Move over, United

[HankB]

For international flights - admittedly, nothing recent - I've received better service on both South African Airways and Air Zimbabwe (!) than on U.S. carriers.

[dogmush]

I get better service on the lowest bidder, contracted, not a real airline, flying DC-10's from the late 80's, flights that the DOD hires to fly soldiers into Kuwait than most US flag carriers.

Ponder that thought for a second.

[freakazoid]

Don't fly American.

I'm kinda stuck on intra-US flights, but I make it a point , when crossing an ocean, to not fly American flagged airlines.  SAS, British Airways or maybe KLM going east, Korean Air, JAL or Quantas going west.  Yes it usually costs a little more, but it's worth it.

I flew across the pacific on both JAL and Korean Airlines in A380's.  Those things are comfortable and pretty relaxing even in coach.  And the service is exemplary.

ETA: My experience  has been that non-US flagged flights are less likely to overbook as well, so you are more likely to have an empty seat next to you, or avoid the middle on widebodies.

My wife will only fly JAL when traveling overseas. I've always just gone with whatever is the cheapest whenever I fly. Flying United or whatever has never bothered me. The service is much better though on JAL.

[Ben]

Well, if true, this should prove interesting:

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2017/07/18/ann-coulter-believes-delta-flap-was-politically-motivated-posts-insider-info-from-flight-attendant.html

[MechAg94]

Well, if true, this should prove interesting:

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2017/07/18/ann-coulter-believes-delta-flap-was-politically-motivated-posts-insider-info-from-flight-attendant.html

It guess that should surprise me but it doesn't.  We have already seen what some of these people will do and how self righteous they can be.

[Hawkmoon]

Makes sense to me. But I rarely encounter a conspiracy theory I'm not willing to swallow. However, Occam's razor -- why else assign an exttra-length seat that was pre-booked by a 6-foot tall passenger to someone who doesn't need the legroom?

[RoadKingLarry]

I haven't had need to fly since before 9/11. My last several air trips were between Tulsa and Dallas on Southwest in 2000 and early 2001.
Those were a bit of a culture shock compared to the flights I had taken in the early and mid '80s. People used to at least sort of dress up a bit to fly.
Hell, even I'd don at least a sport jacket and tie and nicer slacks if I wasn't in uniform, it's just the way it was done.
And, back in those days it wasn't uncommon to actually have empty seats on a plane. Once flew from Orlando to Tulsa on a L1011. I had the full middle row to myself and the stewardess showed me how to fix it so I could lay down and sleep.
Flew from Oakland to Tulsa via Denver where we had more flight attendants than passengers. They moved everyone up to 1st class and one friendly stewardess sat next to me and visited all the way from Denver to Tulsa.
Flew Pan-Am from Manila to Honolulu with a 8 hour layover at Narita (Tokyo) First leg was on a smaller plane but from Tokyo to Honolulu was a 747 and possibly because I was in uniform I was moved up to 1st class. I was already in Clipper Class which was pretty darn nice.
It would take a hell of a lot to get me back into an airliner today.