[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

RICHB01: I have clear memories of the period before deregulation. Perhaps if your complaint was about a flight during that period, this could be easier to understand. If a given flight is entirely within North America (Canada, Mexico, US), or to/from the Carribbean, you need to accept the reality that, even in first class, the service you get is, essentially, an airborne Greyhound Bus. Indeed, your experience was very close. You were not seated near a drunk or a smelly homeless person, but you did have a non-stop crying baby to contend with. A larger seat; more legroom, and free baggage handling for 2 pieces, is the most anyone can expect from North America / Carribbean air travel. It could have been a LOT worse! You could have encountered one, or more, flight attendants on a power trip. At the departure gate you could have run into a gate agent that likes to play God. Your baggage could have been, outright, LOST, not just damaged on the outside. One, or more, things in your bags could have been stolen. If you were travelling with a laptop, a US Customs Inspector might have decided he wanted to rifle-though the electronic files, or threaten you with seizure of the laptop if you objected! Inter-continental travel, in first class, is an entirely different story--as long as you're not travelling on a US-based airline! Lufthansa is known for providing Business and First Class service of the type you were looking for.