sucked. I hate transfering flights in New York. Stuck at LaGuardia and had to haul ass by bus to JFK airport to get landed in a different aiport in CA and then charged 200 bucks to switch my rental car to the other airport.
LaGuardia is an armpit -- worst place to be stranded at.
That is
EXACTLY why I avoid US air carriers. Cashed in some otherwise useless skymiles with Delta last year for a round-trip from
Buenos Aires to Barçelona. Started in BsAs and flew to
Atlanta. From
Atlanta ended up at
La Guardia. My connecting flight to Spain, however, was at
Kennedy. I chatted up some lost baggage personnel explaining that "I was just told by the Delta Information Desk" they would arrange a free bus ride to Kennedy (total lie). I must confess, they were kind enough to give me a fee coupon for the next Laguardia to Kennedy bus run.
However, the bus driver made a big issue about how it was customary to leave him a 5 or 10 Dollar tip in his tip cup for doing his job. Fuck that shit! (And no, I don't kiss my mother with my mouth. She's dead!)
Not only is
La Guardia a Hell hole but
Kennedy's old Eastern Airlines terminal now run by Delta is the
ONLY building I've been in where the inside vaulted windows are covered in bird shit. They have flocks of sparrows living there year round. Then there was the appetizing sight of watching brown rats nibble on food that had fallen from tables in the food court. The roaches were too many too count or assign names.
Then they changed the gate and departure time for my flight from NYC to Barçelona
four times in three hours. The infrastructure of both of those airports are dangerous and unsafe. Even Ezeiza airport here in Argentina is better run (unless you're flying Aerolineas Argentina -- lots of baggage strikes with that outfit). And Ezeiza often -- as in most of the time -- doesn't have working RADAR! Still, they know how to safely land planes the old-fashioned way by constant radio monitoring.
My solution has been to avoid American air carriers whenever possible. Fortunately, I can cash in more Delta fly miles with Air France when I return home to Spain this spring. Just imagine: no getting nicked 5 bucks for a bad split of cheap wine or a cocktail? Food that is actually almost edible. Flight attendants who don't have chips on their shoulders because of union problems and let out their anger on the passengers just because they can.
British Air, Air France, LAN Chile, Quantas, Iberia, -- so far and in that order the best airlines for getting around from the USA/South America to Europe or Asia in my experience. And I swear the last time I returned to the USA via Delta and landed in SLC to take a connecting puddle jumper from SLC to Elko, Nevada on SkyWest,
the Skywest pilot was 18 years-old! Yeah, that inspired a lot of confidence; clutching the arm rests of an "iffy" Brazilia Embraer prop jet overloaded with 22 people. Fun times. Fun times.
:rant: