Terminalcoffee discussion

I'm flying to Louisville for work Wednesday. I really don't like flying. It's not like I'm scared of crashing or whatever but I just don't like being stuck in a tiny metal tube for hours on end. Luckily Milwaukee to Louisville is pretty easy. I usually fly just, oh, three or four times a year for work, less than that, lately, with the economy falling. I don't know how people like Kevin and Larry survive, flying all the time.

Here's my strategy: Get a fairly light book, put on my headphones, and ignore everyone around me except the drink cart person. I always get orange juice.

What's your flying strategy?

My flying strategy:

Take 2 Dramamine and try to sleep through the whole thing.

I hate flying. I only want to travel by train but it's too expensive and takes too long.

i am a people person but usually on a flight i just want to do my thing and try to make the flight as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. my most flying in one year was 40 flights but not always that much. i rarely do any work of any kind while flying but instead read (imagine that). i will talk to seatmates but usually prefer to just chill quietly. i use headphones and an ipod along with a book. i find it weird that some people cannot get the universal "leave me alone" symbols on a plane or other transportation. these would be: me having my nose in a book, me working on my laptop or me having headphones in. long flights (8+ hours) are so tough. i don't sleep well on planes usually so i use ambien or tylenol PM. hate to but gotta sleep. i try to be respectful of everyone else and do my time.

you ever hear someone talking in surrounding seats and think "that is total BS!". like someone who is claiming to be a navy SEAL or a biz tycoon. or someone telling facts you know are wrong. i just roll my eyes and shake my head and try to re-engage with my book.

and i always get cranberry apple juice. my fav part of the flight

@Kevin: YES! I get so annoyed with loudtalkers around me. I use headphones too or earplugs. One time my Ipod died on a long flight and I was right in front of this super loud chick talking all kinds of gossip about co-workers sex lives. It took everything I had not to turn around and ask her to SHHHH!

My strategy is a lot like Kevin's. Hearing people yammer on and on without taking a breath probably annoys me more than anything, mostly becasue I can't move away from them.

Occasionally have a conversation with a seatmate, but usually not. If I'm especially tired I'll sleep -- but I always wonder if I'm one of the people you hear snoring, since no one will tell you that.

Usually get OJ, but sometimes coffee in the AM if I haven't had any yet. On evening flights home or if I won't have to drive I'll have a bloody mary. Just one, though. On Frontier I'm at the Summit level, so the drink is free.

I flew with a colleague to Ottawa once for work. He proceeded to get thoroughly shitfaced between ORD and Ottawa, and was completely obnoxious about it. Then later he said to me, "Remember, what happens in the field, stays in the field, right." I chose not to work with him again, in spite of the fact that he was one of the best consultants I had ever worked with. He even forgot his passport and had to BS his way through C & I.

Flights longer than 4 hours are brutal, especially in economy.

once on a flight to Mauritania from Paris (about 9 hours)a kid about 4 behind me started kicking my seat in a steady rhythm as we taxi'd down the runway to take off. he kept it up with amazing stamina for over an hour (must have been of Kenyan marathon runner DNA). eventually he was running up and down the aisle naked and no one cared because it kept him quiet

put it this way - if on a flight everyone knows the baby/kid's name when you land it has not been a good flight

Amen.

I read. Sometimes the old man and I will play cards--our game of choice is Casino. Flying anywhere just kind of sucks so I morph into Patient and Calm Mary before I even get to the airport. Attitude goes a long way.

I drink nothing, or water.

Patient and Calm Mary sounds lovely. Can we meet her someday?

Good strategy, Mary!

eventually he was running up and down the aisle naked and no one cared because it kept him quiet

Maybe I'll try that myself. It sounds liberating.

I've heard guys obviously hitting on women on flights. My God, that's pathetic.

plus you would get to find out who the sky marshall is

Heh. We could lay bets ahead of time, start a pool...it's kind of like playing Clue..."It's the man with the briefcase in the Red Sox hat."

BunWat wrote: "I sleep. I have flown a lot and over time developed the habit of the instant coma from wheels up to wheels down. I wedge myself against the bulkhead next to a window and zzzzz. Best flights are th..."

I haven't been on a flight lately that hasn't been completely full, usually over booked.

