Eco-not-me

So, why I really, really hate coach, and want to fly business class? Basically: Airlines keep ratcheting the “economy” experience downward. I look longingly at the photos from 1960’s travel, roomy seats, fresh food, and everyone dressed properly. Those days are gone. Frankly, I’d be willing to live with early 2000’s, in terms of comfort and service.

To be clear, I don’t fault airlines one bit. They work in a free market, one in which consumers have made it increasingly clear that they value price over any other consideration. Airlines will continue the race to the bottom up until such time as consumers vote with their pocket book.

Beware of this, is all I can say. If the last time you flew was 2010, take care in booking, read the fine print – especially on the “basic economy” fares (I hate these fares most of all, since they don’t include seat reservations, making them totally useless for family travel). Prepare for baggage fees, and tighter controls over what qualifies as carry-on.

And be aware of ever-tighter seating. As of writing, most airlines are working on revamping their cabins for their wide-body planes, turning 9-across rows in 777’s to 10-across. Legroom and recline keeps getting smaller as well, to the point where, for short-haul, you can expect no recline at all. Ryan Air pioneered this, with good old British Airways now signing on. Btw, there’s a vocal group of fliers who consider reclining to be rude to recline your seat; personally, with recline being as restricted as it is, it does me no good. Might as well sit upright. That’s a prime example of the above – I’d be willing to knock $20 off my flight for a no-recline seat on a short flight.

If you just can’t tough out the economy cattle-car, then you always have the option of “premium” economy, a relatively new feature. From what I can tell, it’s priced out (factoring in inflation) at levels of the old regular economy – well, yeah, because it’s the same seating as old regular economy. We flew it on the last trip, and I found it to be worthwhile – only complaint from me was that the arm rests were fixed, so the boys couldn’t stretch out across multiple seats.

Again, on this, I come out squarely on the side of the free market. Some may say that Airlines are treating us fliers shabbily, or feeing us excessively, or whatnot, and perhaps even call for government regulation. But from what I can tell, the airlines are giving us what we want: choices, choices, more choices. If the in-flight meal adds $25 to the cost, why wouldn’t you want the option to bring a sandwich of your own instead? Or a blanket? These days, we have more tools than ever to help us plan ahead and know what we’re getting into. And if you’re still confused, feel free to nudge your friendly neighborhood travel blogger. He’s happy to help.