How to bring civility back

Do unto others. No matter which side of the counter you’re on, being nice often results in other people being nice back — just as being mean is immediately reciprocated. “Courtesy begets courtesy,” says Grabowski, the retired travel agent.

Stop the fees and customer-hostile

policies. Instead of constantly cutting amenities and making passengers pay for every little extra, such as legroom or the ability to cancel their hotel room in a reasonable amount of time, travel companies need to find other ways to make money. Maybe creating a better product that people will want to pay more for?

Travel with a company that has better

manners. Beeston, the mortgage lender, prefers flying on JetBlue Airways over the major carriers. “They are nice and seem to actually care about their passengers,” she says. Of course, by pre-deregulation standards, even the “good” airlines are just so-so. “Realistically, until airlines stop cramming people into seats like sardines, these issues will prevail,” she says.