The "good old days of flying"
Aug 28, 2016, 4:01 pm
#17
Used to be 'Travelergcp'
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: New Orleans
Programs: AA Plat, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,826
The consensus here (correct me if I'm wrong, Seat 2a?) is that overall, business and first class is a lot better now and economy is a lot worse, compared to before Deregulation.
Aug 28, 2016, 4:08 pm
#18
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: DAY/CMH
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 2,474
In the old days, airlines allowed smoking inside the airplane.
Unfortunately, in a crowded space like an airplane, this means involuntary smoking by others near the smoker. Since the smoking section was larger than the typical number of smokers, some non-smokers were forced to become involuntary smokers because the only seats available were in the smoking section.
Unfortunately, in a crowded space like an airplane, this means involuntary smoking by others near the smoker. Since the smoking section was larger than the typical number of smokers, some non-smokers were forced to become involuntary smokers because the only seats available were in the smoking section.
Aug 28, 2016, 8:21 pm
#19
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: South Central US
Programs: UA Lifetime GS, AA EXP 1 MM, Delta Diamond, Hilton Diamond, SPG Plat, Hyatt Gold, Hertz 5Star PC
Posts: 181
I appreciate your insight, however just a few points:
a) The seat pitch in first class versus coach was non-existent. One paid for the width of the seat and the class of service.
b) Airline meals back then were still terrible. I used to fly NYC (when I lived there) to LAX all the time. The flight was noisy (those 707s were LOUD!), the "stews" were treated poorly and passing the time meant a book, a deck of cards or a fast-acting barbiturate to sleep.
c) Intercontinental on the 707 was no picnic in the park. It was cramped, usually too hot or too cold, and the seats were always rock hard. It was like flying ten hours in domestic first class. Even with the expanded menu, it wasn't much better than what is offered today.
Maybe it's just my advanced age speaking, but the ability to have AVOD, nicer 180-degree sleeper seats and especially wide-body jets with more room was a real God-send.
YMMV.
a) The seat pitch in first class versus coach was non-existent. One paid for the width of the seat and the class of service.
b) Airline meals back then were still terrible. I used to fly NYC (when I lived there) to LAX all the time. The flight was noisy (those 707s were LOUD!), the "stews" were treated poorly and passing the time meant a book, a deck of cards or a fast-acting barbiturate to sleep.
c) Intercontinental on the 707 was no picnic in the park. It was cramped, usually too hot or too cold, and the seats were always rock hard. It was like flying ten hours in domestic first class. Even with the expanded menu, it wasn't much better than what is offered today.
Maybe it's just my advanced age speaking, but the ability to have AVOD, nicer 180-degree sleeper seats and especially wide-body jets with more room was a real God-send.
YMMV.
Aug 28, 2016, 11:51 pm
#20
Moderator: Manufactured Spending
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 6,580
The cynic in me says that after putting the passenger railroads out of business, the airlines raised the prices (or at least did not lower them like they did on longer routes) but it's probably a bit more complicated than that.
Aug 29, 2016, 10:54 am
#21
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: American AAdvantage
Posts: 1,046
The mileage-/segment-based FFPs of the 80s and 90s or revenue-based of today?