Airliner ticket prices used to be regulated. So when all airlines had to charge the same price, they had to find other ways to be competitive in order to bring in customers. Deregulation in the 70s brought ticket costs down but that means ticket cost is now the primary point of competition between airlines and amenities now come at a steep premium.
This is the sort of weird back in the day post that doesn't make sense. Boomers not understanding house prices and minimum wage, that is true.
This plane ticket stuff is wrong. For about the same cost as a ticket back in the day you get way more. In 1955, a one way transatlantic flight was roughly £5k. That's $6.3k freedom dollars, one way. You can today buy a ticket on that type of route for half that price that includes a lie flat bed, amenities and pyjamas, 2 hot meals, unlimited snacks, unlimited drinks, lounge access on departure and arrival, priority check-in, boarding an ungodly amount of luggage, etc. And in the lounges you get free food cooked to order, free unlimited drinks, free second tier food like buffets, etc.
If you want to spend the equivalent money or a bit more, you could fly even better. You can have a private chef onboard making a meal for you anytime you want. You can take a shower in the sky. You can have a literal bedroom and attached private living room in a mini suite just for you. And that's flying commercial.
The other side of it is that now people can also buy a ticket for $25. Which would be completely unfathomable back when civil rights weren't a thing.
The people in the top picture still fly like that.
The people in the bottom picture couldn't afford to fly at all in the past.We are too reliant on air travel as it is. With the advent of the internet we should reduce air travel down to permitted leisure/visiting family and migration. Businesses should be able to video confernce most transactions. The situations where you absolutely need on site representation can be reduced drastically.
That is, if you took climate change seriously.
It can be extremely luxurious if you pay.
I'd rather get to my destination with my wallet still in tact, but you do you.
So I remember taking a flight 10 years ago and they gave us pretzel pieces from snyders. I thought, great, we don't even get whole pretzels...
Next flight, they give us generic "trail mix" in clear bags. The kind the old folks down the street would give out at Halloween because it was "healthy." but that contained approximately 2 pretzels the size of quarters, 3 peanuts, 3 generic m&ms, and 2 raisins...
It gave me the impression that airlines are like schools, where the flight staff are the ones bringing in the snacks because the airline is too cheap to supply them.
Eh, if you're looking for the cheapest ticket available you can't really expect luxury. Airlines are competing with prices, so all luxury goes off the window like a passenger on a Boeing flight
Cuz first class used to be the only class.
Because you always buy the cheaper seats. It's not your fault, I do the same. Flying was literally for the wealthiest of people at that point in history, it was literally a luxury to fly instead of taking a train, bus, or a boat.
Because our children’s children will still be paying the tab for that unsustainable opulence. Fuck they’ll be paying the bill for recreational air travel with only pretzels.
Indeed, I do prefer a can of cola, some pretzels and five crisp hundred dollar notes.
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That tray table is WAYYYYY too big and luxurious - they have shrunk legroom so dramatically now that you get a little sliver about the width of your shoe.
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That cup is about double the size they give now.
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You didn't get to pick those pretzels, there was just the single "choice" now.
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Also, you didn't get to pick that seat and you had to have last minute anxiety that you wouldn't even be assigned a seat by the gate agent at the airport (after already taking time off from work to travel and committing $100+ for uber or airport parking)
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You also paid at least an extra $100 to have a carryon bag (more depending on your route) and even more for a checked bag.
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your seatback no longer has a screen in it. You have to submit to letting airline gorge on your personal data by granting permissions to run entertainment from your own phone and drain your battery.
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Also, though they removed screen and expect you to use your own device, no viable phone holder provided to put your phone in a proper viewing position, so you'll crane and hurt your neck throughout flight.
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Also, your base airline ticket is now more expensive than in the past baggie all these upcharges and compromises.
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shitty rental car at your destination now costs $100/day and parking at your hotel is not free, and is in fact $30-$50 additional per night.
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And your garbage hotel room costs 3X what it should.
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You COULD be paying for first class seats and getting that kind of treatment, but you're flying Economy, aren't you.
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Please just let me recline a bit more.
They used to be also fascinated by plastic.
I bet their smiles would not last long realizing that the 5g bag of pretzels has 2g of plastic (and that's just the tip of the plastiberg).
Well for me it was money, I flew Spirit
And the “free” pretzels are also sponsored with an ad on the packaging.
Because Americans have no class consciousness
Because we don't own the means of production.
One word: "Greed"
Look at you, flying on rich planes with that much space in front of you
As far as I know, economy seats are still sold at a loss. They make up for it in the higher classes. I don't fly through Doha often but when I do, I do like getting on Qatar Airways.
Don't forget that enshittification creeps into the real world as well
In the 'golden age' of air travel, flying was exclusive and relatively luxurious because it was so expensive; the average cost for a roundtrip ticket from Dallas Fort-Worth would cost around $48. While that seems affordable today, a $48 ticket in 1963 converts to about $467 in 2022 with inflation.
Yeah it was so expensive guys
Because I'm trying to get from one place to another as cheaply as possible. Why the hell should I expect luxury treatment? I need a comfortable seat, a plug for my chargers and a toilet in the back. Anything else is driving up the price for no good reason and I for one am glad airlines don't waste our money on that crap anymore. If you want it, pay for first class and leave the rest of us alone.
That is unless you are in head class
I don't usually want to eat too much on flights. Especially with the toilet situation being what it is.
I mean, in the 1950's, the planes with all the fancy food and service were basically full first class flights... to return to that weed have to have single class/first class flights and the prices to match.
Fly with turkish airlines. Business is heaven, but even economy food is good.
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To be fair, the soda bubbles are extra Lucious at 30k feet.
Good old airlines and their ideal business model:
Charge you like you're flying on Concorde.
Treat you like you're on a 16th century slaving ship.
Singapore air? Isn't there an airline with couches and sleeping quarters? 0/10 I hate chu
