Been there, done that, Daniel. And the on-the-ground experience in Luang Prabang (the capital of Laos) is just as good, even if the planes are not up to the standards of those you find in Vietnam (which are better than those you'll endure flying on any American carrier-- and the Aussie pilots the Vietnamese often employ are funnier than their American counterparts too, an added bonus).

But Daniel, why is the choice TSA imbecility and incompetant baggage handling or Cambodian non-aviation chaos? Why can't we have BOTH the decent, civil, fast service and comfort available in SE Asia AND everything else on the outside of the US terminal (except the traffic, you forgot to mention the hassles of trying to get to the terminals.. Dan, think of Newark, think of BWI, think of Kennedy!)? It's not just a matter of scale either, that makes airports in out of the way jungles (Enough. You people who say "there is no such thing as a jungle" have NOT been to Cambodia or Vietnam. Jungles do exist. They are real. Go see for yourself.) decent places to transit. Beijing's airport is a really, really busy place-- But the lines at Immigration move pretty quickly-- I one time counted thirty people checking passports, and unlike the US, when the lines in Beijing start getting a bit long-- they open up more stations to help make things move more quickly! And I routinely wait longer for my bags at PWM in Maine, despite the proximity of the plane to the baggage area, than I do in Beijing.

No, Daniel, you shouldn't be thinking, "Yes, this is a reasonable trade off." You should be thinking, "If they can have this we can too."

Agree -- I flew 100s of thousands of miles around Asia --- I consider one of my luxuries now that I am back in NYC that I NEVER have to fly.

I'll never forget this vision, a Delta stewardess, bloated and nasty, providing training on a Singapore Airlines flight to one of their stewardeses.

BTW -- Vietnam and China -- and not necessarily for the right reasons -- are far more capitalistic than the US will ever be. Capitalists in training -- take those living in their outside-the-Beltway Homeland Security mansions, for example -- and take them to the lawless free-for-alls known as Communist Nations.

PS -- A market oriented approach to solving the problem of airport congestion pointed out by the previous poster -- one word: A380. If there are 3 times too many planes clogging NYC airports, what simpler solution could there be than employing planes that are three times larger? When we Americans gloat about our market oriented positions we need to take ourselves seriously for a sec and answer questions like that one.

The two thirds of the passengers who don't really HAVE TO fly could stay home and, alternatively, consumate their business objectives by telephone, or enjoy local entertainment.