Am I alone in not being able to remain pleasant in an airport?

[aperolspritzbasicbitch]

Nothing raises my cortisol quite like being in an airport.
i hate it.
I become snappy, everything annoys me and the general public can do no right.
I was born to fly private, but unfortunately I am without the funds.

My mood is only really improved if I have hand luggage only, because at least then I don’t have to deal with people crowding around the luggage belt, making it impossible for the rest of us to see our bags. And don’t get me started on those who allow their children to stand right at the front!

Is anyone able to breeze through without becoming stressed? If so, please share your secrets to being calm!

DH is the same.. a few things have improved this

1. never get the shuttle bus from a distant carpark, less people to interact with that have lost the ability to read/listen to simple instructions
2. fast track security much shorter queue and we arrive prepared so can just jump around those that are faffing
3. airport lounge, reserved seats and not rowdy. I’ll then leave him parked there with a drink whilst I disappear to have a mooch around the shops and grab anything we want.
4. at the other end, he will go to the carousel and I stand to the side, when I see him lean in to get our bag will go and grab it off him and repeat until all bags retrieved
5. no shuttle bus, get a taxi or private transfer straight to the hotel so no hanging around or touring a million other hotels first!

I know most of these cost more but it’s so worth it for less stress!

Of course it will.

but equally, if everyone stood back at the line on the floor there would be no need to miss it.

someone else’s self importance shouldn’t delay me, or anyone else for that matter.

Book yourself into the airport lounge to wait for your flight. Calm. Chilled. Eat and drink as much as you want. It makes the whole airport experience very different. You’re way more relaxed before you have to deal with any horrors so you manage better. Money very well spent!

The entitled little princesses on this thread. Honestly.

Absolutly!

My mood is only really improved if I have hand luggage only

But then you need to fight for overhead bin space or risk having hand luggage checked in anyway. And there are always people who don't believe in queueing - almost had a fight with one woman who barged to the front shouting that she has Speedy Boarding!! Well yes dear, see that sign here? All of us standing under that one have speedy boarding, yours is not any speedier.

I fly about 4-6 times a month. I love airports. I do get overstimulated but I have strategies.
90% of people are dicks though.

I travel a lot and I think the main issue is that airports have 2 kinds of people. One lot, in a massive hurry rushing around like herd of buffalos, about to miss their flight, and the second who came to airport 6 hours earlier or have a long layover, so they are ambling around at a snail pace to kill the time. And they both have to occupy the same space.

I am EXACTLY the same. All patience goes out of the window, and I know why. Are you by chance a considerate person, and everyone around you seems to be the total opposite? This is what it is in my case. I was brought up to be considerate and yet it's rarely reciprocated. Airports magnify that divide 100-fold.

Personally I'm not a specifically considerate person, just one with common sense. I don't wear boots with 20 metal buckles that all need to be unbuckled separately before security or some kind of complicated wrap cardigans I can't get out of.
Not checking the regulations for this specific airport - yes it's super annoying they are so different nowadays about liquids and electronics, but they are what they are. Just because another airport allowed a 2 litre bottle does not mean this one does.
Generally being baffled by quite logical things. If you have been standing in the same boarding queue for an hour and they loudly annoynce every 5 minutes that you need boarding pass and your passport open on picture page, with large signs with explanatory photos everywhere - why do you start digging through your handbag for the travel documents only when you get to the agent? Does it come as a surprise? Everyone else has been presenting their documents, but for some reason you think they won't want to see yours?

Fear of flying I think is a factor, even though the greatest risk is the travel on land to and from the airport (even in the UK where our road safety record is better than most [though not good enough given the number of people who have a licence who are unfit to have one]).

I don't think the different luggage rules, all the Ryanair nonsense, and having different boarding groups helps.

Having this attitude of ‘it shouldn’t be like this’ is your issue. It is how it is! You’re literally fighting with reality and that will make you unhappy. Generally I enjoy the airport, because I anticipate the kind of things I find stressful (being late, having to hurry) and take practical steps to avoid them.

Tbh I really genuinely enjoy it though, I love people watching, love being among lots of people (when I have the time to stroll around and take it in. Sounds like that’s not your thing. But the carousel behaviour- I think you need to anticipate it’s going to happen and let it go rather than wishing for things that will never happen, a recipe for pain.

I’m sure you’re lovely, but I don’t see it as consideration to get all riled up by people doing things the way they see fit. I think considering others involves letting them be. You’ve got an idea of what consideration in an airport is, but other people see it differently.

I try to manage myself better to cope with the annoyance. So for example I also hate the clamouring for the luggage belt so I don’t do it. I use the time while everyone else is standing on tiptoes trying to will their bags to appear to go to the toilet and freshen up after the flight.by the time I’m done the luggage collection area has freed up. I do any pre-check in options I can and scope out what shops and facilities are at the airport so I have a plan for what I can do if I have time to kill and where is likely to be a quieter corner to hide in.

I have a partner who deals with the luggage belt and i knit- it's as good as meditation.

I don't mind the airport on the way out... It's coming home that does me in.

The last flight I did was a red eye over from the US, and I felt REVOLTING on the trudge through the airport. Dehydrated, tired, sweaty, but for me it's always like a feverish sweaty, iykwim.

I'm doing a flight to Munich on Monday, and the return will get me back to London at tea time, so that shouldn't be so disgusting.

@zingallyim going to the US for work in a few weeks and the way back I get on a flight at 5.45pm then due to timezones I’ll land at about 7am and have to navigate the M1 at about 9am. I don’t see me feeling like a happy, peppy, positive person at all that day 🤣

I have severe flight anxiety so always half assume I will die when I enter an airport. So im not stress-free, but I am determined not to go to my death being short-tempered and snippy with other people. I think of myself as entering a tube connected to my destination, and while in the tube I have to accept I have no control over how long it will take or how uncomfortable I will be. And then I just try to be as kind / understanding as I can to other humans stuck in the tube with me. I have never understood the point of being arsey with others in these situations - it never makes your outcome any better and it makes things so much more fraught for everyone.

There’s a lot going on.

over crowded,
too many queues,
passengers in forced close proximity to each other,
long waits,
early starts,
cancelled flights,
delayed flights,
anxious passengers,
excited passengers,
tetchy kids,
people getting pissed,
expensive food,
worries about losing baggage
or missing flight,
travel delays etc etc.

It’s a recipe for a nightmare really. 😂

I like to consume an edible about 30 mins before arriving at the airport so I glide through the whole experience slightly stoned 🤣. I always check my bags, can't be bothered hailing around suitcases and stressing about overhead lockers. Head straight to the lounge after check in for a glass of wine or 2 and something to eat. By the Time I board I'm nicely chilled and ready for a snooze. At the other end I find a nice seat whilst DH gets the bags.

I did two weeks in Florida last year with only cabin luggage. If it’s hot you only need shorts and t shirts, nothing bulky.

Are you neurodivergent? I am and find them quite disorienting but I do my best not to snap at people

Those on here who say they love airports have never been through Frankfurt airport with a non-EU passport. Never.

I need you as a friend! scared to fly ✈️..

Last time I was at the airport while at the boarding gate, someone was trying to sit in my seat before I'd properly left and gathered my stuff up. Things like that really annoy me. So I packed up slower which I realise is very passive aggressive. The queue jumpers really annoy me too. Best thing to do I suppose is just focus on yourself and get in a sort of bubble. And never travel with Ryan Air.