[bilfritz]

It seems like just a few years ago when Alaska used to market themselves by indicating that they had great food and service (with humerous ads showing people on the competitors' airplanes eating ridicuously small and crummy meals in tight quarters). Nowdays, they don't even serve meals. Oh, how they've changed in a short time. Too bad.

[Gromit801]

Would you be ok if your air fare went up so they could return to those services?

Everything in every quarter of life has gotten more expensive, yet why are people still expecting airlines to provide the same services they did ten years ago, for the same prices?

[exexpat]

I'd pay a little extra for a better airline. Sure I would! There are some airlines I'll drive 2000 miles rather than fly them. That Airline? Nope! See me in 3 days cause I'm driving. Want to see me earlier, buy me a ticket on a real airline.

Oh, and roll the price into the ticket. This pay as you go crap is irritating too. $5 headphones, $5 box lunch, $5 drink - charge me $20 extra for the ticket and give me 1981 type service - when the luggage arrived with you and passengers were treated like customers instead of cattle.

I actually like Alaskan. They are one of my favorites really. I've gotten good leg room and when they've served food it isn't that same chicken foof goop the rest serve.

This is just a general rant.

[Gromit801]

Good rant. I think to get 1981 service, tickets will probably go up about $50-$100 a ticket. I'd foresee riots, lol.

[airhead]

If they went up by that much ($50 - $100), then the airlines would loose more revenue in the long run. People would simply buy a ticket from a cheaper airline for less service and later complain about it. I respect some people like yourselves who are willing to pay a little more but the general public isn't going to do that. Look at Wal-Mart. They sell cheap products and cheap service and most of us know this, yet it is the one of the most profitable companies. I personally don't shop there for good reason but it is something to think about when it comes to marketing behavior.

[Gromit801]

No, I wouldn't want to pay more for service. But see, here's the thing; I don't expect the service! I don't expect freebies for what I pay. If they happen, that's great, but if not, then I just got what I paid for.

[justme]

Just wanted to say it's nice to read that there are still people in the world that realize that in order to get the "1981 service" you would have to be willing to pay more for your ticket. I do agree it would be more than an extra $20 though. Even though the food isn't nearly as good as it used to be on any airline, if you are indeed willing to pay a bit more for extra service and not be nickle and dimed for headsets and drinks and what-not, why not just buy a first class ticket? Drinks are free, headsets are free, meals (or maybe I should say "meals") are free, newspapers are free, snacks are free, the list keeps going of small things that are free but add up to make the experience so much better. And more often than not, on domestic flights, they really don't cost that much more than a full fare coach ticket would.

[Gromit801]

I had a conversation with a CSA at the counter recently, and mentioned how some people feel the airlines are "nickel and diming" them to death. She looked up at me and said, "If anything is true, is that the customers are nickel and diming the airlines to death!"

After some thought, and the history of airlines since the Walmart of the Air (SWA) came into being, I decided she's probably right.