Plane Rant

[LucyDontLockIt]

Why do "special diet" people get all their food about an hour earlier than everyone ekse??

Why don't people think to put their chairs back upright at meal times??

Why do people wait until the passengers finally get moving off the plane before they start getting their shit together in the fucking aisle so nobody can get passed??

Does flying bring out the megabitch in anyone else? I spend hours boiling over with fury on a flight, surely I can't be the only one

I usually find most people quite pleasant and not arsey on the flights I go on, which isn't that often. It's like trains, yes there are a few red faced people but everyone else is just going about their business. Everyone on a flight has paid to fly, so if they are slower, older, disabled or just a bit unsure, they have paid just the same as the 'I'm sooooo busy' people so they have to go the speed they can go. My main dislike is smelly people, as it's very close proximity and you can't move in the same way as you can on a train.

I've had this on a recent flight. The flight was delayed and some people had very tight connections because of it, in the evening too, so some people might have got stuck overnight. I wonder why the captain didn't ask for those people to be let off first. There were people pushing through the packed aisle. Would have been so much easier if everybody whose trip ended there would have stayed in their seat for a few minutes.

A previous poster pointed out they were in this situation of having a very tight connection and an announcement was made asking people to allow them off first. It made no difference, people still got up, they missed their flight anyway.

My stuff was stuck in the security scanner because everyone in front had just picked up thier stuff and left the trays where they were. Selfish Twunts.

I haven’t flown long haul in an ages and it seems to have got worse. Seats now recline about 6 cm and are impossible to sleep on. Either that or I’m just too old for this shit and need to start flying business.

I got my meal early but don’t envy me. I’m veggie but that means I get a meal which is vegan/halal/kosher/allergy friendly. So it’s basically just rice and tomatoes. My kids were served hot dogs. I explained I’d ordered them veggie meals but the response was that that wasn’t possible because they are children. Ffs

I had to pay extra for a g&t but I really needed it by that point.

Why do "special diet" people get all their food about an hour earlier than everyone ekse??

Yes, I often have eat way before dh and dd, which i don't mind. But what is annoying is that my lap tray is then not cleared away until everyone else too - so I have the annoyance of it all there for much longer.

Why don't people think to put their chairs back upright at meal times??

Tell them to. I do every time there is a meal time, politely of course, but I do insist. The cabin crew will do so for you too, if you ask. Its common courtesy and I insist on being able to eat properly on my tray without someone's chair in my way.

In short haul economy reclining shouldn't really happen at all. Its daft that it does. The one advantage budget airlines have with this I guess is that you can't. Now the leg space has become more and more restricted economy planes don't really have the space for it.

Long haul I understand a little more, though again - meal and drink times should be upright for all. The man in front of dh on our last flight was a nightmare - put his seat fully back the second he could and he also had two spare seats next to him (a whole row of 3) which he then stretch his legs out on. All this too whilst his wife and two daughters sat in the seats opposite, cramped up. When one of the girls asked to move near him for more room he said no. Made a fuss at having to put his seat back up at meal times too.

If you really need to recline, especially short haul, then you should be the one who should pay for the privilege.

“I spend hours boiling over with fury on a flight, surely I can't be the only one”

You won’t be the only one.
But wow - what a shitty way to live

Flying is just shit these days. It used to be so much fun! None of this having to undress at security, all the toiletry testings and electronics out. People were in a good mood. Now it's utter rot. I prefer to travel by ship whenever possible for this reason.

I missed that post serendipity

I was once moved to a seat just behind business class by the flight attendant before landing because I had a tight connection. I didn't even ask for it. She had a list and went around the plane and moved several people further forward, but I think that was in the last millenium.

YANBU
But this is why we no longer fly - it gives me the rage.

Roadtrips are the way forward for us - can pack what you like and go for as long as you like. Tunnel is very civilised. None of that agony over packing and stupid clear plastic bags etc.

We've been all over Europe by car. Not flown for 5 years now and no way am I doing it again unless it is vital.

Do you realise it might be their third flight in succesion and they might have already travelled half the globe? That it's a daytime flight for you doesn't mean that it's a daytime flight for other.

While I appreciate people may be on their third flight, I'm not exaggerating when I say I cannot fit in the seat. My legs have to go in the aisle where they're an obstruction. I can't upgrade to extra legroom as I travel with toddlers.

Valium + wine + ideally business class = the only way you won't accidentally murder someone.

I love flying. My holiday starts as soon as my suitcase is checked in. I happily buy the 8 quid bacon butty, grab a couple of meal deals from boots, maybe a new book or some makeup and off I go.

Also I've been delayed almost every time I've flown, I plan for it! Once I got diverted to a completely different country in the middle of the night and my phone refused to work so there's not much that rattles me on a plane journey.

If everyone chilled out a bit it would be nicer for everyone.

Reclining seats are like the domino effect - one in front does it and that obliges the person behind to do it too and the one behind them .... until the person at the bulkhead who can't really recline at all. On short haul flights most people should be able to cope with keeping their seat upright and not encroaching on the space of the person sitting behind them.

