From "The Democratization of Airport Lounges No longer just for the flying elite, these havens from chaos are easier to get into now, with the crowds to prove it" (NYT).
Forward class? The top-rated comment:
So is "forward class" a new term? The author uses it throughout this article and I've never seen it before. I must say, as a frequent business traveller and a 20+ year Gold Membership card carrier, I've noticed this trend and I don't like it. It used to be a fairly calm spot to get a coffee, check email, maybe do a work call or two. Now it's a a ton of large families (kids 1-10; parents in their 30s) watching iPads without headphones, stacking their plates full of the food on the buffet, kids running riot, and in general chaotic places for the upper middle class. BA -- my carrier of choice -- only has an upper lounge if you're in First class and sticks card holders and business travellers in with everyone else. I think those who used to fly elite are now flying private and the bar keeps lowering. i miss my oasis of calm before a flight.
Upper lounge?
Class warfare in America. Maybe all the jerks will go to the lounge to stuff their face and make noise, and those of us who use headphones with our iPad and abstain from snacking will curl upside our mental space and be happier than ever sitting near the gate. The lowest lounge. For the backward class.
पोस्ट्स
५८ टिप्पण्या:
Sounds like there's a business opportunity out there for someone who wants to create a lounge that you can just pay to get into.
A little off topic but in a similar vein, does anyone else remember the bar car on a commuter train? Back in the early 80’s my wife had a job in banking and used the regional rail for her daily commute into the city. She fondly remembers the Friday rush to the bar car with other junior exec types for the 45 minute commute home.
For the last year I have used the same system for 2x weekly trips into the city. Alas, bar car is long gone as is the bar at the station. Rush to the bottom indeed.
Sounds like the liberal elite flying class are being invaded by Trumper breeders. Good it's important for the leadership of the country to have a bit of the common touch. Maybe putting a fat greasy face and loud meaningless blathering to their prejudicial views of what deplorables are actually like in the flesh will help unite the nation
The entire industry is a train wreck. From the top (the aforementioned lounges) to the bottom (long term parking fees). If it's less than one thousand miles, spouse and I drive.
Who in the world is willing to pay a yearly fee for a credit card?
I have only a 100,000 mile club luggage tag from 1968. The whole experience was quiet then in any case, lounge or not. The rabble didn't fly much.
Technology has replaced the need for business flights. Zoom meetings, email, ability to quickly transfer large volumes of data, etc… In addition, the good ‘ol party days of writing off business dinners and entertainment is gone because it favored “the rich”. But it fed the airline, restaurant, and hotel industries. The spinning restaurant on top of the Hyatt downtown Milwaukee thrived on business dinners. Now it’s just and empty donut.
Cultural deterioration and 9/11 slowly made air travel suck. COVID killed it.
When I was six years old, my mom would put me on an Eastern Airlines flight out of Milwaukee, and I would fly solo to Columbus, OH to visit my grandparents. The stewardess would take me to the cockpit to meet the pilots. I always got a plastic toy airplane. My Grandfather would be waiting at the gate in Columbus and sign for me. That was the 1970’s. Today, that’s insane.
Now I maybe fly once a year. The behavior at the gate of some passengers is crazy. My last two flights out of O’Hare, the cops had to be called to the gate because passengers that didn’t get their way were berating and threatening the airline employees. I couldn’t help but think, “where the hell do these people get the money to fly”?
We can barely share a country anymore. How does anyone expect us to share an airport lounge, let alone sit together packed like sardines in a pressurized tube.
The goal with flying is to try to make your experience marginally less worse than awful. I find most lounges are still marginally less worse then the main terminal.
The airlines started hunting for new revenue streams 10 or 20 years ago through both nickel-and-dime fees plus upgrades and more upgrades. I used to have an airline credit card, and it allowed "early boarding for card members." Literally half the passengers for most flights stood up for the early boarding period.
Equity and Lake Woebegone means we are all winners. We are all better than average.
Airline travel has one advantage: it's fast. Otherwise, it's a misery. Do I pay for first class when I fly? Hell yes. Can I afford it? No. Flying is horrible. Coach is horrible. Waiting at the airport after arriving early for TSA is horrible. And that was before covid and the airlines' response to it wrecked the entire industry.
Let this poor business traveler have a private space.
