10 ms·

I am the opposite of you. I live in NYC and my parents in Boston, and I take the train all the time. Flying is very unpleasant, as you still have to deal with

I am the opposite of you. I live in NYC and my parents in Boston, and I take the train all the time. Flying is very unpleasant, as you still have to deal with getting in and out of airports, the whole stay in the TSA line, remove your shoes and belt thing. You are completely omitting the security crap you have to deal with air travel. Meanwhile the train trip starts and ends in downtown. (I live in manhattan and can just walk to the train station). Also, just the taxi fare from JFK to Manhattan is about 70+ tips. Sure, you can take the subway ($8), but that will add another 1hr to your trip.

carbocation 5y ago
Doesn't really strike me as the opposite. If the GP post is talking about being on time for specific meetings and you are talking about visiting family, you're optimizing for different objectives. Personally, I use the train vs fly to NY from BOS depending on my objective.
lddemi 5y ago
your air travel could be significantly optimized with TSA Precheck ($20year) and Clear ($120/year) to effectively eliminate security headaches
- samstave 5y ago
  And into what little database are my deets being entered for eternity by using either of these options, and to whom does the visibility to this data go?
  - iso1210 5y ago
    Presumably the same database your details go in anyway, just with less security theatre.
    - Scoundreller 5y ago
      Yeah, we can’t make it look like we’re relaxing security, but if we charge you an application, sit on it, and make felons lives worse, that’s cool.
      - sokoloff 5y ago
        Looking over the felonies for which TSA PreCheck is unavailable, it doesn’t appear to a thoughtlessly compiled make-felons-suffer list: https://www.tsa.gov/disqualifying-offenses-factors https://www.tsa.gov/disqualifying-offenses-factors
        Kye 5y ago
        I can see it for Part C, but why A and B? If someone's been charged and done whatever was required to be free enough that they can fly, then that should be the end of it. Especially things on that list. If treason isn't enough for the government to execute them or lock them up and throw away the key, then it shouldn't matter to the TSA.
        sokoloff 5y ago
        If you can’t see how felony conviction for having illegal explosives might reasonably preclude you from reduced security screening, I’m not sure anything I can say will convince you.
        iso1210 5y ago
        So you should have a situation where someone who hasn't been caught with illegal explosives can pay some money and take those explosives on a plane? That sounds sensible.
        Kye 5y ago
        If you can't see how the government continuing to treat someone like a criminal after they've paid their debt to society is wrong, I'm not sure anything I can say will convince you.
  - TigeriusKirk 5y ago
    Your deets are going in a little database every time you buy a train ticket.
    - Symbiote 5y ago
      Can you not buy anonymous tickets, for example at a counter in the station or from a machine? There are still enough machines that take cash that this is a practical option in most of Europe. Buying a ticket in advance works, but requires a trip to the station.
- standardUser 5y ago
  Getting to/from the airport is the much larger headache than security in a lot of places, especially in NYC. Even if you're willing to pay $50-$100 each way for a car, it's not always easy to get a car and it's a long drive. It takes almost no time for Manhattanites to get to a train and costs virtually nothing.
- fruffy 5y ago
  Why would you pay extra and deal with the additional headache of being screened/having to enter your private data if you could just take the more convenient and largely anonymous train for under a $100? A train where you are not squeezed into the seat like a sardine? I am personally also really uncomfortable with the notion that you have to pay an additional convenience fee just to have a mildly more pleasant travel experience. Coach class should not mean that you are cattle.
  - jdavis703 5y ago
    People in coach can still use PreCheck. Work only pays for economy tickets, so I can tell you PreCheck still works fine. Also, FYI there are two price levels for TSA screening. One is the TSA PreCheck, the other is the 9/11 security fee everyone has to pay. A universal PreCheck would probably mean increasing the security fee.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  Clear is one step too far to paying for freedom. Global entry money at least goes to one gang I already pay protection money to, the government. Clear is a non government gang that somehow got the ability to get paid in exchange for giving people more freedom.
  - bitwize 5y ago
    That's how America has always worked, though: freedom is an asset you buy with money. They're just saying the quiet part out loud now.
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      When you buy it from the government, at least there is a veneer of it having come from democratically elected leaders and going back to a pot of resources that are democratically spent. As in there was zero reason for the government to give Clear a cut of the money, other than outright corruption. They already have the department of homeland security.
samstave 5y ago
I remember one time, before Uber existed, I was flying to LAX from SFO. The cab from my apartment on Upper Market, in SF to SFO was $65 before 'tip'. 13 miles. The FLIGHT from SFO to LAX was $99. https://i.imgur.com/uXCj3MR.png https://i.imgur.com/uXCj3MR.png After this, I had several Black Cars that I made contacts with the drivers - and would call them for rides to SFO (I flew out every sunday morning at 7am - and it was a nightmare getting cabs (I was banned by several taxi companies in SF because I would call three diff taxi services and 2 out of 3 would never show up... but apparently they shared dispatching info because the dispatchers knew that my number was calling multiple taxis... and the guy told me "your banned for calling multiple cabs!" to which I replied "because you never show up and I need to get to the airport (said in a George Costanza voice)) Then Uber was born...
- asciimike 5y ago
  I paid $65.28 (before tip) for a Lyft from downtown to SFO last night (14.27 miles), for a $120 flight to DEN. I'd like to think that Uber/Lyft changed the industry for the better (and in many ways they did: app is easier, upfront pricing, easier/safer payment, more accountability through location tracking and ratings), but I don't think that the underlying economics have changed all that much (other than the period of time where Sand Hill Road was footing half the bill).
- clairity 5y ago
  why not take bart, especially anywhere near market? it's roughly $10 to either sfo or oak and pretty reliable. in LA, the flyaway is affordable and relatively reliable too, if your destination is near downtown, or on the red or orange lines.
  - samstave 5y ago
    my flights were early on sunday mornings.... bart is not an option at my timings.
systemvoltage 5y ago
People from the 1950's would be shocked at today's infrastructure progress in the US. "What!?? You guys are still traveling at the same or worse speeds 70 years later!? What happened?" Also, it took 2x the cost and 8 years to build an access bridge to Golden Gate bridge than it did to build the bridge itself (3.5 years in 1930s) accounting for inflation. Our government is so dysfunctional, it is hard to imagine where my taxes are going. I live in Bay Area - No solution to homelessness here, pot holes everywhere, trash on highways that sometimes make me wonder if I am in a developing nation, new construction is a forgotten concept, complete gridlock in the CA gov for issuing permits of any high rises or building new subway systems, security and crime through the roof, etc. I am extremely against everything about CA government. It is rotten to the deepest core. Anything it does bites dust. The entrepreneur spirit and its natural beauty is what's keeping it relevant. There is no point in voting any of these people out, because the replacement is exactly the same kind of people. Besides the tech industry, people here have no optimism, they're more pro China than pro US, mostly busy destroying this great state.
- iso1210 5y ago
  > There is no point in voting any of these people out, because the replacement is exactly the same kind of people So why don't you stand?
  - LeanderK 5y ago
    > So why don't you stand? I am not an american, so I wonder whether it's realistic? I imagine the US as a 2 party system, so if you're unsatisfied with the performance with one party and unable to vote for the other because of their actual political stance...what are you're left with? In germany we have a spectrum of pasties and therefore i have second choice, a choice to build up pressure against the party I am unsatisfied with even if I feel like I belong to this party. What do you do? Vote for independents? Do they even stand a chance?
    - sokoloff 5y ago
      > In germany we have a spectrum of pasties and therefore i have second choice That’s obviously a typo but, in this context, it’s hilarious.
diebeforei485 5y ago
I usually took LIRR from JFK when I visited NYC, which is faster and more comfortable than the subway and often faster than Uber/taxi. Penn Station is convenient for most of Manhattan, and Atlantic Terminal is good enough for the parts of Brooklyn I typically stayed at. A bit more expensive than the subway, especially during peak hours, but worth it IMO.
fennecfoxen 5y ago
> $70 plus tips LIRR into Penn. $16 air train + peak direction ticket (you can buy the latter on your phone) and much faster (20 minutes after you catch it at Jamaica). Less annoying going into Penn than going out, at least.

