these guys used to be daring adventurers with goggles and swag and now the pilots have to wear a button down and the airlines squeeze every penny out of you and every drop of fun or joy or magic or adventure out of the experience.
in the 20s it was a great adventure! in the 60s people wore suits and got proper meals! now we just get xrayed and told we can’t bring in water! i love starting my vacation being treated as a terrorist!
I personally avoid traveling by plane whenever I can, the experience and added stress just isn’t worth the time saved.
and trains are awesome!
You’re not from the UK are you?
UK trains are user-fee hell. It’s okay to hate them.
Welcome to Germany, where driving a car through the entire country for 8 hours is still a better experience than trying to go anywhere with Deutsche Bahn. 🤮
Fun fact: i had to take a train through Switzerland and change trains in Germany, on the day a major swiss tunnel collapsed.
I made it to Frankfurt perfectly on time despite having to go around a fucking mountain instead of through it, and still accrued 3 hours of total delay on the remainder, 2 of which were just the train being stuck at the station in Frankfurt itself.
I’ve taken to calling them Scheiße Bahn.
International trains are fun though. They’re also DB, but they get privilige. I was stuck in Utrecht (NL) once, heading to Arnhem, because a tree fell on the tracks. No trains could go to Arnhem. Until the ICE came. I got to take a detour via S’ Hertogen Bosch. A train taking a detour is pretty unique, but the ICE get’s the privilege to do that. I was 2 hours delayed, but at least I got home.
American who visited Germany last year:
The DB was insanely good compared to what we get. The app even worked! The twins even arrived generally when they were supposed to!
Damn, this makes me dread ever taking a train in the US. 😅
1.5 days by car vs 2h by plane, I’ll take the plane, thanks. But you do you 😋
For that amount of time yeah I’ll take the plane, but for travelling from Montreal to Toronto (1h plane vs 5 hours train) I’ll take the train as I’ll be able to work in the train, I won’t have to check-in and go past airport security, be there xx hours before departure, etc
I love the VIA 🥰 too bad they’re having so much trouble building a high speed rail there though, it’s honestly such a perfect use case…
You can bring drinking water onto a plane. bring an empty water bottle through security, then fill it up at a drinking fountain in the terminal. You’re good to go. Fun & Magic restored!
Wait till you hear about the aviation impact on climate change !
Meh. Luxury!
What are we tilling?
Now compare what flying in the 60’s cost to what it costs today. If you want some magical luxury experience, you can fly First Class and get a comfortable seat with extra amenities and preferential treatment, but you’re still just buying the cheap tickets aren’t you.
Yes, the airline is squeezing every penny they can out of everything they can, and they’re doing it because consumers are dramatically more sensitive to price than quality. When you look at the booking selection and the available flights are all more or less going to get the job done, you and just about everyone else will pick the one that costs $20 less, completely ignoring the First Class option that costs $800+ more. It’s why everything seems to be shitty and cheap these days, quality goods and experiences still exist, but we don’t pay for quality when the economy option costs a third as much.
It also use to be financially out of reach for most people. You can still pay for the nicer experience by paying for faster and easier security and first class seats. It’s been made access to more financial groups, and most people choose or can only afford the cheaper option.
Ok grandpa, let’s get you back to bed.
stop flying and take the train then, maybe you don’t have to take a vacation to the canary islands every year
In the 20s or the 60s you wouldn’t have been able to afford a flight at all.
And if you’re rich enough that you could, then you can book an “adventurous” flight today, too.You don’t even have to be that rich, there are semi private flights that remove so much of the frustrations of flying, and anyone can book them. It’s an incredible experience, but it’s usually about $200 more than a first class ticket on a commercial flight, and they’re limited by availability and destinations.
Still worth doing at least once.
In the 60s it also cost 10x as much, took 2-3 times longer with constant layovers, was 20x more likely to get you killed, and a lot more likely to give you lung cancer from second hand smoke.
The airlines were deregulated in the late 70s. This meant they could compete on price, instead of just differentiating through features. It’s been going downhill ever since.
I wish I could of tried a plane in those days
I simply of to point out that you of used the wrong word there. You of to realise that doing so can of the effect have making you look very ignorant
Thank you for helping. Can you also watch for people putting an ‘s’ on the word ‘email’ ?
As in “I have five unread emails”?
