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Five Flights of Fancy
Power Trip · February 21, 2003

The flight is smooth. The service is professional. Your fellow passengers are well-mannered, articulate and interesting.

No, you haven't traveled back in time to board one of the great pre-deregulation carriers such as the old Pan Am or TWA. You're probably on one of America's five best flights.

How can I find five "best" flights to feature in a column? Are there that many? Yes, there are. (There are also that many worst flights.)

It's true that nearly one-third of all business travelers cut back on their flying last year, according to a recent survey by the Travel Industry Association of America and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Many travelers were feeling the corporate belt-tightening going on, and decided to turn to new Web conferencing technologies to get the job done. Many others were put off by the overall decline in the quality of airlines' service.

But there are still some excellent flights in the United States today. You know them from the moment you're welcomed at the gate by a friendly, professional airline agent. The crew members are courteous and caring, the takeoffs and landings are straight out of a textbook and, after your arrival, the entire crew — pilots included — bids you farewell and thanks you for your business.

That's the way it's supposed to be. Here are the five flights where it happens with greater regularity, and my tips for making these flights even better:

Dallas to San Francisco. The Dallas/Fort Worth-San Francisco run is easily one of the best flights in operation today. It's long enough so you can finish that sales presentation — and you often get a meal, too — but short enough that you don't arrive with that awful pressurized-cabin headache. Flight attendants are experienced, fellow passengers are civil and the planes normally run on time. But those aren't the only reasons why travelers love this flight. Because both Dallas and San Francisco are hub cities, carriers such as American Airlines will fly an aircraft with three-class configurations between them — the idea being that the aircraft will later be used on a trans-Pacific flight. That means that the business class cabin will be designated economy class. "I love the afternoon flight from Dallas to San Francisco because I get to relax with some extra leg room," says Joe Bartos, a hotel worker from Half Moon Bay, Calif.

Tip: You can also get the freebie business class seats on flights from Dallas into Miami. (American Airlines uses these planes on its Latin American routes, and they're hardly ever full flights.)

New York (La Guardia) to Boston. This is one of the most unlikely flights to qualify for a "best" designation, given that I've rated both of these airports among the five worst in America, and given that it's a shuttle flight. But unlike other short hops, which use turboprops and are hardly big enough to stand in, these flights tend to be on jets with real seats and a place to store your carry-on luggage. Plus, there's the timing issue. The Washington, D.C.-to-Newark, N.J., shuttle, as I pointed out in another column, is inefficient because you spend more time in transit to the airport than you do in the air. Take Amtrak instead, I recommended. But with this flight, the train is slower and the flight just works much better. "It's so easy and efficient," raves Karen Vaites, an executive from Manhattan. "The ability to pull up to the curb at 7:20 p.m. and be on the 7:30 p.m. flight most of the time is invaluable."

Tip: You can navigate the unwieldy airport infrastructure by traveling light, using automated check-in procedures and pre-screening yourself for any items that may trigger a security search. Bottom line: It's possible to have good flight from a bad airport.

Albuquerque, N.M., to Tampa, Fla. Here's one flight that's so pleasant that passengers actually look forward to it. Why? Both Albuquerque and Tampa are excellent airports, but they weren't big enough to make my previous list of best terminals. But on this haul, it's the passengers who really stand out. From the mellow Southwest to Florida's laid-back west coast, you'll encounter some of the friendliest, most well-behaved people on the plane. The carrier that serves this route with nonstop flights, Southwest, does a wonderful job, according to passengers such as Mike Abramovich. "Even when Southwest's cabin crews are having an 'off' day, they're still head and shoulders above the other major carriers on their best days," he says. "You get the impression the crew is genuinely happy to have your business."

Tip: If you pick Southwest Airlines for this route, don't forget the snack. You might get hungry for something other than peanuts. Not to worry: Albuquerque's airport food is reasonably good by airport standards.

Long Beach, Calif., to Washington (Dulles). I'm picking this flight because of JetBlue's service. This transcontinental route is an opportunity for any airline to put its best foot forward. It's the domestic equivalent of an overseas flight, because it's so long (more than six hours). And nobody does it like JetBlue — not the major carriers, not even Southwest. Cabin crews are extremely attentive, the in-flight entertainment is second to none in the U.S., and most important, the flights run on time. I won't belabor the point because so much has already been written about JetBlue and its uncanny ability to make money during the worst airline industry recession in a generation. Suffice it to say that JetBlue deserves most, if not all, of the accolades. Jason Kirkwood, a graduate student from McLean, Va., is hooked on the red-eye flight because it gets him into Washington rested and ready for work. But, he says, the crew's attitude is what sets the flight apart. "They're fun, efficient and very professional," he says. Just like the good old days.

Tip: If you're booking a flight on JetBlue, do it online to save extra money, and don't forget to bring your own food. Like Southwest, this airline skimps on the meals in order to keep fares down.

Houston to Las Vegas. In a recent column, I came down hard on Sin City and its tortuous layovers. Does McCarran International Airport in Vegas have any redeeming qualities? Sure. If business takes you to this city, then the flight from Houston is a winner — especially if you're flying on Continental. The reason: Insiders tell me the airline is generous on upgrades for frequent fliers. That's no surprise, given the fact that most of the folks on this trip are on their way to a vacation and are bringing an extra-cheap bargain fare with ridiculous restrictions. "When I switched to Continental on this route, it improved my quality of life by 180 degrees," says John Collins, a sales manager for a paper company in Miami. "There are no excuses about mechanical delays, no attitude from the employees and the planes aren't consistently delayed by up to three hours." How could a flight leaving Las Vegas be so much worse than one coming? If you have to ask, you've never gone gambling on vacation. Good for you.

Tip: You don't have to be a quadruple-titanium, ultra-elite frequent flier to get good seats. Sometimes all it takes is a frequent-flier card and a friendly gate agent for a successful upgrade.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.