What is the statute of limitations on “never again”?

[Mattg]

I’m sure we’ve all had a bad experience with an airline that made us say “I’ll never fly with that airline again”. But then, after a while, we forget why that airline made us angry and book with them again anyway because they’re the lowest price, or perhaps the only convenient option.

A few people made comments along these lines in this recent thread:

Virgin airline:never again

My husband and I took an impromptu holiday to Darwin. Our return flight to Brisbane was supposed to.be at 1pm, straight thru. After arriving in Darwin we were advised that our return flight was leaving at 1a.m, thru to Melbourne and then on to Brisbane, 26 hours +. ARRRRGH! I am 72 with...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Not everyone, though. I recently read a post on AFF from someone saying they didn’t want to fly with United Airlines because of a bad experience on Continental Airlines 37 years ago.

Personally there is one airline that I really will never fly again, no matter what - but that’s because I found the airline to be grossly unsafe and I value my life.

How long do you think is long enough to wait before giving an airline you hated another go?

 

[CaptJCool]

Never say never again

Australia domestic airlines are a duopoly with a 3rd position held by one or more ‘minor’ airlines so saying “Never Again” forces you onto a “one-trick” pony and cuts some of the potential destinations like Christmas Island or Paraburdoo or Lord Howe / Norfolk Island

Even QF complain about their regional routes and the lack of economies of scale they offer (given the aircraft they use, the fuel? The on ground services, and number of minimum cabin crew etc)

One bad mad experience ought make you reconsider and reflect but if it ends up being a deal-breaker, I suppose with time and forgiveness people will walk back their “never again”

PS got this issue with a hotel in Sydney that second time round was just as difficult in a different way to the first time. Having given it a “second chance” to make amends, I doubt I’d try it for a “third time”

 

[MARTINE]

Once if there are plenty of alternatives
ie hotels or restaurants or overseas carriers within Europe

Domestic airlines - there is no real choice - and now both are underwhelming having chosen VA for years….So cannot never say never. Unless I get a private jet…..


Edited to add - places I have visited
Never again Barcelona, Prague,Los Angeles

 

[kpc]

Flew UA Syd-Sfo-Jfk rtn in Y in 1999. Have never flown them again and not planning to!

 

[Telezacski]

Air Canada, never again.

Aside from constantly cancelling flights last minute the service on board was horrid. Friend had an entire cart of food tipped on him as the wheels got caught on a blanket the air hostess had thrown down in the isle to cover vomit from a sick passenger (didn’t clean it up).

 

[jase05]

Jetstar have been on my banned list for over a decade and won’t step foot on another one even to the point that on our last trip to NZ I paid a couple hundred dollars more for a 1hr NZ flight rather than fly Jetstar.
Very easy for me to avoid them the rest of my life.
Air India is the only other airline Ive cutoff after poor experiences but I think im ready to give them another go

 

[Mwenenzi]

Flew UA Syd-Sfo-Jfk rtn in Y in 1999. Have never flown them again and not planning to!

So UA or Y AU<--->USA never again?
Many pax now have a good opinion of UA wide body long business class.
2024 is not 1999 (25 years ago but not 37 years ago)
But the FA's you meet in 1999 may still be on the route as USA<--->AU is a prime (~easy) route for FA's

Air Canada, never again.
Aside from constantly cancelling flights last minute the service on board was horrid. Friend had an entire cart of food tipped on him as the wheels got caught on a blanket the air hostess had thrown down in the isle to cover vomit from a sick passenger (didn’t clean it up).

So 1 bad incident make a decision for life? That is not logical
Do you have verifiable data for "constantly cancelling flights"?

For my common AU<--->NZ (narrow body) & NZ domestic fights (Y) find JQ better than NZ. Better on time reliability and better schedules. Do pay for seat seat on JQ & NZ. My usual AU<-->NZ route does not have wide body.

 

[p--and--t]

I have had underwhelming to terrible experiences (a couple I felt unsafe) on lots of airlines (including the ones that some on here want to buy into our domestic market) but also good experiences on the same airlines.

Guilty of vowing not to fly an airline again (1xd, 2xi). One of them I have flown many many times since and now would not hesitate to book, the others I have managed to avoid for years but if the right price at the right time on the right route, who knows.

Regardless of the sometimes very sarcastic and over the top comments about some airlines on AFF most airlines and crews are not that terrible, it all comes down to a particular flight, a particular crew a particular set of circumstances and largely what side of the bed the passenger got out of on the particular day that sets a bias and no use trying to talk them out of it.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Safety wise… ‘never again’ probably = ‘never again’! It doesn’t matter how cheap or how convenient.

Service wise… well… Airlines change. Expectations change. Tolerances change. Sometimes the convenience or price can sway the ‘never again’.

And then there’s memory. The passage of time can lead to the mistaken thought that ‘it really wasn’t that bad was it?’ About three hours into a nine hour long-haul flight in economy you remember why!