carbocation 5y ago

Doesn't really strike me as the opposite. If the GP post is talking about being on time for specific meetings and you are talking about visiting family, you're optimizing for different objectives. Personally, I use the train vs fly to NY from BOS depending on my objective.

lddemi 5y ago

your air travel could be significantly optimized with TSA Precheck ($20year) and Clear ($120/year) to effectively eliminate security headaches

samstave 5y ago
And into what little database are my deets being entered for eternity by using either of these options, and to whom does the visibility to this data go?
- iso1210 5y ago
  Presumably the same database your details go in anyway, just with less security theatre.
  - Scoundreller 5y ago
    Yeah, we can’t make it look like we’re relaxing security, but if we charge you an application, sit on it, and make felons lives worse, that’s cool.
    - sokoloff 5y ago
      Looking over the felonies for which TSA PreCheck is unavailable, it doesn’t appear to a thoughtlessly compiled make-felons-suffer list: https://www.tsa.gov/disqualifying-offenses-factors https://www.tsa.gov/disqualifying-offenses-factors
      - Kye 5y ago
        I can see it for Part C, but why A and B? If someone's been charged and done whatever was required to be free enough that they can fly, then that should be the end of it. Especially things on that list. If treason isn't enough for the government to execute them or lock them up and throw away the key, then it shouldn't matter to the TSA.
        sokoloff 5y ago
        If you can’t see how felony conviction for having illegal explosives might reasonably preclude you from reduced security screening, I’m not sure anything I can say will convince you.
        iso1210 5y ago
        So you should have a situation where someone who hasn't been caught with illegal explosives can pay some money and take those explosives on a plane? That sounds sensible.
        Kye 5y ago
        If you can't see how the government continuing to treat someone like a criminal after they've paid their debt to society is wrong, I'm not sure anything I can say will convince you.
- TigeriusKirk 5y ago
  Your deets are going in a little database every time you buy a train ticket.
  - Symbiote 5y ago
    Can you not buy anonymous tickets, for example at a counter in the station or from a machine? There are still enough machines that take cash that this is a practical option in most of Europe. Buying a ticket in advance works, but requires a trip to the station.
standardUser 5y ago
Getting to/from the airport is the much larger headache than security in a lot of places, especially in NYC. Even if you're willing to pay $50-$100 each way for a car, it's not always easy to get a car and it's a long drive. It takes almost no time for Manhattanites to get to a train and costs virtually nothing.
fruffy 5y ago
Why would you pay extra and deal with the additional headache of being screened/having to enter your private data if you could just take the more convenient and largely anonymous train for under a $100? A train where you are not squeezed into the seat like a sardine? I am personally also really uncomfortable with the notion that you have to pay an additional convenience fee just to have a mildly more pleasant travel experience. Coach class should not mean that you are cattle.
- jdavis703 5y ago
  People in coach can still use PreCheck. Work only pays for economy tickets, so I can tell you PreCheck still works fine. Also, FYI there are two price levels for TSA screening. One is the TSA PreCheck, the other is the 9/11 security fee everyone has to pay. A universal PreCheck would probably mean increasing the security fee.
lotsofpulp 5y ago
Clear is one step too far to paying for freedom. Global entry money at least goes to one gang I already pay protection money to, the government. Clear is a non government gang that somehow got the ability to get paid in exchange for giving people more freedom.
- bitwize 5y ago
  That's how America has always worked, though: freedom is an asset you buy with money. They're just saying the quiet part out loud now.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    When you buy it from the government, at least there is a veneer of it having come from democratically elected leaders and going back to a pot of resources that are democratically spent. As in there was zero reason for the government to give Clear a cut of the money, other than outright corruption. They already have the department of homeland security.

samstave 5y ago

I remember one time, before Uber existed, I was flying to LAX from SFO. The cab from my apartment on Upper Market, in SF to SFO was $65 before 'tip'. 13 miles. The FLIGHT from SFO to LAX was $99. https://i.imgur.com/uXCj3MR.png https://i.imgur.com/uXCj3MR.png After this, I had several Black Cars that I made contacts with the drivers - and would call them for rides to SFO (I flew out every sunday morning at 7am - and it was a nightmare getting cabs (I was banned by several taxi companies in SF because I would call three diff taxi services and 2 out of 3 would never show up... but apparently they shared dispatching info because the dispatchers knew that my number was calling multiple taxis... and the guy told me "your banned for calling multiple cabs!" to which I replied "because you never show up and I need to get to the airport (said in a George Costanza voice)) Then Uber was born...

asciimike 5y ago
I paid $65.28 (before tip) for a Lyft from downtown to SFO last night (14.27 miles), for a $120 flight to DEN. I'd like to think that Uber/Lyft changed the industry for the better (and in many ways they did: app is easier, upfront pricing, easier/safer payment, more accountability through location tracking and ratings), but I don't think that the underlying economics have changed all that much (other than the period of time where Sand Hill Road was footing half the bill).
clairity 5y ago
why not take bart, especially anywhere near market? it's roughly $10 to either sfo or oak and pretty reliable. in LA, the flyaway is affordable and relatively reliable too, if your destination is near downtown, or on the red or orange lines.
- samstave 5y ago
  my flights were early on sunday mornings.... bart is not an option at my timings.

systemvoltage 5y ago

People from the 1950's would be shocked at today's infrastructure progress in the US. "What!?? You guys are still traveling at the same or worse speeds 70 years later!? What happened?" Also, it took 2x the cost and 8 years to build an access bridge to Golden Gate bridge than it did to build the bridge itself (3.5 years in 1930s) accounting for inflation. Our government is so dysfunctional, it is hard to imagine where my taxes are going. I live in Bay Area - No solution to homelessness here, pot holes everywhere, trash on highways that sometimes make me wonder if I am in a developing nation, new construction is a forgotten concept, complete gridlock in the CA gov for issuing permits of any high rises or building new subway systems, security and crime through the roof, etc. I am extremely against everything about CA government. It is rotten to the deepest core. Anything it does bites dust. The entrepreneur spirit and its natural beauty is what's keeping it relevant. There is no point in voting any of these people out, because the replacement is exactly the same kind of people. Besides the tech industry, people here have no optimism, they're more pro China than pro US, mostly busy destroying this great state.

iso1210 5y ago
> There is no point in voting any of these people out, because the replacement is exactly the same kind of people So why don't you stand?
- LeanderK 5y ago
  > So why don't you stand? I am not an american, so I wonder whether it's realistic? I imagine the US as a 2 party system, so if you're unsatisfied with the performance with one party and unable to vote for the other because of their actual political stance...what are you're left with? In germany we have a spectrum of pasties and therefore i have second choice, a choice to build up pressure against the party I am unsatisfied with even if I feel like I belong to this party. What do you do? Vote for independents? Do they even stand a chance?
  - sokoloff 5y ago
    > In germany we have a spectrum of pasties and therefore i have second choice That’s obviously a typo but, in this context, it’s hilarious.

diebeforei485 5y ago

I usually took LIRR from JFK when I visited NYC, which is faster and more comfortable than the subway and often faster than Uber/taxi. Penn Station is convenient for most of Manhattan, and Atlantic Terminal is good enough for the parts of Brooklyn I typically stayed at. A bit more expensive than the subway, especially during peak hours, but worth it IMO.

fennecfoxen 5y ago

> $70 plus tips LIRR into Penn. $16 air train + peak direction ticket (you can buy the latter on your phone) and much faster (20 minutes after you catch it at Jamaica). Less annoying going into Penn than going out, at least.