Why Most Bad Airlines Aren't Necessarily Worth Avoiding

Great post. I feel the exact same way when people say "I'd never fly Southwest." Why not? Even if you hate the boarding process, hate the fact that there's no F, hate the less lucrative FF program (though I have good reasons to contradict you on all those counts) there are absolutely times when they run nonstop flights no one else does.

Never rule any travel option out because it's "worse." Just use it when appropriate

I thought Royal Jordanian is on top of your no fly list

The older I get and the more I travel, the more I value direct flights over indirects with frustrating connections. For example, recently I needed to get from London to Boston. I could have used miles to fly J but there was no direct availability so would have involved changing in JFK or ORD. This would have added hours to the trip, cost, what 80,000 Avios in J plus fees and surcharges of £600+ and I wouldn’t have arrived until very late night.
Instead I booked Norwegian direct, leaving at a perfect time, in Y for £149. Was it as comfortable as J would have been? Of course not, but it was so much easier being a direct flight. We arrived relaxed, early and grateful for the decision.

You don't know if a direct flight might be prioritized over a comfortable flight - this is why you need to review the product, not hedge about "maybes". Come up with a quantitative checklist that you apply to all products and then give your qualitative opinion. Does business class on mallard airline suck? Say so. And an obnoxious couple seated near you is not relevant, unless the airline caters to obnoxious couples.... I don't want to fly the red eye on "we're getting a divorce" airline...

Agreed, being based out of AUS I end up on WN a ton because they are the only ones flying direct somewhere. It's always worth it rather than attempting to stay loyal to anybody else and have to make a connection. Great when I have the companion pass, not as great since I'll lose that at the end of 2017.

The only one airline I would absolutely avoid is Ryanair. I'd rather stay at home than fly them.

Agreed. I recently flew United First and British Business transatlantic (probably worst-in-breed in each category) and both were perfectly pleasant. Your reviews are still valuable for telling us what products are better than others, but at the end of the day, inferior luxury is still luxury.

If you have family (wife and kids) you will do whatever it takes to get home the sooner you can. I use to fly a lot for business when I was young and sometimes got 3 flights including changing airlines and terminal instead of flying on the same airline just for having a better experience. Nowadays, I get the quickest and easiest way to get home.

On another subject, why is it so difficult for airlines to have a decent pillow and blanket on premium cabins? Almost all your posts show that either both or one of them is really bad.

I avoid US flagged airlines for all international travel.

I've always been tempted by Meridiana as well, given the cheap fares and convenience factor. But what makes me most hesitant to fly them, and other "bad airlines", is the safety factor. As someone with a moderate fear of flying, I worry about flying a 30 year old 767 operated by a cheaper airline (which in my mind, equates to less well paid maintenance staff, less due diligence, etc.), as it seems like there's something more likely to go wrong than on a 10 year old 777 operated by a legacy carrier.

Has anyone flown China Eastern from LAX to China or Korea? Their economy is dirt cheap so I'm wondering if they're as bad as the reviews make them appear?

@Alex S. I only feel that way about Allegiant because it is VERY well known that they cut costs on safety. However, there are some airlines that I may bore myself to death on i.e. AA 757/767, UIA, Meridiana, etc. but, I would fly those airlines in business.

@Alex S hehe dude you wouldn't believe some of the airlines and airliners I've been on, planes older than my father, planes that looked like they would fall apart if you gave them a dirty look, maintained by guys who look like they never seen a plane before.
So far I've survived but what experiences lol.

I'll give you an example of the opposite case. I fly to Beijing and Tokyo from the east coast US on a regular basis. There are direct flights on United 777's in Business, but in a 2-4-2 configuration. The other option for about the same price (and often less), is to transfer via Toronto on Air Canada. They have a 1-2-1 configuration.

For business trips, I will take the Air Canada option every time. It's such a long flight, when everyone is on different schedules. I don't want to be stuck in a middle seat in the "4" section of the 2-4-2 on United, nor do I want a seat where I will have to step over my neighbor or they have to step over me. All-aisle access 1-2-1 is worth the connection.

I agree, though I do think you should give china eastern another try, I've flown them a few times and have never smelled smoke in the cabin, so pretty sure you just got very unlucky.

I think the problem with any review is going to be that you have a snapshot experience which may or may not reflect the airline. This makes it really hard to definitively say, "you should avoid flying XYZ" -- especially given how many airlines are simply inconsistent on both service and equipment. For me, I'm 6'2 and draw the line on flights where I will be actively uncomfortable (as an example, the middle seat on any airline with 10-across in Y). For anything else, it's a balance of convenience and comfort.

In most cases I'd take the better long haul cabin with a connecting flight provided the connecting flight isn't another long flight. A 2 hour 25 minute flight in the crappy European J seating configuration is tolerable.

I definitely have a "no fly" list I've developed as a result of your reviews and my own experience and at the top is China Eastern - and they don't deserve a second look! Please invest your valuable time on other airline products!

