JDiver

In no particular order:

oneworld Explorer awards!

Decent award miles amounts awarded on all eligible flights based on base miles.

Decent award prices for MileSAAver, AAnytime awards; no tiers or demand pricing.

Attentive, helpful and knowledgeable agents and crew.

Attentive, helpful and knowledgeable EP agents I could request by name.

Telephone numbers and connections to AA Customer Service.

Club membership and status that made a difference in how one was treated.

Going back:

Personally (dictated) letter from C. R. Smith.

Various gifts for 1 MM nodes.

No security carnival.

Genuinely welcoming and gracious stewardesses (as they were called).

What I don't miss:

Boarding from the Tarmac and boarding ladders.

Smelly petrol / gasoline.

Tiny toilets with "blue water" porta potti operation and stench.

Beverages served from Thermos flasks.

Small, low back seats.

Overhead stowage that was open and only suitable for purses and hats.

Hours and hours of droning noise and vibration, cramped close cabins.

Just a start, from someone who has flown AA since the DC-3 in the 1940s, had been Platinum a long time and EP sixteen years.

24left

Despite all the other things that are no longer served or seen, at least AA has remained classy in this regard. (Some of the flying public.....not so much)

This is one of two different napkins I've had in the past 8 months.

^
.

Gringa

In 1966 I moved to Los Angeles from St. Louis & flew first. I brought on a portable TV and there was no problem and no raised eyebrows from anyone. I can't remember exactly where I stowed it but I think it was on the floor in front of my feet. I too remember the wonderful service but it was that way even on the old PSA flights between LAX and SFO. That's just the way it was then.

tomhuber2003

One could add missing when people dressed up to fly. That included button down shirts to which one buttoned the napkin.

I always wear button shirts since they are looser and more comfortable than pullovers.

fly747first

idainc

eponymous_coward

I'll add:

• smoking on planes
• fares so high it took me until my 30s to fly on a plane more times than my fingers on one hand. Living at a time where airfare for a weekend in Vegas is sometimes less than $100 (that would be $27.93 in 1979 dollars, pre-devaluation) is pretty awesome.
• stupid rules like forced Saturday overnights that could make domestic roundtrips that cost less than one-ways

I'm not terribly nostalgic for days when flying was the province of the upper classes.

tomhuber2003

Oh man, that reminds me of the old days when we knew we would be commuting somewhere so we would book a one way and then reverse direction so the Sat stay-over was at home on the weekend. But you could not tell the company travel agent that was what you were doing so you called once to do the one-way and then booked all the reverse round trips.

What a PIA.

bareflanks

Like others, I have flown since the days of Western Airlines Super Connies and 707's; I an now retired and miss all of it, but glad I got to fly when I did. I agree with the 'miss and don't miss' lists of things. I feel for those who have to fly today on a regular basis for work; it's a different world and here to stay; I wonder if 10+ years from now, todays flyers will refer to the here and now as the good old days?!?!?

sbrower

Not to get too far from AA (I really do miss "pay the difference" upgrades on award travel and stopovers), but one of my first flights was on PSA in 1970. I was 16. My carry-on was an empty beer keg (one of those small ones about the size of a very large football). No one commented.

ysolde

Last minute sticker upgrades from Y to next class of service. OTOH, F and (on flights that had it) J were nothing to write home about -- wider seats that reclined more than Y seats, better food served on china and in real glasses, smaller cabins.

Flying the same routes as a kid/teen on a regular basis, and having the FAs (and even some of the captains) recognize me.

AA branded playing cards.

The AC, when it felt like a cross between Cheers and a country club: a place where everybody knew your name, a place where you ran into people from back home, from school, from work, people you knew, wherever you were, every single time. And the atmosphere was different: no cell phones, no screaming toddlers (though some did have a designated "play room" for children even then), no television sets blaring newscasts around every corner. People sat quietly, reading a newspaper, a magazine, or a book. They even (gasp!) spoke to each other.

FAs who introduced themselves and spoke to you throughout the flight, making flying with AA a warm, friendly experience (it truly was "American," right down to the warm cookies and hot fudge sundaes). I had a FA keep an eye on me when I developed a migraine in flight. She pulled down the shades by my seat, got me water and helped me get my medication from my carry-on, and put a blanket over me.

I, too, miss the days when people dressed up to fly. I'm not sure I would be inclined to wear a suit, hat and gloves, but people these days are pretty much wear pajamas and dirty track suits on flights that are an hour and a half in length. Then again, these are probably the same folk who wear a bathrobe and/or a dirty track suit when going to the gas station, to drop off/pick up the kids at school, or grocery shopping. Is there any occasion these days that requires a quick shower, putting on clean clothes, brushing the hair, and just a hint of make-up? No? Really? Carry on, then, while I sit in the corner and weep.

Fanjet

40 years ago, the cheapest RT ticket in Y between the west coast and east coast (which I believe was coded APEX30; as in 30-day advance purchase) was just over $400. And that's in actual 1970's dollars. So you can imagine how much that would be in today's dollars. The airlines provided great in-flight service back then because they were getting the passengers' money to cover those costs. It's a trade off. And the overwhelming majority of consumers vote with their wallet. Not their stomachs.

BTW, a lot of city pair itineraries back then included two or three en route stops along the way.

PUCCI GALORE

Oh my Dears - we could go on and on. Sadly those days are gone irrevocably - I remember all airline cocktail sticks, the soaps in their little wrappers and excellent service.

Then along came De-regulation and internationally freedom from the yoke of IATA. First Class as only accessible if you paid for it - and now it is like the Coach Class of the sixties with a bit more legroom. I can even remember National Airlines doing PBD ( or is it PDB?) on the ground in Coach. Along came Miles and Points and people put up with what they were given in order to get a free flight or to fly in a class that no one paid money for any more

No society changed. The thought of someone putting their feet on the bulkhead was unthinkable. It was considered slobbish and ill mannered and your Mother would never allow it. That's one example.

At least we can say that we remember it as it was - but it is gone and what is left are the embers if not the ashes.

Dr. HFH

Believe it or not, one of the things I miss the most is the two immediately previous liveries.

QueenOfCoach

Smoking sections on the plane and in the airport. I totally DON'T miss that.