Really makes me want to book some air travel. Currently my indifference point between driving and flying is about 1000 miles, but at this rate it will soon be the whole North American continent. Even with gas at $5/gallon.
Or? I’ll just stay home and Zoom.
I've had a glimpse of a documentary that emphasizes how comfortable air travel was, probably in the 60s, the Boeing 707 and all that. Room for each passenger, very accommodating service, of course dealing with the airports was a breeze. From the passenger's perspective, perhaps nothing has really improved since except that it's cheaper and yes, the hoi polloi are able to "enjoy" it. Yes, the actual plane is slightly less likely to crash; the engineers have done an amazing job of squeezing out almost all mechanical failure as a factor in crashes. But the planes were already pretty safe in the 60s. Perhaps there are more crashes today caused by "pilot error": sleep/fatigue, distraction, poor training and suicide. In the 60s the U.S. carriers could pretty much count on getting pilots with hard-core military or "bush pilot" experience, flying in all kinds of conditions. Not so much today.
Meanwhile, crowding almost everywhere, lineups, noise, long waits imposed by security considerations, allowing the airlines to screw around with schedules, seating on the plane that is cramped especially for ... you know. So "the rich" do what they can to opt out: the special front seating, different kinds and prices of "special," same with the lounges. I worked for a Cabinet minister for about a year, and he enjoyed the nice quiet lounges in Canadian airports. Once he and I missed our flight because there were none of those blaring announcements as to what might be going on: "Attention, important, blumph maph geezle."
I don't fly in the forward class section, whatever that is, but as a guy with a job that has me schlepping through airports a half dozen to a dozen times a month, I pay for the lounge. I too miss the days when they were half empty and quiet. The last time I flew, there was a long line to get in, with an employee waving people in one or two at a time as people came out. Frankly, I feel about travel the way Althouse feels about travel. That is, most of the time I would rather not. The lounges used to make these trips more bearable, but now they are not much better than the rest of the terminal. Thank God for noise canceling headphones!
When I flew with my family as a child I had to wear a suit. The last time I flew commercial there were folks on the plane dressed like hobos and not behaving much better. And that was seven years ago - I can’t imagine the lack of decorum today.
p.s. get off my lawn!
"Now it's a a ton of large families (kids 1-10; parents in their 30s)..."
That's confusing. Is that large families of between 1 and 10 kids or kids aged 1 to 10? What constitutes a large family for this commenter? Is 1 kid too much? Is that large? How large is large? I think 5 kids is large. 5 kids under 5 to 7 would be a handful. What force multiplier does tbe age of the kids apply to "large"?
I think I know what's really going on. For this persyn, any family with any kids in any lounge that xir is in is "large". Mystery solved.
Hoi Palloi to NYTimes: "Who let the riff raff in?"
If you're flying commercial, you might as well be in a Greyhound bus station and it's been like that for 20 years.
The so-called "elite" should vote better.
This isn't about democratization or catering to their best customers. It's not even about mitigating the damage of cancelled flights or calming down passengers hurt by their policies. Companies that knowingly schedule more flights than they have crew to handle and institute seating policies that seat families apart are not going to suddenly cave on this issue.
This is a part of the ongoing campaign to eke more money out of travelers through upgrades. That's all it ever is these days.
That seating policy is American Airlines by the way. In the name of "making sure families can sit together" they've blocked out a large number of seats that can only be assigned by the algorithm or the overworked gate agent. For reasons that I'm sure have nothing to do with customer exploitation, most of the grouped seats you can select in advance require extra fees. So now families who want to make sure they can sit together are likely to have to pay in advance to make it happen. On a round trip with a layover each way, that's going to work out to something like $50 to $100 extra per person.
Preference for British Airways is like a preference to Apple. The product isn’t bad, but it doesn’t deserve the devotion from the fans as they suggest it should. Same goes for lounges in general. When you are flying long haul with stop overs, they take on a different role (such as the ability to shower and change clothes in a place dedicated for the purpose), but otherwise, I’m fine in the terminal.
Humperdink said...
If it's less than one thousand miles, spouse and I drive.
