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Leaving Las Vegas

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 04:11:53 PM EST
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I'm at the gate at the Las Vegas airport getting ready to board.

Things I'm not a fan of:

  • Southwest Airlines
  • The airport security procedures when leaving
  • AT&T's Edge Network and Treos.

On the other side:

Links later, gotta board. I'm not finding the Kerik indictment on Pacer, if anyone has a copy and can email it to me, or email me a link, it would be much appreciated.

Update: Links are in and I found the Indictment.

Update: A big thanks to Big Tent Democrat for his posts today and yesterday while I was gone. TalkLeft hit 20 million visitors this week...thanks to all of you for reading.

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    Leaving Las Vegas | 24 comments (24 topical)

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    it could have been worse, (none / 0) (#1)
    by cpinva on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 04:29:51 PM EST
    you might have been flying delta. as well, you could also have been selected as a "random terrorist", subject to "special" treatment, going through ap security.

    the 4 year-old daughter, of the family who was also selected, looked especially dangerous. who knows what she could have been hiding under that barbie t-shirt? after the TSA guards slapped her around a bit, she coughed up that osama bin laden pez dispenser!

    meanwhile, some guy was tapping his toes in one of the men's rooms.

    an altogether scary experience.

    If you snapped some photos (none / 0) (#2)
    by RedHead on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 04:32:45 PM EST
    please post them.

    no, (1.00 / 1) (#14)
    by cpinva on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 09:36:15 PM EST
    they wouldn't let me take pictures in the men's room. next time, i'll hide the camera in my pants for you.

    Parent
    Sexist (none / 0) (#18)
    by RedHead on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 11:41:46 PM EST
    surprise, surprise.

    Parent
    idiot (1.00 / 1) (#21)
    by cpinva on Sat Nov 10, 2007 at 03:00:13 PM EST
    surpri................ um, nope, not at all surpised.

    Parent
    Disrespecting Jeralyn (none / 0) (#22)
    by RedHead on Sat Nov 10, 2007 at 04:06:29 PM EST
    Insulting comments are not permitted on this site.  You disrespect Jeralyn by using such language.

    Only the weak and the indefensible resort to verbal abuse.

    Sexists, like all bigots, should be banned, period.

    Parent

    Photos (none / 0) (#12)
    by Jeralyn on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 08:27:41 PM EST
    I didn't take any. But I'm sure lots of other people there did and I'll put links here if I find them.

    Parent
    Leaving Las Vegas. Such a poignant (none / 0) (#3)
    by oculus on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 05:05:15 PM EST
    story with a terrific score.

    not to mention sexy (none / 0) (#4)
    by RedHead on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 05:24:52 PM EST
    It's interesting how life works, Liz and Andrew Shue are both progressive activists, though their father once ran for the US Senate as a Republican in N.J.

    source

    I also enjoyed the Richard Lewis cameo.

    Parent

    What do you have against LUV? (none / 0) (#5)
    by jerry on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 05:56:20 PM EST
    Southwest rocks!  What's your beef with them?

    Plus, now you can get an actual seat (none / 0) (#6)
    by oculus on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 06:11:56 PM EST
    assignment when you check in!

    Parent
    what, (none / 0) (#7)
    by cpinva on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 06:38:06 PM EST
    did they make you sit on a wing before?

    Parent
    Someone on NPR the other day (none / 0) (#8)
    by oculus on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 06:46:57 PM EST
    called it "flying on a bus."  First come, first served on seating.  Kind of hectic.

    Parent
    No you don't (none / 0) (#13)
    by Jeralyn on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 08:56:10 PM EST
    The seat assignment procedure is my beef with them.   It's still open seating, no assigned seats. Now what you get is a letter and a number and it's like playing bingo only very complicated.

    It's supposed to be first come, first serve. But it's not because of the exceptions. They started this new program yesterday. When you check in, you get a letter and number. You are either A, B or C and within each letter group, you get a number between 1 and 60.  They have flagpoles up at the gate with letters and numbers posted on them in increments of 5 or 10 and when your letter is called, you have to go stand by your flagpole. First they call the "A" group and if you are an "A" you go stand by the pole that says 1 - 5, 5 - 10, etc. Then they board the A group with #s 1 to 30, and they get the first choice of seats. Then they board the remaining A group, numbers 30 to 60. Then they tell the B group to go to their flagpoles. When everyone's there, they board B 1 to 30 then B 30 to 60, etc. Then the C group. By the mid B group, you're in the back of the plane or a middle seat and the overhead space is gone.

