Okay, so it isn’t just airports in the U.S. that are insane. London’s “one bag” through security rule has got to go! Talk about a business disaster. How can a business person traveling abroad possibly contain everything down to one small bag for carry-on? Are we supposed to leave our laptops home? Does this REALLY make us more secure or is it just another kneejerk reaction to create a false sense of security?

Alright, enough about airports! How about more on airlines? American carriers must be kidding! How much more can they torture us in economy? Now, normally I am fortunate enough to fly business, but this time there just wasn’t any room so I toughed it out and flew economy from London to Los Angeles. The food was nauseating and I almost broke a tooth on the frozen sandwich. The 4-inch screen on the back of the seat was at least bigger than my iPod, but a little difficult to see at two inches from my face when the passenger in front of me reclined. Not a big deal, though, as my knees were already in excruciating pain from being jammed past my upper leg and into my hip bone. Watching a movie became less important.

So, I thought, okay, I’ll just try and get a little shut-eye. I can actually sleep standing up if necessary, which is good as I wasn’t far from that position. There was a little 6-year-old cherub sitting next to me and she had been a fairly pleasant little girl with a quick wit. Not exactly what I had expected, but quite enjoyable as it also gave me a bit more room. Luckily, 6-year-olds are still small in the world of airline seats and rarely require use of the common two-inch armrest. Ah, wait a minute! What would really help is an ice cold beer or a cocktail to lure me into dreamland and hopefully keep my neck from freezing in the awkward position I was about to put it in. Alas, they were coming by with the drink trolley! How perfect. WRONG! $5.00 for a beer on an international 11-hour flight? Are they joking? Apparently not! It seems that American carriers started charging for alcohol in economy about two years ago over transatlantic routes – a barbaric practice that has still not happened on ANY international carrier. It was the one thing I could look forward to on a miserable torturous experience.

So, the moral to the story is – I will have to fly through or from London over and over again and I will complain every time until they change that ridiculous rule. However, I will NOT be flying any American carrier on a transatlantic route unless I absolutely must–and until I calm down, I won’t even do it in Business or First.

Reprinted from my blog at a national travel magazine