I am one of the masses. I love travelling and visiting different parts of the world near and far. At least economy class to Europe isn't too bad as you are only on the plane for a relatively short period of time. It also depends on where you are going. Pissed up brits like the sea and sun (apart from some party cities) so a lot of places the flights with the masses are OK even with the likes of Ryanair. Flying business into Europe seems pointless anyway. Long haul then I understand.
I’m one of those forced to spend 30 years on planes going to meetings. Everywhere is the same. Taxi plane hotel taxi meeting taxi plane taxi home. Some places you get to know. Others you’d rather forget.
+1, am so hoping that I do get safely to Berlin at the end of August although there are now reports that the infection rate in Germany is rising. There are certainly some good deals around for those of us prepared to risk travelling... and I'm under no illusions that if it all goes "the wrong way" I will have to cancel and stay at home
I just don’t get the “pleasure” it is horrid. Business class mitigated it but that is history. Maybe it is frequency. I didn’t travel a lot, four or five times a month, some do that a week - killing.
Oh don't get me wrong. I am not a fan of airports, flying, the hassle of it all. It is a means to an end. That is why I generally drive to Spain.
That’s a long way! Furthest I drove on business was Chester to Lyon. Two of us. Overnight in Fontainebleau.
We stop off for several nights en route. Obviously if we are only away for a week Or so I wouldn’t drive.
Flying used to be good, maybe even "great" in the 1990's. Not much hassle at airports, you didn't need to arrive too early and the airports weren't that crowded. Generally you got treated very well by airport, airline and shop staff. That's long done now, with too many queues for different checks, inhumane and often rude staff (particularly at security) and the need to arrive hours ahead of your flight's departure time.
It was great in the 1970s and 80s. Fun and exciting. Now it's not for the customer, it's how cheaply the airline can function. Security as sanctioned by the Government and coercion. Make us believe we live in constant threat and some will accept that, as they do everything else.
But also the gross commercialisation of the airports. You have to walk the equivalent of a four storey department store to discover the only available seating is reserved for those eating and they won’t release gate numbers in order to keep people in the consumer zone.
Nowadays, sadly, the airport sees its customers as the airlines and shops - the organisations that bring it the most money. Passengers are seen as a sort of minor inconvenience, even if they are the ones who keep the airlines and shops in business, and therefore able to pay rent etc to the airport operators!
Thank you for sharing the link - fascinating stuff! (Also, I had a quick swizz at your photostream and you seem to have been stalking us in Normandy in 2009!)
Same building? I know mine wasn't shot from that part (no barbed wire in yours). If it is the same building I was around the corner to the left. Was it just a few minutes walk from AP?
