Here is my solution. The airlines should stop offering discount tickets. If all tickets were full-fare then the airlines could afford to cram fewer seats into the airplane. You penny pinching misers could just take the train.
Let’s try to avoid calling other posters that, especially in mass quantities.
I’ve been thinking about these last few flights (referenced in the OP). I’ve flown plenty of times in the past and never had much to complain about. All things considered, flying is a pretty amazing event, falling just short of teleporting.
So I’m wondering what has changed, me or the experience. I don’t know if I’m getting less tolerant of discomfort, or if the discomfort has increased (probably both, I know).
In any event, I certainly won’t be flying with this airline again, and I’ve pretty much decided that first class is the way to go for me from now on.
And **UncleR **- don’t dismiss rail travel as automatically less desirable. Assuming there is no time factor (and I know there usually is), trains can be a wonderful way to travel.
And the ones I’ve ridden are spacious as hell.
mmm
I wasn’t disparaging the allure and magic of rail travel, just pointing out that it can be cheaper than going by air. I would also imagine that there aren’t as many self-entitled gits either.
You probably can afford it. More space can often be had for ~$50 these days. It depends a lot on the airline and the route, though.
BUT, when I fly on business, I do not have the option to buy more space. All airplane transactions must be run through our official system, and we are not permitted to buy luxuries like more space.
I will second that emotion. I recently took the Amtrak Coast Starlight from Oakland to San Luis Obispo, a six and a half hour trip. I could not have been more comfortable, and slept much of the way. Wide seats that recline almost all the way, with footrests! There are 110v electrical outlets at your seat for device charging. I had a nice lunch in the dining car, and hung out in the observation car for a bit. Very enjoyable, time went by very quickly. The kicker was the ticket price: $36 for 250 miles.
Air flight today pretty much sucks. Unless you pay and pay for each tiny civility that used to be standard. But that is the product we consumers demand - CHEAP air travel.
I think one reason reclining seats piss me off (minimally), is that it is a rudeness a traveler is imposing on his/her fellow travelers - rather than just another manifestation of the company trying to suck every possible additional dollar from travelers. Similar to folk who grossly abuse the carryon policy.
Yeah, it is unrealistic to expect that - when faced with an inhumane and uncaring corporation, the consumers would show increased respect for others. So I think recliners are rude, but I’m resigned to the fact that there is nothing I can do about it other than hope there is a bulkhead available I can pay extra for, or elect not to fly.
Air travel sucks. But I’m able to just will myself into numbness and just put up with it. At 6’3", a reclined seat is really no more comfortable for me than not reclined. Same way, it is miserably uncomfortable even if the person in front of me doesn’t recline. So I’m not going to get bent out of shape over it being a little bit MORE miserably uncomfortable. Add in today’s environment where I fear that even acknowledging any indignity in a terminal or plane could have me identified as the problem - and I’ll just curl up here, read my book, and try to maintain self-imposed stasis until we land.
Yeah, the market drives it, but now people are MUCH less happy. At least IMHO.
I think for a measly extra $10-15 a seat, it could be much, much more comfortable and safer for everyone.
As it is, the only way to not hate air travel is to pay for first class at an absurd price. Stretch seating does make it more bearable, and I really appreciate that it is becoming more available.
How would your company even know if you upgraded your seat on your own dime? I don’t travel frequently for work but when I do I usually book my own seat in coach on my corporate card (per company policy). Any time after that, I can go to the airline website and change my seats any way I see fit, including paying for upgrades on my personal card. A company policy forbidding this would be ridiculously stupid, but more to the point, how would they even know?
Even if you get tickets booked on the company account without access to the corporate login, you can upgrade your seats at check-in and most airlines even let you upgrade on the plane with the handheld computers they use for premium food and beverage purchases. I’m not a fan of reclining seats at all, but I’m having a hard time understanding why anyone couldn’t upgrade a company purchased airline ticket out of their own pocket if they wanted to pay for it.
Bunch of whiny children in this thread.
If you don’t want seats to recline, go find an airline that doesn’t offer reclining seats. In the meantime, when the airline includes reclining seats in the price of the ticket, advertises reclining seats, and has thise reclining seats, there is nothing wrong with using something you paid for in the exact manner it is supposed to be used.
Please, tell us what these mythical airlines are where coach seats recline so far back that the person’s head is in your lap? (panache, I totally believe that anecdote you shared actually happened.)
Personally, as a nominally 200 lb, 6’2" guy, I like the reclining seats and I don’t mind when the person in front of me reclines. On a long flight I get stiff sitting in the same position all the time, and being able to recline helps. It is occasionally annoying when the guy in front of me reclines, but it seems obvious that putting up with that aggravation is the price I pay for being able to recline myself.
If you’re so tall that your legs literally don’t fit into the space available, then you need to pay for a more expensive ticket, rather than take the cheap way out and expect other people to accommodate your special needs by sacrificing their own comfort.
And if you really need the extra space, but you travel on business and your company is so sclerotic and dysfunctional that they won’t even allow you to pay for it yourself, that’s similarly not my problem.
I guess it could be worse. They could still allow smoking on flights.
mmm
They do! You just have to step outside.
^ This completely. I rarely fly for business. But my company (County Gov) bought my ticket. Well I bought it on my company card. Economy. I got all the info, and went back to the airline website, used my confirmation number and upgraded on my personal credit card. It was expensive, but since the job paid for the base ticket, I decided to treat my self to first class. It basically doubled the original fare. I’ve seen much worse, so I did it.
Disclaimer - I’ve been on three first class flights in my life of 55 years. One was great. Fantastic. One was absolute bullshit, and the last one was just nice.
Wow. Taking Amtrak along the north east corridor typically costs more than flying.
You do get a comfortable seat, an electrical outlet, a usable table, and access to perfectly okay food. Oh, and often nice views. But it’s slow and expensive compared to a plane.