Not sure how much of that is because the Japanese airlines stopover in Tokyo-Narita (I prefer overnight instead of those short 2-hour layovers, though- gives me time to get into Tokyo and get some decent stuff that just can't be found anywhere else), though- I see that as added value. And no, hotel reservations don't eat up that couple hundred- I can find a decent hotel in Tokyo for $40/night. You just have to be able to use sites like Livedoor to get the best deal.

Naturally, if you prefer promptness, go ahead and go United or AA. Otherwise, don't be afraid to stop over for a night or two. Where else can you get a cap that says "I lost my virginity in Madagascar" (even if you didn't)?

jamar0303

Well said. I'm one of those people who'd rather save a couple hundred and bring my own in flight entertainment.

Azndude51

lduvall

Many US based carriers are also getting jiggy with it. Continental, United and American are all upgrading and/or replacing their IFE equipment.

When Virgin America hits the airlanes - finally - they too will have our system on board, fully customized per their individual requirements as most are.

A final thought from a fairly regular flyer and definite regular cattle class traveler - the seat pitching and size are all about economics. The more you can cram in - the more money you can make. That is the travesty of the advertising blurb for all the new aircraft - A380 and B787 - yes, the cabins can take larger seats and have a more comfortable surrounding environment - but unless you travel Business or First, don't be looking for the seats to be any bigger or more comfortable then they are now - just not gonna happen.

Oh and yeah - touch screens are a waste of time in the passenger environment.

Happy trails!

Earl-of-Ponsonby

Frankly, while the toys are nice, I fall asleep on hour long flights, much less cross country (one of the reasons I like the red eye). Toys are extraneous to me except internationally. My two worst flying experiences were on a NWA Saab 340, and a KLM 737.

Major-General

jamar0303

not to mention that Malaysian Airlines won the Skytrak's Cabin Crew award :)

p/s ive also been on Northwest A, Singapore A, Brunei A, Lufthansa, and numerous domestic US airlines so I quite know my flights

mypetridish

I hate to sound pretentious, but I don't have time to deal with the everyday flyer - too much complaining and hassle.

Swiss21

KAL is way above the "Sorry Sir you now have to drive from Albuquerque to Las Vegas" kind of service on domestic flights. I once missed a KAL flight because they were moving to Incheon, and ended up on UAL. My knees still hurt.

In KAL Business class the flight attendants check their makeup on every trip to the galley. I once stood there and watched this woman come back and check herself in a little mirror literally every minute or so. We once heard a KAL exec joking about how they try to select the prettiest flight attendants. It's not that great (they end up looking like makeup dummies), but at least they do their jobs well.

KWillets

I would think that there is room in the airline world for something between "super low cost coach" and "first class that costs 4 times as much". And if airlines were not too scared to try it, they might succeed with it, just as the Koreans and Japanese and Germans and Brits apparently are. But you have to understand that this would be a huge gamble for US airlines, doing something risky and expensive that no one will probably pay for when given a choice, so they don't want to try it. Foreign airlines will try it, but it will cost them. So they have to make sure people know that they get a good flight for their money. So either the foreign airlines will price these "nice" domestic US flights at a loss for a while, to at least get people talking, or they'll need massive marketing so that people know that these more expensive tickets are generally worth it (at least to some people).

So the bottom line is, if you can fly across the US for $250, would you pay $350 so that those 5 hours are more comfortable and fun? If you can fly to Europe for $850, would you pay $1100 so that those 11 hours are more comfortable and fun? If you can fly to Asia for $1000, would you pay $1250 so that those 20 hours are more comfortable and fun? I wouldn't. I'm not tall enough to have serious problems with minimal legroom, and I have a PSP and a drawing pad and some books and a laptop (which is too large to be opened on the planes that give you the least room between seats, such as when I fly to Brazil with Varig, but that's not too bad, the battery life is not huge anyways).

airshowfan

Although being a stewardess is degrading, in Japan, it is something that young girls aspire to be (that and news/variety show anchorwomen).

As for the planes, I recently flew KLM from Tokyo to Amsterdam and they had a pretty cool setup as well. Thai air (flew about 6 years ago) also had seat back screens. I hope US airlines follow suit soon...