When I lived in SoCal (pre-911) I would fly back to the East Coast fairly often and I would frequently wind up on a mid-day flight where I had a wholw row of seats to myself. Those days are over, I fear. I want to know what airline BunWat uses, that has unfilled seats on it!

I don't mind flying if it's a short flight. I bring a book, and a newspaper, and do the crossword puzzle in the in-flight magazine, and I bring snacks. I usually get ginger ale from the cart.

On long flights, I'm in trouble. I can either get the window seat and sleep poorly leaning against the bulkhead but not feel like I can get up very often, or I can get an aisle seat and keep my circulation going in my legs by getting up every couple of hours, but either way, I'm not very comfortable.

Leg room has all but disappeared on most planes, unless you are lucky enough to get an emergency row seat. I ALWAYS ask for one of those.

I got a row to myself from Amsterdam to Johannesburg. I was just nice to the guy at the desk when everyone else was being really pushy and demanding. I said "I don't care about this first leg to Amsterdam, but are there any really good seats left for my second flight?" And he said yes, and I said "Just pick the one you'd choose for yourself."

i see now where they are charging more for coach bulkhead and emergency exit rows getting premium money for the extra legroom. to china the last time i got "economy plus" seating and the extra 3-4" of legroom was worth it for a 12 hr flight

yeah, the people at the ticket desks can make or break you (bout like the BMV). if you are nice they can do a little sumpin/sumpin and hook you up but if you are rude they can jam you about right

I'm always nice, and I usually get the exit row seat I ask for. :)

I'm totally fine with flying. I've been an airline passenger since I was 3, so neither takeoffs, in-flights, nor landings bother me.

Now if we could only do something about flying comfortably.

I flew Virgin Atlantic for the first time last year when I went to California and it was defuckinglightful. Great snacks, TV in every seat with movies and tv shows and games and seat-to-seat chat. Plus they wear very smart uniforms!

Are those the red uniforms, Gretchen? I was in a hotel once at a conference and this hurricane of red-suited beauty passed me in the lobby. I thought I was hallucinating.

@RA: yes! with little red and purple neck scarves. It's like you're in the 50s!

that's because they are virgins

I'm fine with the flying itself, although I don't love it. I put in my earphones if someone nearby starts talking, I get out my book, I usually pick a window seat. I make sure my bladder is super empty. The things that stress me these days are should I pay to check my bag; is my bag too overstuffed to fit in the overhead bin; is it not overstuffed but really heavy, too heavy for me to lift by myself. I stress about packing, actually. Am I taking the right clothes for the weather? Am I taking all casual clothes but someone will expect me to go to a nice restaurant, or to church? I spend a really long time packing.

Back in 1993, I had a trip home on KLM from our sister city in the Czech Republic. I went home through Amsterdam. My plane from Prague to Amsterdam was late, so I ran to my gate, looking panicky. The woman put me in first class next to a very charming Dutch man and we chatted and drank wine and ate salmon and cheese and dessert all the way to Chicago. It was amazing. I hear KLM is not so posh these days.

The same thing happened to me returning from Paris to the U.S. once. I didn't allow enough time to get to the airport. At the metro, I couldn't figure out where or who to pay so I just jumped the turnstile and no one stopped me. Got to the airport, running, the Air France woman told me they were about to close the gate and I would have to sprint all the way there, also my coach seat was gone so I would haff to fly beezness class.

I also stress if the journey has several moving parts - hotel, rental car, having to get to the airport at some freakishly early hour, driving rental car to unknown location (i.e. never driven the route before, it's confusing), multiple people going, multiple schedules have to be coordinated.

I rather enjoy flying.
I end up looking out the window and imagine pokemon living in the clouds. Or wishing I could fly.

I was just booking a United ticket and after I'd put in my payment info United asked me if I wanted to opt to "fly through security." If I did, it would cost me $39 on the outgoing leg, $19 on the return.

First, eff you. I want to punch you in the face. Second, is this something United should be determining? Shouldn't the TSA be the deciding decision maker? And now the TSA needs to know your birthdate, so they can send you a card or something.

I am in such a foul mood after making travel arrangements....then I started booking a rental car with a discount using my frequent flyer number. The rates looked really excellent until I clicked to the next page and they suddenly jumped by $100. It wasn't even taxes/fees, it was that the number they had originally shown me was called the "pay now" number - your credit card charged right away. I thought that would be the total. No! When you pick up the car there is another charge...the pay later charge!

