4 ms·

> Due to the the time it takes at either end, there's a fixed minimum time cost to flying. Maybe three or four hours counting both ends. To be fair to airports

> Due to the the time it takes at either end, there's a fixed minimum time cost to flying. Maybe three or four hours counting both ends. To be fair to airports, the arrival side hasn't really changed post 9/11. If you check bags, that's on you - it's going to be slow to get your stuff. But yeah - having to budget time to get through security is a pretty poor user experience. Especially during busy times of the year, when it's more uncertain just how much time is required.

DoneWithAllThat 2y ago
I don’t understand why people act like checking bags is a huge time sink. It’s maybe fifteen minutes at most on a bad day for the bag drop, and I can’t remember the last time I had to wait more than 20 minutes for them to show up on the carousel at my destination (and 20 minutes is super slow, it’s usually more like 10). The only times I’ve really had problems with checking bags is connecting flights when my flight is delayed or canceled and such, and even then while there was some stress over it my bags always got to my destination either when I did or sooner. On the last point the last time I flew international I had a baggage attendant at Heathrow actually call my phone personally to reassure me they had my bag and told me where to go to pick it up when I got to baggage claim. I’m sure there’s horror stories out there of course, there always is, but 99.99% of the time checking a bag is only marginally less convenient than trying to fit everything in my carryon.
- nordsieck 2y ago
  I don't know. At this point, I personally know multiple people who've "lost" luggage when flying. Thankfully it's not as big of a deal now that airtags/trackers are readily available.
- ghaff 2y ago
  I mostly disagree. There are times when I know I have to check a, usually, pretty small bag. But especially because of the delayed baggage issue or because of last minute changes to flights because of weather or whatever, I probably carry-on (with a light load) 9 times out of 10. Especially with dress being more casual these days I usually don't really need more than carry-on unless I'm activities requiring some amount of gear.
- elijaht 2y ago
  I’ve had a vastly different experience. Several trips in the last year with 30 minutes+ to drop a bag and a couple closer to an hour. That’s enough to move the needle on when I feel like I can show up to the airport. Baggage claim is usually pretty quick but even 5-10 minutes sucks after flying. I’ve also had 2 bags fail to make it with my plane meaning I had to wait 24 hours for a courier to deliver them. It also makes connecting or flight changes much more dicey. I definitely think I’ve been unlucky recently but the fact that I could be unlucky is why I avoid it as much as possible
- DuckConference 2y ago
  I almost always wait 20 minutes or more for a checked bag, and I've had to wait well over 45 minutes a few times.
- BobaFloutist 2y ago
  The thing that kind of sucks is that picking up your bags is before customs, where another line can develop, so that 15-minute delay can lead to an hour+ in line if a bunch of airplanes unloaded all at once.
Al-Khwarizmi 2y ago
> To be fair to airports, the arrival side hasn't really changed post 9/11. If you check bags, that's on you - it's going to be slow to get your stuff. Except it has changed in the last couple of decades (probably not due to 9/11, but still), because size and weight limits for hand luggage keep getting smaller and smaller. I have always travelled light and avoided checking in luggage except for very long stays abroad, but it's becoming increasingly difficult. For example, both Qatar and Etihad (very common airlines to travel between Europe and Asia) now limit hand luggage to 7 kg (and in the case of Etihad, they don't even allow the typical "personal item"). 7 kg is laughably little, a standard cabin bag already weighs 2. Pack a laptop and you'll struggle to pack even summer clothes for a few days. Let alone winter clothes or -oh, the luxury!- buying some souvenirs at your destination. Fortunately, in my experience, they mostly just don't look. But they could, if you're unlucky. And even if they don't, the dwindling limits also reduce practical slack, i.e. with a formal limit of 9 kg I would feel comfortable packing 10 or 11 because most airport staff probably wouldn't be strict about that, but with 7, packing 10 or 11 starts looking like a real gamble.
- nordsieck 2y ago
  I'll admit that I don't travel outside of the US much, so those issues don't really apply to me. > 7 kg is laughably little, a standard cabin bag already weighs 2 One thing that I have done is move from roller luggage to a travel backpack. I personally use the Osprey Farpoint, but there are many in the category to choose from. Not only is it much lighter than hard sided luggage, but it's typically much more forgiving of dimensional requirements, and can often fit in overhead bins, where hard sided luggage may not be able to (if you're the last person trying to put something in the bin). And on top of all of that, it's been much more reliable for me - I've had and seen roller luggage fail pretty often - at both the wheels and the handle. Neither of those exists on the bag, which just keeps trucking. I get that for many people a travel backpack isn't an option. But if it is something that might work for you, I highly recommend it.
  - ghaff 2y ago
    Roll-a-boards are the devil IMO but then I'm not usually dressing up when traveling. I tend to use a probably somewhat larger 40L Osprey than what you use but it's a lot more flexible than the standard carry-ons to put in overhead.
pfannkuchen 2y ago
It’s kind of insane how no profiling is allowed whatsoever. Has a plane ever been hijacked by a couple of European descent traveling with their own children? The lengths we go to to pretend everyone is the same is mind boggling.
- a_c_s 2y ago
  A pregnant Irish woman was caught with explosives in her luggage, apparently given to her by her fiancé: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindawi_affair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindawi_affair
  - pfannkuchen 2y ago
    > She claimed to be unaware of the contents, and that she had been given the bag by her fiancé, Nezar Hindawi, a Jordanian. Certain groups perform attacks of this kind. It's not necessarily because they are backwards or evil or something. They just can't resist militarily, so they go for soft targets. If the situation was reversed, and there was some kind of hegemonic global Islamic caliphate with an ostensibly unbeatable military, perhaps you would get some random Poles or Spaniards blowing up planes. People who aren't in groups in those kinds of situations, don't do things like that. Why would they? Why do we pretend that they would?
- BobaFloutist 2y ago
  The thing is that being, for example, Arabic looking or having an Arabic sounding name isn't a prerequisite for being Muslim. So if we started profiling for people that we thought were Muslim, then it would be pretty easy for terrorists to figure out our criteria and just use the most "white-seeming" of their cohort to commit attacks. If, on the other hand, you randomly select people for additional checking, they can't predict that and can't learn how to circumvent it, they just have to take a stab at an attack and hope they don't get unlucky. Basically, any deterministic aspect of security is predictable, which makes it vulnerable.

