Seatac Growth

Perhaps the growth in Seattle is best represented by the increase in choices of direct flights from Seattle to Europe.  Previously, my only option for a direct flight to London was with British Airways.  Now, there is also Virgin Atlantic and Norwegian Air to choose from.  There is even going to be a direct flight to Manchester through Thomas Cook starting this year.  And previously, the only options for other direct flights into Europe that I recall were Reykjavik (Iceland Air) and Frankfurt (Lufthansa).  Now, there are alternatives to fly into Germany (Condor, Eurowings) and you can fly to Paris (Air France and Delta) or Amsterdam (Delta), and also starting this year is a direct service to Dublin (Aer Lingus).  You would think the increase in competition would result in a decrease in air fares, but of course no chance of that happening – I’m sure the different airlines have some sort of unofficial agreement to keep flight costs artificially high.  All I know is that for a long transatlantic flight, I cannot book an economy seat – just the small extra space of premium economy makes a huge difference (especially for someone like me who is, medically, obese), plus the historically good chance I’ve had of getting a free upgrade.  I haven’t booked my flight back to the UK this summer yet, but hope to do so soon – but I will have to do some proper research rather than relying on price alone.  For example, Norwegian Air probably has the cheapest prices but the smallest seats and the most additional charges – but then they have a “Premium” cabin in addition to Economy so I need to check that out.  To be honest, I like the idea of flying into or out of another city – it gives me an option of spending a few days somewhere else.  If there was a direct flight from Seattle to Barcelona, I would definitely take that.  But since there isn’t, I’m wondering whether I would like to spend a few days in Iceland or Dublin as part of my trip back this summer.  Or not, and just maximize my time in the UK.  Decisions…. something I’m notoriously bad at.  I’ll probably end up doing what I always do and book a premium economy return flight through BA to Heathrow, but we shall see.