Dammit! Why couldn't I get any of the 1st class travel when I worked for the Gooberment. They still measured mileage for reimbursement pre interstate - right through the center of cities, and usually the per diem was too low for anything but a fleabag motel. With the nightly fights in the adjacent bars for entertainment. Our damned travel office insisted on sticking us on the cheapest flights regardless of the time and inconvenience.
I had to fly to Wichita regularly on a target drone program at Beech. The travel office insisted on routing me through Kansas City, on a turboprop commuter flight, even though the schedule was terrible - they saved $15 that way. The final straw was one January - bitter cold and there was a major snowstorm in KC. Flight was delayed for hours, finally we were allowed out on the field for boarding at 11PM. What I thought was one of the ground crew, looked like a teenage girl, was sweeping snow off the wing with a broom, then used the broomstick to knock the ice out of the slats. Then she helped load the luggage.
Then she got in the copilot seat.
The plane took off and over the end of the field hit a complete whiteout. We flew through the snow until we came out over Wichita, the woman next to me was praying, fingering her rosary the whole time.
After that I absolutely refused to go there again unless I got a decent size turbojet flight the whole way.
