For an adult male, flying coach is an excersize in torture. The seats are made to fit a 10 year old girl. I am a 6’2″ man and when I shoehorn myself into one of those seats, I can’t help but overhang a little on each side. (…I am not obese or even overweight for my size.) My femur is longer than the distance between my seatback and the seat in front of me. I have to sit a little sideways to fit. If the person in front of me reclines their seat without warning, I get a jammed knee.

And then there is reliability. I have not flown once in the last ten years that the airline hasn’t had a multi-hour delay on at least one leg of the trip. In a few cases they have even cancelled the flight at the last minute.

I was on a return trip from Nuremberg Germany a few years ago. The Lufthansa part of the flight went like clockwork. Unfortunately, the flight back to the US was booked via United. Nothing went right with them. Every single flight was late except the last one. It was cancelled at 11:00 PM after we had waited there in Chicago for 8 1/2 hours. (Just say “NO” to Chicago O’Hare in the winter time.) I finally got home over a day late. IT took me days to recover from the combination of jet-lag and pure exhaustion from that ordeal.

Nowadays, I only fly if it is absolutely necessary. Anything a day or less away, I will definitely drive. Considering the travel to and from the airport, the security check in and the inevitable delays, it’s better than even odds that I will beat the airplane anyway. Even going as far as the west coast, I will drive if I have the time. At least when driving, I don’t have to worry about the size of my carry on.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/10/travel/standing-cabin-plane-study/index.html

Bet it is not just the fees, but they probably soon to move the seat another inch closer for those prices. I’m not tall by any means, but on some airlines, on some of their aircraft, even my knees hit the seat in front!

Price comparison sites really need to catch up and allow shoppers to turn on and off these fees to get a real apples to apples comparison.

Like JJ, have been traveling for a great many years for work, every week. It wasn’t the cause, but the turning point seems to be around 9/11 when airlines and the air travel experience started to seriously turn towards the rotten. Had a brief stint at traveling the Acela corridor (yes, used to live on the east coast), and it was wonderful in comparison in nearly every aspect.

Yes, gotten to the point where backpack (no longer brief case – gone years ago) and biggest wheeled suitcase that can fit overhead/under seat, are all I need. Mostly business casual, but can squeeze in a suit and shoes if need be, working out the wrinkles at the other end.

One tip: Ziploc Space Bags – if you really need to squeeze more in. Be sure to pick ones you can roll up to push the air thru a one way valve.

Be sure to buy them via Neo’s Amazon link.