DoneWithAllThat 2y ago

I don’t understand why people act like checking bags is a huge time sink. It’s maybe fifteen minutes at most on a bad day for the bag drop, and I can’t remember the last time I had to wait more than 20 minutes for them to show up on the carousel at my destination (and 20 minutes is super slow, it’s usually more like 10). The only times I’ve really had problems with checking bags is connecting flights when my flight is delayed or canceled and such, and even then while there was some stress over it my bags always got to my destination either when I did or sooner. On the last point the last time I flew international I had a baggage attendant at Heathrow actually call my phone personally to reassure me they had my bag and told me where to go to pick it up when I got to baggage claim. I’m sure there’s horror stories out there of course, there always is, but 99.99% of the time checking a bag is only marginally less convenient than trying to fit everything in my carryon.

nordsieck 2y ago
I don't know. At this point, I personally know multiple people who've "lost" luggage when flying. Thankfully it's not as big of a deal now that airtags/trackers are readily available.
ghaff 2y ago
I mostly disagree. There are times when I know I have to check a, usually, pretty small bag. But especially because of the delayed baggage issue or because of last minute changes to flights because of weather or whatever, I probably carry-on (with a light load) 9 times out of 10. Especially with dress being more casual these days I usually don't really need more than carry-on unless I'm activities requiring some amount of gear.
elijaht 2y ago
I’ve had a vastly different experience. Several trips in the last year with 30 minutes+ to drop a bag and a couple closer to an hour. That’s enough to move the needle on when I feel like I can show up to the airport. Baggage claim is usually pretty quick but even 5-10 minutes sucks after flying. I’ve also had 2 bags fail to make it with my plane meaning I had to wait 24 hours for a courier to deliver them. It also makes connecting or flight changes much more dicey. I definitely think I’ve been unlucky recently but the fact that I could be unlucky is why I avoid it as much as possible
DuckConference 2y ago
I almost always wait 20 minutes or more for a checked bag, and I've had to wait well over 45 minutes a few times.
BobaFloutist 2y ago
The thing that kind of sucks is that picking up your bags is before customs, where another line can develop, so that 15-minute delay can lead to an hour+ in line if a bunch of airplanes unloaded all at once.

