It's my seat not yours, people with too much stuff, and other traveling annoyances

[Tradd]

Just got back from a long weekend away visiting a friend.

On the flight back this afternoon, a woman was in my seat when I got to it. It was a 737, so three seats on each side of aisle. My seat was on the aisle. Woman's husband/boyfriend was in the middle seat. They wanted to sit together. Woman's seat was the middle seat on the other side of the aisle. I said I was sorry, but I had specifically chosen an aisle seat and she would have to sit in her assigned seat. Her boyfriend/husband started to bitch, but I gave him my best stink eye, and he shut it down. If he had kept it up, I wouldn't have hesitated to get a flight attendant involved. I wasn't able to get a seat assignment when I bought my ticket four months ago, but I was persistent with checking online over the past week, and I got an aisle seat. I've had really crappy experiences flying in middle seats, and so I absolutely refuse to do it if I have a choice in the matter. If the guy can't cope with not sitting next to this wife/girlfriend on a 2.5 hour flight, he's got issues. There were no children involved.

On the same flight, when we're trying to get off the plane at destination, some woman had major issues getting her overstuffed suitcase out of the overhead. She couldn't get it out after multiple tries. A guy goes to reach for it to help her - and to speed things up since she's holding up the last 10 rows on the plane - and she starts screaming "Don't touch it! Don't touch it!"

ARGH.

That brings me to the third part of my traveling annoyances: people are packrats. It's been a bit more than two years since I traveled, so I'd forgotten how much people pack. Yeesh! I went for 3 days/3 nights with a small-sized LL Bean Adventure duffle bag and a small purse. Fit under the seat on both flights this trip. People really do need to learn how to pack lighter. The friend I visited - her hubby was impressed, not just by my shooting and gun handling, but also by how minimally I packed.

[Simplemind]

Glad you stuck to your guns. In some cases I might not mind but in many I do. I get to events early in order to sit where I want. I am not going to move to accommodate people that are late that want to sit together. Plan it out.... like I did. Honestly, if my husband and I came late and couldn't sit together I would be able to get through it. My problem for not planning ahead.

[lmerullo]

Hubby and I sat six rows apart on our flight to Vegas. We lived.

Two weeks ago someone was sitting in my seat. I mentioned it to her and she just looked at me. Sigh. I sat in the window seat - the middle was open - and she was on the aisle. I am tall and prefer an aisle to stretch out. I even texted my ds - if the plane goes down and they identify remains by seat number I am in *this one*. Later I saw her ticket and she wasn't even in the right row.

Glad you enjoyed your trip otherwise, Tradd.

[catherine]

I'm normally a doormat in so many ways, but I wouldn't give up my aisle seat for a middle one either. Maybe I would have if one of the people were disabled in some way and needed their companion to assist them but this clearly wasn't the case. I also think that whlle it's true they might as well ask, but knowing they they were asking you to "demote" your own flying experience I think they should have taken no for an answer and just settled in.

However, one time I did ask someone to change their seat for me. I was in the last row of a 737, and I had gotten to the airport after a beautiful lunch of oysters and wine on the Embarcadaro in S.F., and we were just about to taxi when I felt wave after wave of nausea overcoming me. It was a jam packed flight. I knew it was a matter of moments before I would need the bathroom. So I asked the guy on the aisle to trade seats with me, and I as tactfully as I could told him why. He switched.

He really had both seats to himself because I spent literally the entire transatlantic flight in the bathroom in what was probably the most miserable flying experience and most miserable sick experience I've ever had. While I was sitting there I realized that the only other two times I had ever had raw oysters was on my honeymoon in Acapulco (where I was sick but I chalked it up to Montezuma's Revenge) and on our 10th anniversary on a trip to New Orleans (where I was sick but I chalked it up to the Hurricane I drank on Bourbon Street.) So while sitting in that 2 x 2 space 36,000 feet above Kansas, I connected the dots and concluded that I must have a sensitivity or allergy to raw oysters. A little informationa little too late.

But back to the point: Yes, travel can be challenging. I don't know how flight attendants keep their temper. On my most recent flight the flight attendant addressed one of those arrogant passengers who ignored several "shut down your electronic device" messages over the PA system and then told him in his best, chirpiest flight attendant voice that if he didn't shut down his phone he'd have to throw him off the plane. He was kidding of course, but I'm sure he had all kinds of satisfying fantasies running through his head.

Glad you stuck to you guns, Tradd!

[dmc]

I love having my own plane. No TSA, no lines, I can leave when I want. I can even take a pistol with me if I want. And I can generally beat the airlines in door to door time.

I probably will never fly commercial again unless It's to cross an ocean.

