I miss when EXP was based on BIS .. I could get there by April most years..
I miss the old AA logos on the planes..
I miss the FA's on AA that actually like their jobs.. and made traveling fun

I miss not being able to remember what else I am not remembering

I miss the days of the AC being relatively quite,

It must have been longer than 20 years because:
1.) 9/11/01 was more than 20 years ago, which really locked down a lot of security protocols and introduced new ones.
2.) Even before 9/11/01, cockpit visits in flight/flying jumpsuit for non airline pilots was still strictly prohibited on US airlines. Maybe someone can chime in as to when US Airlines *may* have been doing this but I can't imagine it happening back to the 80's. I was fortunate to get a cockpit visit on an AF 747-200 in 1999 upon request. We were up over Greenland enroute from CDG-EWR and it was an amazing view. European airlines were known for allowing this at Captain's discretion. I've heard stories of passengers being given the amazing opportunity to visit the Concorde in flight. Super cool experience for sure.

I vividly remember the camera/ATC being on during an aborted landing in Boston. You could actually see a plane on the runway in front of us before the captain pulled up. I then heard the tower asking why he pulled up and the captain told them that there was a plane on the runway. I'd guess this was 1987 or so.

I seriously miss upgrade priority based on time of upgrade request with connecting pax having priority over originating pax. As a network consultant who knew my schedule weeks/months in advance I'd fly 50 weeks a year, 4 flights a week, with a 99% upgrade rate

I'm sure it was against the rules, but it certainly happened. I was a frequent flier some years as a kid, but for me Im sure it was more because I was a kid interested in aviation. These would have been domestic flights in the very end of the 80s, early 90s. I dont remember ever being denied a midflight visit to the cockpit. Do the math in your head for what the airspeed was in mach and they might let you sit in the right hand seat in flight. Or so it read in a book... ;)

I had really nice cockpit visits on European Airlines - including some take offs and landings. I was seated in 2A once and the captain invited me to the cockpit for takeoff. We ended up chatting for almost 2 hours on a TATL flight so when the meal service started, I went to my seat. The guy in the next seat had all his stuff in 2A. Told him "Really sorry, but 2A is my seat". "Where did you come from?" - "Oh, I just got on"

or the other time where I was in the cockpit over greenland I was taking pictures. I jokingly said "could you bank the plane a little for a better picture" - and we flew an S turn in a 767...

The first time I was in the cockpit I was told about "sterile cockpit" - which essentially means "shut up if things look problematic". The captain explained that I am expected to be quiet if things look like trouble, but "when we start screaming, you can scream too. It won't be long then"

My average round-trip flight, including North American international in 2022 is 1/738 my gross income and I fly in F about 80% of the time (mostly free upgrades).

In 2012, my average round-trip flight covering the same region, was 1/683 my gross income and I flew in F about 4% of the time (paid upgrades).

In 2002, my average was 1/468 my gross income and I never flew in F.

In 1992, my average was 1/281 my gross income and I didn't even know F existed.

I'm pretty happy with the service I get from the airlines because it is cheaper today to fly in F than it was to fly in 1992.

I can't blame the airlines too much though. The market has changed.

Back in the day when they gave you special treatment, they relied upon such special treatment to keep corporate travel accounts, etc. It was a mutually beneficial relationship. The special treatment went away when the airlines went bankrupt. These days, the benefits went away because the market has changed. These days, there's almost no end in sight for travel demand, so there's little incentive to offer more than the meager benefits that they do today.

1000X this! Between business travelers loudly talking into their phones or vacationers partying it up or mom and dad corralling kids... the AC is not a quiet place. It's quieter than the terminals, but I count myself extremely luck when I enter an AC and find it nearly empty and blissfully quiet.

These are amazing stories. How I would have loved to do this just once!

Those were a crazy deal - my last was an OW80C BOS-LHR, LHR-BCN, BCN-PRG (ticketed as such but Malev went out of business in the meantime; ended up routed via MAD), CDG-BOS. All in business class for 80,000.. crazy!!

Redeeming award points for travel. 9 years ago I bought a first class mileage ticket for 40K to Paris France- middle of the summer.
oh, the good old days!

There were interesting lessons too. I always thought that "deicing" is a binary thing. You get deiced or you don't. I was in the cockpit of an A320 during winter once - and the captain pulled out a laptop with an Airbus spreadsheet - they entered stuff like how empty/full the wing tanks were, the expected flight duration at certain temperatures - and based on that they ordered a specific deicing mix - and he agreed to a 50 Euro (as far as I remember) to have someone wipe the cockpit windows with a broom rather than just spray them.

I also enjoy it when the AC is quite quiet.

I was lucky enough to get into the Concorde cockpit inflight (before 9/11) - and at certain times of the year had the relatively unique experience of seeing the sun rise from the west!