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Comment by yishanl | Hacker News Reader

Does anyone really expect anything of airline flights anymore? At least those of us in commercial/economy class?

Years ago great customer service was defined as giving someone the can and some free peanuts. Now it's touch screen "entertainment in-flight systems." Not like any of those things have made the flying experience any better. So I just pick the cheapest flights available. Sure, Wi-Fi is a plus, but the environment in economy isn't exactly ideal for work.

I've primed myself to fall asleep as soon as I get into my seat before takeoff, regardless of time of flight.

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Now it's touch screen "entertainment in-flight systems"...

Enjoy that while it lasts. United is moving to a BYOD system where you use your own phone or tablet to watch in-flight entertainment. The new cabins have removed all screens and armrest audio systems (oh yeah, and headphones too)

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/inflight/ente...

United are cheapskates; they rank slightly above Spirit Airlines in my book.

And at least I can get good games on my Android tablet. The ones on Virgin America flights are shitty SDL ports of old arcade and puzzle games with glitchy graphics.

Those "shitty SDL ports" are open source games written 10 to 20 years ago by one guy, for fun. Trash talking them is somewhat uncalled for.

Hilarious.

That's why the key is not having any expectations.

Honestly, I prefer that anyway. I've got no shortage of devices with plenty of my own media, and now I don't have to be stuck 12" from a screen I can't reliably turn off, that will be shining advertisements and redundant safety lessons in my face when I'm trying to sleep.

Yeah the screens suck, but BYOD with no in-Seat USB charger sucks.

Just buy a 10-20Ah portable battery and you're set for mobile devices. I can weather a 10-12h flight with one of those and my iPad/iPhone. If you have a recent laptop, you should be able to weather 5-8hr for work; I seriously doubt you could get better on even an international flight.

Extra bonus is having the battery available the rest of the time. My phone's battery life isn't quite what I'd desire, so I just keep a spare ~10Ah battery in my purse. It gets used maybe once a week at most, but it's worth it for those occasions.

But do they provide charging ports or outlets?

On some planes, mostly in the Economy Plus areas. Eventually all will have power outlets but, knowing UAL, it will be a very slow process. Your best bet is an international flight.

In seat electronics adds a couple pounds and inch or two of seat width. Either saves the airlines a lot.

This is the new IFE box on the Boeing 737-800. It's massive.

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-HO911_0325mi_M_...

> Now it's touch screen "entertainment in-flight systems." Not like any of those things have made the flying experience any better.

I couldn't disagree more. A fourteen-hour flight with in-flight movies is vastly superior to a fourteen-hour flight with the back of the seat in front of you.

Well, we've had movies on airplanes for a long time. And I agree it makes things marginally more bearable.

But just because they've moved it from a shared television on the aisle/ceiling that everyone had to lean out to watch from to a little touch-screen in front of a chair hasn't really changed the fact that flying is a waste of time. And very uncomfortable.

You didn't say flying was a waste of time. You said the experience hadn't gotten any better. Those aren't related ideas.

Uh, a bad experience is a waste of time.

And I'd call these opinions, not ideas.

Not sure if I agree with being downvoted but out of my hands. :)

It's not a waste of time if it gets you where you want/need to go.

You're being downvoted because you said flying is a waste of time, which is banal to the point of trolling.

Cheapest is the main variable but when it's a reasonable difference (probably under 10%) I'll choose based on flight experience expectations - planes,food, entertainment, wifi, FF program etc. Personally I wouldn't write off the customer value of these add-on segments.

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