[pinkytoe]

All things transportation have become very unpleasant in this crowded world. Last week, I had to use the bus to get downtown all week and was amazed at the number of people who get on, turn around and their backpacks smack people in the face. We don't fly unless we just have to.

[kib]

It never fails to astonish me when people simply ... seem unaware that other people actually exist or that their lives might matter, too. I guess in its true form that's called "being a sociopath", but the prevalence of its sister disease, "inconsideration", is disturbing. How often have you stood or sat in the grass at an event, having arrived early and given yourself conservative but adequate space with a good viewing angle in exchange of the sacrifice of half an hour of waiting time, only to find someone shoving in front of you into a perceived "empty space" the size of a small dog two minutes before start time? I don't get this attitude that basically says, "that is something I want, so you no longer exist."

[SteveinMN]

I don't get this attitude that basically says, "that is something I want, so you no longer exist."
Sadly, as a society we've extrapolated that belief to everything.

[Lainey]

Sadly, as a society we've extrapolated that belief to everything.

Agreed. Try being a compact car in an SUV/Pickup truck world traveling at rush hour and having those drivers pretend you don't exist when they want to change lanes. They are surprised when I honk at them to stop their drifting/swerving into my lane. Yes, I'm from back East and I know how to use my horn!!

[Gregg]

I used to have a live and let live attitude about such things. Not quite a doormat, but certainly not aggressive if the outcome really didn't matter. Then one guy refused to move out of DW's aisle seat which was next to my window seat on a fairly small plane set for a relatively long flight. I didn't make a scene, but leaned over and whispered that he would end up looking like yesterday's road kill if he didn't get his fat @$$ out of that seat right then. Apparently he took me seriously. My intolerance meter is set right on zero if DW is being dissed. In the rare times similar things have happened since I just pull up the memory of that time and it seems to give me a facial expression that removes the need for words. Handy in a day when threatening to beat up a fellow passenger could land you at Guantanamo.

[puglogic]

After a particularly grueling business trip, I leaned down to a stubborn would-be seat-stealer and purred, "If you don't get the f*** out of my seat, I am going to embarrass you in front of this entire plane-full of people, and they're going to make you a star on YouTube." Luckily I haven't had many episodes like that. Like you, Gregg, I pick my battles, and a lot of things just aren't that important. But if I'm sleep-deprived, it's most unwise to monkey with me :)

[Zoebird]

Too funny, there, Tradd!

Yes, all kinds of travel annoyances. I always just stay in the seat until the plane clears. It's easiest to be last. No rush. Though, the cabin crew is usually pushing us out.

Our last flights were about a month ago, but we did well.

First, we shipped most of our bags Fed Ex to my sister -- and what a freaking joy that was! I packed everything from NZ to SF onto the plane, and then we got to my aunt's where I repacked everything. DS, Dh and I put our clothes in one suitcase, and then each of us had our "backpack" (DS had lego; DH had one computer and 3 books; 1 had my computer and all of our IDS). The rest of the suitcases, we sent to my sister! This way, we put one bag on the plane (which we checked in at the curb side in about 3 seconds because I checked us in online), then swiftly through security (which was more than pleasant -- we got to walk through easily because we had a kid. We didn't even have to remove coat/shoes -- just our computers from the begs -- because it would be tougher on the kid.

Got to the airport two hours early, as suggested, but didn't need to. Amazing, really. Got on the flight and had an easy go across the country. Seriously, it was relaxed not having so much stuff to worry about. Got to philly and picked up one bag that had all of our stuff. It was excellent.

WE didn't really have any problems -- we were separated during that flight -- DH was a row back in the aisle, and DS was middle and I was aisle. He's a friendly, well behaved kid, so he made friends with the guy in our row (window), who worked the whole flight anyway. And in NZ, we had a middle row to ourselves, so we didn't bother anyway. Though DS only slept 5 hours of that flight. And he learned to play uno. He's getting quite good at it now. We play every evening before story time (after tidy time).

But, we noticed how stressed people were with all of their stuff. It is stressful, that way.

I have so much stuff now. We have so many books. I literally have two boxes of my own books/personal items in our boxes. All the rest of them are DH's! 20 boxes of books! I'm hoping that we can store them all on one bookcase (DH's childhood bookcase is coming to us). And when I unpacked our 8 bags, some of the things -- i'm, like, dude! why did you pack this? LOL

It's pretty funny.

[Dhiana]

I have been on quite a few different airlines in my travels around the world and airline travel in the states is the worst I have ever experienced.

