Holiday flights.......your nightmares and (maybe) positives.

[gavgav]

I really don't like flying, but I endure it for the fabulous time that I normally have at the other end on holiday.

On taking off from Gran Canaria, about 15 years ago, we are taxiing down the runway and @Rickshaw Phil turns to me and says "I don't like the look of that wing, appears it's got a crack in it"

Landing in Calgary in 50 mph winds, about 10 years ago, was also interesting. We came in virtually sidewards and slewed along the runway as we touched down. I certainly grabbed the seat in front a bit quick!!

 

[mjr]

Oh well if we're going that way... I've taken off with a lovely view of a burnt out Air France plane, the wreckage of the miracle of Toronto, the first A340 crash There was an audible sigh when we stopped before the end of the runway at Gatwick!

 

[Crackle]

Worst flight I was on was out of Palm Springs for LA. It wasn't a big plane and as we took our seats the stewardess legged it down the aisle flinging bags of peanuts to everyone before strapping herself in. Odd I thought, thinking I might get a cup of tea later to wash them down. Then we took off. And from the minute we took off we were all over the place. I managed to brace my legs on the seats in front with one arm across the aisle holding the seat opposite whilst the pilot, who I could see, wrestled with an imaginary alligator in the cockpit. I never imagined that turbulence could be so bad. Mrs C was sick as was one of our friends. An airport lounge never looked so good after that.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I fly somewhere almost every week and hate the holiday season!
Airports rammed, noisy stuffed to the gunwhale bars, cafes, duty-free and planes, screaming youths and that's just the business travellers ;-)

Years ago a friend gave me the following advice which I have stuck to ever since "The art of good travel is never having to break into a sweat".
Leave plenty early and be prepared for every eventuality!

 

[screenman]

Excess baggage, what about a combined weight of body and luggage as that would be fairer.

How come I get the kid behind me who keeps kicking the chair and some obese person overspilling into my space form the seat beside me. Grrrr!

 

[screenman]

I fly somewhere almost every week and hate the holiday season!
Airports rammed, noisy stuffed to the gunwhale bars, cafes, duty-free and planes, screaming youths and that's just the business travellers ;-)

Years ago a friend gave me the following advice which I have stuck to ever since "The art of good travel is never having to break into a sweat".
Leave plenty early and be prepared for every eventuality!

I can add to that, if delayed find a quite space away from the bright lights asap.

 

[ufkacbln]

I flew to Longyearbyen via Oslo and Tromso

Got into Oslo at 19:30, had arranged bags to be transferred on to the 09:00 flight, so I could nip into Oslo and have a look around..... or at least that was the plan

We were delayed so got into Oslo at 20:45 too find it closed!

No-one!

No food

No drinks

No check-in desks or staff, and as a result I had to collect baggage and carry it with me, so the Oslo visit was out

Long night on the sofa of one of the closed cafes

 

[gbb]

Blimey...I'm trying to remember the amount of flights I've taken and can't...a good few, sometimes 3 or 4 trips a year, once 6 trips (12 flights) in a year. Not as many as some though.
I never mind airports even when I've been on my own working. Get there early, sit back and watch the world go by.
Worst experiences.
Got caught up in the Icelandic volcano saga...one week of desperate flight checking, waiting for news, changing accomodation etc etc...my wife had come out to join me so I had to pay extra over and over...cost us nearly £1k extra. On the plus side, we chose (partly no choice) business class via Czech Airways, £340 each, one way....nice to treat my other half albeit at some cost.
Lost luggage en route Madrid to Montevideo...I got it back 2 days before I returned. Company paid all my expenses for clothing etc.
Got all the way to departures at Madrid, realised I'd left my laptop and equipment on the x ray at security...a frantic rush through the airport...made it but only just.

Plus points....
Never had a bad flight really.
Flown business class a good few times including Montevideo to Madrid on the return leg on an Airbus A340...I didn't realise how crammed cattle class was until I looked back from business....blimey, all I could see was endless rows of heads...as I laid back in my pod that almost allowed you to lay down. Cost just for that leg was around £800 I seem to remember(company paid of course)
Used to use the VIP lounges occasionally, bypass all the queues for arrivals etc.
Used to fly Cyprus Airways regularly, brilliant staff and service. Shame they disappeared.
Once flew back from Larnaca on a scheduled flight....there were only about 20 people on the whole plane

You realise there's a world of difference between scheduled and charter flights, give me scheduled every time. Sadly I won't be doing those again....although 8 years of company travel gets on you after a while.

 

[postman]

Flying is the only part of the holiday i don't like.Not the plane but some of the adults and kids.But out of fourteen days in a villa it is only a few hours.So i just look down my nose at the awful behaviour.

 

[Roadhump]

Just a tip for anyone flying soon in case our experience this morning is typical at the moment. The security was very busy this morning and it seems to be causing delays. Luckily we decided to drop out luggage off last night and didn't have to queue up this morning otherwise we would have been cutting it quite fine and we got to the airport 2 hours before take off. Got to say the bus from Jetparks to the terminal wasn't too clever either. We were on it before it filled up but it soon got full and just drove past people waiting at the later stops. It definitely seems wise to allow a bit more time at the moment.

 

[ufkacbln]

WOW airlines have totally different attitude to flight briefings

 

[TVC]

WOW airlines have totally different attitude to flight briefings

There are many good ones, this one from America certainly kept the attention of her passengers.

 

[mjr]

Air New Zealand has done a succession of bizarre safety briefing videos, including:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOw44VFNk8Y

 

[Electric_Andy]

Thankfully I've only had straight-forward flights. The worst thing though, was landing in Athens and my ears wouldn't pop. I thought my eardrums were going to explode, and I was still nearly deaf an hour after landing. Worst pain I've ever felt.

 

[mjr]

[QUOTE 4857263, member: 45"]Use small airports and only every take cabin baggage. That's what we do and it makes for a much better experience. These days Easyjet do an offer where you choose your seat, get an extra bag in the cabin and get speedyboarding[/QUOTE]
But these days Easyjet also routinely take bags off people at the gate (even who have bought one of their extra-bag offers), no disagreement allowed, and put them in the hold, so you can pack light (which cyclists may be more used to than many) and still end up at the carousel scrum. Is your cabin bag designed for the rigours of the hold and airport bag toss anyway?

Maybe it's not such a risk from Bristol, but from London, it's probably better to take a tough hold bag and just accept the wait, as saving 10 minutes at the arrival airport is piffling compared to the bloody hours one has to spend shuffling slowly around airports these days anyway.