The Travel Should be Like This Thread

[Oldsarge]

 

[Fading Fast]

"Travel should be like this," heck, I'll settle for one day in my life being like that.

 

[Mr. B. Scott Robinson]

I traveled to Atlanta to Boston to Raleigh and back to Atlanta this week.

Given the sorry state of commercial air travel, I often question who won the Cold War.

However, all things considered, at least the safety record is spectacular.

Cheers,

BSR

 

[Oldsarge]

You have no idea how badly I miss Business Class in the old 747. Now that was 'the oooooooonly way to fly'.

 

[Mr. B. Scott Robinson]

You have no idea how badly I miss Business Class in the old 747. Now that was 'the oooooooonly way to fly'.

The 747 is still my favorite aircraft on which to fly. There are still quite a few in service.

cheers,

BSR

 

[Oldsarge]

Which airlines fly them? AFAICT all the American airlines have replaced them, at least all the ones that fly out of Portland.

 

[Oldsarge]

So I did some research and the only way to fly 747's to Europe is to take either Lufthansa or BA out of Seattle. This can be done.

 

[Mr. B. Scott Robinson]

I flew them while overseas.

Thai airways still has them. KLM does as well.

cheers,

BSR

 

[drlivingston]

You haven't lived until you've flown into Princess Juliana airport on Saint Maarten in a 747. And the take off from there is about as close as most of us will feel to being launched by a catapult off of a carrier's deck. But, yes, business class on a 747 provides some fond memories. The first time was on a bright orange Braniff flying from Oahu to LAX.

 

[Mr. B. Scott Robinson]

My first b-class flight was on a Lufthansa 747 flight from Frankfurt to Atlanta in 1987 at the end of my freshman study abroad program in Vienna. I was upgraded for some reason to the very front of the upper deck.

I was most certainly not in a suit and tie and had no status, but that was another era.

cheers,

BSR

 

[eagle2250]

View attachment 35815

For a moment there, with that elaborate train car/seating, I thought I was suffering a Roycru flashback. I sure miss that guys posts!

 

[Howard]

"Travel should be like this," heck, I'll settle for one day in my life being like that.

I wouldn't mind being in first class travel eating fancy foods and drinking good wine.

 

[Fading Fast]

I wouldn't mind being in first class travel eating fancy foods and drinking good wine.

My point exactly.

 

[Howard]

My point exactly.

Since we both reside in New York, that would be a first time being treated like a king.

 

[Mr. B. Scott Robinson]

I have been upgraded to business class on my delta flight today from ATL to Toronto. I have not flown Delta BC in years since for domestic, I consider it a waste of $ really. This is technically not a domestic flight but not in the same league as the 15 + hour soul crushing flights out of Central Asia that I am used to.

I’ll report back.

cheers,

BSR

 

[Dhaller]

I was listening to a WSJ podcast interview with the CEO tasked with the Amtrak turnaround, and one thing that was mentioned is that hobbyists would no longer be allowed to hitch their antique train cars to Amtrak trains.

To which my immediate thought was "wait, all this time you could buy your own railroad car, and hitch it to an Amtrak train to actually ride in it?"

Missed opportunity.

DH

 

[Fading Fast]

I was listening to a WSJ podcast interview with the CEO tasked with the Amtrak turnaround, and one thing that was mentioned is that hobbyists would no longer be allowed to hitch their antique train cars to Amtrak trains.

To which my immediate thought was "wait, all this time you could buy your own railroad car, and hitch it to an Amtrak train to actually ride in it?"

Missed opportunity.

DH

Yes, you could. That's been around since the early days of train travel. It was somewhat like owning a private jet today - very expensive, but very luxurious, private and pampering.

A few years back, I went to a train show at Grand Central here in NYC that had many vintage private train cars on display - man was that the way to travel.

I heard that WSJ podcast too - shame we don't care more about passenger train travel in this country.

 

[Oldsarge]

Indeed. This is especially disturbing because from a carbon consumption standpoint, trains are the most efficient way to get somewhere .

 

[Mr. B. Scott Robinson]

My bias is confirmed. I just don’t see full fare business class on a domestic flight as being a good value for money vs. sitting in a comfort plus or exit row seat on a domestic carrier.

Overseas travel is another matter entirely. I would gladly commit a minor criminal act to secure business class when flying more than 5
hours.

Cheers,

BSR

 

[Dhaller]

My bias is confirmed. I just don’t see full fare business class on a domestic flight as being a good value for money vs. sitting in a comfort plus or exit row seat on a domestic carrier.

Overseas travel is another matter entirely. I would gladly commit a minor criminal act to secure business class when flying more than 5
hours.

Cheers,

BSR

No, I can never justify paying for a fancy ticket on a domestic flight (in general... maybe coast to coast), though I'm happy for free upgrades.

One of the hardest parts of having a toddler was the need to fly economy (because you can't just plant a toddler in a business class berth and expect her to stay there) overseas - we fly to Japan at least twice a year. I actually regard economy class, for a 14-15 hour flight, as dangerous for someone of my height/age (over 6', over 40).

Now that she's 7, and can just treehouse it up in her berth with a stack of books, we can finally start flying in what I call "minimum human standard" class again.

DH