Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 7:31 am
But to close back on the rails, seems as if Points Guy was perfectly satisfied with the "Flexichow", and appeared to have expected nothing more. It's "his fortysomething world" that only knows airline food and hotel breakfast bars. He never "knew it when" and would just give a "huh" to the advocacy sites imploring the return of full-service "Dining".
Finally, at least his cute kid got to take her mask off inside the Roomette.
I think that's the real thing. Flying... gets old after a while. The only real exciting part is take-off and landing, from ground to cloud cover. Everything on the ground is hurry up and wait. Everything in the air above cloud cover is ether clouds or stuff you can now get on Google Maps' Satellite View, so you're forced to read a magazine or watch whatever you brought on board. If your laptop is small enough and doesn't have a hard drive in it, you can work a fair bit. Sure, it's quicker. But is it better all around?
On a train, your hurry-up-and-wait is really a regular wait. Your travel is on the ground and you get the see the scenery close-up. You get to see the world properly whizz by right next to you, not underneath of you where you can't see that deer across the lake. It's distracting... and that's the beauty of it. It's a nature documentary without Sir David Attenborough narrating the hell out of it -- it's live, unedited, raw, right in front of your face only separated by safety glass and metal. It's
there. And it calls for your attention, even though you've taken the route before, many of a time. It'll get old eventually. Daily commuter? The call will fade. Occasional trip? That call will be as clear as day every time.
Andy Ihnatko, a well established reporter and writer, had postulated about a unit of entertainment and how much a person would pay to get their money's worth for that one unit. That is what is going on with the author of the Points Guy article, Nick Ewen. $538 for trip plus roomette for him and his daughter, verses $74.40 that was paid over how long in the past for his wife. The wife had to suffer through the hurry-up-and-wait -- a low rate of entertainment for the money. But for Nick and his daughter? Immeasurable.
From complimentary meals to a spacious roomette all to ourselves, it was an incredibly relaxing way to travel. We had no security checkpoints, no crowded boarding gates and no restrictions on the liquids we could bring on board. We weren’t forced to sit in an over-heated airport terminal with no food or drink for nearly two hours. And aside from passing a fellow rider in the hallway or the dining car, we were never within six feet of anyone.
Most importantly, however, I was able to make some incredible new memories with my daughter.
That's my point: Don't just focus on price. Add in the quality of enjoyment in the trip (or "quality of life").