Do you know what airplane you are on?
I’m on an airplane? But… it looks just like my living room!
How did Boeing do that? Or was it McDonnell Douglas?
But seriously, all I notice is how many seats across when I’m booking a flight. I always tell myself I should learn about planes, so I can choose more wisely… but who am I kidding, I’d just pick the cheapest flight, even if it was a redeye on a prop plane.
Apparently, according to some recent news, you can’t always assume even that. 
Generally, yes. I’m an airplane geek.
I tend to pick flights by the airline, however, which usually eliminates any choices in airplane type*. Still, I can go to seatguru.com and try to pick out a good or not-bad seat based on which airplane type I’ll be on. I used to vastly prefer Boeing products over Airbus, mostly for historical and sentimental reasons. I’m a little cooler on them now…but still prefer Boeing.
*Qantas, for preference. So if I fly to the States, it’ll be on a 787 from here on out. I haven’t been on one of those yet; I won’t miss the A380 that previous flights have been on. Too many people boarding, disembarking, and too much luggage to wait to come tumblin’ down the chute.
Oh, yeah, that bit falls outside my mild avgeekery envelope. I mean, sure, if I have a view of the engine cowling and I can see the overlapping RR badge that’s bloody obvious who made it, but the specific type, nah, beyond me.
When I was a kid I seemed to be more interested in the differences, but very broadly, like 727 vs 737 vs 757 or 747 vs DC-10, etc. I didn’t know anything about the hyphenated model numbers after that (like 747-200 vs 747-300. They were all “the big planes with the hump on them.”) These days, I know even less. I flew a lot in the late 90s/early-to-mid 00s, and, unless I looked at the little card in the seat pocket in front of me, I couldn’t tell you what the hell plane I was on. The last time I got excited about the type of plane I was flying on was when Tyrolean Airways had me on a prop plane from Budapest to Vienna. I had never been on a prop before, so I was excited.
The big one, with two aisles and four seats in the middle, or the regular one with two rows of three. Occasionally the tiny one with a single seat row.
I’m pretty much the same. I never did fly on an L-1011, and I don’t think I’ve even seen a 747SP. Haven’t been on a 787 or A380 yet, but I should still have the chance.
I also notice which airport I’m going to or through. I flew to LaGuardia on Delta once because they used the old Marine Air Terminal. The TWA terminal at Kennedy has been turned into a retro-themed hotel and I’d like to stay there, someday.
I care, but only because I’m interested. I’ll look at the emergency card to see what aircraft I’m on, if I neglected to examine my ticket for the aircraft.
Interestingly, back in the days of Canadian Airlines (which I flew frequently), the emergency card illustrated everything you’d expect to see–except for the circus clown illustrating how to open an overwing emergency door, or the tuxedoed magician pulling an oxygen mask out of his hat, and demonstrating how to put it on. I once asked a flight attendant about that, and her reply was, “Questions like yours are how we know people are actually reading the emergency card.” Makes sense.
I haven’t flown on a commercial airplane since the 1990’s so it’s been nearly 25 years. A quarter century. An eternity in aviation. The B777 wasn’t yet in service last time I flew on an airliner.
Despite being a pilot, I can’t say it matters much to me the specific airplane I’m on if flying commercial. All I care about in that case is getting safely from point A to point B and yes, how much the ticket is. I’ve flown on a lot of B373’s and know that only because I used to fly Southwest a lot. Airliners just don’t excite me. They’re a flying bus service, except the last time I rode a commercial bus I had a lot more leg room.
Now, little airplanes I’ll get very excited about and delve into minutiae about. But I’m pretty sure that’s not the sort of “do you know what airplane you are on” that the OP was asking about.
I pay no attention to the type of airplane I’m sitting in when I’m traveling.
Just as I pay no attention to the type of chair I’m sitting in when I’m having a cavity filled at the dentist…
Because I know that both experiences are equally enjoyable.
From the inside, this is pretty much all I notice, although I used to enjoy the knowledge that I was aboard a 747, such a unique aircraft.
Waiting at the gate, I’m a bit more studious about the plane I’m about to board, along with any others that are in view.
I fly a bit more than the average bear. I cannot tell one airplane from the other unless I look at the emergency card. I do prefer some airplane over another, but just feel lucky if I am on the nice Lufthansa flight with the bathrooms downstairs. I presume that is some sort of Airbus.
As to the A380 you better hurry. They may all be out of service in a couple years unless COVID eases up quickly & international travel resumes in quantity.
Nowadays I usually look at the safety card to find out.
I can certainly pick out an A380 from a lineup.
I knew the differences in the Boeing models 707 / 727 / 737 / 747.
I could tell the difference between a DC-10 and an L-1011.
For the most part, they seem more generic to me today. That’s probably just me though.
That’s me as well. Sometimes I pull out the card, but often my response will be, “Hmm - never heard of that maker/model!” Only important thing is where the bathrooms are. We generally spring for 1st class, so it is a tad disappointing when we don’t get at least that curtain to separate us from the rabble! 
Oh, and we pretty much always check our bags. Got tired of fighting w/ all the fuckers bringing on oversized crap and filling up the overheads.
In a real sense they are more generic. The basic layout of two engines under the wings covers all these models still in common passenger use:
Airbus: A220 (nee Bombardier CS100/3300), A318 (out of production), A319 / A320 / A321, A330, A350
Boeing 737, 757 (out of production), 767 (out of production for passenger models), 777, 787.
Embraer: E170 / E175 / E190 / E195.
From a distance it can be hard to tell whether you’re seeing a small one of any of these types 2 miles away or a big one from 6 miles away.
The only surviving 4-engine jetliners are the A340, B747, and A380. A430s are no longer made and the last A380 & 747 will be built this year or next. Very soon all 3 types will be relegated to cargo-only or the junk yard.
The two engines flanking the T-tail layout is likewise obsolete and although the operating fleet is still good sized, nobody is making more of them.
Out of production examples still flying passengers in any quantity are Boeing 717 (nee McDonnel Douglas MD-95), McDonnel Douglas MD-80, MD-90, Embraer E135 / 154, Bombardier CRJ.
I know. I’ve been thinking I’ll visit London after the pandemic is over. Last I checked, British Airways had an A380 on the Boston-to-Heathrow route. Or I might choose to go through New York City; Kennedy-to-Heathrow is a route with a storied history.
Actually I don’t think you can count the MD-80 and MD-90 as “flying passengers in any quantity” anymore. Delta retired theirs en masse last summer due to the drop in travel due to the pandemic, and they were the only airline left flying them in significant numbers. They were going away soon anyway, but the pandemic really sped things up.
By gosh you’re right. Thanks for the correction.
Pre-COVID Delta was the last remaining MD-80/90 operator in the US and pretty much the world; the few airlines still flying them have just a handful each. I’d completely forgotten DAL dumped all theirs for COVID.
I just checked and DAL is still operating their B-717s, representing about 2/3rds of the worldwide fleet still in use. If/When they pull their 717s, that type will have disappeared too for most practical purposes.
Unrelated to Delta, the active ranks of the T-tailed RJs are also hemorrhaging now.
COVID has been going through the ranks of the elderly or unpopular airliners about like it’s been going through the ranks of the elderly humans. A fleet is either strong … or dead.
I always looked it up on SeatGuru, but never really knew. Other than it felt like OKC to DFW and back for my connecting flight on American was always an MD80, but looking at the list today they’ve got CRJ700, A319 CRJ700, ERJ175, A319, 737-800 on the route.
Like I recognize a 747 parked at the gate, and have seen a few A380s, but don’t think I can really tell most 2 engines apart.