Originally Posted by
Planemike
IF this is "thread drift", apologies in advance.....!! I have not flown on a airline since 2017.... No immediate plans to do so but would like to at some stage.
Does the fact I do not possess a "Smart" 'phone preclude me from flying?? If I did possess one, I would not have a clue what to do with it!! I have no interest in having one as I am not in the least "techie". If I decided to book a flight I would do it through a travel agent... What are my chances of being able to be a passenger again???
OH BTW, I can read and write and hopefully understand the King's English. Also possess a valid UK passport so please do not write me off completely....LOLOL !!!!
Pardon a quick digression on a digression before I get back on point.
No one would expect to be able to fully function in society without the ability to read and write. However, increasingly, the same could be said of the smartphone, you cannot expect to fully participate if you do not have one. Not saying I agree it should be so, far from it, but it is what it is.
I too was a hold out, only nudged into having a smartphone two years ago due to COVID documentation only available by that route whilst on the move. Furthermore, a new job relied on participating in various WhatsApp groups – used that as a lever to get my first smartphone out of the company and an allowance that more than covered the running costs.
Now, checking-in. I always try and check-in online, in the possibly/probably mistaken belief that it gets me ‘on the plane’. If I can, I will print my boarding pass, although often when travelling I will not have access to a printer, so will still present myself, even though I will also put it on my smartphone.
Often on long haul flights, I am one of the very few who only has a carry-on bag, so by using on-line check-in, the first contact I would have would be at the gate when boarding. This would sometimes result in my name being paged at the gate, as up until then I had not been ‘seen’. More recently, presumably to avoid such a scenario, some of the destinations I travel to are such that online check-in is not possible anyway, so as to make someone present at the desk to check visas etc.
I too will go out of my way to get a window seat - think of how much someone might pay for an aerial tour of the Amazon, the Himalaya, the Sahara - and that is included in the price!! However, it is surprising even on day time flights (non-sun side of course!!) how many blinds remain fully down, to the point of appearing the odd person out. As a single traveller, I have sometimes also been pressured to move, despite having selected and in some cases paid extra for a specific seat, so that two people, who had made no such advance provision, can 'sit together'. Does this happen to others? How do you manage the situation? I think, in particular, having paid extra for a specific seat, the airline should make it voluntary, but we know that they can be a law unto themselves.