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What does it matter, to you, how good the service or safety or amenities of an airline is?
For me, I get dropped off at the terminal in one place and get picked up at a terminal some hours later at another, and what do I care what the service is like for those few hours?
I would be unwilling to spend more money just for a slightly better bag of nuts or a bathroom with a better scented deodirizer. And I certainly wouldn't pay more to reduce my odds of dying in a crash from a billion to one, down to 1.1-billion to one.
What does it matter, to you, how good the service or safety or amenities of an airline is?
It matters to those of us who need a certain level of service.
Lets say I;m flyingout of LAX to Hong Kong at midnight and arriving about 8ish int he morning. My company expects that at 10am I am present and 100% functional to meet with clients to discuss their needs or meet our aircraft and immedietely be able to perform my duties.
Spending 15 hours stuck between Sumo Kali and Buger King Betty in the back of the plane while getting restless sleep, fighting hunger, rumpled and getting tense isn;t what they are willing to accept. So they look for the airline with the best on time record, best ammeneties and best enviroment for me to relax, sleep and be treated in such a way as to maximize my ability to peform when needed. trying to save a few dollars and blowing a 1/2 million euro contract because of the flight isn;t worth it to them.
As for my personal travel, again saving a few dollars only to have a laundry list of complaints afterwards isn;t for me either. I would rather spend the extra and be treated better than always being the person who traveling is a chore and not an enjoyment.
If I was to place a value on my time and enjoyment, the little things like clean restroms, attentive FA's and overall enjoyable flight is worth more than whatever I would have saved on the ticket price. I may be spoiled but I do enough squished in travel as my job that when on a scheduled commerical flight, I like the the little extras a quality airline provides.
What does it matter, to you, how good the service or safety or amenities of an airline is?
For me, I get dropped off at the terminal in one place and get picked up at a terminal some hours later at another, and what do I care what the service is like for those few hours?
I would be unwilling to spend more money just for a slightly better bag of nuts or a bathroom with a better scented deodirizer. And I certainly wouldn't pay more to reduce my odds of dying in a crash from a billion to one, down to 1.1-billion to one.
For me it really depends on the length of the flight, and what I expect to do when I get where I am going.
For a short flight where I am going to sleep in a motel before doing anything the next day, any safe flight that I walk away from the landing will do. I have quipped that if it was legal, I would cheerfully sit in the loo on a less than 2 hour flight. But on a long flight, or particularly a long flight where I am expected to get to work soon after landing, I'm all with Pacific here -
Just a personal thing but I really miss being able to check a bag or 2, and to expect a meal of sorts, on flights of 2 hours or so. I'd pay more for that out of my own pocket, if I flew on my own anymore.
The whole commercial aviation experience is so degraded compared to what it was before 9/11 that I avoid it like the plague anyway.
It matters to those of us who need a certain level of service.
You mean those who WANT a certain level of service. The level of service that you NEED is for the plane to land at the correct airport without injuring anybody. Which is, I believe, what you are getting on the plane for in the first place.
How much would you pay to be driven in a limo to the airport and be escorted up a red carpet into a spiffy luxurious air cruiser that remains on the tarmac, and receive royal VIP treatment, and then get off the plane after 8 hours and go home?
During national flights it doesnt really make a difference under two hours. Past that I really want a wider seat with more leg room. I'll spend the extra money not to have a person next to me or buy a business class seat. Past that the amenities mean nothing. International flights are a totally different animal. Its well worth the extra money to have a seat that turns into a bed during a 14-22 hour flight. Some of the other amenites on the plane are full sized toilets & eating when you decide to. The international VIP areas give you a chance to get a shave and shower between flights amongst other things.
I like to sleep on flights, so I usually get a seat that reclines into a bed if available. The only other thing I care about is safety. The rest doesn't matter. Sometimes I enjoy the meals.
I don't think I'd feel comfortable flying Kuwait Air, but other than that, most airlines are pretty safe if they are departing from USA. In other countries, I'd tend to pay a lot more attention to the safety aspect because a lot of countries vary greatly (look at the NHL players in Russia).
I probably wouldn't pay extra for any airline because I fly economy. The only instance I'd pay more for a certain flight is if I could do a stopover in a location I find interesting or for an airline that puts AC power on all seats. Continental does this on their Boeing 777s and this makes it highly worthwhile for me! Other than that, even if I want to pay extra for a "better name", I bite the bullet and take the cheaper flight.
Although, when I was in Colombia, I always paid the extra $25-$30 to fly Avianca over Aires because my knees literally could not fit on those planes, and it just sucked, even if they were only an hour flight.
I care about a minimum level of comfort. Being disabled makes travelling a lot more unpleasant these days and leg room and comfort of seat is quite important. For example I shall never fly Lufthansa ever again. I would rather chew my own foot off first. From London to Boston via Frankfurt once and I could virtually not walk for three days afterwards so bad the legroom was. I was virtually in tears for the whole trip it was so painful. My knees were almost up to my chin... I have long legs and now that I am not longer healthy really need a bare minimum to stretch to minimise pain and swelling.
As far as food and cabin crew service I am not too fussed but once again Lufthansa was like a Soviet Era nightmare of rudeness and the food might as well have been dogfood which did not improve my experience.... I remember Aeroflot many times in the 70s and 80s as a kid and then teenager and their flgihts were total nightmares. Rude, ineficient staff, uncomfortable aircrafts, unreliable, sometimes you even ended up in the wrong country being redirected for no reasons whatsoever then had to spend interminable hours in a closed airport until they condescended to take you to your destination. Just bloody awful.
I have flown in cargo planes before and quite frankly found it more comfortable than many airlines simply because you had plenty of space to stretch your legs. I sometimes think I would rather be with the Dogs in the hold than some of the seats some airlines have the goal to sell.
I have never been able to sleep on a plane , even in first class so as nice as a reclining bed would be it is not an essential. I must admit I am quite partial to personal tv screens which has made long haul much more pleasant. The time passes a lot quicker when you can watch even rubbish if like me you cannot sleep or read on a flight...
I think Virgin is my favourite in terms of Economy seats. And the service is always pleasant and the food edible. Easyjet is also pretty good for a budget airlines and I find their staff always helpful, charming and efficient.
I would rather walk on my knees than pay RyanAir any money though. I refuse to give my money to a man who thinks disabled people are scum and who would sell his grand-mother for peanuts. I have heard so many horror stories about RyanAir that nothing could convince me to use them. On a trip to Lake Konztanz a couple of years back the easiest and quickest would have been for us to use RyanAir but rather than do that I chose to fly to Basel and take a train to our destination...
So I suppose yes service and does matter. Not bothered about luxury but I need a certain level of comfort. life is too short.
I'm with jtur88, just give me a seat and I can put up with pretty much anything for a day to save money. I don't see much of a difference on a long flight anyway, I'm just going to have a few beers right before takeoff at the airport then pop a couple sleeping pills. See you in 10 hours.
That $300 I save pays for most of my first week in Thailand.
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