Originally Posted by
Liface
Yes.
Flying is a method to get from one place to another. In 2019, it is a commodity available to everyone, and no more of a special experience than a cross-country bus trip.
The first airline to promise to leave me alone inflight will get my business. Everyone else can go to the frillier carriers.
By your own admission in the OP you ask for water when they come around so clearly it doesn't bother you too much.
It's not hard to say no thank you if you don't want the service and have the FA quickly move on. Such a pain to be inconvenienced for the 30-60 seconds it takes to hand a drink to your 1-2 seatmates and you (if you request)
It's also really easy to have your headphones on and working and when the FA goes by just make a non-verbal gesture that indicates you are good and continue whatever you were working on.
And on every plane type apart from the CR2 and CR7, there are at least 2 lavs on the plane so if the tray is blocking you, it's acceptable to go up to the F cabin lavatory when seated in Y. I do wish more carriers innovated with the mid-lav bathroom on the 737s and A320s to help alleviate the bathroom congestion during meal service.
BTW --
Spirit Airlines and
Frontier Airlines both only offer food and beverage for purchase so perhaps those are the carriers for you
Originally Posted by
Super Mario
Then when it goes away, there are complaints that the airlines keep cutting service. There legitimately are people who will pay $100+ more for their flight because Spirit/Frontier do not offer free refreshments. These people may not admit or even understand the psychology of their decisions, but they do it. It is not going to go away because of the "value" to some people. People will LOSE THEIR MINDS when a service stops giving away free liquids.
Free is an incredibly powerful marketing and sales tactic -- not only do people lose their minds but most fail to realize or accept they are still paying for the "free" item, the cost is just covered from the related item(s)/service(s) they purchased