United Airlines flight turbulence - pilot was a pro!

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I've been in Georgia for a week now - most of the time I've been sick - but I'll never forget the flight to get here. Now, I've flown thousands of times and come here each month, but the way this United Airlines flight shook while entering Atlanta airspace scared the heck out of me.

Turbulence? Sure. I've felt it before – a lot actually - but usually during the flight, not at the end of the flight. Apparently the Georgia weather included more than a few storm clouds; because of this our landing was delayed 12 minutes. But then I guess the pilot got cleared to land because we just dived into the most terrible clouds I've seen in a while and all hell broke lose.

The plane shook, at one point before the video violently (which is why I turned it on) and the Airbus A319 airframe produced this kind of loud whining noise I've never experienced before. All of this is in the video. Through it all the pilot was a pro. After that three minutes of terror so close to the airport, he landed smoothly. I guess that's why he makes the big bucks, or I hope he does.

I wonder to this day if we could have waited another few minutes and gotten around those clouds. As I exited the plane, the pilot had just emerged from the cockpit; I said “Nice landing. Thanks.” He tipped his hat and breathed a sigh of what had to be relief.

Zennie Abraham's Travel Problem Focus of CNN Live Appearance Today

I had the pleasure of sharing my iReport story with CNN's anchor Richard Lui who's a fellow Cal Berkeley graduate like myself. The original video on CNN is below and I told my story live today at CNN Headquarters. Thanks to Henry Hanks of the CNN iReport team and to the producers at CNN. 

Original video:

United Airlines at Denver Airport DNC Convention Get Ready For Lines!

I love United Airlines and have flown them since I was two years old. But currently, United is faced with the same challenges that other carriers face. As the official airline of the DNC Convention, United is on the hook to perform well.

The last time I was in Denver for the Invesco visit, there was an enormous customer service line unlike any I've seen before. In this video, I explain how you can avoid that problem. There are several steps:

1) Plan ahead and know what flights are coming in and out.

2) Come to Denver early, like the 23rd of August or the 22nd.

3) Take the Red-Eye. Avoid on-peak hour travel.

4) Get the United customer service number and save it. It's 1-800-864-8331 for domestic flights, and 1-800-426-5561 for Spanish language persons, 1-800-426-5560 for Asian speaking persons, and 1-800-323-0170 for persons who may be deaf or blind.

There's no reason why your trip to the DNC Convention can't be a good one. Plan ahead. See you there.

TSA Blog Wants Your Complaints - Tell TSA What's Wrong

Wow. This could not have been more timely. A blog that allows me to write about the worst of my TSA experiences and boy have I got some, and I'll bet you do to. Click to check out the TSA complaint blog!