For me personally, trams are right up there. Aside from the main issue of sharing the roads instead of having a dedicated line, they really make it easy to get from one part of a city to another, especially for wheelchair users. They’re usually as frequent as buses, but much faster. The stations are much more attractive compared to bus stops (on newer systems), and can really make an area feel much nicer IMO.
For those that have a bike, suburban and inter city rail is a strong second. The speed and ease of last mile mobility is what appeals to me the most. Recently took my bike across the country to my home city and it ended up being much faster than driving (by almost an hour) - the multimodal commute was pretty hefty, but lots of fun nonetheless.
Yeah, I’ll admit, getting to fly business frequently as a child probably gave me an unrealistic view of what flying would be like for myself later in life. But except for one flight I randomly got bumped, I’ve only done economy my whole adult life and still can’t help but be in a good mood thinking about a flight.
I do agree about the airport hassles, having to go through easily two hours of bureaucracy and waiting before even getting on a plane is kinda crazy, guess I’ve just come to accept it to the point I don’t really think about it too much. I’m just looking forward to the plane, and maybe finding a little nook to wait in before the flight starts boarding where my brain can already start transitioning to “nothing’s stopping you from just shutting off” mode. Airplane mode also means I’m not getting any work texts or messages while I’m in the air, which has definitely happened on trains.