Danto's Rules, The Sequel

David J. Danto

Travel thoughts in my own, personal opinion

eMail: ddanto@IMCCA.org Follow Industry News: @NJDavidD on all

Comments On Commandments– May 2024

A couple of weeks ago I posted one of my (just about) weekly blogs about the rules I follow when I travel. There happened to be ten of them, so we called it Danto’s Ten Commandments. Many more of you than usual wrote to me with reactions to that blog. Some of you sent me your rules, some disagreed with mine, and one person strongly objected to mine. These were terrific contributions that are very worthy of being shared in this follow-up blog.

Melissa suggested I add her rule about bringing a plastic bag: “…always bring one clean, empty and airtight (best to pretest it) standard plastic shopping bag with me per flight/leg, even in business class. They fold up compactly, are easy to tote and are especially handy when flying premium economy/economy and on long-haul flights. I loop the bag around the tray table arms and let it dangle - all my trash goes in there. The “airtightness” prevents leaks. Frequently flight attendants don’t have time to come around to collect trash, so this keeps your tray table and area around your seat neat and clean. At the end of the flight, you tear through the plastic “handles”, tie the bag closed, and either hand it to the attendant on their last sweep through the cabin, or leave it on the seat for the clean-up crew.”

Corkie suggested I add two rules which make total sense: “Never pass up the opportunity to eat, drink or go to the bathroom, and if you see something you like, buy it, [because]… you’ll probably never see it again. This goes for shopping at Costco, too.”

Steve let me know what he agreed and disagreed with. He was in alignment with my rules about rental cars, aisle seats and tipping housekeepers. He disagreed with my rule about getting to the airport early. He stated, “Ideally I like to get to the gate 5 minutes before boarding begins. For smaller airports … a worst-case scenario means I get to the gate 15 minutes before departure. I was running a little late two months ago and got American’s notice that my plane was boarding when I was still 6 minutes away from the airport. But … I still made it with that 15 minutes to go. For airports I am unfamiliar with, I will look at the TSA average wait times and double that and estimate travel time from curb to gate to determine my airport arrival time.”

Lewis wanted me to add carrying a plug-in bathroom nightlight for unfamiliar hotels to the rules. Well, I sure agree with that one. In fact, it was in my Traveler’s Toolbox #5 blog a few years ago.

One person wrote in volunteering to show me the science of why masks don’t work to protect each other from germs. Right…that’s why surgeons don’t use them. Honestly, I’m done having those arguments. People will believe whatever they want to believe and find alternative facts to support the beliefs that they want to cling to. Feel free to not bother with masks if they insult you. Feel free to keep wearing them if you feel you owe yourself and your fellow travelers a little common courtesy.

And then there was Mark who was genuinely offended that I would boast about “considering [myself] entitled” by boarding early with those that need a bit more time, and then called all my other rules “obvious, weirdly germophobic … or just mildly OK.” I appreciated his comments (as I appreciate all who take the time to write) if for no other reason than to allow me to explain a couple of very important points.

Firstly, as I’ve not hidden at all from my readers, I had some extensive surgery a bit ago that means I have to handle myself differently. I absolutely have not let it stop me from having a normal, fulfilling and happy life…but it’s there. The two things people have to learn to deal with are 1) the details are nobody’s business, and 2) not every handicap is visible.

Then secondly yes, I must admit I do feel entitled. I (and many others) spent almost five decades earning the perks we were promised with “lifetime” status, only to be told at the end ‘did we promise you that? Never mind’ by the airlines. It’s a rigged contest and I’m done playing by the rules. If airlines don’t want me to take every single advantage I can find then they’d need to apologize and restore the benefits they promised me almost 50 years ago…or give me back the 50 years to not follow the rules of their rigged game. Since time travel doesn’t exist yet, the other two options are the only way to go.

All comments from my readers are awesome. I love receiving them even when they disagree with me. We frequent travelers have to stick together to not be pushed around by the firms in the travel business, and communication with each other is the way to do that.

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When I watched the TV news yesterday, I saw a 737 in flames due to a botched landing, and a 767 that had to land without nose-gear as it wouldn’t come out no matter what the crew tried. It led me to the frightening thought that sometime soon it may not be safe enough to fly anymore. Corporate greed that discourages finding problems during airplane construction, and that same corporate greed that has cut airline maintenance to the bare minimum, could conceivably sunset safe, frequent, readily available air travel in our lifetime. I would never have imagined such a future could come to be, but every day that passes we see a new story of how bad the situation actually is.

This article was written by David Danto and contains solely his own, personal opinions.

All image and links provided above as reference under prevailing fair use statutes.

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As always, feel free to write and comment, question or disagree. Hearing from the traveling community is always a highlight for me. Thanks!