Is it acceptable to travel in shorts and sandals?

[sevenwonde]

Help! The friend group is split on this one and it is largely tongue in cheek

We’re off on a girls holiday soon. Half the group thinks it’s fine to travel in shorts and sandals (Birkenstocks), the other half thinks you need to look put together in the airport and dress in a nice outfit (linen, silk trousers etc), in case of an upgrade. They think the nicer you’re dressed the less likely you are to be asked to check your bag at the gate etc.

So, is it acceptable?! They’re not tiny shorts that show my bum cheeks!

I would upgrade my friends if they were horrified by me wearing shorts and sandals!

I mean, I'm a pretty nervous passenger but this seems extreme. The likelihood of an emergency is tiny (and the likelihood of an emergency where wearing the right clothes saves you is even slimmer).

Mykonos is pretty swish where what you like, but I think everyone on plane will be wearing all white outfits proper linen

Your friends are hilarious - its not the 1960s!

Big groups aren't going to get an upgrade!

The only time I've been upgraded i was a scummy backpacker, wearing army trousers and walking boots and dragging a big backpack.

🤣 Really?

I'd be more embarrassed by your friends. Delusional.

As long as your feet & toenails are sandal appropriate go for it

Linen or silk ?? It is not 1950, how weird and pretentious.

Shorts or tracky dacks and sandals or slip ons - sensible and comfortable. Its only a five hour flight, who cares about an upgrade.

I follow this guidance. I always wear natural fibres, trousers, and sturdy shoes on the aeroplane.

Christ, why would anyone wear linen unless they're happy to be walking round like a used crumpled tissue???

We're off at a tangent here but and yes, even a fairly benign evacuation with no flames involved is a very rare occurrence but there can certainly be an issue with footware ,..

Obviously preferably no high heels but OTOH it might be handy to make sure what you wear on your feet is going to stay on your feet if you do have to evac...

They really won’t. Life isn’t an instagram reel.

Of course there are! I got bumped to business flying to Pisa once! DH sat at the back and I was in the front row with real glass and cutlery!!

I wouldn't have bare thighs or upper arms unless I am sure I'm sitting with someone I know.

I don't want my skin pressed against a similarly bare manspreader or XL stranger next to me.

Glass and cutlery! Luxury.

It really was! 😊

Shorts are fine, however I only wear trainers or some kind of closed toe/flatform type trainer.
wore Birkenstocks one year at the airport and had someone drag a case over my foot, it caught my big toe nail & ripped it off (was horrendously painful)
so now I only ever wear closed toes at the airport.

Also….. it can be cold on planes. I once wore shorts when travelling at this time of year to the Caribbean. I was cold. Normally I wear lightweight jogging bottoms, a t-shirt and thin long-sleeved top.

This is my thinking too. I would just feel a bit vulnerable in sandals.

I only ever fly EasyJet so upgrades aren't really an issue.

As someone who has spent their entire 20 year career handling claims made by passengers injured in crashes and evacuations I can confidently confirm that I have never once handled a file involving injuries that were exacerbated by man-made fibres.

or at all since the 1950's?

Just got off a flight, considered wearing shorts as it was hot leaving the UK and knew it would be hot arriving in Finland but glad I opted for trousers (scruffy hiking trousers because useful pockets and lightweight) because it was cold on the plane. Changed into shorts in the loo when I arrived though.
Zero chance of an upgrade anyway, I was on Ryanair

I wouldn’t wear sandals, personally - too much risk of injuring toes in an airport and airplane environment with all that luggage about and clumsy people in a rush. I also wouldn’t wear shorts, because I would definitely get too cold on the plane that way.

Even clean nicely pedicured feet?

I think the man-made fibres advice is mainly applicable to the light aircraft/small aircraft world but even in the airline enviroment it's not utterly daft advice

There's a problem here in that the airline industry pushes how safe scheduled airline flying is, which it really really is, and so any safety advice at all tends to get blown off...When I was working it was hard enough to get some people to listen to the safety briefing.

I doubt many are going to take advice on choice of fibres based on safety grounds but having known and talked to a handful of people (crew) who have been evolved in Evacs I,'d still recommend not flying in anything that isn't going to stay attached to the feet....