With only a couple of days left from the '00s, it is time to look back at how FF/BAEC life has developed since the '90s. Was this a time of all-time highs, soon gone forever because of cuts, enhancements, climate concerns and economic realities? Or will innovation, imagination and service orientation prevail for another ten years to look forward to?

Here is my quick take on key developments that shaped the FF noughties towards the better:

1. DIY travel planning: still in the '90s, we asked our TA how to get from A to B on days D. We can now, thanks to web technology, explore crazy routings, set up fare alerts, select our 2K seats and feel empowered (and spend all evenings and weekends in doing that).
   
2. Fly J/F at a reasonable cost: In the '90s, J and F were synonymous with business travel, Y with leisure. Thanks to fares such as I, A (remember ex-LIS?) or DONEx, it is now entirely feasible to apply the "never back in Y" principle without being seriously rich.
   
3. Flight awards: what did we do before MFUs and OW partner awards? Redeemed in Y, I recall (or the lucky ones in R)
   
4. Lounges: at the time, T4 lounges seemed fine (wow, showers and massage!). A decade later, life without T5 GF Bolly is unthinkable.
   
5. Seats/beds: what a world between the pre-cradle seats and any airline's fully flat ones! The more recent next-generations seem so incremental.
   
6. Last but not least - FT: Of everything listed above, little would have become known to FFs without the power of FT and its members. What a difference a decade makes.

Needless to say, faced with crowds of chavs, queues, delays, service cuts etc, the decade has had some serious drawbacks.

On balance, however, my vote goes for the above improvements winning hands down over the negatives. Reason enough for a glass of Bolly to commemorate the best FF decade ever and to hope for an even better one to start.