Airline Travel Now Vs Airline Travel 20 years ago
Bookings
20 years ago: Travel agents felt it was more important to discuss lunch plans with other staff than flight prices with you
Now: Travel agents look crestfallen when you tell them you found the same flights online for a cheaper price
Checking In
20 years ago: Paying for your ticket did not guarantee your seat. You needed to call and confirm
Now: Not checking in online is as good as asking for a middle seat
Airport Security
20 years ago: It was perfectly acceptable to carry nail clippers and scissors on board
Now: Placing all your liquids into a clear sealed bag somehow increases security
Refreshments
20 years ago: Salted peanuts were synonymous with flying
Now: Most airlines still haven’t settled on an appealing replacement. Except for East Asian airlines. They still serve nuts
Transiting
20 years ago: Airlines were happy to give you a free night stay if you were connecting in their hub city
Now: The only free thing you can expect is the air inside a bag of whatever it is that has replaced peanuts
Smoking
20 years ago: It was totally worth coughing up your lungs in exchange for a window seat
Now: Why do planes still have ashtrays and no smoking signs? Are airlines still using planes from 20 years ago?
Seat Pockets
20 years ago: There was plenty of time to memorise the card with emergency landing procedures or play with the paper bag meant for throwing up in
Now: What’s already inside the seat pockets might be less interesting than a dictionary, but it’s a great place to store garbage
In Flight Entertainment
20 years ago: It was wonderful to find a radio channel with 4 songs you recognised
Now: 10 movies are simply not enough to choose from
Airline Meals
20 years ago: Meal trays were larger than tray tables and the contents could actually fill you
Now: Meals still come with bread rolls and crackers after all these years. Is there some sort of international meal code nobody told me about?
Landing:
20 years ago: Everybody takes their seat belts off and opens the overhead compartments the moment the plane touches the ground
Now: Everybody takes their seat belts off and opens the overhead compartments the moment the plane touches the ground
Hilarious and sadly, so true.
At least flying is more affordable today 🙂
Hilarious!
Any observations on baggage?
Yeah I’ve noticed that, regardless of decade, people seem to crowd around the conveyor belt refusing to give way to people who have actually spotted their luggage.
If I’m not mistaken Japan was the only exception where they draw a line and nobody crosses it until they spot their luggage.
hahahaha spot on! I miss the nuts a bit… even if they were invariably oversalted and stale. It was part of the experience. Just like the vomit bags and the stinky smoke lol.
The smoke I’m quite happy to do without to be honest! I do miss being allowed into the cockpit though
I’d just like to see the seats and legroom get bigger! Last time I flew, the legroom was so tight I couldn’t cross one knee over the other. So basically I stayed locked into the same position for the entire flight, except for when I got up on occasion. Ugh. I’m seriously thinking business class next time and the heck with the cost.
Wouldn’t it be nice if they replaced all the economy class seats with business class ones?
Oh, I wish. Either that, or take out a couple of rows so everybody could have more legroom. Very few normal people fit into those seats.