Sltn - TrpSync nbls srs t bk nd mng trvl fr n r mltpl trvlrs, frm n tl. TrpSync s ffcnt, sr t s nd mr cnmcl thn ny thr mthd f bkng bsnss trvl.
• Flght lrts – Ntfctns v ml r SMS txt mssg fr dlys, cnclltns, tc.
• Wthr nd rprt nf – Chck th wthr fr yr dstntn nd fnd t bt th rprt
• Scrty Wt-tms – Yr flght mght b n tm bt y cn sly mss t f th scrty wt-tms xcd th mnt f tm y’v llttd yrslf.
• Dprtr nd rrvl nf – llws y t s hw bsy th rprt/rln s by dsplyng ctl rl-tm nfrmtn.
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Chck t TrpSync, (trpsync.cm). t’s th bslt bst nln bsnss trvl bkng tl, nd t’s fr.
The quotes belong around "weather" because airlines will take care of you in the event of delays due to anything other than those due to weather. Since if you trace back in the right way, any event in the world can be said to have been affected by weather, airlines give *that* as the reason not because they're oversimplifying but to dodge responsibility.
As Patrick Smith also notes, the real problem is that airlines are cramming more small commuter flights into increasingly tight schedules and into limited space at airports. No wonder that when they do that, "weather" suddenly keeps getting in the way.
MB (9), just think: if you'd put a little more work into it, you could have written a really supercilious comment.
I have to disagree with you. If the site starts getting enough traffic for its reviews to significantly affect consumer buying decisions, you can bet the airlines will take an interest in it.
DavidS (11), if you'll send us a note saying "I promise I'll never again post a press release in a Boing Boing comment thread," I'll give you back your posting privileges.