Another reason to fly yourself

Well said Jay, a lot of us have been there and done that back in the days
that commercial flying was a sheer pleasure.

It still can be, if you fly first class and pony up what it costs. Most
of us can't afford to do that. Bring back the "good old days" and you'd
have the good old choice - first class or nothing. Now we have another
alternative.

Jose
--
You can choose whom to befriend, but you cannot choose whom to love.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose wrote:
Well said Jay, a lot of us have been there and done that back in the days
that commercial flying was a sheer pleasure.

It still can be, if you fly first class and pony up what it costs. Most
of us can't afford to do that. Bring back the "good old days" and you'd
have the good old choice - first class or nothing. Now we have another
alternative.



Ummmm... have you flown first class recently?

International first class -- you are probably right. Last time I did
that was in 1998 and it was definitely an experience to remember.
Domestic first class -- I fly that at least twice a year and it's not
that great. Just better seats. yeah you get a meal but it's not
anything like Jay describes. I use FF miles to upgrade -- would never
pay for it, because it's not worth it.

Ummmm... have you flown first class recently?

Ummm, yeah. NY to SF. Champaigne, china, crystal, metal (though not
silver) utensils including knives, a meal that would rival many
restaurants, cloth napkins, twice as much room as coach, maybe more,
attentive stewards and stewardesses, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.

Jose
--
You can choose whom to befriend, but you cannot choose whom to love.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

attentive stewards and stewardesses

in my Beavis and Butthead chuckle - hehh, hehhh, you said
"stewardesses"... :-))

three-eight-hotel wrote:

attentive stewards and stewardesses


in my Beavis and Butthead chuckle - hehh, hehhh, you said
"stewardesses"... :-))


or is it flight ascendants.

Jose wrote:
Ummmm... have you flown first class recently?

Ummm, yeah. NY to SF. Champaigne, china, crystal, metal (though not
silver) utensils including knives, a meal that would rival many
restaurants, cloth napkins, twice as much room as coach, maybe more,
attentive stewards and stewardesses, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.


It may depend on the flight and the equipment. I did fly FC once on a
767 domestic and it was on par with international. Of course the flight
continued on to Zurich after I got off, so maybe it really should have
beenconsidered an international flight. Or maybe long nonstops in
widebodies are like that.

However first class on an MD-80 or 737 or A319 from your city to a
hub airport, then from the hub to your destination, is nothing special,
even though the sum of the flights is bicoastal.

Jose wrote in
:

Ummmm... have you flown first class recently?

Ummm, yeah. NY to SF. Champaigne, china, crystal, metal (though not
silver) utensils including knives, a meal that would rival many
restaurants, cloth napkins, twice as much room as coach, maybe more,
attentive stewards and stewardesses, fresh baked chocolate chip
cookies.

Jose

That's not first class. That's Midwest Express. They're an exception. And
at Midwest Express the entire plane is single class and gets the same
frills.

I've had a few 1st class upgrades (although they seem to get harder and
harder to get these days). Not all of them served meals on a 2 hour
flight, and a couple of them didn't even have metalware (they blamed
9/11). I wouldn't say the food rivals restauarants, but you typically
get a meal as opposed to having to pay for a snack box or paper bag
lunch with a soggy turkey sandwich. Breakable glass and China, perhaps, but
not always. Quite honestly, I'm not sure what the big hoopla is. The most
significant benefit of course is that I can feel comfortable like the Pig I
am when in 1st class, as opposed to feeling squished like a Cattle in the
back. But that is worth something to me.

I had a long conversation with a stewardess on a Northwest flight a while
back. She said they have to compete with the "No-Frills" airlines
who are taking away their market share. I said they would be smarter to
segment the market and let the No-Frills airlines have the low-budget,
no-service, no-room customers, and segment the market so they keep the
mid-range and higher-range customers who would be willing to pay a small
premium for more room and better service. I told her that basically her
airline, by choosing to compete directly against the no-frills airline is
quickly becoming a no-frills airline, and will surely declare bankruptcy.
In the meantime, they have twice as many seats on the plane than they did a
few years ago, and most of them are empty. If they halved the number of
seats on the plane, and charged 50% more, they would be able to include the
same size crew complement, probably fill a few more seats than they had
that day, but earn substantially more money.

The airlines all seem to think the only way to compete is on price. I
can't really complain too much, since I'm benefitting from their poor
marketing skills. But the fact is that there are many ways to compete,
and most of the airlines are just plain missing the boat (excuse the
pun).

Here ya go, Judah -- let ol' Doug know just how he and the boys on the
top floor are "missing the boat." Maybe there'll be a lucrative VP slot
in it for you.


Douglas M. Steenland
President and Chief Executive Officer
Northwest Airlines, Inc.
7500 Airline Drive
Minneapolis, MN 55450
-----------------------


Judah wrote:

I had a long conversation with a stewardess on a Northwest flight a while
back. She said they have to compete with the "No-Frills" airlines
who are taking away their market share. I said they would be smarter to
segment the market and let the No-Frills airlines have the low-budget,
no-service, no-room customers, and segment the market so they keep the
mid-range and higher-range customers who would be willing to pay a small
premium for more room and better service. I told her that basically her
airline, by choosing to compete directly against the no-frills airline is
quickly becoming a no-frills airline, and will surely declare bankruptcy.
In the meantime, they have twice as many seats on the plane than they did a
few years ago, and most of them are empty. If they halved the number of
seats on the plane, and charged 50% more, they would be able to include the
same size crew complement, probably fill a few more seats than they had
that day, but earn substantially more money.

The airlines all seem to think the only way to compete is on price. I
can't really complain too much, since I'm benefitting from their poor
marketing skills. But the fact is that there are many ways to compete,
and most of the airlines are just plain missing the boat (excuse the
pun).

That's not first class. That's Midwest Express.

Actually it was business class on United. Or was it American. I forget.

Jose
--
You can choose whom to befriend, but you cannot choose whom to love.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose wrote in news:EPppf.4095$fO5.3265
@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com:

That's not first class. That's Midwest Express.

Actually it was business class on United. Or was it American. I forget.

Jose

I'm impressed. I didn't think anyone but Midwest Express offered the fresh
baked cookies...

I upgraded to 1st class on an America West trip from NY to Reno this past
week (with 1 stop each way). Interestingly enough, I was fairly impressed
by one of the legs - from NY to Phoenix. The service was excellent, and the
breakfast, while not extraordinary in terms of food quality was at least
unique and "special" compared to "buy an egg in a box" meals they were
offerring to coach class. Warm pancakes with strawberry sauce and whipped
cream...

The short hops (2hrs) had no special service worth mentioning. They didn't
even give away headphones. Just wider seats. Admittedly, the extra space is
comfortable.

The long trips both offered glass and metalware (though knives were plastic
- thank goodness they didn't give us steak!) And one attendant for 16
people instead of two attendants for 150, making for pretty constant drink
refills. But on the return trip, the meal was basically the same sandwich
in a box that they offer in coach, except on a plate and without the $5
fee... Oh, and they were "out of the chicken".

No fresh-baked goods or lobster tails were offered.