Now You Can Fly New York to L.A. for $129 Each Way on a Good Day

Cheaper A transcontinental flight (on a TWA Boeing 707), back when the inflation-adjusted equivalent of about $2,000 round-trip. That was the only fare available in 1964, other than first class and maybe a night fare. There were no discounts, no super savers no frequent flyer programs. The fare was printed on the TWA schedule. It changed maybe a couple of times a year. Flying was a luxury. Now you can fly New York to L.A. for $129 each way on a good day. Safer The 707 was a nice plane, but to date it has been involved in 170 crashes of one kind or another. Compare that to the the 777 or any other modern jet. Air travel is much safer today than in the good old days. Quieter New planes are quieter than those old rumbling noisy 707s. You’re flying in a much better product. Yes, the seats are getting more cramped, unless you opt for an economy plus or first class seat. More entertaining In the olden days, entertainment took the form of reading a book or the flight attendants handing out playing cards with the airline’s logo stamped on them. Some miss airline playing cards, but many rather have seatback video with hundreds of movies and TV shows. Healthier Can you believe that they used to allow smoking on airplanes? Better connected There are power plugs at seats. And Wi-Fi. You can check in online and get flight notifications on your mobile device. Easier You can book your own travel online, and take control of your travel plans, easily comparing airlines and fares to get the best price, even on your smartphone in an airport terminal. No going back and forth with a travel agent (I do love travel agents especially CancunSteve, however, don’t get me wrong). And you can carry on your own bags. Back in the “good old days” there were just hat racks above the seats, so you had no choice but to check your bags. We’d just bring on magazines, a coat, medicine and other essentials in one of those airline-logo flight bags More extensive You can fly to so many more places today, often with just one stop or one connection, than back in the ’50s and ’60s. And more options in airport shopping. More rewarding Love them or hate them, back in the good old days there was no such thing as a frequent-flier program Have you seen CancunSteve’s frequent flyer program. Airlines gave stuff away for free such as playing cards and meals (actually you paid for these things because they were factored into the price of your higher airfare), but they didn’t give away free flights. Now many do. True, there were some things about the good old days that were better. The economy class seats were plusher. People were more civil. You could greet people and see them off at the gate. But today, for all its negatives, commercial air travel is a much better product than it was even a few years ago.