Old School Travel Greeters

My dad always wore a sport coat but by the time he was in his mid-80's he dropped the tie (my bet is the arthritis made it too hard to tie). My airline friends who fly non-revenue always have to "dress up" it's part of the requirement. I personally try to look like I care about my appearance. People wearing their slippers and pj's should just stay at home. There was a recent funny column in the Washington Post about a guy who always wears a tie and sport coat. He thinks spandex should only be worn in the gym.

My hula kumu (teacher) dances at the pier to greet the cruise ship passengers that come ashore in Kailua-Kona. Well, she did before COVID and probably will again now that cruise ships are returning to Hawaii. These days we have the greeters at WalMart :-)

I grew up in Washington, DC (born in the 1940s) and we always dressed up to go to a play or the symphony. My Mom dressed up even to go shopping. When I moved to Denver in the 1970s, I was shocked to see people coming to the symphony in blue jeans and ball caps. And, yes, I used to dress up when flying because the nicely dressed people got better service and were the first ones upgraded to better seats.

I actually remember when nobody would even think of wearing jeans - either on the plane or when traveling in Europe. People really did used to dress up for flights, but then the amenities on flights were comparable with the whole dressed up for something special thing back then too.

Trotter, my guess is the pandemic lockdown accelerated casual and bedtime clothing, and spandex/tights are apparently OK in every situation. Back in the 60s I had one of those boy suits that included shorts, like JFK Jr. if you can recall those pictures. Anyway, I was all dressed up like Little Lord Fauntleroy on a flight with Senator Robert Byrd. For whatever reason Grandma gave me a silver dollar to give to him, and I ended up getting a picture with him. I looked like a dandy.

I'm of the belief that the way one dresses affects not only their behavior but to an extent those of others. When I wore starched uniforms with glossy shined shoes, it definitely had an impact on my conduct.

Seems to me, there used to be a guy in Terminal B at Newark who would sing to international arrivals after they got through customs. But that was probably 20 years ago... On our honeymoon to Tahiti, we were greeted by the traditional Polynesian dancers and flower leis. That was nice, but almost 30 years ago!!!!

We have greeters at the Calgary Airport, and in tradition with the Calgary Stampede and our western heritage they're easily recognizable wearing white cowboy hats. I'm not sure how visitors react, but I love the look and it feels like home when I see them.

I'm of the belief that the way one dresses affects not only their
behavior but to an extent those of others. When I wore starched
uniforms with glossy shined shoes, it definitely had an impact on my
conduct.

Agreed, but yikes to the poster who said people in pajamas should just stay home. It appears that not all well dressed people have good attitudes. I can't be bothered to care how others see fit to dress for a long flight. I'm not slovenly, but I'm going to be comfortable.

Before COVID at DFW and IAH there were always sweet upper middle-aged ladies in cowboy hats that would help people get into the right lanes for passport control. It was a nice touch. Haven’t seen them since COVID, hope they return.

About half my trips I wear a sports coat on the flight. Better than packing it. I bring it because I like to go out to nice places from time to time and its no big deal to wear it on the plane. My father did the same. Interesting thing, dress up a bit and people tend to treat you a bit differently. If they don’t then you still have the self satisfaction of showing the hosts a little extra respect.

Yes, I recall wearing a sport coat and tie flying to/from South America in the 1960s and 70s. So did most other men; and the ladies dressed also. It was de rigueur.

BigMike: I once sat next to then Speaker of the House Tom
Foley on a flight from DC to Chicago. He was in a suit and tie-I was also dressed for business but I didn’t have a silver dollar. 😁 He wanted a Tylenol which I also didn’t have but the FA did. BTW, he was greeted by an airline rep presumably to facilitate his connection.

When we were getting used to our new to us Northern California airport, I remember seeing group after group of people of a variety of ages walk past our gate seemingly still in their PJs. After awhile curiosity got the best of me and I wondered if they were all going to the same destination and where that might be so I wandered down to the end of the terminal to see that most of them were “lounging” the at the gate waiting for their Las Vegas flight, made sense.

We experienced a greeter this year at the Manchester NH airport, at least he was very enthusiastic and helpful about promoting NH tourism at the peak of the fall foliage season.

Talking about people wearing Pj's on the plane, I once sat on the aisle seat next to a young lady at the window in a onesie pj. She was probably 25 more or less. She curled up into a little ball in her seat and went to sleep. After a while she got restless and before I knew it she had lifted the armrest with her foot and stretched her legs across my lap. A few hours later (yes, I just sat there) the flight attendant said we were landing and I had to wake my daughter and tell her to sit up. Not my daughter I replied. Had no idea who she was. The flight attendant got a look on her face I will never forget. I let the flight attendant wake the young lady. She realized where she was, panicked, sat up in a hurry, looked at the floor and for the next five minutes just kept repeating she was sorry but never looked me in the face. I died laughing.

