Unpopular opinion, airplane travel doesn't suck anymore

The best is checking in at the small local airport, taking a quick hop to Minneapolis, and spending hours browsing the airport bookstores or checking out the airport food options while I wait for a connecting flight. The longer in MSP, the better. Then on the long-haul flight, I'm engrossed in a book and don't notice anything around me.

Always feel a bit nervous in this airport when most every TSA agent is Muslim.

sub_3_is_the_goal wrote:

The worst part of air travel has nothing to do with airports or the airlines. It's our antiquated air traffic control system where s single cloud in the sky can back up traffic for hours.

Updates to ATC won’t make storms safer to fly through. Pilots and airlines avoid severe weather for the sake of safety and it’s going to cause delays when there are fewer good weather routes available to fly. It’s a part of air travel, deal with it. If you take a bus you don’t expect it to run red lights or roll right through construction zones at 70 mph.

It's all fun and games until the plane crashes.

Not so fast bro wrote:

No, the worst part is the disgusting other people surrounding you on a plane. The guy who ate an onion sandwich before boarding. The dude with bad body odor. The screaming kid. The parents who won't silence their kid's video games. It goes on and on.

Totes. The smegma.

Hardloper wrote:

Airplane travel used to be terrible, but not anymore. The security lines move quickly and they have enough staff to keep the wait times down. There are tons of good restaurant and drink options within airports and the prices are pretty much the same as in the city. Phone chargers everywhere and free wifi is standard. Airline tickets have come way down. I actually like taking short flights now where I may have chosen to drive the same route in the past.

Last time I bought a beer at an airport it was $14. That is not city prices.

If you're remotely tall leg room is still an issue. Doubly so if the guy in front of you reclines. If you nap on the tray table it's impossible to sleep if the seat in front of you reclines, same difficulty goes for meal service.

tl;dr don't recline your seat, it's hard enough as it is

Finisher wrote:

In general, I strongly disagree, but:

"Airplane travel" - depends on airline, aircraft type and seat

"Security" - depends on country, airport, time of day and TSA status in the US

"Airports" big variance here, and again it depends. Terminal B at LGA is shameful compared to places like Seoul or Singapore, and have less amenities to many municipal airports I fly in/out of.[/quote] I agree. I dislike American carriers and find Asian Airlines to have much better service.

Add Taipei to that list of airports along with Seoul/Inchon and Singapore.

The addition of a 'middle' class between econ and 1st on domestic flights is nice for 2-4hr flights.

You then get like 1980s legroom for only 50-100 bucks more.

Come to think of it this is still a ripoff but at least we have the option!

As long as you fly between major airports with airlines that use jumbo jets, it's a piece of cake. Airbuses have huge seats.

If I were rich, I think it would be fun to stay skyside and just travel the world living in airports for a month or two. Most of them have plenty of benches to sleep on.

Unpopular opinion: The airplane COULD NOT take off from a treadmill

Bad Wigins wrote:

it's a piece of cake& Most of them have plenty of benches to sleep on.

Danger, danger Will Robinson! That does not compute!

winnr1 wrote:

Unpopular opinion: The airplane COULD NOT take off from a treadmill

All airport treadmills are under powered.

Freqent Flyer wrote:

Finisher wrote:

In general, I strongly disagree, but:

"Airplane travel" - depends on airline, aircraft type and seat

"Security" - depends on country, airport, time of day and TSA status in the US

"Airports" big variance here, and again it depends. Terminal B at LGA is shameful compared to places like Seoul or Singapore, and have less amenities to many municipal airports I fly in/out of.

I agree. I dislike American carriers and find Asian Airlines to have much better service.

Add Taipei to that list of airports along with Seoul/Inchon and Singapore.[/quote]

Seoul and Singapore are the airports I’ve used the most over the past 10 years and no complaints at all (have automatic immigration at both). Great food, efficient, tons of lounges on Priority Pass. Asian discount carriers are great because you can pay for front row seat for about $20 USD. Don’t fly domestic US often but I’m sure it’s one of many reasons I’m happy to live in more advanced (and safer) countries.

Hardloper wrote:

Luv2Run wrote:

However, the plane ride part has gotten worse. Seats are narrower, leg room is lessened. Airlines nickel and dime people. Harder for many flyers to sit together without additional fees.

I forgot to specify that yes, one downside is narrower seats, but if you're a skinny runner it's not an issue

It is an issue if you’re anything approaching tall on a transatlantic flight. I’m 5’11” and I cannot stretch my legs unless flying business class which, to counter your earlier argument, has got more and more expensive with respect to economy (the price gap used to be more reasonable). And since the people next to me are rarely fellow skinny runners, I can’t really maneuver in my own seat.

I purposely dehydrate myself on long flights so that I don’t have to go through the acrobatics of getting out of the window seat past my “average sized” fellow Americans.

Can see OP's point, but to me it's just adaptation at the fringes of an inherently bad system

From my perspective (fly maybe once every 12-18 months, for leisure/visiting family), things are still bad.

Higher fares, fewer flight/carrier options, cramped planes, smaller seats, no-wiggle-room for delayed/cancelled flights, people bringing their lives' belongings as carry-ons, inconsistent policies/procedures at security...

i totally agree. flew Air Nippon from Tokyo to LA, 15 hrs. i didnt want to get off. the service was so great. non stop movies, hot towels, booze. i love it.

recently i flew Turkish Airlines from ATL to Instanbul. I absolutely loved it. great food, good service, movies, booze.

finally, if you get a sky lounge pass then layovers are great. free wifi, open bar, full buffet, newspapers. i love it. my girlfriend and i usually get to the ATL airport a few hours early just to chill in the sky lounge.

I agree that airports are generally much nicer with good food options. As a kid, I remember eating a microwave burger at Atlanta Hartsfield airport. We have come a long way since then.

But a lot of things are still very annoying. I hate the fight for overhead luggage space and the charges for luggage. I hate having to pay extra to get a decent seat or just to keep your family sitting in the same row. I hate having to pay extra for food, wifi, etc. I hate that frequent flier miles are now a joke. It used to be that you could just get a ticket wherever you needed to go with your miles. Now, you have to fly super standby, leave at 4:27 am, take three connecting flights just to go from NY to Chicago.