Foul, foul people. Way to make you feel like you're being scammed.

fees suck. just give me the bottom line ticket price. all inclusive. ticket cost, seat cost, baggage cost, carry-on cost and all taxes and fees rolled up into one cost. boom! that's what this flight will cost

Trail mix and psychedelic mushrooms usually work for me.

Also, if you have two Orbitz tabs open, Orbitz cannot keep the information separate. Orbitz is so slow-loading that I was looking at fares in two windows with different departure airports. Then tab 1 where I was attempting to look at data for airport 1 readjusted itself so that airport 2 was the airport rather than airport 1. Wtf? Way to lose business, Orbitz. I hate you.

I pop in earplugs and have chosen very carefully the book I read. Major decision. And then over and out.

When I was in college, flying back and forth, as the plane accelerated down the runway I would play in my head From Russia With Love and pretend I was a spy.

Ken wrote: "Trail mix and psychedelic mushrooms usually work for me."

OH my GOD that sounds horrid Ken! The last thing I can imagine wanting after mushrooms is trail mix. ugh.

I'll have to try earplugs, Lor! Great idea.

I cannot sleep anymore and I have to have the isle seat, because I have this weird thing about bathrooms. I think it's because of childhood trauma. We often drove 2 1/2 hrs to my grandparent's beach house in Long Beach, WA as a kid and my mom wouldn't stop for ANYTHING, EVER. And, if you actually peed in your pants...yeah, death would be preferable. So, now I don't drink much while travelling and always want easy access to a bathroom.

Generally, while in flight, I listen to music and play with my DS. Just plop in one of those addictive little mini-games discs and hours fly by before I realize.

This is why airlines like to add on fees rather than putting it all in one fare.

Airlines pay a 7.5-cent tax to the federal government for every dollar they collect in fares. But no tax is imposed on fees collected for non-essential services.

Schumer said last January the Treasury Department issued a rule calling carry-on bags non-essential for air travel, creating an incentive to charge a fee.

i did not know that LG. it makes sense. not to me but to the airline. just a way to beat the system for them

and bun, ideally i would love to travel with nothing and only buy what i need along the way but that is not in my budget :)

I hate flying with guitars SO MUCH but I need a guitar on the other end.

Sarah, don't the roadies take all of those in the 22 semis that accompany you on tour?

Of course, but sometimes you need to jump on a plane for that show that just doesn't fit in the itinerary. You should see my band trying to look respectable and hide our guitars behind our backs (so no staffer gets the bright idea that we should gate-check) and jockey for getting into the plane first so we can find a place to stash them before the overheads fill up.

Flying itself doesn't bother me. People can. There was a big, loud guy in the row in front of me, he was loudly talking to a young woman who looked like she would have jumped out if she could. He said, "What kind of jokes do you like ? I got a million of them, you want dirty? You want mother-in-law? What's your name ? Why are you taking this trip ?" On and on. I wanted to smack the back of his head, and tell him to shut up, but I waited to see what she'd do. Nothing...made meek little answers all the way.

Yup there's almost always at least one loud talker that never shuts up.

the two young guys i took to haiti last week are not travelers. one had never even been on an airplane. anyway, they both kept incessantly talking about guns and assault rifles and crap like that. i was like "easy fellas, they don't really appreciate that talk on airplanes or in the lines at the TSA checkpoints." these guys just went on and on. i still can't believe people are not smart enough to keep quiet when on airplanes

I'm with Dario. I rather enjoy flying. I like dressing/packing minimally and feeling free. I like just walking around the airport wtih my earphones on and listening to music. I keep the music pumping all through boarding, hearding, sitting, arranging, and pretend to turn it off but don't for the emergency bullshit, takeoff, and reaching cruising altitude, beverage cart selection, peanut munching, book reading, dozing, reading, gum chewing, landing and even disembarking. I love it.

I always get tomato juice or sparkling water. "Club soda with a lime."

i am a cran-apple juice with the good airline ice guy

I need to get better at minimal packing. If there's an inch of extra space, I always think, "I should really take an extra two shirts...never know when they'll come in handy...I might get drenched in a sudden downpour."

I'm taking 3 books for a 7 day trip. I wonder if that's too many.

I am either diet coke, orange juice, or nothing (because I don't want to pee).