Originally Posted by
sullim4
Maybe I am getting old (well, I'm definitely getting old), but I can honestly say that flying economy has gotten a lot worse since I started flying almost 25 years ago. I am old enough to remember free meals on domestic flights in coach... boy those were the days
…
… when late night comedians were making jokes about the free airplane food on a regular basis.
Despite all the ballyhoo around cleanliness during COVID, I've found the coach cabin to be filthier now than ever. "Turbulence" preventing in-flight service has become commonplace. Ordering one drink gets you the stink eye from the cabin crew. The seats are thin and don't recline as comfortably as the past but yet still somehow encroach on your space when the row ahead of you decides to recline.
For me coach has actually gotten better in the last 25 years because of the invention of Economy Plus (by UA, a game changer for me) and similar products that make Economy reasonably comfortable for domestic travel.
I'm at the point where I pay for the class of service that I want at the time of reservation, and if that means flying less so I can afford my desired cabin, so be it. That typically means J for int'l itineraries and some kind of premium class/C+/E+ for transcon domestic routes. Loyalty to one airline is overrated, go with whoever has the best combination of price/route/time/product and just pay with cash or miles for whatever experience you want.
I see it similarly. With increased age longhaul economy is becoming less and less doable (and I am not
that old), but fortunately with increased age my financial resources and my ability to find good deals (awards or revenue) have increased, too. And increased flexibility in choosing travel dates and destinations makes it easier to find good awards or revenue deals. Elite status can still be useful, but less so than in the past.
Originally Posted by
sfozrhfco
In just over a decade large US carriers have gone from selling around 10% of the F domestic seats to DL selling nearly 75%. In a few years, it will be close to 100%. DL's devaluations are a preview of what is to come. The targets will get so high that people will have to pay F fares to spend enough to quality. Hence there is no need to give away free upgrades. Airlines have people in the pot boiling.
I wonder when we will see a point where most people just get wise enough to stop being addicted to miles, and airlines can’t sell miles to banks anymore.