Air fare is going up again

OK, this is just ridiculous

America's "Meanest Airline"

I just want to start this off by saying I don't hate Delta Air Lines, but there is much room for improvement. The Atlanta-based airline has been named by U.S. News and World report as America's "Meanest airline." 

U.S. News and World Report: "America's Meanest Airlines"

That's a heavy label to slap on an airline, especially since most airlines really aren't do much to wow anyone these days. For example: Southwest charges fat people for two seats (isn't airline food enough of a deterrent against obesity?), and almost every other airline now charges you extra if you bring luggage on a plane.

Personally, I fly Delta when I do my international travel. Why? Because I somehow got a Delta skymiles account years ago, and AirTran doesn't fly to Europe.

I mean if you want it plain and simple, that's the reason. Admittedly, I am planning to fly out to San Francisco for a week in April, on Delta, but that's more to build up the number of skymiles I have so I can get some money off a trip I'm planning to take to London in July 2012.

I've probably only had a handful of bad experiences flying on Delta. Well, less than a handful actually. In July 2009, I was left sitting in a Delta plane, on the tarmac at JFK International Airport in New York for 4 hours because we couldn't land in Atlanta. In reality, four hours on a tarmac is outrageous, but to be honest, I fell asleep after an hour so I didn't notice it that much. And, Delta sent me a voucher for $150 off plane tickets to make up for the inconvenience. That's not too bad.

I had more problems with the airline when I flew to Italy earlier this year. Now, in this case, Delta was in the wrong. I had booked the plane tickets months in advance, while they were still operating some flights under the Northwest name. My flight was to be one of the Northwest flights, but Delta finished absorbing Northwest before my  travel dates, and dropped the name all together. So, I get an e-mail the morning I'm due to fly out of Atlanta, and it says my flight number, and departure time have changed. I now had a later departure time, so I left to get to the airport later. I got there about the time my original flight was supposed to leave (which was two hours before my new flight was to leave), and the self check-in kiosk wouldn't let me check in, so I had to go to an actual person at the check-in desk to get everything done. It turns out that while I had indeed been moved to another flight, Delta forgot to update their check-in system to reflect this.

The guy at the ticket counter is like 'Uh, you're not going to make your flight, it leaves in five minutes.' I then whipped out the updated itinerary that Delta had just e-mailed  me that morning, and he got all shades of confused. So that finally got sorted out (they had to call the gate to confirm the flight time had changed). So, all was well then, and I easily made my flight.

Well, what happens a week later when I go to check in at the airport in Rome, on my way back to Atlanta? THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM. Couldn't Delta have updated their system during the intervening week? You'd think so, but no, they did not.But, Delta had one more surprise for me on this trip. They slapped me with a rather expensive second checked bag fee -- that had taxes and fees slapped on top of it. When it was converted into American dollars from Euros, I believe it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $50-$75.

If it wasn't for the fact that I had a boat load of Skymiles, and the fact that I have few other affordable options for flights to Europe, I would probably hate Delta. As it stands, I just want to see some improvements in service.

Why I feel safe in Europe

There has been a lot of talk about the terror alert in Europe. I've got to say I feel completely safe when I'm over there, because the Europeans do not slouch on their public safety measures. Between the French military patrolling Metro platforms, and tourist attractions, to the many, many, many layers of law enforcement in place, in Italy, I don't think I'd feel unsafe over there. Here are a few pictures I've taken on past trips, though, to show you what I mean.

A Carabinieri staring down a potential threat in Rome:

Polizia checking photographer's credentials in St. Peter's Square, in the Vatican:

Polizia constantly patrol St. Peter's Square, in the Vatican:

Carabineri stationed at the Coliseum, in Rome:

UK Bobby, and motorcycle police at Buckingham Palace, in London:

More Bobbies at Buckingham Palace (notice the assault guns):

French military stationed at U.S. Embassy, in Paris:

French military, patroling Metro station, in Paris:

French guards, in Paris:

 Irish Police (Garda), in Dublin:

This is the security at the Tower of London:

The first post

Well, I got this started some time ago, but I'm now finally ready to roll with it. This is going to be my place to talk about trips I've taken (maybe even post short blogs while I'm traveling), and to offer my thoughts on travel-related news.

I just got to really start doing some international traveling last year (2009), and I love it. So far, I've been to five foreign countries, and one city-state (Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Vatican City). I plan to hit up many many more in the years to come.

I've also done a lot of traveling in the U.S. as well. I've been to every state east of the Mississippi River, except Wisconsin. I've also been to six states west of the Mississippi. 31 states in all.

So, enough talk then. Let's get started!