What's the worst (or best) thing about air travel?
4We’re flying this week. (I’ll tell you where we went when we get back.)
I’m ok with being on a plane. The combo of several anxiety inducing things should be hell for me, but they somehow converge into some sort of zen-like state of chill while we’re in the air.
Airports though. Airports are hell on Earth. TSA. Lost souls. Stress everywhere.
I loathe it.
What’s the worst part for you? Or the best?
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Making little fists with my toes after we land.
@therealjrn I do that the whole flight.
Best: Leaving the driving to someone else while I nap.
Worst: Gremlins. Damned wing gremlins.
@rockblossom I feel super old, because I remember seeing that episode on late night TV when I was a kid in the 80s.
@rockblossom @Thumperchick
pats head
you young whippersnapper
@rockblossom @Thumperchick that is the episode I remember best from my youth!
@Thumperchick I didn’t see it when it first aired (Oct 1963), but I saw a rerun in 1964.
@rockblossom @Thumperchick I saw it in 1963. It was scary.
@rockblossom @Thumperchick @werehatrack 1963 ftw
@rockblossom @Thumperchick @werehatrack
IDK - even as a young kid, I thought the wing creature was kind of cheesy…
Right now? The fact that the TSA people are working without being paid and are probably pissed off again and probably some of them called off sick. So allow a little extra time. My worst part about the airport is the waiting
@Cerridwyn
The overpriced food. You know two miles outside the airport, that burger combo is $5 cheaper.
Although airport food has gotten better. Back in the 90s, I was doing a weekly commute from Dallas to Houston. Ah, the days of being a contractor. Back then Love field had four gates handling Dallas to Houston flights every 30 minutes. And a bank of phones that made local calls to Houston in case your flight was delayed. At those four gates there was a tcby and a McDonald’s.
@ironcheftoni that’s one thing I appreciate about PDX. They’re not allowed to gouge. They have high street pricing. It might be what you’d pay downtown instead of in your neighborhood, but it’s no where near other airports. I remember buying a bubbly in pdx but was short on time but had a decent connection in Seattle so I figured I’d get stuff there. I had a 16 or 20 can at PDX that cost 2.29. A 12oz can at the same concession was 4.99 in Seattle. It’s crazy!
@ironcheftoni @sillyheathen
Lone Star steakhouse in Atlanta has essentially the same prices as my unit in Montgomery. I was pleasantly surprised one time when I had a couple of hours to kill (having missed a connection) so SWMBO and I decided to eat dinner and have a beer there. But, OTOH, I learned that you can’t get a steak knife there since they’re inside the TSA cleared area!!
Favorite place for a connection now is Nashville. There are a couple of bars in the concourses that have musicians playing anytime they’re open. Nice to be able to sit and have a beer and listen to someone playing music (live) to while away a couple of hours while you’re waiting.
Years back, I was delayed on a flight due to “we’re waiting on a crew member”. Turns out the crew member they were waiting on was the pilot!
Connecting flights worry me the most. Will the first flight arrive on time? Will I have to deal with TSA again if the continuing flight is on a different plane? Will my luggage arrive?
@narfcake
unfortunately having to go through TSA again for a connecting flight is an automatic if you’re flying in from an International flight… Found that out the hard way when I bought a bottle of local liquor at duty free. No problem for the international flight, but then was stuck trying to go through a TSA checkpoint with a fifth of liquor. It was a bit of a PITA.
Can I pick one thing for best and worst?
Air sickness bags.
@phendrick
Thankfully I don’t get air-sick anymore (since I was a kid 60 plus years ago). I think not having any passengers smoking on the plane made the difference!
Best thing is going to go a far off destination,
Worst thing is all the waiting.
Late edit:
Best thing is
going to gogetting to go to a far off destination,Worst thing is all the waiting
THOSE people. You know who they are…“Get outta my way. I should’ve been here 45 minutes earlier. I’m sick, so why not share with everyone else on a sealed sickness tube. The only way to deal with my anxiety is to drink 10 beers & then throw up with the first turbulence. Oh little Johnny, you probably shouldn’t be kicking the seat in front of you continuously for the entirety of the 3 hour flight.” …and I could easily continue.
To me air travel is a necessary evil. I appreciate the ability to get almost anywhere I need to go in an extremely short amount of time (all things relative, of course) but it’s easily my least favorite part of any journey. Fortunately, my times in an airplane have been relatively OK. A few rough flights…both through people & turbulence…but I’m still glad we have the choice because mile per mile, it still rocks in comparison to driving.
@tohar1
Thankfully in 70 plus years of air travel I’ve had very few flights that were too disrupted by people or turbulance. I’ve also had some very memorable long-distance flights when flying international.
Since my superpower seems to be the ability to sleep basically anywhere, under any circumstances, that may have a lot to do with it
@chienfou Whew! I’ve had some doozies! I envy your ability to sleep on an airplane though. Not in my wheelhouse unfortunately.
@tohar1
My wife is the same way. I always feel so bad when I’m sacked out & drooling…well, after I wake up of course!
@chienfou
That is funny! Reminded me of one early-AM flight when I had an Asian girl, probably 20-ish, sitting next to me. She was reading a magazine in her native language, so I guessed she didn’t speak English. About 5-minutes after takeoff, she lays her head on my shoulder & was out cold. She didn’t move at all until we were on final approach. Never said a word to me when she woke up. Didn’t bother me. I found pretty good humor in it, just another story to tell. Guessing it was common in her culture the nonchalant way she did it.
@tohar1
I must say, it’s nice to have purpose!
@chienfou I’m sure Mrs. H. wouldn’t have found it as “cute or innocent” as I did… Don’t go telling her now!
Two best airports I have ever flown from or two. Neither one of them is huge. The first is Palm Springs. It’s always a little more expensive to fly out of there than ontario, but the airport is not inside. I mean there are terminals but all the walkways between the terminals and everything are outside it’s just strangely amazing. And I’m not one of these people who sits out in the sun but the first time I went there it was like getting on the plane was a much lighter experience. The second one was Madison Wisconsin. It is the state capital you got to remember that. Milwaukee is not. About the only thing Madison has going for it is that epic the healthcare computer charting system is really close but it’s not in madison. The airport is Tiny like four Gates. It’s actually only place where the regular people got through quicker than the TSA PreCheck people because well there are two lines and more people working the non PreCheck line
@Cerridwyn
Airport in Kona Hawaii is like that… all outside. And Montgomery’s airport is a regional airport with just a handful of gates. If there are three people in front of you at TSA… it’s considered a massive traffic jam! It’s super easy to breeze in and out of, and the flights connecting on Delta through Atlanta are sometimes cheaper from Montgomery even though you get on the exact same connecting flight as if you had driven to Atlanta to take off. Parking lot is also intimately small so no more than 2-3 minutes from the front of the terminal to your car when you get home. Rates are pretty good too.
Best Thing: Flying my plane to places I want to go on my schedule, without any TSA or other hassles.
Worst Thing: Maintaining my plane and the crazy costs and hassles that can go with that. As I say to friends with more terrestrial pursuits: if you want to make owning a boat feel cheap, buy a plane…
@shahnm
Fun! What are you flying?
@chienfou Cirrus SR20
/image Cirrus sr20