Here's a fun game! when i lived in Ames, if i wanted to fly somewhere; let's say Denver.
i'd be looking at:
* hour drive to the DSM airport (can't imagine many people can get to their airport quicker)
* two hours(?) early for TSA checkin, and because you do NOT want to miss your flight
That's THREE hours before i'm even on the plane (and $20? $50? long term parking)
Then the flight (one hour? two?) plus taxiing and unboarding (let's call it 2 hours minimum)
Now, (wait for baggage?) the walk to the car rental stand, wait in line; get keys, find car
($200? $300? and AT LEAST 30 more minutes and we're FINALLY out of the airport)
So, Thats 3 hrs to get on the plane, 2+ hrs for the flight, 30 min to get out of the airport.
That close to 6 hours.. THEN i have to drive to where i'm Really going
Rocky Mountains? Fort Collins? Aspen? Even if i'm actually going to Denver it's another hour to downtown.
So, that's at least Seven hours from Ames to Denver (AND plane fair, and car rental, AND hassles)
Goggle says it's 708 miles from Ames to Denver. That's about 10 hours.
Which is more comfortable? my car seat, or an airport/airplane seat? That's easy.
Give me 10 hours in my car over 7 hours with United any day.
The last two times i went to San Diego from iowa, i drove. And that's a long way
(especially if you spend 6 hours fishing in Wyoming on the way)
I flew every other week for years for business. I lived in Atlanta for most of that time so Delta was my go-to. I signed up for the Sky Club a few years ago and it was nice. Not the food (stored cold hard boiled eggs were never a hook for me), but getting good coffee, a place to work, some quiet, while I waited for my flight- all around the country- was nice. I noticed about 6-7 years ago that the Sky Clubs were getting full. In some cases overflowing. And once you got in, as one commenter stated, the garbage areas were overflowing, the counters stacked with plates, glasses, with the place generally looking more like a mall food court than a quiet getaway lounge. For those who frequent Atlanta's airport, the Sky Clubs in concourses A & B as an example. They'd get so full, if I had a wait, I'd take the train to concourse D, E, or F just to get more room, less of a crowd.
Then those got full and crowded and it became an onslaught of people talking business out loud, spouting P&L numbers, not caring what they're saying aloud, or who might be listening. I used to think that if some of those clowns worked for my company, I'd fire them on the spot. Egos without brains.
Anyway- Sky Clubs were nice and did serve a purpose for me for a few years. Delta clearly saw another revenue channel with them and figured out how to market them to everyone- even occasional travelers. I let my Sky Club membership drop when I retired. I still travel some, but I can find an empty gate to hang out in while I'm waiting now and I no longer have a need for cold hard boiled eggs and throngs of wannabe Business Giants. My Club days are over and I don't miss it a bit.
Into the 1980's, my father worked for one of the airlines. When I was young, flying meant that the family dressed up, parked in employee parking, walked through the hanger and rode to the gate in whatever ground vehicle was available. Dad yukked it up with his work friends and there was always the possibility of being bumped up to first class. Imagine how unprepared I was for the frequent travel that came with my first real job.
Prior to 9/11, a six hour drive was better than flying. Afterwards, it went to about a ten hour drive. Now, I don't know, I really don't want to go anywhere.
Sounds like someone, if they could get the space at the airport, needs to open a club with a steep entry fee and a couple of bouncers.
Multi-million-miler here. Airports have become a giant pincer of misery for the very people that are paying for the service. Think about it: Between the security theater, which quite frankly is a clown-driven circus with an infinitesimal addition to actual security, the exorbitant food services which proffer tasteless unappealing food that is identical in every terminal, worldwide, and the other extractive businesses who offer things that should be free but are not allowed through security, to the unending directives for compliance in every direction, at a fee. You are the product being consumed. The same is true for the lounges - they have figured a way to extract more from the customer - high traffic density, no more gratuitous drinks, cheaper, pre-packaged food and stale bagels. Some countries have their own 'Pay-For' lounges; they're less crowded but just a little fun. Ugh.
Yancey @ 8:49: “…needs to open a club…”. Genius! Why didn’t I think of that?!? It seriously: the bitching on this thread is pure gold for somebody wanting to identify an unmet need and design a business to serve it.
Why have airlines allowed this? I can think of plenty of reasons —high and rising fixed costs + savage price hikes in fuel and other consumables + no customer loyalty + delivering an experience where if everything goes perfectly you don’t fall out of the sky.
Anybody got suggestions for fixing this mess?
oh! now compare flying, with electric cars!
