I just read an interesting article about people dressing up while traveling. I know that I wear 'smart casual' clothes while I travel partly because of what was described in the article!

I was wondering what others do?

Here is the article - http://www.fodors.com/newatfodors/

Heck, I don't dress up to go the office!

I've always been a little bit in awe of seeing men on the transatlantic flights in a suit and tie - and they hold up better by landing than I do with slacks and a polo.

I haven't dressed up for reasons the article suggests, but I think it's accurate. When I have worn a suit because I need it when I reach my destination, service has indeed tended to be better.

I think dressing up works better for men than for women, in terms of getting better service. Since most of the service personal you encounter along the way are females, they love and appreciate a well dressed man. On the other hand, some of the female airlines employees resent and envy a well dressed woman. It's a woman thing, I guess. Hard to explain.

Great post.

I am kind of nostalgic for the times when travel was an "affair" and people dressed for the occasion.
I am sometimes horrified at what some of my seatmates are wearing. Am I the only one to find that Southwest's customers have never heard of dressing up for travel? Passengers with crusty smelly old tshirts with stains would be denied boarding on my airline.

I think there is some value to adding a little class and style to a time when we all have to be confined in a tube. Esthetics are important.

I am not talking about wearing a three-piece suit, but wearing good clothes, good shoes, that you feel and look good in.

It's also good psychology. Don't I stand a better chance of being helped properly if I am well dressed than if I wear dirty old sweats?

Then again, I'm French and I dress up to go to the grocery store...



[This message has been edited by Droneklax (edited 05-31-2000).]

I am with you Droneklax. I have seen people in FC who are dressed in gym clothing. I suppose they think that is chic, but not thr FA's!

My travel is mostly business, and 9 times out of 10, I will be going directly to a meeting or a customer site or one of our offices, so I almost always travel in a suit. I do feel that I get better service or am treated a little differently than those that are in jeans. Not as comfortable, maybe, but better served. Think about it--when an airline employee sees a suit and a track suit standing in the premier-only line, who do you think they might suspect of not being in the right line?

I like being comfortable, but no matter how hot it is outside, I always where pants. If I know I will be upgraded, I will wear a polo-style shirt. Lately, because I have some comp CO president's club passes, I wear business casual so that I can get into the lounges. Overall, I want to look decent, but still be comfortable.

In our household, you dress up to fly first class, and we always try to fly first class. If the kids are flying coach on their own, I am not with them so I don't care what they wear.

Actually a nice black, wrinkle-shedding knit dress not only looks good, but is as comfortable as jammies and can be handwashed at night in the hotel and worn the next day. Add a sporty neck scarf and sandals for day or a fancy necklace and shawl for night and you have two totally different looks. Jeans can't even come close in the comfort category or for flexibility.

P.S. I totally disagree about FA's resenting women. Female FA's and RCC agent alike love to talk about clothes, jewelry, hair, etc. It's a girl thing. This morning I even had a nice chat with an international phone agent about Travel Smith clothing.

When we attended the Catman Do 2, everybody kept asking if I had a special scarf for every outfit. I told them (and it was true) that I only brought 1 outfit and a bunch of scarves--one of which I am certain dgolds will try to steal if he gets half a chance. My relatives are already fighting over who gets it when I die.

I agree with most folks that you get better service and attention when dressed up. But there is a fun side to dressing down, at least if you are an elite member.

Sometimes when visiting hot places, I'm dressed way, way down. Yet with my high status at the airlines and hotels I'm guaranteed first class and pre-booked into nice rooms. I love the looks on the people who didn't get upgraded when I waltz into 1st class dressed in rags.

Not that I cultivate this, but in California (nowhere else) there is an image that the more casual you dress, the wealthier you are. I used to work for a guy who was an instant-Internet millionaire. After his first big payday, he started wearing his pajamas to work. He was rich and didn't give a **** what anyone thought about it.

a couple of times in first class from atl to lax, i saw some rap singers and celebrities dressed in sweats, and they were treated like gods!
and there was this famous athletic that wore shorts in first class as well, i could tell all the FAs were swarming over to serve him....

so, where is justice?

Punki,
I agree with you,and I applaud you for your class. As a employee I do have to dress for the part, however, even if I was not a employee I would still dress the part. I was taught from a child you dress to fly. Now I don't wear a suite and tie, but i am dressed nice. We as a family did that and we only flew coach. Today sometimes we see people getting on planes in all class' of service wearing things I would not go out of the house wearing. Every one can dress nice and still be comfortable even on long flights.

I always try to dress cleanly when traveling, even on pleasure--no shorts or T-shirts. Even on pure leisure travel I generally try to wear some of the more clean-cut (and more durable) clothes which I am taking. On business, even if I'm not planning on going directly to a meeting, I have been caught unawares enough times by surprise meetings and/or less turnaround time than expected on arrival. Since I'm young, dressing well also helps to build respect and credibility (anti-youth age discrimination is alive and well, especially when it comes to getting that last aisle seat or the exit row). Now that I'm back to being a student I find it to be even more imperative, to counteract the instant prejudice from lugging around a massive backpack.

I think a suit for men might make some difference in on-board service; I have definitely been treated very professionally by the FAs on all occasions (one was in C on BA, but others were Y on US/USShuttle).

As another line of inquiry, has anyone else noticed that fare basis seems to make any difference? My greatest mis-treatment by agents has always come when flying on bargain-basement fares (esp. UA and CO Express, though not CO); they seem to be completely unwilling in these cases to do anything which requires any special effort.

IMHO, wearing sweats, warm-up suits, etc. on an airplane (F, C, or Y) is inappropriate; I would barely go further than the local convenience store dressed like that, let alone first class on an airplane. Comfort is fine, but one is also out in a public place for an extended period of time, and should look like one did more than just roll out of bed.



[This message has been edited by chalf (edited 05-31-2000).]

Hey Stimpy, I agree with you

I also agree with your sentiments, Punki.

But I *hate* wearing suits on airplanes. In my work I dress casual all the time and so this is how I dress on an airplane.

But there is a difference between sloppy and casual. I always try to be decently dressed and never sloppy.

I have not noticed a big difference between when I wear a suit or not. If I have a suit on I'll remove the tie in any event (yecchh!).

I think I carry myself with some authority anyway and it's not worth the discomfort of wearing a suit for little if any difference in treatment.

None of the dressing code/rules apply to overpaid basketball, football, volleybal, handball, softball, whateverball players or coaches. In my experience they get confirmed adulation in the most alarming fluo outfits anyway.

sigh....