 

[CaptJCool]

Never again Barcelona, Prague,Los Angeles

Quite enjoyed the Olympics in Barcelona. Spent 2 weeks there mainly up in Terrassa
And found

Prague I visited for the first time in July. Found it quite fun and Catholic but the old and new towns are all old to me. The trams were great and the beer at the castle cheap as chips !

LA
Yeah, nah. It’s a gateway city and symptomatic of Californication anti-social behaviour Arriving from all over the USA (hmmm cash handouts anyone?) that authorities seem so deflated about dealing with And large corporates getting a hammering on shoplifting being a misdemeanour as VOTED by the States population so there are stores closing all over the cities. And they wonder why ?

 

[RooFlyer]

I think my very first thing posted on AFF was about a then recent experience with AA and I recall saying "Never again" - might be wrong, but that's how I felt.

I was probably on board with them a year later, not least because that's where my work booked me

 

[AIRwin]

I think my very first thing posted on AFF was about a then recent experience with AA and I recall saying "Never again" - might be wrong, but that's how I felt.

Reliving it:

Told to get J lost by AA. My first and last experience with the airline.

So as a QFF Platinum member (OW Emerald) I was booked in J on JAL metal SFO-NRT but on AA flight number (ie codeshare). This flight was to be preceded by a hop from Reno to SFO about 3 hours earlier on United. Fog at SFO, so United wasn’t allowed to depart Reno. Long delay, and I arrived at...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[only4tehlulz]

Flew UA Syd-Sfo-Jfk rtn in Y in 1999. Have never flown them again and not planning to!

There is bad and there is UA level of bad. For me, that was 2010...

 

[justinbrett]

5 years

 

[RooFlyer]

Reliving it:

Told to get J lost by AA. My first and last experience with the airline.

So as a QFF Platinum member (OW Emerald) I was booked in J on JAL metal SFO-NRT but on AA flight number (ie codeshare). This flight was to be preceded by a hop from Reno to SFO about 3 hours earlier on United. Fog at SFO, so United wasn’t allowed to depart Reno. Long delay, and I arrived at...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Thank you! I was trying to find it,.

 

[Lynda2475]

I blame Air new Zealand's asset stripping for the Ansett collapse which saw me lose a RTW award (which included no Ansett flights so could have been honoured) and a lot of points. I swore then I would never pay to fly Air New Zealand again and I haven't. The one Air New Zealand flight I took approx 13 years later was employer funded (so not me choosing to give them business).

My grudge with them holds (23 years), the only reason this might change is if I'm stranded somewhere and they are only option to get out or only airline that flies to a destination or for some reason I relocate to Aoteroa.

If I ever felt operations were unsafe I would also commit to not flying that airline again until there was evidence of new ownership with operational improvements.

For hotels happy to say never again if there are plenty of alternatives, at least until a rebrand/renovation. Unless the reason was poor location in which case can stay on the never again.

Wrt countries my never again only consists of Bolivia at this stage. Glad I went but as I've been to the best bits, no desire to pay to return when they care so little for preserving the few things they have going for them.

I also have a never (rather than never again) and that is transiting the ME.

 

[MARTINE]

Quite enjoyed the Olympics in Barcelona. Spent 2 weeks there mainly up in Terrassa
And found View attachment 406906

Prague I visited for the first time in July. Found it quite fun and Catholic but the old and new towns are all old to me. The trams were great and the beer at the castle cheap as chips !

LA
Yeah, nah. It’s a gateway city and symptomatic of Californication anti-social behaviour Arriving from all over the USA (hmmm cash handouts anyone?) that authorities seem so deflated about dealing with And large corporates getting a hammering on shoplifting being a misdemeanour as VOTED by the States population so there are stores closing all over the cities. And they wonder why ?

Thats what I love about this community that individual experiences of the same place differ and we can share the stories. I remember someone looked at me askance for loving Oslo (soooo boring)…. Its a big wide world

 

[Cloud9]

I think realistically, the closest I'll come to "never again" is JQ with cabin baggage or a deadline to be back home.
If it's just a hop on with the backpack for anything up to a week (yeah... I travel light), I can be accommodating of using them. The 787s are generally clean enough (esp in Y+ "J").

After an experience a few months ago, though, never again with baggage...

 

[lovestotravel]

Years ago I said never again to Virgin (Can't even remember why now and only flew QF)

Then I said never again to QF - This was after several A330 J downgrades to 737's on the MEL-PER-MEL route and no-one cared, as J is J...

If QR end up owning part of VA then it will be VA never again (except MEL-NAN)...

 

[elanshin]

Personally, I don't feel bound by "never again" but always prescribe to reassess in a few years. If they show signs of improvement then they go back on the may consider list.

If they showed signs of serious improvement then they go on the bfod list.

This isn't limited to flights but suppliers as well.

Just the sliding scale for getting back into consideration may take more the bigger the offence is.