A passionate traveler flew on every airline in the US for a weeklong journey where he was pretty much stuck in the sky.
Eric Decker, better known by his digital name Airrack, uses his online presence to complete some wacky feats, including making the world’s largest pizza and meeting infamous ex-Walmart employee Gail Lewis.
Decker, 27, who says he put his life on the line for the experiment, set several rules he had to adhere to as he set out to fly all 28 domestic airlines which took him everywhere — but also nowhere.
“I’m ready to dedicate however many days of my life it takes to try every single airline in the country,” Decker said.
The first rule, the YouTuber couldn’t leave the airport system and had to remain at an airport or on an airplane.
For his second rule, Decker required himself to purchase the “nicest” seat each airline offered, and he rated each flight’s experience on four components.
“Price, comfort, service, and something that I like to call the X-factor. I want to leave these airlines room to surprise me,” the YouTuber said.
Having to stay inside the airport system throughout the expedition meant he had to do everything inside the airport system, which led to his final requirement.
“Rule number three: all food, drink, bathroom breaks, and sleep must occur on the plane or in the airport. Live by the plane, die by the plane,” he said.
To help him properly rank all the airlines, Decker had some of his friends test all the lounges and onboard bathrooms which included rating the power of the toilet flush and the number of plies of the toilet paper.
Decker’s first three flights were either delayed or canceled causing chaos to his “meticulously planned flight map.”
His first flight was with United where he experienced a delay that caused some of the passengers to miss their connecting flight but Decker wasn’t concerned until he boarded his second flight, which was on Horizon Air.
“The first thing I immediately noticed when boarding Horizon Air was that it was about 120 degrees inside,” Decker said. “The second thing, was once everyone boarded the plane, they immediately asked us all to deplane.”
The flight was eventually canceled forcing Decker to give the airline the lowest possible rating, F tier.
Decker’s cameraman Jack, the man testing all the plane’s lavatories placed low-cost airline Avelo B-tier for its “pretty quick flush” and private “hop-on jet service” JSX ranked C-tier alongside United.
Allegiant Airlines
Allegiant Airlines was ranked A-tier for its “very clean” bathroom despite the one-ply toilet paper.
Southwest Airlines
Back in the main cabins of the flights, Decker nearly struck gold when it came to the “notorious” Southwest Airlines.
Decker secured a first-row seat because of the low-cost carriers’ open seating model.
“This is by far the best seat I ever gotten on a Southwest flight,” Decker said.
However, a 4-hour delay and a $221 cost landed the airline at C-tier.
Spirit Airlines
The YouTuber’s next flight was on Spirit, which Decker heard horrific stories while the $544 one-way ticket didn’t help.
The plane itself was the newest and cleanest plane of the journey and Decker promptly fell asleep, only to wake up after landing.
“That Spirit flight was the cleanest, smoothest, nicest staff I’ve interacted with this entire. I cannot believe I’m saying this but Spirit Airlines is B-tier.”
Contour Airlines
One of the smallest planes Decker rode on was from a former military charter to mainline airline, Contour, which shared the flight with Flying Finn because once the aircraft landed in Missouri and three people got off the rest of the passengers were back in the air.
The convenience of not having to switch planes, and great inflight service because of the small amount of passengers earned both companies a spot in the C-tier.
Silver Airways and Frontier Airlines
Silver Airways, just as Decker’s experience with Horizon, never took off and earned its spot at F-tier, leading the YouTuber to Frontier Airlines.
Decker enjoyed every aspect of the Frontier, including giving out his “Best Flight Attendant” and “Coolest Person to Sit Next to” awards to flight attendant Tamisha, along with gift cards.
Delta Airlines
Delta, with Decker’s seat a “comfort plus” access to the Delta Lounge’s access to a vast variety of food, a shower, and the onboard snacks and free refills the airline nearly made it to S-tier as well but was put next to Frontier because of the $513 price tag.
Day four of the journey the YouTuber and cameraman Jack spent “marathoning a handful of mediocre flights” which included Republic Airways, New Pacific Airways, Delta Republic, and Delta Connections.
Cape Air
The smallest plane Decker boarded during his excursion belonged to Cape Air which mainly services Boston with several of the Massachussets cape towns.
Before boarding the six-seated plane, Decker and his baggage had to be weighed at the gate.
With minimal legroom and motion sickness, the $459 flight earned a C-tier ranking.
Endeavor, Sun Country, and Hawaiian Airlines
Endeavor Air earned an A-tier rating albeit a steep price tag of $838.
Sun Country ($251) and Hawaiian Airlines ($978) were both given B-tier ratings.
Alaska Airlines
During his flight on Alaska Airlines, Decker a new friend talked about life in the Last Frontier including seeing moose in his yard.
Decker’s experience on the flight earned the Airline a spot in the A-tier.
After taking the flight across the ocean to Hawaii, Jack boarded two smaller planes in the 50th state, Mokulele Airlines and Lana’i Air.
The second flight with Mokulele was canceled, forcing Jack to give it an F, but Lana’i was a private jet for $169 which was given an S-tier rating.
After flying around the country for seven days, Decker booked himself a flight home on American Airlines, where he would sit on what he called the “most luxurious domestic flight,” which was the “only thing that kept me going” throughout his weeklong adventure.
Instead, he gave the seat up to fly out to see his mother, giving American Airlines an E-tier rating.