http://thehill.com/business/42...-to-be-uncomfortable/

>>... Have you ever heard of "calculated misery"? It's the theory behind what we all know deep down: airlines want us to be miserable so we pay more for upgrades.

"Here's the thing: in order for fees to work, there needs be something worth paying to avoid. That necessitates, at some level, a strategy that can be described as "calculated misery." Basic service, without fees, must be sufficiently degraded in order to make people want to pay to escape it," Wu writes. "And that's where the suffering begins."
Wu explains that under calculated misery, services or features that were once expected (think of leg room) are made worsened (leg room is reduced as rows are moved closer together). Want a little more leg room? You'll likely need to upgrade your airfare to business or first class or even ordinary coach seats with added leg room....<<

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

It was a good story, and I think there's been others like it lately.

Right now, the "legacy" carriers that cater primarily to business travel are seeing less of that, and have been offering bargains for leisure travelers.

Well, before any philosophical levels of 'misery' were defined, , , , , the tried-and-true was, , , , , You Get What You Pay For.

We flew to Hono in June sitting in American "Premium Economy" on a 787. 'Premium' on 777 and 787s is "First" on other aircraft. The real 'up front' seats are Business/Flagship with the lay flat bed cubes. So, anyway, , , , , about 5 hours into an 8 hour flight from DFW to HNL, , , , , , , , your ass is just as sore as it would be seating back in the last row. Did RT ATL non-stop to HNL twice with the 'bed', , , , , , yep, we wuz stylin!

But, , , , , otherwise yes, , , , i've been 'downgrading' to 'Main Cabin Comfort' on flights within the 48. You get to board before about another 200 people, you get 'dedicated' overheads, and the extra 3 inches, oh baby, that's livin!!!

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Dora Hates You

so we pay more for upgrades.

This can be whittled down to: So we pay more.... for everything.

More profits. More profits. More profits.
More profits. More profits. More profits.
More profits. More profits. More profits.
More profits. More profits. More profits.

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I was right.

I just did Alaskan Air from Orlando to San Diego direct. Round trip was about $225. It was my first trip on Alaskan and a 737 max. Packed pretty tight, attendants were awesome young people. I read almost the entire way out. Coming back I got a "seat assigned at gate" when I went to check in for the return. Then they pushed me multiple notifications for seat upgrades, and choose your seat with no cost, then try to hit you with cost on the way out of checking in. All I'm sure status quo app features for most thirsty carriers these days. IDK, if I could get a similar deal, I'd prolly do it again. Mega sick people in planes. that was a turn off.