Kalik

But that being said, JetBlue's subsidiary that installs the in-flight DirecTV is called Live TV (based in Florida) and they have also been hired to install for WestJet (Canadian) and a few others in the US as well. They are in the process of installing for an Australian airline (can't remember the name). Unfortunately there has not been enough demand for in flight WiFi (LiveTV has explored it) but hopefully soon.

The install process for these planes is amazing! I've watched them and from start to finish it takes 4 days. The literally have to rip the entire inside apart and put it back together as good as new and ready for flight. WOW!

rforkel

I also remember AA whining when Southwest made the attempt to get the Wright Amendment to be repealed at Love Field, and were saying 'But if you do that, we have to fly there too!'

Which I think is total BS. AA can whine all they want. Even with their flights in Love Field, SW isn't even breaking a sweat over them, which amuses me greatly. Personally, I'd prefer not to fly American if necessary. I've had too many problems dealing with them in the past.

However, now that through-ticketing is allowed from Love Field... I remember an article in the paper today that said that Southwest managed to fill 89% (or something like that) of their seats for the month of July. Sweet. o/`

omgfloofy

superbmtsub

Also, the airports are much better, as other commenters have already mentioned. I flew back at the same time as the whole gatorade bottle bomb scare, and to get on the plane we had to have our bags sifted through for any 'suspicious' liquids, which at the time was pretty much everything. You could tell the checkers, while still doing their jobs, thought it was all pretty effing ridiculous as they took away formula and contact solution.

animeredith

philipbarrett

torquedawg81

I've been flying all over the place for years, on every airline from Air Niugini to Virgin, and this past Christmas was the first time I'd ever had in-seat video in coach - on Royal Brunei, which is one of the more... random airlines I've flown. They had a decent selection (though I got that edited version of The Queen) except one leg, where they were promoting the Kevin Costner Film Festival. I saw that in the program guide when I settled in for the eight-hour ride, and uttered a quiet "Fuck" to myself.

Yozzie

Jack

Singapore Airlines and Emirates are also known for having great service throughout the cabin, including in coach.

aviationwiz

In Narita I saw a line of a half dozen JAL flight attendants walking single file. Every single one looked identical down to the hair length. It was like a 5/8 scale version of the Rockettes.

yellojkt

[knottydon73.blogspot.com]

Yep, it's really enjoyable!!!

knottydon

calaverasgrandes

Yeah, they sure can teach us something, can't they?

zl9600

smlevin

Were I to guess, improved competition. Used to be you could get a ticket from the US to Europe for a couple hundred bucks, even from the east coast it'd be well under a grand. At the same time a ticket to Japan or Korea would run you at least twice as much.

Were I to guess, I'd say it was because there were fewer air lines better at colluding on price, with less regulation to prevent it. That's a fragile situation.

Anyhow, flying on any east Asian airline is about a million times more pleasant than flying on any US airline. Dear fucking god, it's night and fucking day.

@katie_b:

Not just the airlines, the airports put the US to shame, too.

First of all, a lot of them are really pleasant places to be. My two favorite airports are Seoul-Incheon and Osaka-Kansai...I actually enjoy going to them.

Second, there's more, better, and cheaper ground transportation to and from the airports (even compared to the rare downtown airport like Las Vegas).

Third, the vendors don't try to gouge you for absolutely any item purchased at the airport.

Fourth, unless you're flying to the United States, the security is a whole lot less intrusive, idiotic, and pointless. (And it would be even less so were it not for the US's fucking moronic requirements)

There is only one way in which flying in Japan, Korea, or China is not better than flying in the US, and that is that the ticket is usually not as cheap. BUT IT IS WORTH EVERY PENNY OF DIFFERENCE.

TechnoDestructo

bassiiabc

Anyway- To be honest, I'm really not sure why. Because that was the most fantastic flight I've ever had. ...and this was in 2000! Full reclining leather seats, satellite TV on personal monitors, lunch/dinner from a small menu made in the kitchen on the back of the plane... They even had a private terminal in Dallas, where you were treated like some sort of royalty. ...and I had paid roughly $300 for a round trip, non-stop flight from Dallas Love Field (they found a loophole in the Wright Amendment) to LAX.

