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i like Ham posted:The travel that my job requires is 100% domestic, so I can't comment on international travel. I would recommend a read through http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3489180 for anybody interested in information regarding international travel. I can chime in on frequent international travel as long as you don't think I'll be hijacking your thread. I travel every about every 5 weeks to some obscure part of the world for my work. I'm currently offshore Myanmar on a project and will be traveling to New Zealand and Australia next week for some vacation with a one night stopover in Bangkok. I started off my trip in Houston, flew to Dubai and then down to South Africa where I joined the ship that took me here.
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Nov 9, 2012 22:44
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routenull0 posted:Suggestions for carry on luggage manufactures? For whatever it's worth, I have never had a problem with people at the gate checking carry-on luggage size. The only place I've seen it happen is at Charles De Gaulle on a flight to Abidjan. It frequently happens on flights to Africa because nobody wants to check luggage for fear of it getting stolen at the airport. I can't seem to find the carry-on I use on amazon anymore, it's called the Pacsafe metrosafe 400. http://www.vagabondish.com/pacsafe-metrosafe-400-travel-bag/ It's got a ton of built in security features like un-slashable shoulder straps and a protective metal mesh inside, as well as it's own built in chain and lock. It's really good for me as I stay in hostels frequently so I often worry about getting my stuff stolen so YMMV. An observer posted:What's your favourite airport you've been to? Domestic: Austin and Denver are probably my favorites. International: Toss up between Amsterdam's Schiphol and Hong Kong's International airport. Both are really efficient, have decent food and the people who work there are friendly enough. My one complaint with Schiphol is that they have two security checkpoints, one general checkpoint and then one at the gate. It's a pain because I can't bring any water on board my flight with me unless it's packed in one of the security bags. Totally unnecessary pain in the rear end. FrozenVent posted:Ever had a hard time taking razor blades in a carry on? I never tried it, but then I never travelled more than a day out with just carry on. Disposable cartridge style razor blades are no problem anywhere in the world. A good rule of thumb is if you can get it past US security, you are good for everywhere else. As a side note, the US and UK are the only countries in the world that I've flown through where you have to take off your shoes before going through the detectors. SERPUS posted:How many times have you pooped at 30,000 feet? If many times, do you develop a certain technique for it, or does your body somehow sense the altitude change and clamp up? my technique is: whenever we hit bad turbulence. Serious answer: I always try to use the restroom before flying but as I've been on flights as long as 17 hours, it's unavoidable, especially if you have the fish. It takes a little bit of extra work as it were but for me, it's not normally too difficult. moana posted:Have you seen Up in the Air and what did you think about it? I'd say it really hit home in a lot of ways for me. My folks recommended I watch it after I started this job. I think it really does take a person with a different mentality than most to work a job like this where you have to pack up and leave frequently. I will admit I didn't like the way it ended but it was pretty close to real life for me anyway.
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Nov 12, 2012 20:09
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tbp posted:Any recommendations for career paths for anyone that would be interested in doing this? If you want to travel to some REALLY far away and obscure places, where you may occasionally get shot at, attacked by pirates or kidnapped and held for ransom, come join me in the oil industry. Some of my friends in the same business have had to lock the doors to their hotel rooms with padlocks and sleep with a gun under their pillows. Look for any position with the word "Field" in it. WAFFLEHOUND posted:As a heads up to anyone who wants to travel a lot, the best career path is something temporary and low paying which you can quit on a whim. Spend a year saving, take a year off and travel. Rinse, repeat. It's not glamourous, but you'll see more of the world than almost anyone else. This is a great suggestion. It seems like a great life at first, all those seat upgrades and private lounges, but the truth is it can get old really fast. You're constantly on the road and it's difficult to maintain relationships with friends and family, not to mention all the logistical problems that come with being away from your residence for long periods of time. And god help you if you're not in any sort of relationship and want to start one. Thoguh posted:99% of TSA agents give no fucks about anything and the other 1% will power trip over any perceived slight or rulebreaking. I just use a clear plastic toiletry bag that I bought at Target for a dollar and take the whole thing out. All of my toiletry stuff fits easily into it so I don't bother to separate the liquids from the non-liquids. Pretty much this. The vast majority don't give a rats rear end. I think most of them took the job just so they could fondle all the female passengers.
