Thanks to the TSA and Airline industries - I have absolutely no desire to travel by air anymore [View All]

[LynneSin]

And it's a crying shame.

I use to subscribe to budget travel and dream about taking 3 weeks off to fly to Italy, rent a car and drive around the country. I had lots of ideas for all the travel I would want to take but honestly, I have no intentions of using an airline anytime soon.

First and foremost is just the hassle. I have to be at the airport over 2 hours early just to ensure I have enough time to get thru the half dozen lines I'll have to go thru in order to make it on the plane. Another hour to get off the plan, find my luggage and transportation. It's just a real time waster.

If I do survive that then I have to go thru security. Now I get to decide if I want to be scanned by carcinogenic xrays or if I prefer to be sexually assaulted. Those are my choices now to get thru security. Geez I'm a 40-something person born here in the USA with no criminal record whatsoever. Don't you think you can give me a pass to go thru the normal process? Did I mention those xrays can even show if I'm having my monthly curse or not (it will show if you're wearing a sanitary napkin). Sick ain't it.

And even once I go thru those I'm stuck on a plan that has a seat made for the size of a 12 year old child and well I'm a grown adult that has a few extra pounds and really long legs. And even though I would try my best to get a flight that was in the front of regular class or the exit row - now I have to pay extra for the pleasure of just a few more inches for my legs. Now I'm crammed in like Sardine for the next couple of hours - total misery and who wants that? And knowing my luck with planes - I'll either have a screaming child sitting behind me or someone with severe body odor and a small bladder next to me.

And then I don't even get any decent food on the plane. I did a 7 hour flight to San Diego and all was offered was an over priced snackbox with a few small treats in it. And if you were in one of the last 5 rows - you were out of luck, they ran out (I was the next to last row to get the snackbox). It use to be that I would pack my own snacks and bring my own water for on the flights but instead I'm stuck buying the overprice processed crap they sell inside the terminal or the really overpriced undersized crap they sell on the plane. God forbid I sneak something horrible into that PBJ sandwich I want to pack in my travel bag.

If the Airline & Travel industry wants to survive they need to take a serious look at the horrors they are creating for the people wanting to travel. There is no reason for some of these security scanners and with forcing people to be patted down. Sure sure sure, someone can say "Well what about 9/11?". Good point but if you noticed that since 9/11 and the first round of security upgrades they have done, there have been no further use of planes as bombs here in this country. And seriously, you need to allow passengers to bring their own food & beverages. I said it 5+ years ago and I stand by it - that banning of outside food & beverages was less about that attack in London (which nothing was ever proven) and more about finding a way for the airlines to squeeze more money out of you.

It's sad because honestly, I've never been to Europe. I have been to Mexico a few times, made it to Costa Rica and really have no desire to go to the Caribean. So I guess my travels will be based on where I can travel either with my car or on train. It's a real shame because I am finally at a point in my life that I could so some decent traveling.

Come on Airline folks - you're not going broke because of gasoline costs - you're going broke because you're screwing over us passengers and we're just damn tired of it.

At least Canada is 6 hours away - I could drive there.