This is truly disgusting:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/braun/20080813-9999-1m13braun.html

Andrew

I have a simple way to avoid all of this:
don't use airlines.
I don't care if I never visit another continent, or even places like Hawaii. Other countries all hate Americans these days anyhow because of the president, and I'll bet relations between other countries will get even worse as times go on.

People complain about public transit because it's a "government monopoly." But IMO, what would happen if it wasn't is a lot of this type of stuff.

I've actually had excellent luck with Southwest Airlines and will continue to fly them as my first choice. I think they are different than the other airlines. For one thing, they don't charge "fees" for nearly anything. There is no fee to change a ticket for example. Why do the other airlines charge upwards of $100 just to change the dates on your flight? I think this is one indication of why Southwest is still making a profit and has consistently made money even during the lean years after 9/11. They are customer oriented, and they make smart decisions. They wisely hedged fuel futures a few years ago and are now paying about $55/barrel for oil because they purchased it years ago, while the other airlines are choking on high jet fuel prices.

Unfortunately Southwest as yet does not fly overseas. I will go overseas again but it sure as hell won't be on United Airlines!

Andrew

And the executives get eight figure salaries for things like this.