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Nov 13, 2012 20:46
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Yeah, all the perks just serve to make the whole thing less miserable. It's not like you stay at the same level of personal comfort and then you have all this cool stuff too. It's to bring you back up to par. I'm also one of those weirdos who loves the travel. The best perks of my job are I work on a rotation schedule so I work for five weeks and then get 5 weeks off and I get free air travel anywhere in the world when I'm going to and from a job site. I'm currently not planning on returning to the states until April so I can go gallivanting all over Southeast Asia. I think some people in this world, like myself, were just made for these kinds of jobs. People who get restless without some kind of new environment, new problems to solve and new people to work with. Most people like the stability that comes with a regular 9-5 no travel job. As much as they say they loathe their regular office job, people are usually very hesitant to try something like we do. Not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with that, just trying to point out that most people really don't want these jobs as much as they think they do.
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Nov 13, 2012 22:16
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Uncle Jam posted:No offense, but this isn't really the type of travel that people are commiserating about. 5 weeks off is amazing and I don't think anyone would have a problem with that. Its more of the 'The last 3 days I was literally in the air more than on the ground' type of travel. I know what I do isn't frequent travel per se but it is pretty frequent for international travel and I felt I could answer any questions regarding international travel as it seems most people here are domestic frequent flyers. Also, believe me, even though I may get quite a bit of time off, I still bump into the same problems that all of you guys are talking about. Blut posted:Do American customers just have lower expectations or whats the deal here? Going from someone like Emirates or Quantas (or even Virgin or B.A.) to United or Delta is unnecessarily painful for long haul flights. Do any of you with extensive international travel experience have any insight into why American airlines are so low quality? As wins pointed out, the unions are one source of the problem. When American carriers were really in their heyday, they granted a huge slew of benefits to their employees. Working for the major airlines really was a sweet deal during that time. After 9/11 and the sharp reduction in travel by americans in general, the airlines were still saddled with keeping up employee pension plans, health plans and other benefits which they really couldn't afford. It's one of the reasons so many of the airlines have filed for bankruptcy as it's the only way to discharge a lot of their obligations. Another big reason is that many national air carriers, like Emirates and Singapore airlines, receive a lot of investment from their respective governments as being the "national" carrier for the country. This helps many of these carriers remain in the black because the states are not as demanding about profits while the American carriers don't have this advantage. As such, the American carriers have to reduce their quality of service in order to make a profit and keep their investors happy. The investors are a huge burden for any of the publicly funded carriers. I would also argue that the major american air carries are actually middle of the road in terms of quality. They certainly don't come anywhere close to the middle east/ asia carriers like Emirates, Qatar or Cathay Pacific. However, you haven't known air travel pain unless you've flown on an African carrier. I had a flight from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Nairobi, Kenya on board Air Kenya. It was the only flight I have ever seriously hesitated about getting on board. It was an ancient 737 that looked like it was held together with nothing more than duct tape and the collective prayer of the passengers. The seats were absolutely filthy, ridiculously small and rattled like you wouldn't believe. I'm not sure exactly what meat was served for dinner but I felt it may be in my best interest not to ask. After that flight, I don't judge the american carriers as harshly as I used to. They may not be comfortable, but at least you have pretty good assurances you're going to arrive at your destination alive.
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Nov 14, 2012 18:58
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Man, I hate all you platinum, gold, diamond whatever.  I've flown over 100,000 miles this year and all I got to show for it was Silver on United. Reason being is my company just flies me on whatever's cheap so all my miles get split between British airways, United, Delta and Emirates. Dammit, I'm never getting upgraded.
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Jan 3, 2014 01:51
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