Technology---a blessing or a curse?

We have flight load information at our fingertips nowadays but does it really help?
It has hindered me lately.

Back in the day, you were very lucky to get load information. I mean, you could get it from your own airline usually but only at the airport, from an agent. There were basically zero do it yourself options.

I took many NRSA trips without knowing any load information and often without a hotel booked. Before the internet, there really was no other way that I knew of.
I never had a problem getting anywhere. Of course, there were more routes and bigger planes back then.

My problem today is that with all the load info at my fingertips, I find myself second guessing everything.
There have been dozens of planned trips that I did not do because I had the load information and it seemed too tight. I would have made the flights and been upgraded on most also.
Back in the day, I would have just gone and been successful, all because I did not have the load information
I am finding that if you get out and try, you will often make it. I wish I could stop second guessing myself...

Any comments?
Anybody else have this issue sometimes?

A hundred years ago, it could take you the better part of a year to get from New York to California, whereas today, because of equipment problems at O'Hare, you can't get there at all.
-- Dave Barry

Yeah back in the day you had a paper timertable, flight coupons, a vague load description, an agent at a satellite office/counter who said "hello "X" where you headed?", and a good chance you'd make your flight. Today you check schedules and loads online, print out your boarding pass and usually have to fall back on plan B or C. However, the new technology does offer the opportunity to check the pass classifications of our fellow nonrevs. No more rolling the dice on when or if to use your D1, and while that may not be a "blessing", it certainly is a welcomed advantage.

Keep in mind too, loads are much higher than they used to be, so there's a good chance you wouldn't have made quite a few flights if you went without being fully informed. Personally, I'd rather spend an hour online on my own than an hour of an agent's time while looking at options for places to go (when you factor in connections, backups, times, etc as well) and be more sure that I could make it back to work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by spongebue

Keep in mind too, loads are much higher than they used to be, so there's a good chance you wouldn't have made quite a few flights if you went without being fully informed. Personally, I'd rather spend an hour online on my own than an hour of an agent's time while looking at options for places to go (when you factor in connections, backups, times, etc as well) and be more sure that I could make it back to work.

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Oh, I agree!
I love being able to do my own research and not have to rely on an agent who does not really have the time to help anyway.

One example of what I have said is when I was planning an EZE trip last August.
A week before, the flight had 40 open coach seats and 20 business seats with zero NRSA listed.
The day of the flight, it went down to -20 in coach but the 20 biz seats were still there.
There were now about 30 NRSA listed. It freaked me out and I did not go on the trip.
When researching after the fact, I saw that I would have made it on and up front as well.
Back in the day, I would not have seen that info and I would have gone and made the flight.

The way I look at it, you can always *try* getting to your destination. Worst case scenario, you go back home. What you really need to plan for is getting back home. If you don't make *that* flight, you don't get back to work on time. Then again, I think that getting home is easier, at least in some locations. For example, when I wanted to go from MSP-HNL with a stop, I could choose between SEA, PDX, LAX, or SFO. Getting there, I had to be really careful about what I chose, since flights to HNL are... well, I shouldn't even have to explain that one. Choose the wrong one, and I'd have to turn around and go back home. On the other hand, I can get back to MSP through any of those 4 cities (there's also a nonstop, but that's REALLY tough). However, if there are several maybes, and they all left around the same time like they did, I could take the first flight back to the mainland I could get on. From there, I can eventually work my way back to MSP. Even if I have to do a really funky routing, like SFO-DTW-GRB-MSP.

That was a really important suggestion I learned from a coworker when I first got started, actually: "If you can't get a nonstop from somewhere back to MSP, always go to Detroit. You can always get to Minne from there. Just be prepared to make a halfway stop, like in Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, etc." Sure, it makes for a long day, but that's half the fun with this stuff.