    People that check in online can get an "A" pass regardless of the time they check in. You can  buy an upgrade to an "A" group boarding pass for $25. (In other words, they hold a bunch back.) But, if you have a paper ticket as I did, because Southwest sponsored BlogWorld and gave the speakers vouchers, you couldn't check in online and had to stand in a long line at the airport with the people who were just buying tickets or changing their tickets. I checked in over 2 hours early and still got B37. And, I couldn't pay the $25 to get an "A" seat because it's not allowed on voucher tickets.

    Passenger confusion was understandably very high at the gate and so boarding the plane took a long time.

    There's also no tv or music on the plane and because the flights are cheap, every seat is filled. So its crowded.

    I will thank the pilot though (Capt. Mike Smith), because he knew I wasn't happy with the seating process and when I pulled out my $4.00 to pay for my drink (which I definitely needed by that time) the flight attendant told me he had comped it.

    Frontier flies most places Southwest does (from Denver), it's also cheap and it has live tv at every seat and you can book a good seat when you buy your ticket. If you are an "ascent" member which is only 15,000 miles a year, you get a seat in the first few rows and free tv.

    The security lines leaving Las Vegas were as bad and confusing as I've seen anywhere. I think I'm just airlined and airported out. It's such a hassle to go anywhere these days.

    Parent

    Too Funny (1.00 / 0) (#19)
    by squeaky on Sat Nov 10, 2007 at 12:37:07 AM EST
    Like playing bingo only very complicated.

    lol

    Parent

    Yesterday at work we were wondering how much the (none / 0) (#16)
    by jerry on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 09:41:42 PM EST
    upgrades would cost.  Would it be $5 or $25.  I think I liked the older system, first come first served better as it was more fair.

    In the past, the Bs weren't so bad.  I actually prefer the back of the plane as it is usually less crowded and more of a chance I'll get my window seat.

    Parent

    This is not good news. SW (none / 0) (#17)
    by oculus on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 09:48:02 PM EST
    the egalitarian, employee-owned airline, sells out A line seats.  

    Parent
    When did (none / 0) (#23)
    by Wile ECoyote on Sun Nov 11, 2007 at 04:23:57 PM EST
    SW become employee owned?

    Parent
    Yeah, Edge network and Treos are lame (none / 0) (#9)
    by robrecht on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 07:03:22 PM EST
    Waitin' to see the iPhone II on AT&T's higher speed HSDPA network.  

    In the meantime, I'm lovin' my Samsung SCH-i760 on Verizon's stellar EVDO network.  Great phone functionality and ergonomics for a PDA-phone.  

    More powerful PDA & GPS functionality (but less functional as a phone) is the HTC Tilt on AT&T's HSDPA network, but not sure how wide their coverage is yet.  

    The large-screen prototypes for the G-phone look very enticing, but they're probably 6-12 months out.

    You sound like you may know the answer (none / 0) (#10)
    by oculus on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 07:09:47 PM EST
    to my question.  I have a 2003 Toshiba laptop, which  a tech kid from work succeeded in hooking up for wireless access.  Then a spill, followed by replacing the motherboard.  No more wireless.  Anyhow, I would like to take this laptop to Italy.  Any point in fixing the wireless access?

    Parent
    Check out AT&T USB data stick (none / 0) (#11)
    by robrecht on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 08:11:09 PM EST
    Haven't been to Italy in over 10 years so I'm really not sure how widespread WiFi is over there.  Did the laptop previously have built-in WiFi or was it a PC card that was inserted into a slot?  Unfortunately, almost nothing is worth fixing anymore unless it was a very new high-end laptop, but it's not.  One option to consider is a USB data stick, which can be placed into any laptop to give it rather fast data coverage anywhere that particular carrier has network coverage.  Verizon has the best data network coverage in this country and Sprint currently roams on Verizon's network for considerably cheaper monthly fees but neither has coverage overseas.  You could check with AT&T to see if they have any kind of roaming in Italy, I just don't know.

    Good luck!

    Parent

    Thanks very much. (none / 0) (#15)
    by oculus on Fri Nov 09, 2007 at 09:40:40 PM EST
    My ATT/Cingular phone set up finally worked overseas (maybe due to me buying a newer phone).  But it was using Vodafone and Moviestar networks.  I'll check it out.

    Parent
    20 million visitors... (none / 0) (#20)
    by desertswine on Sat Nov 10, 2007 at 12:16:40 PM EST
    O if only each visitor was a dollar instead.

    A couple of things (none / 0) (#24)
    by reviewer77 on Wed Aug 06, 2008 at 04:15:00 PM EST
    I just upgraded to the new white iphone 3g, and must say, its a lot nicer being able to browse the internet at a decent speed. reading this post on leaving las vegas really makes me want to go visit again. last time i was there i saw a great las vegas show.  I can't wait to plan my trip to vegas for next summer.  still trying to decide which of all the las vegas hotels is the best one to stay at!

    Leaving Las Vegas | 24 comments (24 topical)

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