[AlotOfReading]

I don't know how long you've been flying or what airlines you use, but the situation was very different pre-9/11. 2 checked bags and seat selections were free, you could walk/pick up family at the gate, and onerous security checkpoints weren't a thing. More importantly, seats had more room.

Sure, you had to read skymall instead of watching a movie during the flight, but tablets didn't exist yet so we didn't know better.

Qualitatively the situation is worse today, even if the difference is usually exaggerated.

[FreakyT]

Parent comment asserted that "flying gets worse every year", which is a very different declaration than "flying got significantly worse after 9/11"

[tinus_hn]

It got worse after the shoe bomber and then worse again when the airports found out they could make more money selling water after security by only having ‘convenience’ warm water in the toilets.

The nickel-and-diming continues.

[AlotOfReading]

Other than the security checkpoints, all of that happened incrementally over time. 9/11 is just a convenient before/after for the airline industry.