Prefer cargo, more $$, less stress.
Sometimes the company would give us portable sat-phones that would work from inside the plane if sitting next to an upper deck window facing the nearest satellite. In the old days we could phone patch from HF to a home phone, so yes we could call home from anywhere but rarely did.
Atmosphere on a cargo plane? More cigarette smoke in the air perhaps...
Yes, many a times we could go back and check on the cargo, if there was a good reason for it: Strange smell or strange noise.