Ames to Denver 708mi, so start with a full tank
make 250 miles at 75mph on your 1st tank? (could happen, maybe). 458 mi to go
find a waiting fast charge station, and wait 30 min for a half charge
make 125 miles at 75mph on your half tank. 333 mi to go
find a waiting fast charge station, and wait 30 min for a half charge
make 125 miles at 75mph on your half tank. 208 mi to go
find a waiting fast charge station, and wait 30 min for a half charge
make 125 miles at 75mph on your half tank. 83 mi to go
find a waiting fast charge station, and wait 30 min for a half charge
go the last 83 miles, so you have 42 miles left! woohoo! you'll be able to get to the hotel!
so, 708mi/75mph = Nine and a half hours.. PLUS 30min+30min+30min+30min= 2 hours charge time
That's a LONG day!
I agree with Randomizer. I had a few friends with parents that worked for the airlines. They got travel perks, but they travelled like they were going to church. Now it is neighbors that work with the airlines, and outside of work, they have no interest in putting up with it. They don’t have to dress as nice, but that’s because they have to go through security which makes dress up a problem. And after moving through the cattle gates to be humiliated for the security theater; you are then trapped in the “secure” zone with limited options for at least an hour, because you needed padding in your schedule to make it through check-in and security. Before 9-11, I could walk in the terminal door and be at boarding in 15 minutes, but give myself 30 minutes to be sure. When you travelled frequently, you got the timing down.
Now with the Covid theater added on, no thanks. I’ll drive or not go. Besides, renting a car when you get there has become to expensive.
Snow blizzard!
Desperate travelers are stuck in the airport terminal
with nothing to eat
but mustard.
Forward class does make some sense now that I think about it. There are multiple names for class other than coach/economy.
As a lounge member, it has become increasingly crowded, not that I really care, as it is still better than parking my butt next to the gate. Also, having done lots of trips to Asia, some clubs have two sections, one for first class only, and this has been around for years. Those multi-leg 20+ hour flights were only made bearable by long layovers in the lounge, taking a shower and relaxing. I've done some crazy long layovers at lounges in Inchon, Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Domestically, it's somewhat overrated.
Because we're Delta Airlines
and life is a fucking nightmare
The lounges are getting far too crowded for me.
Who let in all the unwashed?
This whole 'equity' thing is very annoying.
I want to hang out in the lounge where Pelosi hangs out.
Am guessing they have a better class of Chardonnay.
Gusty Winds: When I was six years old, my mom would put me on an Eastern Airlines flight out of Milwaukee, and I would fly solo to Columbus, OH to visit my grandparents. The stewardess would take me to the cockpit to meet the pilots. I always got a plastic toy airplane.
Do you like movies about gladiators?
BA used to call their lounge in Terminal 3 at Heathrow "Upper Class." I think the commenter was a little self-conscious about touting that preference.
In 1973 I had my first taste of Lobster Tail. I was a broke college student flying economy on Northwest Orient.
Fling is cheaper than it has ever been and it isn't that bad. I've been flying pretty regularly since the early 1970's. It is worse now and security is a farce, but overall I think people just like to complain. The prices are low and the service competitive.
Gilbar's analysis of electric vehicle transport is excellent.
And optimistic, assuming the charging stations exist at all, and that the driving to the station adds no miles out of the way to the original trip, and assuming also that there are no other EV operators competing for the hookup, assuming the weather doesn't reduce the mileage/charge, and maybe assuming the unknown unknowns all break in favor of the EV.
None of which is any argument in favor of commercial airline travel.
It's funny that "The Democratization of Airport Lounges" means literally the people Democrats hate to be around have invaded their elitist spaces, yet these same snobs that hate icky families taking up space in their privileged redoubt also use "our Democracy" quite frequently to refer to the Republic we all are supposed to share. And they have the exact same elitist eliminationist attitude towards us Republic voters as those Democratizing deplorables crowding their safe airport space. Yet they do all they can to thwart democratically enacted laws that hinder their grift: talk about backward class!
9/11 fucked flying. 21 years and counting.
PM said it at 11am. I still think this one thought every time I go through security, even with Clear or TSA Precheck: "F*** You, Bin Laden."
Speaking of which. TSA Precheck is now more crowded and popular than general security. I either use CLEAR or just go the general route in airports now. Precheck is a crowded mess and still, no one seems to know what to do when they get up the conveyor. Just dumbfounded looks. TSA might as well have wooden fences on either side with cattle prods in hand. The people coming through wouldn't know what hit 'em.