I'm excited to see these other airlines 'take off' (har har. @.x), but I'm worried about price, and/or business that they will be picking up in lieu of the other strongly established carriers in the US.

omgfloofy

UnnDunn

katie_b

javier182gt

Drew Draws nothing of merit

They don't have to worry about that stupid Kansas City to Baltimore route, or something like that, which are practically half empty all the time, and after pensions payment to people who no longer work for you, you are losing money anyway, all the while cutting price to match those bullshit budget airlines like Jetblue and Southwest.

danson

Canoehead

As for younger and more attractive flight attendants on foreign carriers, they (particularly Asian airlines) have low cut-off age on their flight attendants, typically at the low 30's, before they are reassigned to the ground. U.S. companies cannot promote this kind of age discrimination, not to mention discard older crew members' valuable experience that is most needed in case of emergencies.

mckk

zirkus

gh0stb0y

Kurtz

Kurtz

The planes are clean, the ground staff professional and the reservation system very good.

Now with the new upgrades in consume electronics…. WOW

I must say it again they know how to employ attractive flight attendants. Our domestic airlines need to learn how to find women like KAL, SA, JAL, PA and Cathay.

JAL, Cathay and SA are the only airline companies that I would say are slightly ahead of KAL.

Now if KAL can improve on the safety record, which they have been doing, they will be a great airline.

If we could get rid of the regulations allowing foreign airlines from flying in the US maybe flying domestic will be fun again. We can always hope and wish.

LauPan

flipped4gizmos

EricRoberts

I second the notion that here in the US it seems to be all about screwing you out of your cash (and not in a good way at that). When people/companies take pride in having screwed you more than the next guy and are rewarded for it, you've got yourself a runaway situation I doubt will improve much in the near term. It's completely ingrained in the very social fabric. Capitalism-run-amok coupled with a war mongering economy where someone makes more money when something/someone gets blown up (check oil prices lately?) and you've got rather bleak prospects for improvement. Peace? Oh please... it's not profitable enough. Then again, it's all an experiment, so we'll see. Capitalism is great and my bank account can attest to that, but nothing is good nor sustainable in the extreme. There needs to be a balance. I tend to spook my clients when I actually go out of my way to make sure they're satisfied (IT services). Sadly quality service or product is something that surprises most people -- they expect to get screwed. Sad really.

Care to be informed? Tired of propaganda, err, PR? See The Century of the Self and The Power of Nightmares (in that order). Available most anywhere torrents of bits are sold.

Evodico

WesTheYeti

But on second thought, since that describes 95% of Americans, I suppose to them, it is punishment.

Jasmo

shoegazer

CubFan81

I think that's possible for a number of reasons:

1. Efficiency. Airlines are more efficient now with the aid of computers that run algorithms to design routes which allow maximum capacity. This also includes creative routing of flights to ensure that each flight carries the maximum number of passengers possible. This is more apparent on domestic flights, but also occurs on international routes which have a domestic leg.

2. More flights. Naturally, I bet there are many, many more flights to India nowadays compared to 13 years ago. When there are less flights, it would seem that each seat would carry a premium since more people would be competing for the same seats. The airline charged $1800 because it could. There are probably also more carriers that fly to India nowadays so the competition drives prices down.

3. Cutbacks. Airlines, at least the American ones, have been cutting back on their expenses tremendously. From employee salaries, to dumping pensions, to reducing in-flight services like meals and what not. For example, on many domestic flights today, you have to pay $5 to get a snack...

4. Reduced quality of service. Most airlines nowadays have automated check-in and online check-in which is, in most cases, a convenience). However, they have also reduced the number of counter clerks/ticketing agents which becomes a bottleneck (like when we had that east cost storm a month ago that gnarled the entire system) when there are delays since lots of people must be re-processed/re-routed.

charliedigital

I just flew a 12 hour red-eye flight with these...they're nice and all, but when you're trying to sleep and the guy behind you can't pick something to watch, there's a lot of seat-back poking that gets mighty annoying.

Asherian

Serolf Divad

TVGenius

blargh

T-man

Not to mention being heavily subsidized by your government.

Pelagius

Air Canada is in the midst of adding, to every seat, widescreen, touchscreen in-flight entertainment with free video on demand, satellite radio, games, etc: [worldtv.com]

Asherian

K-SO

coconino

Back in '94 I flew to India and it cost close to $1800 for a ticket. This year? only $1000. How is that even remotely possible with new planes, higher fuel costs, and repairs to old planes so they don't have to buy new ones?

CubFan81

ScotteusMaximus

Cliff_Dangers

x24

browngt5

gewitterkind

JBanister

St3v3