You can't take Mr. Lucky as a gold standard. You should read this as a point of information and apply it to your situation. You are paying for what you want in a flight, not for what he wants in a flight.

Do you have an opinion on UTair? One option to get to DYU is via RKO on UTair vs via IST on Turkish.

Life is too short to fly Spirit (in part because of their operational reliability issues).

At the level of Tunisair it is still acceptable to fly the airline if ending in Tunisia. Now the best Tunisair experience you will have it on Montreal. But on London-Tunis, as you know.. i would consider RAM or Turkish or Egyptair or RJ and dare the detour if a real medium-haul business seat is what i need. The only NO air carrier would be the unsafe to fly, knowing bad safety record, and these are rare today, at least in the Northern hemisphere!

@Pat. "inferior luxury is still luxury". ... I love it, that put a smile on my face. :))

Safety is the main factor that would make me totally rule out an airline. I can handle being uncomfortable for a few hours to save some money on a fare, but no saving is worth your life. I think this gets overlooked these days when we are all searching for the cheapest fare on the internet.

It is interesting that there is not really a easy correlation between standard of service and safety. I have heard lots of bad things about the service on China Eastern, but they do have a 7 star IOTA rating. Whereas Garuda Indonesia is generally praised for their service, but they only have a 4 star rating, which just about rules them out for me.

Interesting article and comments; probably some frequent flyers have a 'blacklist' of airlines to avoid and, some have preferable airlines. Me too - for example one of my blacklisted airlines was Northworst (but, back in the day, Northwest Orient was good) and, a positive ones are Cathay Pacific and Bangkok Airways (even on short Udon Thani-Bangkok flight airline playing cards are available). It is amazing how a little effort in service, food, cleanliness, etc can go a long way to cultivating flyer satisfaction.

One of the interesting ingredients of your reviews is how a culture (with her foods, service, colour, etc) can be infused on an airline; that is how the same 787 flight from A to B can be a different experience depending upon the local culture of Airline.

Thank you for your honest reviews including your (recent) honest reviews of TunisAir and Air Serbia. I just loved your review of your previous Air Serbia flight when you were served Brandy shots out of Belgrade

@Joe John
I flew with China Eastern many times and I've never smelled smoke in the cabin.
I understand Lucky's impression -- who would have a good impression of an airline if, say, a big accident happened to its plane when he's flying with that airline for the first time?

For me personally, United is at the top of my no-fly list. That may be ridiculous, given that I've flown them exactly once (they managed to misconnect my bags that time, delivered them at midnight after I landed at 6pm, and had the least helpful phone agents I've ever dealt with). But between all their recent fiascos (we all know the one I'm referring to) and the fact that you have to pay for overhead bin space, I'm going to go with avoiding a legacy carrier that's run like it's Spirit.

In general, though, I waver somewhere between comfort and convenience. I almost always fly economy (alas, being a grad student and all that), but I do tend to stick to direct routes for flying home within the U.S. and with Delta/Air France if I can because I personally always enjoy the experience, even in economy (though I know this is a point of contention around here).

Thanks for sharing!

I don't fly regularly as some, but last year was my first flight on the 787 family, a QR 788. I was flying Y class, and read horror stories about the seating etc. in the 787 and specifically in Y class.

However, in researching the seat selection, and reading about it on many sites such as SeatGuru, I chose our seats.

Now, after 4 legs on the 788 (well 3, actually, equipment was changed on the last leg to a 777), I have very little to complain about, even in Y Class. I am just over 6.0', and while the leg space was compact, it was not uncomfortable. Even the IFE box under the seat in front of you, in the window seats was not THAT bad. Overall, my flight experience on the 4 legs with QR was excellent, and recommend them to anyone, if QR is flying your route. Even the stopovers in Doha were not bad, and our luggage followed us all the way without a problem.

That being said, I have almost no experience flying business or first class internationally, but after reading this blog and the respective posts, I think I should give it a try. For the experience, if nothing else.

So yes, a review like on this site are merely a snapshot of the experience, the reviewer can end up having a terrible time, but the next passenger might have an amazing experience. I fly regularly for business domestically, and have my airline of choice there, and have also seen some bad reviews of the same flight I was on, while I had no problems. Go figure!

Jetstar! I will do (almost) anything to avoid Jetstar although frequently it means far less options for me and sometimes even overnights in a hotel. And this is on Australian domestic flights that are frequently 2-3 hours max. To me they are just so bad, the experience so horrible that I cannot bear it. Internationally I have a whitelist rather then a blacklist and if it isn't a 1-2-1 layout and doesn't have Wifi it's not on my whitelist. I'm spoiled being so used to flying short hauls in QF a330's with 1-2-1 lie flat seating at least several times a week so my expectations are set rather high I will admit.

exactly! You hit the nail on the head with this post. Makes a lot of sense. While maybe you wouldn't actively look to book this flight, you wouldn't take a crazy alternative to avoid it.