And as for the "old" days, well I bounced all the way from London to Singapore and back in a Bristol Britannia in the early 1960's.
Ditto, but it did beat the RAF alternative! Arrived at Peya Leba (sp?) happy after sharing a bottle of brandy and chatting up the friendly and good looking cabin staff. Neither would have been available on Transport Command's Brit or Comet.
The general consensus is right, it's the bits before and after the trip which are a pain in the butt, the on board experience is still (mostly) OK.