Personal service
I had a client in Germany once, when I was Glasgow based. My route was originally Glasgow - Brussels - Dusseldorf with Sabena as the cheapest option. Unfortunately I soon realised that they never made the connection because Brussels ATC were measured by on time departures and would have the incoming flights hold so those leaving got off early. I'd then rent a car and hammer it down the autobahn. Fortunately(?) Sabena went bust inside a few months and I switched to British Midland via Birmingham.
My employer had just started its cost cutting plan by opting out of the company diamond club plan, with automatic upgrade to business class. On the small flight between Glasgow and Birmingham that meant I was usually the only passenger behind the curtain with a fully loaded business class stretching 2/3rds of the way down the plane. Business class got their own cabin attendant. So did economy. With just me and some dead heading pilots I always got served breakfast and coffee immediately and usually got slipped the business class buns too.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