What about those in-built TV screens? The person behind you jabs at the screen with some force and your head vibrates!

Flying isn't pleasant (at least in Economy, I haven't had the pleasure of trying anything else sadly). It's squashed and uncomfortable, people are in your face, the air is full of other people's farts and all the babies cry.

You can't control any of it. All you can control is your own reaction. Don't get so angry about the little things. Consider it a privilege to get from A to B safely. Concentrate on your book/film/kids and remember that in a few hours you will be free and will never see any of these annoying bastards ever again (unless they turn out to be in your hotel, which admittedly is hard to stomach)

I have to physically force myself sometimes not to get irritated on planes! But what does getting annoyed achieve? Doesn't change anything except makes my flight miserable for me.

I am at my most chilled when flying. I have perfected the art of switching off. My DM was like you OP, stressing out over everything, which would then stress me out so I practiced going all zen. I really enjoy flying now. A bit of peace.

The only thing you can do is have your own plane or your own private flight really or dont fly.

Did anyone else misread the title of this and think it was about rare plants?

But they're effectively pushing into the queue when it's moving and holding it up!

Not really. If their seat was in front of yours, then they deserve their place in the queue in front of you. It takes five seconds to reach into the overhead lockers and take a bag out. If in that five seconds, a gap opens up in front of them that frustrates you, try to think ahead, you will deduce that they will have closed that gap by the time they exit the plane.

I think people who stand up more than 5 seconds before their part of the queue starts moving are being dimwitted. (Unless they are actually more comfortable standing than sitting.)

Note if they stand up 5 seconds (or however long it takes them to get a bag) before the queue moves, there isn't even the temporary appearance of them delaying the queue, as they are ready to move when their part of the queue does.

I think your frustration comes from wrongly computing who is in the queue. It's not just the people standing in front of you, it's also the people sitting in front of you.

5 minutes in the aisle isn’t going to make any difference

it actually does - if you are near the front of the passport queue you will get out of the airport much faster especially if you don't need to collect baggage. And if you do need to collect bags you'll be there before someone nicks your bag or takes it in error because it looks the same as theirs.

What I dislike is people who get on the plane and then mess about putting their luggage in the overhead lockers rather than moving in to the seat to let people past and then moving back out into the aisle once they've gone to start their faffing.

I find a glass or two of wine is very helpful in improving the experience

Very sensible suggestion - Virgin used to give you a glass of bubbly in premium economy - not sure if they still do but all the airlines should offer it to everyone. Get everyone (adults) mildly tipsy and they'll be more chilled :)

Why are people so angry at people taking time to get off the plane? DP is disabled and takes a little longer to do things than other people and I would be furious if anybody had a go at him for holding them up. You have to wait ages for luggge anyway so why the rush?

CF bloke behind me on a Trans Atlantic overnight flight actually had his knees up against the seat back to prevent my neighbour from reclining. Dinner had finished. We thought the recline function had broken. Polite but firm air steward sorted it out, after an argument.

I love the glib posters who just say fly business class/first class
It costs too much £££££. All it needs is a bit of consideration from all passengers to make flying less unpleasant. We fly Jet2 a lot. Their seats don’t recline, the legroom is less stingy than other budget airlines, the staff treat the passengers with respect and even the food is quite edible.

As for the packing stuff up after security, there isn’t enough counter top to move the bags and trays out of the way quickly enough. With the increased security they really do need to provide more room for passengers to pack their stuff away without holding up the other passengers.

As more people fly with just cabin baggage there will be times when their cases are further down the plane. The overhead lockers at the front of the plane are for the use of the flight attendants and store things like first aid kits. OH always books an extra legroom seat and ended up in the front row both times a few weeks ago, but he had to put his CPAP machine in a locker further back in the plane.

"CF bloke behind me on a Trans Atlantic overnight flight actually had his knees up against the seat back to prevent my neighbour from reclining. Dinner had finished. We thought the recline function had broken. Polite but firm air steward sorted it out, after an argument."

If his knees were up against the seat before it was reclined he must have had a very uncomfortable flight
In this case neither of you were right or wrong, and there couldn't have been a happy compromise. Last time DD and I flew longhaul, we just booked extra legroom seats, and they were worth every penny IMO.

Sorry Op. but your point about the special diet people is truly pathetic. I'm a special diet person. You loose your table thing about an hour before anyone, you decide to either sit and drool over your meal while you wait for everyone else's to be served, or you crack on and eat it with no drink accompaniment. There's no special benefit with this. Often the special meals are a rank substitute.
I think you are somehow seeing special privileges etc where they don't really exist.

People getting angry about people getting off a plane slowly are a bit silly. It's like a thread on here once about people walking too slowly in London. Who made you super stressed speedy people the rulers of the aisles and the streets? Just chill out

It has already been pointed out that some passengers have other connections to catch.