From "The Democratization of Airport Lounges No longer just for the flying elite, these havens from chaos are easier to get into now, with the crowds to prove it" (NYT
1: People who spend $400+ a year for a credit card that has club access as one feature, or $200+ / year for a Priority Pass membership, are IMO a bit more "elite" than someone who pays and extra $50 to get into "the forward cabin".
MikeR said...
Who in the world is willing to pay a yearly fee for a credit card?
Someone who wants the benefits the card provides. If you're flying a lot, they can be huge.
Or, as my brother in law pointed out, the "first checked bag free for everyone on the flight" quickly covers the card fee when you fly even twice a year with kids (since that's one bag each way)
Yancey Ward said...
Sounds like someone, if they could get the space at the airport, needs to open a club with a steep entry fee and a couple of bouncers.
Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Clubs can pretty much only be entered if you've bought an international flight "Upper Class" ticket. They are quite nice
And there are clubs that just have a fee. In my experience, it doesn't take a very big fee to keep a lounge mostly empty. Now, that might change when there's a flight delay / cancellation, and you're looking at 6+ hours in the airport
Very slightly OT:
I love the poorly educated as much as the next righty, and I couldn't care less what they do in those lounges, and I don't mind mingling with the unwashed at the gate, and on the whole air travel is still a good deal for the actual service provided, but I do wish my fellow deplorable air travelers wouldn't all dress like slobs.
It doesn't cost anything (usually) to join the mile high club : )
***
I hitched a ride on a friend's jet once...just five of us.
I felt like Al Gore for a few hours, just not as fat.
Plus, I had no desire to assault a masseuse...
The airport lounge value propositions:
1: Flying alone:
You have a place to put your bags, with the expectation that they won't be molested while you go to the bathroom
You can sit in a chair that has arms on it. Which means you can sit and NOT have someone shoved up next to you
You can put your own noice cancelling headset on, listen you your own music, and ignore everyone else
Flying as two:
You can generally grab a space together, one person can go out and brave the crowds to get food / drink, and sit together in relative peace
Flying as family:
Your kids are now in a much safer space
'Who in the world is willing to pay a yearly fee for a credit card?'
If you fly a fair amount, you can cover the charge by eating club food and drinking club wine.
The same food/wine at an airport kiosk could easily cost $40/50 a pop...
Pro tip: Don't just use the club before the flight. Hit it on the way out of the airport to regroup, get some grub, and tip back a Chardonnay or two Paul Pelosi-style before heading to your hotel or home or Napa winery estate...
Increasingly, lounge users are not airline devotees, but holders of expensive credit cards.... 'Everybody has some kind of privilege now with Amex or miles or buying in,' said Patrick Rollo of Providence, R.I., who travels frequently for his work in real estate. 'So, everybody’s going to the lounge
HAHAHAHAHA
All that's been true for at least the last 10 years. Heck, one of the best "Lounge Chains" is The American Express Centurion lounges, and those have always been "card owner only" lounges.
The problem is the increase in flight delays / cancellations, which have been changing the economics of going into a lounge. And probably why Delta has instituted their 3 hour rule
Owen said...
Why have airlines allowed this? I can think of plenty of reasons —high and rising fixed costs + savage price hikes in fuel and other consumables + no customer loyalty + delivering an experience where if everything goes perfectly you don’t fall out of the sky.
Anybody got suggestions for fixing this mess?
Well, I'd say step 1 is deliver a better experience to your "frequent fliers", since almost by definition those are the people displaying customer loyalty.
However, my general experience is that the airlines look on those people as "captive cats cows", rather than "people to reward". Search for
"keep descending" Delta
For a bunch of examples
Forward class does make some sense now that I think about it. There are multiple names for class other than coach/economy.
Obviously, most commenters here are too young to remember that first class used to be in the rear of the plane. The propellers made too much noise in front. Some international flights even had bunks in the tail.
Howard is unusually obnoxious today. Must be something he ate.
I flew to Paris about 20 years ago on Air France, Business class. We had three teen girls with us who stayed in coach. At the airport, AF had a nice lounge for "forward class" passengers. They would not let the teens in so we all sat outside until our flight.
Temujin said...
PM said it at 11am. I still think this one thought every time I go through security, even with Clear or TSA Precheck: "F*** You, Bin Laden."
