I Just Took A Totally Average $200 Plane Trip To California - But Here's How Cool It USED To Be To Fly

Yesterday evening, I boarded a plane from New York to California.

I sat in a totally average $200 seat, scrunched in the very back row - 44 - in coach. I wasn't allowed to pick my seat before the flight.

Flying didn't always used to be such a drag. There were cheery flight attendants, steak dinners, and lounges on board. A lot of it has been documented by EverythingPanAm.com, an online museum for Pan American. Pan American was the largest international airline from 1927 until 1991 when it went out of business.

Here's what flying used to be like, and what we suffer through now.