Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US air travel is the worst. Airports are dirty, food is overpriced, unhealthy and generally nasty, lounges are packed because almost anyone has access, planes are dirty, flight attendants are rude, and then there are the fellow passengers.

It’s basically just a bus route at this point.

I guess you don’t travel internationally

Haven’t been in the US in a few years now.

I’m spending a few months in Australia and New Zealand so I’ll be flying quite a lot. I like Singapore, ANA, Qatar. Much better product.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US air travel is the worst. Airports are dirty, food is overpriced, unhealthy and generally nasty, lounges are packed because almost anyone has access, planes are dirty, flight attendants are rude, and then there are the fellow passengers.

It’s basically just a bus route at this point.

Okay Donna! Enjoy Bethany Beach!

I’ve never been there. I moved abroad a few years ago but still own a house in DC so check in on DCUM from time to time. Mostly real estate forum. Flying is generally better outside the US. I’m 36 so my mom’s friends might be called Donna.

Ha ha never been on Ryan Air, have you? Biggest European carrier!

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/three-ryanair-passengers-removed-flight-brawl-erupts-video

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US air travel is the worst. Airports are dirty, food is overpriced, unhealthy and generally nasty, lounges are packed because almost anyone has access, planes are dirty, flight attendants are rude, and then there are the fellow passengers.

It’s basically just a bus route at this point.

Okay Donna! Enjoy Bethany Beach!

I’ve never been there. I moved abroad a few years ago but still own a house in DC so check in on DCUM from time to time. Mostly real estate forum. Flying is generally better outside the US. I’m 36 so my mom’s friends might be called Donna.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loathe flying and only do it when absolutely necessary. It's exactly like a Greyhound bus at this point. Rude TSA agents, rude flight attendants, and revolting looking people in their flip flops and sweats.

When you say this I know that you haven't actually ridden on a Greyhound bus in the last 20 years. It is MUCH MUCH worse on the Greyhound. And takes many many more hours to go somewhere!

Wrong! I had a funeral in August to go to, I flew there and rode the bus back. The bus took 6x as long but was actually a little bit better because it was only half full so I got two seats to myself. The clientele looked identical.

Six. Times. As. Long.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loathe flying and only do it when absolutely necessary. It's exactly like a Greyhound bus at this point. Rude TSA agents, rude flight attendants, and revolting looking people in their flip flops and sweats.

+100
I understand that they are catering to the lowest common denominator (mouth breathers who don't know to put their seat back up, pull out their laptop, etc., ) but I'm tired of being lumped in with them and sniped at.

So pay for clear, precheck and first class.

DP. I do this, and it still sucks sometimes.

First class deals with the same delays, cancellations, people movers at Dulles, and stinky humans. In fact, they are fatter up there.

Public transportation of any kind sucks post Covid, except maybe a luxury cruise. If you’ve had Covid, getting Covid again (and again) has a cumulative long Covid risk. And it can make you more vulnerable to other contagious diseases. I rode a bus for two hours a few years ago, caught pneumonia from another person (yes, this is a common way to get pneumonia), and partly because of my previous Covid bouts the pneumonia took more than a year to disappear on CT scans, plus more than a year of coughing up phlegm. K95 mask up, people!

Unless you’re traveling first class to some place exotic/expensive with Clear, you will not enjoy airports. Unfortunately the security measures, late/cancelled flights make comfortable clothing a necessary.

I don’t think anyone should be loud, obnoxious or dressed in sleeping attire etc.=, there re countless ways to dress comfortably without resorting to pajamas. I also recall flying from one European city to another and feeling uncomfortably underdressed in my jeans! Those passengers were impeccably dressed.

Anonymous wrote:It's not a glamorous activity, it's literally just a way to get from one place to the other faster than driving or boating.

It's funny, I just took a long flight to the west coast, had to connect (no nonstops on this route). I had my fully charged up tablet and watched a few hours of shows I had downloaded, and then two movies on the entertainment system on the plane. I was thinking how much more enjoyable it was because of this than when I took similar trips 20 years ago. In economy the seats were basically the same size back then- maybe an inch more legroom. But now I have much much better entertainment options, which is great because I normally can't read for more than an hour on a plane, I just lose concentration. Complaining about how much worse things are now is just a standard thing as you age. Take a step back and enjoy the good stuff.

I fly every week. I don't expect some amazing experience, its just a means to get from A to B. Sounds like you need to lower your expectations.

As someone who travels a lot, I consider travel my commute. I travel enough that I know where all the TSA pre checks are at all the terminals of my home airport. I don’t expect it to be luxurious, I expect it to be fairly efficient in getting me from point a to point b, which it does, and because I have relatively high status with my airline, I occasionally get to take advantage of some additional creature comforts when I’m bumped to first or business on a leg or two. I also get to see the world from a pretty decent seat and not on my dime. I think it’s all how you look at things. Air travel has not been luxurious in the 15 years that I’ve been traveling, I don’t know why anyone would have high expectations for it, it is a people mover machine. Lower your expectations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loathe flying and only do it when absolutely necessary. It's exactly like a Greyhound bus at this point. Rude TSA agents, rude flight attendants, and revolting looking people in their flip flops and sweats.

When you say this I know that you haven't actually ridden on a Greyhound bus in the last 20 years. It is MUCH MUCH worse on the Greyhound. And takes many many more hours to go somewhere!

Wrong! I had a funeral in August to go to, I flew there and rode the bus back. The bus took 6x as long but was actually a little bit better because it was only half full so I got two seats to myself. The clientele looked identical.

Flying started going downhill expeditiously after 9/11. My parents lived a great distance apart and I flew to see my non-custodial parent every couple of months starting at age ten (mid-nineties). I’ve watched flying get worse…and worse…and worse throughout my life.

I agree - what is gross are the lounges and clubs. They used to be nice and quiet and now they are like cattle car cafeterias. Some are nicer than others but I miss the good old days .

Trains rule!

Anonymous wrote:I loathe flying and only do it when absolutely necessary. It's exactly like a Greyhound bus at this point. Rude TSA agents, rude flight attendants, and revolting looking people in their flip flops and sweats.

I assume you’re American and see “revolting” looking people in sweats in your daily life? What makes you think an airport would be any different? It’s basically the wardrobe of teens and young people.

No one got the memo they had to dress up like they were going to a steak dinner. They know the deal- they’ll be herded around like cattle so might as well be comfortable.