I say "F*** You, George W Bush."
He's the one who decided that security theater and "trust the experts" was the proper response. He's the one who gave us this BS mess
Blogger SeanF said...
Gusty Winds: When I was six years old, my mom would put me on an Eastern Airlines flight out of Milwaukee, and I would fly solo to Columbus, OH to visit my grandparents. The stewardess would take me to the cockpit to meet the pilots. I always got a plastic toy airplane.
Do you like movies about gladiators?
I've also seen the inside of a Turkish prison.
gilbar said @ 9:33 am…
oh! now compare flying, with electric cars! Ames to Denver 708mi, so start with a full tank… make 250 miles at 75mph on your 1st tank??… find a waiting fast charge station, and wait 30 min for a half charge… so, 708mi/75mph = Nine and a half hours.. PLUS 30min+30min+30min+30min= 2 hours charge time . That's a LONG day!
************************************************************
Gilbar - it will get even better once we have a much larger number of EV’s on the road with probably a limited number of charging stations near an interstate highway. Good luck trying to find a charging station, especially as the EV is running out of “gas”. Plus, those charging stations will have long lines, thus increasing your time on the road. I predict the number of charging stations constructed will fall behind the number of EV’s on the road due to construction costs. The infrastructure with charging stations will initially fail to keep up just like our power companies won’t be able to keep up with available power generating sources created if we rely on the Biden Administration’s pie in the sky goals to replace carbon generating sources of power with “green” energy sources. If we would let some enterprising companies build the infrastructure without much government interference and a reasonable chance to make a profit sooner than later, it probably could get built relatively quickly (and better) nearer to Biden’s timeline. But when the Feds, particularly when run by the Dems, try to build the infrastructure, it will take longer, especially with all of the rules and regulations put into the contracts regarding the construction put into contracts doled out to private firms.
Really Greg. Bush?
The noveau riche crashing the establishment party is a very old tale.
"But when the Feds, particularly when run by the Dems, try to build the infrastructure, it will take longer, especially with all of the rules and regulations put into the contracts regarding the construction put into contracts doled out to private firms."
Which is why, regrettably, you won't be allowed to have your own car.
Feature, not bug.
Hell is other people.
Temujin said...
Really Greg. Bush?
There was one plane that didn't hit its target. That was the one where the passsengers broke down the cockpit door.
What did Bush do?
Reinforced the cockpit doors.
Can't have those uppity passengers showing up the "experts".
Temujin,
I'm sorta with Greg here, as long as we can expand the vituperation to the entire federal government, not just the chief executive.
Bin Laden put together a horrible attack on the US, for which I hope he rota in hell... but the disastrous *response* is entirely on DC.
I do not fly. When I used to take Amtrak to DC, I did not take coach. Part of the trip was subsidized by credit card travel points, and my boss repaid me the price of an airline flight. Sleeper cars are expensive, and the ones for two really only fit one, but there are much larger ones. During the Greyhound strike, the coach cars turned into something like a Greyhound bus with an open bar occupied by screaming infants and card sharks selling booze under the table after closing hour, and they never changed back. One attendant told me they now regularly break up fights and throw people off the train. These aren't commuter crowds on the long hauls. There's also little to no security checks. Once, I could smell the (unsmoked) marijuana coming from the room next door all night, just through the guy's luggage.
Of course, the taxpayers pay the bulk of the bill for anything that isn't between NYC and DC. So, three 'free' meals delivered to my room if I asked, thick linen, heavy china, great coffee pots, dinner always a huge steak, bed turndown, a shower down the hall, a quiet lounge in Union Station, no lines, special entrances and porters, all federally unionized and virtually all second or third generation employees with houses in Orlando or New Orleans. These are plum jobs.
If I was travelling from Gainesville (Ga), I had to let them know so they would open the tiny, antique terminal for an hour and literally flag down the Atlanta train. They do this in several places. The train stops in the middle of the night, and one person steps off into the middle of nowhere. It's evocative, but the really amazing thing is to watch the country turn from farms and rural shacks covered in kudzu to increasingly opulent homes and apartments the closer you get to DC. A real object lesson. The food has gone downhill (someone cut a cost or two, which is right by me), but a long trip in a sleeper car is something I recommend while it's still around. After all, you're already paying for it.
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