There is a combination of multiple things that I see that contribute to the nightmare.
From the start I feel like I'm getting ripped off through the inconsistent ticket pricing game. I only ever travel with a carry-on and my small backpack so thankfully I don't need to worry about baggage issues.
The inconsistent security from airport to airport, one never knows what to expect.
The airlines overbooking of flights I'm sure doesn't help the employees at the gate, the airlines making smaller seats and narrower rows as we get larger.

Seats are measured by the size of a man's bottom but most men have a shoulder width wider than their seat. So from the start many won't fit comfortably.

The flight attendants are cranky and consistently lie and manipulate. After they serve dinner they turn down the lights and demand everyone shut the windows like it's kindergarden nap time. Very degrading treatment of a planeload of adults.

I'm not surprised we are all cranky travelers, we are getting pushed and squeezed and right or wrong, many are pushing back. it really is a recipe for disaster. I have the option for a free ticket back to the states but I have no interest in stepping back into that mess unless there is a family emergency :(

Have fun traveling this holiday season!

[SteveinMN]

I have been on quite a few different airlines in my travels around the world and airline travel in the states is the worst I have ever experienced.
Absolutely. Now that Minnesota no longer has a "hometown" airline (well, Sun Country kind of counts), I feel free to travel on whatever airline I please. Foreign-flag carriers typically offer the best service and they're not so concerned with squeezing every last human they can into the plane. On our penultimate trip requiring air travel, we flew on one of Europe's discount airlines (EasyJet). The service easily was as good as we were used to on domestic carriers like Delta and American.


The inconsistent security from airport to airport, one never knows what to expect.
The worst part of traveling for me. I can't understand why the monolith that is the TSA can't come up with one set of rules that applies from coast to coast. Shoes off, belts on, belts off, empty pockets completely, just the metal stuff,... Do things just the way you did on the last leg of your journey and risk ticking off the petty functionary in the white shirt at this checkpoint. And while we're all being treated like potential terrorists on the departure level, anybody coulde just walk into baggage claim and do whatever they wanted to before the federales could stop them. Security theater.


The flight attendants are cranky and consistently lie and manipulate. After they serve dinner they turn down the lights and demand everyone shut the windows like it's kindergarden nap time. Very degrading treatment of a planeload of adults.
Having worked at a major airline and having gotten more insight into a flight attendant's job (in fact, being an FAA-approved FA for a couple of years though I did that job only one time), I have to say I don't envy flight attendants their jobs one bit.

There's everything going on just to get a bunch of people on a plane settled. The timeclock for most FAs does not start until the plane pushes away from the bridge and stops when they open the door at arrival (they're not paid for sitting in the terminal even though they have to wait for the plane, too, and really can't do anything else during that time). FAs of any tenure have endured more than a few airline-management upheavals and mergers (which are a pain because no two airlines in the world have exactly the same equipment or procedures and you get to fight over seniority so you can hold a reasonable schedule that's not entirely 45-minute puddle jumps all day every day). And, at the airline I worked at, employees (union or not) were, as Dilbert points out, the ninth most important company asset, behind carbon paper. It's kind of hard to be smiling and cheerful when the company you represent constantly is kicking you in the rump for one thing or another. 'Course, that company treated customers only marginally better. I suppose that's why they no longer exist....

[Zoebird]

I have to say Air New Zealand is the best I've flown. They are truly amazing at every level. Very accommodating and helpful overall.

The US ones, man, I had this one FA get *very* bitchy with me. I just asked a question. It wasn't his answer that bothered me (though it was incomplete), it was the way he answered.

In that situation, we had a very bumpy flight from CA to PA. So, the seatbelt light was on a lot. I'm traveling with a child. He needs to pee. I ask the flight attendant: can I take him to the bathroom? And the FA goes, "the seatbelt light is on." And I said "yes, I see that. would it still be ok for me to take him to the bathroom? I don't want him to wet himself, the seat, etc." (particularly since we were only half-way through the flight).

The FA then gets a pretty bitchy tone, and he goes "you can do whatever you want! the seat belt sign is on, but I can't keep you in your seat! but, we can't be responsible for any injuries or liability." And I say "so does that mean that I can leave the seat and take him to the bathroom?" and he just gets bitchier and goes "whatever!"

I hadn't done anything at all during the flight, I hadn't even asked for an attendant the whole flight. My son wasn't kicking any seats, and so on, and he just needed to go to the bathroom.

Luckily, the seat belt sign popped off, and while there were about 10 adults able to get sorted before us, they all let DS pass. As soon as we got into the bathroom, the seat belt sign popped back on, but I figured that it wouldn't matter. DS did a great job of getting everything in the toilet, I have to say! LOL And he said "i wasn't scared a bit!" I was, a bit. :D

But, we got back to our seats and everything was fine.