Monday, February 16, 2004
Stack 'em like firewood
To those who haven't been to Europe in awhile, there's been a revolution in travel that has been introduced by deregulation of the airline industry (well, somewhat, as national champions still get most of the berths at major airports). Discount airlines have made getting around Europe laughably cheap. I can fly to Paris from Geneva for about 25 euros each way. Granted, I'd have to fly in the middle of the week, but the price rarely goes above 100 round trip.
Anyway, these airlines are pretty no-frill affairs. You have to be pretty careful about how much luggage you bring on a trip, because on a packed flight, they might not let you on. That's why I think it's funny that RyanAir is removing even more frills from an already threadbare experience. No seat pockets, no chairs that lean back, and NO WINDOW BLINDS (I didn't know those things caused problems).
Heck, why not just place us on wooden pallets, wrap cellophane around the whole pile, and ship us in cargo planes?
Cheap is good, though, and I'll put up with a heck of a lot on a 25 dollar flight to anywhere.
To those who haven't been to Europe in awhile, there's been a revolution in travel that has been introduced by deregulation of the airline industry (well, somewhat, as national champions still get most of the berths at major airports). Discount airlines have made getting around Europe laughably cheap. I can fly to Paris from Geneva for about 25 euros each way. Granted, I'd have to fly in the middle of the week, but the price rarely goes above 100 round trip.
Anyway, these airlines are pretty no-frill affairs. You have to be pretty careful about how much luggage you bring on a trip, because on a packed flight, they might not let you on. That's why I think it's funny that RyanAir is removing even more frills from an already threadbare experience. No seat pockets, no chairs that lean back, and NO WINDOW BLINDS (I didn't know those things caused problems).
Heck, why not just place us on wooden pallets, wrap cellophane around the whole pile, and ship us in cargo planes?
Cheap is good, though, and I'll put up with a heck of a lot on a 25 dollar flight to anywhere.
