Why don't you just fly Singapore Airlines then?

[Jay 2K Winger]

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines.

Surely you're not serious about that habit of yours!

[wolfie]

McDonald's doesn't have Maxim's of Paris selection and service. They also don't have Maxim's of Paris prices.

[Sapphire Silk]

He doesn't play any longer. He retired in 1989.

The line that was quoted was from the movie. He was still playing basketball at the time, and decided to try his hand at acting. He wasn't very good at it. Still, he's been in a lot of things.

Toth witnessed someone being banned from an airline once.

They were one hour out of New Zealand, after an LAX->New Zealand flight. (Next leg was to Melbourne, aka home.)
Smoke alarm, emergency masks, the whole works. Stewards/esses running around looking for the fire. Found it. In the washrooms. Smoker who Just. Couldn't. Wait.

Dude lived in America. Was supposed to be going to Australia. The airline they were on wouldn't carry him. None of the other airlines would. He didn't have a visa for New Zealand.

Toth didn't know what happened to him after that.

Wow. If it was an American carrier, he was in a shit load of trouble. It's a big time fine, and you can get arrested.

The US Embassy will not help someone out of a legal jam they get themselves into. All they do is monitor any local legal proceedings to ensure you get your rights in that country (and in some countries you have no rights). But they won't try to get the charges dropped. A lot of people think if they get arrested in a foreign country all they have to do is call the consulate and they'll get a free lawyer and the US government leaning on the locals to drop to the matter. It ain't so.

Still, I imagine New Zealand didn't want this guy. So he would not have been allowed to leave the air port. There have been cases of people without visas being stuck in airports for years. So he would have had to really beg the airlines to let him on a flight. I imagine the US Embassy probably did convince a US airline to take him home. But he probably went through a lot of hell to get that damn cigarette.

Also, Toth is effectively 'banned' from long-haul flights. Not for misbehaviour.
He's got a cardiac syncope illness: basically, his heart can stop, mimicking a 'heart attack' type cardiac arrest, for little reason.

Sounds like sick sinus syndrome. Pretty rare; I've only seen a couple of cases. Usually they get a pacemaker. Does Toth not qualify for one, or has he refused one?

[taxguykarl]

Surely you're not serious about that habit of yours!

I'm serious...and quit calling me Shirley.

[scroob]

"An SC, what is it?" "It's an acronym standing for sucky customer, but that's not important now"

[retro]

Only ever flown with four airlines - Monarch, Alitalia, EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic.

The first time I ever flew was with Virgin back in 2009. Even though it was 'coach' it was the most luxurious thing I'd ever experienced at the time! Happy to 'slum' it in coach. The very next flight I took was with EasyJet - a budget airline in Europe.

Was I comparing it with Virgin? Not at all because I'm a normal person

However I did have problems with Monarch... but that's a different story.

[morgana]

I'm flying on Tuesday, to Greece. Coach the whole way. Am I going to complain about anything that doesn't involve mold, fire, or harassment? No, I am not.

I are Not Sucky! Yay, me!

[Lace Neil Singer]

However I did have problems with Monarch... but that's a different story.

Do tell... XD I've flown with Monarch and apart from the fact that flying goat class meant that we were all jammed in like sardines, the only issue my mum and I had on our flight was the rude man across the aisle who stuck his feet over to encroach on my mum's seat. He only did that once... my mum gave him such a blasting, he didn't do it again.

[Seshat]

Sounds like sick sinus syndrome. Pretty rare; I've only seen a couple of cases. Usually they get a pacemaker. Does Toth not qualify for one, or has he refused one?

Neurocardiogenic Syncope, actually. Also very rare. At the time, he'd refused a pacemaker.
He now has one, much more flexible programming than the ones he would have been offered ten years ago. This one lets his heart pace itself (okay, his brain pace his heart) so long as it doesn't drop below a certain level, then the pacemaker takes over while his neurology sorts itself out.

Dancer contributed to the research on NCG syncope. After he was diagnosed, his cardiologist sent him to a guy who was the Australian specialist in it. Turns out that the negative feedback loop the brain gets into is exactly the same as a computer programming problem that Dancer knows the solution to.
The two of them ended up discussing the solution, the problem, and so on, for quite some time. Of course, the problem is converting the solution from something that works fine in silicon to something that works in a carbon-based lifeform.

[notalwaysright]

I guess Singapore Airlines has something crazy called "Suite Class" which is crazily expensive. Like $18,400. This smart guy used frequent flyer miles, and took pictures for us to enjoy. Oh, it says 23,000, but that is a a different currency. This is so insane! I would love it. Okay, I'd settle for a semi-comfortable seat, no weird smells, no loud or persistent noises, no seat kickers, and most importantly, arriving safely.