Ego Libre

Lately there has been a lot of turmoil in my personal life. I tried to sum up what I have learned from it for you. I thought that sharing it my help anyone in similar situation. But I failed. I wrote several pages and I just didn’t like it at all. I could not get to the simple core. And that’s when I remembered Indexed - a fantastic site where Jessica Hagy will you think a bit every day.
I realized that few scribbles are worth thousands of words. This is a no brainer, but I left many things open to interpretation. So indexed-inspired lessons for love and relationships.

I have returned to Japan today, so holiday is over and I have to return to my daily life. The journey was actually pretty good, all I had to do was sit for about 11 hours on a direct flight Copenhagen - Tokyo with SAS. What did happen though is that once again I had time to think about airlines, the service they provide, marketing and life in general.

I like SAS. I am even a proud member of the Star Alliance Silver card and with a bit of luck, I will get my greedy little fingers on Gold one later on this year. But not all is swell. SAS pissed me off again. It’s nothing earth-shattering, but I am just annoyed on people running this company (and unfortunately many others). When you board SAS flight, all is going fine, you go through the usual routine, cabin crew cross-check etc. But what differentiates SAS from other airlines that I usually fly with (ANA, JAL, CSA and even Air France) is that the SAS flight attendants will announce after take-off that in economic class and economy extra only one alcoholic beverage will be served before the meal and one after the meal. Afterwards these items can be purchased for 4 Euros each!

Give me a break! Seriously this is ridiculous. Every time I hear that I feel like vomiting. I mean people pay serious money for these tickets (to give you an idea Copenhagen - Tokyo in economy costs about 1000 Euros. Almost 40% more than for example Lufthansa) and these people make you feel like you are flying some stinking local budget airline? I know that maybe in States this happens more often, but seriously, how much can they make, eh? Is the 200 Euro per flight going to offset how I (and maybe many other customers) will feel insulted and ripped off? And you know what, call it childish, but just BECAUSE they said this I had whiskey and coke twice during the flight. Normally I would probably even drop booze, but just because they said so I thought, ah well then I might as well have a drink. So basically by discouraging me to drink they cause an exact opposite.

And you know what. It could be just me, but when I was asking for the second, the attendant gave me THE LOOK. Did I imagine it? Were the eyes really telling, “you scum, why don’t you rather drink water.” Or did the announce just make me paranoid and feel like I am just pushing the boundaries of the airline’s hospitality (which I paid of course). I will never know. I just know that if there won’t be a rule like that, I would simply think that the attendant is having a bad day.

Why do companies do this? Is there any other reason? I hate when cost-cutting gets ridiculous. I feel that flying is more and more about being trapped in net of rip-offs.

You cannot even bring your drink into the airport-safe zone. OK, so the profits of airport kiosks as well as airlines selling food on board (SAS does it on its many European flights) will rise.

You are not even allowed to bring your deodorant and toothpaste unless its in a plastic bag. I mean WTF?!

And what about other benefits such as miles? Black-out dates, rising “prices” of benefits, discounted economy mileage, no upgrades…. All in all the miles are getting pretty much useless. That is if you earn enough of them before they expire.

And what about the lowering standard of business class and its benefits. Now we also have economy extra or economy flex on many flights. Yes, pay twice as much and get 10% wider seat, 15% more recline and breakfast consisting of more then a yoghurt and juice. Oh boy, if anyone has some tips on good airlines especially when it comes to service, I want to hear it. So far I must stick with ANA is the best airline I have ever flown with. Maybe I should make my own personal list. Is it useful for anything? Maybe for future reference. I have a reason to like or dislike each one of them. Let’s see which one will get my business in future when I seriously start flying on business. Memorable airline experiences:

The Good:
ANA
JAL
SWISS

The So-So:
SAS
Czech Airlines
Lufthansa
KLM
Air Canada

The Bad:
British Airways
Air France

And a special category for the airline that still pisses me off the most:
Sterling