Look if you want to spend a ton of money I don't think anyone will disagree air travel is the way to go. I guess a limo would be more expensive? Helicopter?

Extended leg room, a beer, and a decent meal isn't a ton of money.

The leg room isn't too much of an issue for me. I will take a free upgrade but at 5' 10 1/2" I am not paying. I agree with Rick in that when I have to fly I simply accept the fact and eat, have a drink whatever. So while I do not stress at all it does not mean I have to like it. As with sporting events I do not like being gouged for my nice burger and craft beer at the terminal or my in flight beverage.

There really is nothing better about getting up at 4 AM to catch a 6:45 departure than just catching a train in the evening, having dinner on board, then waking up at your destination at a more reasonable hour. Is there a way to make that work from a price perspective? Probably, actually. But you'd have to get people to buy into it en masse and the initial investment would be massive.

Look at it this way, lets call the aforementioned hypothetical an 11 hour journey. 8 PM to 7 AM. At a "modest" 150 mph pace, which is about the speed as the non-sprinter ICE trains on DB, that's 1500 miles. From Chicago that would be just about anything in the USA east of Salt Lake City. I mean you've gotta sleep anyways right? Why not travel while you sleep.

It'd be an unprecedented undertaking, and lets get real the pathetic USA is no longer interested in doing anything bold anymore, but there's a lot of benefits to it. It'd do a great deal of benefit to city centers and the environment.

It's more fun to be a victim

There will never be an effective vaccine. I'll never get one anyway.

Also, the distance from Chicago to Salt Lake City is roughly 1,400 miles. That's slightly more than the distance from Paris to Minsk. Google maps tells me that public transportation from Paris to Minsk would take 32 hours. That's roughly the same time it would take for public transportation in the United States and it also certainly isn't a good example of "Europe really has figured it out and the United States is doomed because they don't have it!".

$149? Was that upgrading the day of the flight? I've never seen anything close to that when booking. Did you have one of those new basic economy fares that don't even let you bring a carryon?

From the QCA to Chicago via air is around $600.
no train because for some reason Madigan does not want it to actually run. I can drive to Galesburg and go from there and it is around $40 round trip or Grey hound for $40 round trip.
So explain to me why a 160 mile 4 minute plane flight is over $200?

I am not a legal expert, how many times do I have to say it?

Well ok Belarus is almost impossible to get into. You need a visa just to take the train from Europe to Moscow through Belarus.

You're talking about crossing minimum four national boundaries, three different currencies, one country that is still essentially communist, another that was Warsaw Pact, another that was cut in half...the distance isn't the issue there.

Yes it was day of flight.

Flying to Europe this year (Alitalia). They make you pay $70 just to pick a seat. Not a upgraded seat. Just any old damn seat. So we coughed up the $280 just to ensure we get to sit together as a famly.

Yes it was day of flight.

Flying to Europe this year (Alitalia). They make you pay $70 just to pick a seat. Not a upgraded seat. Just any old damn seat. So we coughed up the $280 just to ensure we get to sit together as a famly.

Flying is like half the price if what it was a few decades ago though adjusting for inflation.

$149? Was that upgrading the day of the flight? I've never seen anything close to that when booking. Did you have one of those new basic economy fares that don't even let you bring a carryon?

That is a very difficult thing to measure. You have to include the myriad upcharges. Non-refundability of tickets. no food. way less space. I dunno. maybe its possible. But it would be simple for anyone with an agenda to skew those numbers however they want.

The food is the only thing that is a monetary thing. Also, food isn't going to account for a 50% difference.

It is more cramped and less convenient but that's where the point comes in that you can now pay for more if that is what you want.

You just said food was the only monetary thing and then said you could pay more money for the same space and convenience you used to get.

I was just responding to your unsubstantiated claim that airline travel costs have declined in real terms over time.

LOL. That study was put out by the airline lobby. of course they would say that.

https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals ... el-is.html