We've all heard about people being banned from airlines because of displaying disruptive behavior. It has happened to the best of them. Rumor has it that Lucille Ball was even banned from flying American Airlines because she slung her tray, or was it a tea cup, at a flight attendant!

I have even received a report that Puff Daddy decided to hose down an aircraft lavatory on a transcontinental flight when he was asked to turn off his cell phone prior to departure. The flight attendant handed him a stack of paper towels and a told him to clean it up; which he did. He avoided being banned from flying that particular airline and possibly being met by the police. This flight attendant also resisted the urge to contact the Enquirer!

Here is a letter that Jetblue sent to a passenger that started a food fight on board one of their planes when the flight crew refused to serve him another drink. He is a fearful flyer and sometimes has a couple of cocktails to soothe his nerves, but this time it went too far. (Click on the letter to enlarge) Find out more about his story at http://www.lvlizard.com/

My recent Air Transat flights were between Montreal and Paris and between Punta Cana and Toronto.

I remember seeing a mammoth Air Transat Lockheed L-1011 at Cancun in the 1990's. The exterior paint job of the aircraft looked sort of like it came from a first grade art contest. They flew vacationers from Canada to the sun on air/hotel packages. I remember thinking that the chances of me ever flying this airline were pretty slim since I lived in Florida beneath the flight path of their jets headed from the far north to the deep south. It's over 15 years later and Air Transat has grown up beautifully! The L-1011's are gone, and they now fly a modern, immaculate fleet of A-310 and A-330 Airbus jets outfitted with leather seats and above average legroom.

Well, I had a chance to experience the Air Transat of today recently and a lot has changed! All I can say is, "when do they start flying to Miami?" This classy leisure airline is getting its fair share of business travelers these days as they have stepped up their service in a big way. Even during these periods of fluctuating fuel prices and unstable economic conditions, the management of Air Transat has kept their eyes on the customer experience. Last year they went so far as to add two inches of legroom at each row in the economy cabin and began serving meals created by President's Choice ( I tried the Chicken Curry. Delicious!) which are much better than coach meals I've had on most other airlines. A Club Class Cabin is available offering roomier seats, additional carry-on space, gourmet meals, and more. There are also two dedicated flight attendants in the Club Class section to make the trip that much more enjoyable! The menu in Club Class features scrumptious entrees accompanied by a complimentary selection of beverages and cocktails.

The flight crews were extremely friendly and attentive and offered several meal and beverage services. I felt very well care for from take off to touchdown. I noticed how pleasant the flight attendants were when dealing with families as they were extremely patient and helpful. It became very apparent that Air Transat goes out of their way to make families feel welcomed. Their Kid's Club offers VIP treatment to the children as well as the parents that are lucky enough to be traveling with them. They offer a special check in counter at the airport and even have a Kid's Club cart on the flight to adorn children with all types of trinkets and to drop off games to keep them entertained!

The rest of my trip with Transat Vacations was flawless, but I'll tell you about that later. I cannot wait until Air Transat begins offering their packages to those originating in the USA!!!

My LAN flight departed Buenos Aires in the late afternoon for the short 2 hour hop to Santiago de Chile on board their Airbus A340. The LAN flight crew on my flight was immaculately put together and was available during boarding to greet and assist customers. On this flight, I was seated in economy class. There was a light snack served enroute that included a cheese sandwich and piece of flavorless cake. I felt grateful there was anything served on such a short flight and I even finished the cake.

The crew managed to perform a beverage service with the meal and then passed through again with coffee. Once coffee was served, they pushed a duty free cart through the cabin taking time to allow customers to take a look at items and make purchases. This crew hussled to get everything done with a smile as we began our descent before they reached the last row. With some team work, they made it happen.


I would really like to try LAN on a longer flight. Their coach seats are much more comfortable than some other US carriers flying to Latin America. Global Traveler Magazine names LAN as the Best Airline in Central/Latin America for 2008.
LAN has Jetiquette!

Special thanks to Virgin America for their hospitality! If Virgin America flies where you're going, I would highly suggest giving them a try. I enjoyed flying them from Los Angeles to New York JFK through their San Francisco hub. It is a very hip airline that has taken everything up a notch from cabin lighting, to the creative meal offerings, to the comfortable seating in both first class and main cabin. The inflight entertainment is amazing and the technology even extends from your seat to the galley requiring only a selection on your in-seat touchscreen and a swipe of your credit card to receive a snack on demand.

Virgin America has won many awards for its service and they have my vote too. The personnel are extremely friendly which makes it even more unfortunate that the airline does not fly to more cities. New cities that have been lucky enough to be placed on their route map include Boston with service to both San Francisco and Los Angeles and Orange County with service to San Francisco.

Their passion for the airline travel experience is evident at every turn when flying with Virgin America (no bean counters picking the interiors here). I flew in one of their plush, creamy leather seats in first class and I really did not want the flight to end as I was to comfortable to leave my seat upon landing. The first class seats on Virgin are equipped with off-the-charts inflight entertainment and better yet; a built in massage feature. Be sure to watch my video to see what I had for dinner. It'll also give you an idea of just how enjoyable a flight can be on an airline that has Jetiquette! http://www.virginamerica.com/