Al-Khwarizmi 2y ago

> To be fair to airports, the arrival side hasn't really changed post 9/11. If you check bags, that's on you - it's going to be slow to get your stuff. Except it has changed in the last couple of decades (probably not due to 9/11, but still), because size and weight limits for hand luggage keep getting smaller and smaller. I have always travelled light and avoided checking in luggage except for very long stays abroad, but it's becoming increasingly difficult. For example, both Qatar and Etihad (very common airlines to travel between Europe and Asia) now limit hand luggage to 7 kg (and in the case of Etihad, they don't even allow the typical "personal item"). 7 kg is laughably little, a standard cabin bag already weighs 2. Pack a laptop and you'll struggle to pack even summer clothes for a few days. Let alone winter clothes or -oh, the luxury!- buying some souvenirs at your destination. Fortunately, in my experience, they mostly just don't look. But they could, if you're unlucky. And even if they don't, the dwindling limits also reduce practical slack, i.e. with a formal limit of 9 kg I would feel comfortable packing 10 or 11 because most airport staff probably wouldn't be strict about that, but with 7, packing 10 or 11 starts looking like a real gamble.

nordsieck 2y ago
I'll admit that I don't travel outside of the US much, so those issues don't really apply to me. > 7 kg is laughably little, a standard cabin bag already weighs 2 One thing that I have done is move from roller luggage to a travel backpack. I personally use the Osprey Farpoint, but there are many in the category to choose from. Not only is it much lighter than hard sided luggage, but it's typically much more forgiving of dimensional requirements, and can often fit in overhead bins, where hard sided luggage may not be able to (if you're the last person trying to put something in the bin). And on top of all of that, it's been much more reliable for me - I've had and seen roller luggage fail pretty often - at both the wheels and the handle. Neither of those exists on the bag, which just keeps trucking. I get that for many people a travel backpack isn't an option. But if it is something that might work for you, I highly recommend it.
- ghaff 2y ago
  Roll-a-boards are the devil IMO but then I'm not usually dressing up when traveling. I tend to use a probably somewhat larger 40L Osprey than what you use but it's a lot more flexible than the standard carry-ons to put in overhead.

pfannkuchen 2y ago

It’s kind of insane how no profiling is allowed whatsoever. Has a plane ever been hijacked by a couple of European descent traveling with their own children? The lengths we go to to pretend everyone is the same is mind boggling.

a_c_s 2y ago
A pregnant Irish woman was caught with explosives in her luggage, apparently given to her by her fiancé: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindawi_affair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindawi_affair
- pfannkuchen 2y ago
  > She claimed to be unaware of the contents, and that she had been given the bag by her fiancé, Nezar Hindawi, a Jordanian. Certain groups perform attacks of this kind. It's not necessarily because they are backwards or evil or something. They just can't resist militarily, so they go for soft targets. If the situation was reversed, and there was some kind of hegemonic global Islamic caliphate with an ostensibly unbeatable military, perhaps you would get some random Poles or Spaniards blowing up planes. People who aren't in groups in those kinds of situations, don't do things like that. Why would they? Why do we pretend that they would?
BobaFloutist 2y ago
The thing is that being, for example, Arabic looking or having an Arabic sounding name isn't a prerequisite for being Muslim. So if we started profiling for people that we thought were Muslim, then it would be pretty easy for terrorists to figure out our criteria and just use the most "white-seeming" of their cohort to commit attacks. If, on the other hand, you randomly select people for additional checking, they can't predict that and can't learn how to circumvent it, they just have to take a stab at an attack and hope they don't get unlucky. Basically, any deterministic aspect of security is predictable, which makes it vulnerable.