Travel News - Responses to NewYork Times Taking-first-class-coddling-above-and-beyo

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/business/taking-first-class-coddling-above-and-beyond.html


Carriers on international flights are offering private suites for first-class passengers, three-star meals and personal service once found only on corporate jets. They provide massages before takeoff, whisk passengers through special customs lanes and drive them in a private limousine right to the plane. Some have bars. One airline has installed showers onboard.

The amenities in the back of the cabin? Sparse.

So as domestic travelers take to the skies for the holiday season, most will be in cramped cabins, their food is likely to be bland and they will have paid for it, along with any fees for slightly more legroom or checked bags.

Dear Alan Weiss: You deserver your own Saturday Night Live TV News segment where Seth Meyers news anchor does his REALLY NOW!?....REALLY!?....REALLY!?


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/opinion/inequality-in-the-air-the-1-percent-and-the-99.html



To the Editor:

I’m back one day from my first-class round trip to Sydney from Boston through Los Angeles, so your article was quite timely. I’ve recently flown first class in giant A380s on Air France and Qantas. On Qantas, I had a 25-to-30-square-foot, semiprivate cubicle with a complete bed and every amenity I needed. As the article points out, when I’m paying in excess of $20,000 for a ticket, I expect only the best.

The return on investment: A day after landing in Sydney, I embarked on a speaking tour in two cities, and on my return this week, here I am writing this letter and back to work as if I had never left. To my mind, it’s worth every penny, and believe me, it is better than business class. Qantas filled 14 first-class seats in each direction.

ALAN WEISS
East Greenwich, R.I., Nov. 21, 2011