I LOL’ed, but then remembered that for our most recent family trip to three European countries, I looked into taking trains whenever possible (including the Chunnel) and discovered that it would have been significantly more expensive and time-consuming to do so. Significantly. Air travel has become the cheap way to travel, even for shorter distances.
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That I agree. Pretty much any business meeting is stupid (local or global), but I haven’t seen too many people become well rounded after their vacation abroad either. I think conferences could be of a bit more value, though. At least something is getting done.
Also, visiting friends and families have a big value in it - but other than that, I’d say a good book has far better bang for the buck than 99% of just snapping pictures in front of statues, getting drunk on strange soil, and contributing to local economy by being pick-pocketed (like thousands of tourists before them).
I never said anything about the airlines. Do try to keep up. I responded to a post that said if you shouldn’t fly couch, that you should either stay home or stick to terrestrial transportation, and pointed out that was not actually a solution. At which point you came in, like you had a grudge. What, did I run you over in a past life or something?
I’m 6’4", 225lb, with a shoulder width of about 22". I can sit in these seats but I overlap on both sides. That means getting bashed every time a cart comes through if I’m on the aisle. It also meant, in one case, being physically attacked by a passenger who felt that I was deliberately crowding his wife.
I got very tired of paying for this experience. These days flying is my travel mode of last resort.
Dang, do you take the fruit platter or vegan meal instead?
Couldn’t they just give us a sedative in the lounge, slot us into trays and stack us up?
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Yeah yeah, but look at that leg room*! And I assume they don’t make you take off your coat, belt, and boots either? Would they get mad if I cocooned myself in a sleeping bag and had someone else strap me in?
*I’m 6’5, that’s highly important to me.
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The width shrinkage stems from their error in how they determine the width of seats. They’re measuring average bum widths, when really they should be measuring average shoulder width. There’s just barely enough room for your average person’s shoulders, but any good seat designer knows that you should be accommodating for people who are above average. Unless a country makes a regulation that all airlines flying into their country must have seats of a certain width or airlines lose a substantial percentage of customers, it’s not going to get any better sadly. That or the rate of deep vein thrombosis skyrockets and lawsuits force them to change.
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I don’t care about the size of the seats as long as my seat mates aren’t spilling over into my space. I suggest putting partitions between the seats so I don’t have to cuddle with strangers.
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I’ve seen sleeping bags and blankets. However, the legroom is illusionary: there’s usually a cargo pallet or three in the middle. And unless they’ve loaded a Comfort Pallet (two chem toilets, a sink, and a hotpot), the passenger relief is a honeybucket and a curtain on the rear loading ramp., No big deal for a few hours, but a long slog across the Pond is a VERY different story (And usually, THOSE have a Comfort Pallet and two Pax Pallets, about 12 airline-type seats each. . .
Actually, a team of happy mutants already did that. We call it Routehappy, and we call those factors you’re talking about Happiness Factors. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is — seriously, we sweat blood over it sometimes — but we know it’s worthwhile.
(I’m the colossal geek in charge of what’s inside every plane in the world for Routehappy. Best. Job. Ever.)
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I have to agree: the only continents I have NOT set foot on are South America and Antarctica. But then, I was either deployed there (while military) or on assignment there (while civilian). Vacations are one thing, learning to live off the local economy is something ENTIRELY different. . .
This shouldn’t be a problem, given the rapidly-decreasing obesity rate in this country.
Some of my most comfortable flights were on these planes. $2.50 for a box lunch, and the choice to buy two of them if you like. The noise of the plane drowns out any other annoying sound and you have plenty of legroom for sure! The only real downside was having to stay awake for landing and takeoff into/out of Bosnia to report any new holes in the aircraft which might appear.
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I suspect that having flight attendants offer a complementary* hit of warfarin would solve that problem with limited added weight.
(*if you need more than one ■■■■■ towelette to control any bleeding that may occur from the orifices, an additional service fee will apply)
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My usual spot, did NOT offer box lunches to pax. Although, since I was flight crew, I knew the number and the menu, and COULD order. . .
- The folks willing to pay extra for comfort already have options – premium economy, business, or first class. Economy is for all the folks who buy price above all else.
- The cost to fly a given airplane from point A to point B is only weakly related to how full the plane is – an empty plane costs almost as much as a full one.
2a) That means the most profitable seating arrangement is the one on which they can sell the most tickets.
OK, so people keep saying we need to vote with our wallets and avoid airlines that pull this. But how does this message get heard by the people in charge?
I sent in a complaint my last time on USAir about the seat space; they sent me a form letter response. I won’t fly them again due to the space on the planes they fly on my route, and there’s no way to communicate to them that that’s the reason I’m ditching them and not because United started offering a cheaper fare (ha, that’s a good one!). Even if my letter and thousands of others like it were to find their way to someone in power, I’ve been in plenty of meetings and seen delusional executives who can easily rationalize away or twist bad news to fit whatever narrative they’re selling.
[quote=“Rindan, post:19, topic:12888”]
Eh. I have no rage. This is a “problem” of our own making.[/quote]
Whose making? Not mine.
I would happily pay an extra $100-$200 for a seat that fits a 6’2" person. The last time I flew, upgrading from coach to business class cost an extra $500-$600 round trip, on top of $450 for coach.
I would be delighted to take that option if it was offered it to me.
