I'm old enough to remember when air travel used to be fun and non-intrusive. When meals used to be served even on short flights, when you could walk right on a plane, when you could get a full refund easily or make itinerary changes at no cost, when you could check multiple bags at no extra cost, and when you were actually comfortable in your seat.
But that was then and this is now. If you are a regular flyer, I don't need to tell you what an ordeal air travel has become - an ever-more-expensive ordeal at that. But now there is good news!
Good news, such as the Inquisition torturer washing his hands before working on you. Welcome to the Flying Saddle!
This site gives the score and gruesome details about what will undoubtedly be in an economy-class flyer's future. Doss houses in late 19th century London rented you a place to sleep while standing up, leaning on a rope strung across the room for the purpose. This is merely the 21st century version of that. And just as the landlords of the doss houses couldn't have cared less about the comfort of their tenants, so today the airline moguls couldn't care less about yours.
But I do get my revenge, as fares are sold by the seat, not by weight. I weigh 2.5x what my wife does but our seats cost the same. Stickin' it to The Man. Faced with this ****, though, I'll just henceforth drive if the trip is 1000 miles or less.
Sure, I understand it's so they can squish even more of us pleebs on to a single flight, turning up the profit. I don't care. What I do care about is that my knees will be saved.
Sitting down in economy, my knees start to really, really hurt after two hours. It's so uncomfortable. I can't bend them, I can't stretch them out. The only thing I can do is stand and try to shake them out or walk around the plane. Ever been on a 16 hour flight? Bad enough as it is, with sore knees it's absolutely brutal.
Stand me up. I have no problem standing/saddling for the 16 hours.