The fastest and most comfortable type of travel over long distances remains flights by plane. Unfortunately, in contrast to speed, you will have to face a number of inconveniences.
The tackling part of flying is that there is no way out before landing. We can struggle with some aspects, and we will have to put up with some. Let’s figure out what you need to prepare for if you plan to take a flight soon.
What Awaits a Traveler on the Plane?
Little crying children, an obsessive neighbor who has confused you with a bartender and tells the whole story of their life, or snores all the way, and so on. These are the most irritating factors during the flight.
They can outweigh the outrage you experience when having excess baggage or flight delay in general. Fortunately, there are ways of dealing with such situations, so let’s dive into examples.
Crying Children
As in any other public place, the strongest irritant that is difficult to deal with is a rude and noisy child. Young children may be cute, but babies screaming and interfering with your ten-hour flight can make you feel as though you have received a trial version of hell.
According to Kate Huber, of NJGamblingFun, who’s logged more than 100,000 flyer miles last year, “Long flights are tiring by themselves, but if you are lucky enough to sit near a crying child, the flight will last forever. In this case, it all depends entirely on the parents whose responsibility is to monitor the child, not to let them examine the other passengers or the salon themselves without supervision and find an occupation if they are bored.”
The parent must occupy the child with the outside world, for example, show the belt with which they fasten, take out the toys, show the folding table, a light bulb, put it at the porthole. And if the child crawls to the passengers, the parent should carefully limit them because this behavior is indecent.
What should you do if you want to sit as far away from children as possible? If there is free space in the cabin, you can transfer to a safe distance.
Most often, the very first row is booked for frequent flyers and passengers with children. So, keep in mind that you may not be able to sleep because of a crying baby. Although you are not safe from this in other places, here, the probability is higher.
Also, if you want to protect yourself in advance, be careful when choosing seats in the cabin. Pick places at the emergency exit.
According to the Insider, passengers with children are not allowed to occupy the seat near emergency exits. It is assumed that a person seating at the emergency exit should be able to help the flight attendants open it and carry out the evacuation of passengers when needed.
Also, in the row opposite the emergency exit, there is much more legroom than in ordinary places. However, there are also limitations.
Hand luggage will have to be removed to the luggage rack because safety rules do not allow putting things in the passage to the emergency exit. Thus, you can’t store items under your seat or the seat of the passenger in front.
Chatty Neighbor
If you are a fan of talking with strangers, there is nothing to be afraid of. However, most people on the road dream of sleeping, watching movies, or just not talking to anyone in the air. Unfortunately, you are in a hopeless situation if your neighbor does not share your mood.
The first signs that you have a chatty neighbor are periodic and varied small talks with which they are trying to impose a conversation. It’s best to make it clear immediately that you aren’t configured to communicate, get headphones or a book, and focus on them.
Do not think that you are impolite, ignoring the interlocutor. Consider that because of your courtesy, you will have to keep up the conversation during the entire flight.
Stacker
There is nothing more beautiful than getting stuck in a small aisle with a bunch of people behind you because someone who came in earlier decided to put things out. Such a person lives in their own world, where no one is in a hurry.
Such individuals, finding their places, can block the entire passage with their packing instead of placing their suitcases in suitable areas and sitting comfortably. They need to get slippers, a book, reading glasses, find headphones at the very bottom of the bag right now, and all this while standing in the aisle.
Thanks to these people, you should always try to enter the salon first, or the very last, hoping that they will manage to take their places at that time. These people are unbeatable, and all you can do is to avoid staying in the queue organized by them.
Ideally, do not be such a person in the first place.You can travel lightly and smartly, so be sure to do so.
When entering the plane and finding your seat, put the bag up quickly and sit down. When most of the passengers board the plane, closer to take-off, calmly stand up and get your stuff from the bag.
Middle Seat
We have already mentioned that there are many nuances in choosing a place on board. The limit of your things and the presence of children and legroom can depend on this. So far, the worst place which no one wants to occupy is the middle place.
You need to constantly let the person with the window seat leave and return to their place. Moreover, from both sides, you have people that may occupy flip-up arms, leaving you pretty limited in space.
Thus, you will never have enough room for your elbows, and your chances of someone sleeping on you double. Also, the chances of getting into a chatting neighbor increase twice. According to Marina Turea at GiftWits, you have several options for solving this problem, one of which is still buying seats from an emergency site.
Tea and Coffee
Do not rush to order them on board. Water samples from planes of more than a dozen of popular airlines in the world showed to be not of the best quality so that even flight attendances drink only bottled water.
It is unlikely that the situation has changed much since then, so do not risk it. Don’t drink tap water on the plane and avoid tea and coffee if you do not want to be infected with Escherichia coli or Staphylococcus aureus. You hardly want to bring such souvenirs from travel.
Final Notes
Flights can be uncomfortable for many reasons. For simplifying your life and making the flight a little more pleasant, it is important to plan everything. Of course, you can’t predict the delay of the flight or with whom you will sit on board. But having prepared the headphones, choosing the right place, and tuning in a pleasant time, you can overcome it with less stress.