On the flip side, I'm sure I rem sometime in the mid 80s maybe (I was a kid) and my chain smoker grandfather complaining about not being able to smoke on the plane anymore, so...not all glam and glitz.

Re Jeans: Back in the late 70s my uncle (born 1922) reflected that "Jeans were what the poor kids wore."

In the early 80s working for Tektronix in engineering, the new hires out of college from the east coast wore sports jackets. West coast folk not.

In the early 2000s (another company) we got slapped with a company dress code after an engineering manager showed up for a meeting with customers wearing Levis shorts and a tee. The code allowed dockers and jeans "if neat and no rips or tears." Men and women required to wear collared shirts (button down, polos, etc.). The dress code also allowed "tailored shorts, on Fridays, but only between Memorial Day and Labor Day."

On my last job there was one engineer who always wore cargo shorts, 12 months of the year, rain or shine. Note that this is a tech company, engineering, and on the left coast (Portland).

On my own last international trip I wore some lightweight Nike joggers on the planes. Comfy, and with zippered pocket and my passport and phone were secure.

As a non-rev in the early 80's, we were required to wear a jacket and tie on any flight (ladies had to wear a dress or skirt) ... failure to follow the dress code resulted in not being allowed to board ... you could always pick out the non-revs on a flight, especially on flights to Hawaii or other tropical locations ... they eventually relaxed the dress code to business casual, then allowed 'neat' jeans ... now it's pretty much what you want except no shorts, sweats, t-shirts, flipflops, anything offensive, and a few other very casual items ... I don't envy the gate agents who have to enforce the dress code, especially the 'buddies' that fly on a pass, they think they can show up looking like they just jumped out of bed ... we have been reminded many times to tell your 'buddies' they will be denied boarding if they don't follow the policy

Anyone who's been on a cruise has encountered costumed greeters (including birds and fish) on the pier, offering expensive photo ops. And one often meets happy greeters at exotic destinations like Walmart. My wife and I got lei'd on our first landing in Honolulu, but I don't think it was repeated in later years.

David Sedaris wrote a hilarious piece about flying then and now, focusing on how passengers were/are dressed. The ending describes flight attendants walking down the aisle holding out plastic bags, repeating to the passengers "You're trash, you're trash."

You're making me feel old, haha! I'm not even 40 but when I traveled with my dad as a kid, he always wore dress pants and a button up shirt; khakis and a polo if he was being very casual-- and I had to wear a dress and tights. I never saw people in sweatpants at the airport even in the early 90s.

Yoga pants and messy buns are basically an airport uniform now. I totally get why too. Last trip I indulged my need to be comfortable while holding up dad's old rules by wearing my yoga tights and top with a casual skirt, lol.

Edit:
@JamesE
My daughters and I were on a longer train ride in Italy and we passed a woman with her head hanging into the aisle, her body across two seats and her legs up on the windows of the train, jostling all around to get comfortable, with her stuff on the seats across. She was definitely an American... and when the train started moving and they made the announcements in English, she jumped up and yelled "s***!" The whole time people were trying to scooch by her, she didn't realize she was at her stop.

She tried to get the ticket agent to stop the train! To his credit, he very sweetly alerted her when the next stop came, helped her off and directed her which train to get on to return to her destination.

I recall airport greeters in Hawaii in the early 2000's. They were dressed in Hawaiian attire and gave everyone a lei. It was delightful. In New Orleans, sometimes the city will hire bands to play in the airport. It's a nice way get you into the vibe of the city.

My late husband used to always travel in a sport jacket and tie. Always. He thought that gate agents and such would treat you with more respect if you were reasonably well dressed. I don't wear a dress or a suit anywhere these days, but I always try to look neat and pulled together when I fly -- no leggings or leisurewear for me on a plane.

Not an airport experience, but I recall when I visited Matera in 2014 that several older ladies approached us as we were wandering around. My guess is that they might have been volunteers for the local tourism commission. They greeted us and asked us how we were enjoying our stay. Were people treating us nicely? Did we enjoy the food? Would we encourage other people to visit? ... They really seemed to care that we had a good impression of the city. I can't imagine that happening in Rome, Florence or Venice.

James E. -- your story reminded me of my last flight to Istanbul. I had a window seat, with nobody in the middle seat and a rather large, broad-shouldered, Slavic/East European woman in the aisle seat. I never figured out where she was from except that she didn't speak a word of Russian, Turkish or English, which was about as far as my linguistic skills could carry me. As is usual for me, I curled up and went to sleep not long after the plane took off. When I woke up sometime during the night, my Slavic seat buddy was sprawled out across all three seats, sound asleep with her head in my lap. I didn't see much point in disturbing her, and so I went back to sleep again. It was definitely one of my more unusual airplane experiences.

This past February when we were walking through Honolulu Airport they had some live musicians playing inside the terminal.