6 ms·

I find the most onerous part of the flying experience to be the invasive searches at the airport followed by the corralling and grouping of people onto the plan

I find the most onerous part of the flying experience to be the invasive searches at the airport followed by the corralling and grouping of people onto the plane penny pinching everything from a bottle of water to whether my bag goes in my lap or the overhead bin. The size of the seat area and length of the flight haven’t come to mind as travel complaints for a long time.

Snoddas 2y ago
You must be of size medium to small then because legroom is definitly an issue for me, especially for longer flights and I'm just 180cm. (just below average hight) Or alternativly you can afford better seats than me.
- Toutouxc 2y ago
  The "just below average" caught my attention, and it looks like that that's probably not true about most countries in the world..? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average_human_height_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average_human_height_by_countr...
  - 4gotunameagain 2y ago
    Yeah but the person you are replying to is Swedish, according to a previous comment of his.
- happymellon 2y ago
  I am of the same height as you, and I managed a Ryan Air flight to Madrid a couple of weeks ago with enough legspace that I was able to put my bag under seat in front and pull it out without having to shift around noticeably. On the other hand, I took an Iceland Express flight many years ago, and my knees were uncomfortably pressed against the seat in front. It does seem to be all over the place.
- kaffekaka 2y ago
  Indeed. I am 190 cm and leg room is by far the biggest issue when flying.
bartread 2y ago
Airport bullshit/overhead, and transit times, are why I massively prefer overland or over water transport for shorter journeys (up to say 1000 miles) even when it takes a few hours longer. I’d rather be happier, less stressed, and get there more slowly, than go through all the nonsense. I can always read, work, play a game, or just watch the world go by so the time isn’t wasted (unlike so much of the dead time in a noisy and crowded airport). It also has the increasingly important benefit of being more environmentally friendly.
- kjkjadksj 2y ago
  Why can’t you read at the airport?
  - bartread 2y ago
    Depending on how the airport is arranged you can find yourself doing a lot of walking or standing around in not quite stationary queues. If you can manage to find somewhere to sit down where it isn't too noisy, it's fine, but often that's harder than you'd think, and you find your concentration is just continually broken by something or other that's going on or that you need to pay attention to. Budget airlines and priority boarding are a particular bugbear of mine here. Most people pay for priority boarding just for the extra bag it allows you to take into the cabin. You end up with two thirds of the flight made up of people who have priority boarding. That's great, but there's only so much space in the overhead lockers, so you have everyone queuing up way before boarding starts to avoid having their cabin back checked into the hold at the gate. The whole process is just... endlessly tedious and wearisome. I'd genuinely rather board a much slower form of transport, like a train, coach, or ferry (or even drive under some circumstances) than deal with being treated like cattle at an airport. The whole experience of airports, and getting to and from them, sucks.
  - ulkhf 2y ago
    In America, all the gates (I have been to) subject you to constant noise pollution in the form of announcements over the public address system.
pipes 2y ago
Yep. It's the feeling of being in constant high alert the whole way through the airport. I regularly take a 40 min flight and it leaves me exhausted because of this. My theory anyway!
- krisoft 2y ago
  > It's the feeling of being in constant high alert the whole way through the airport. This is something you can change though by changing your mindset and outlook. Airports are what they are, they are highly predictable and unlikely to change drastically. On the other hand you can recognise when you are begining to feel on alert, acknowledge it and let go of the feeling. Let it wash over you like a wave. You are presumably not a terrorist, nor a criminal. The worst thing which can happen is that there is some misunderstanding and you are delayed a bit. And even that is very unlikely. If you make peace with that maybe that will help with the feeling? Not saying that you can go full meditating zen monk with “this one little weird trick”, but if you can make the experience more pleasant for yourself by just a little bit maybe that is worth the try?
  - Loughla 2y ago
    Mindfulness and CBT sorts of things have always seemed like saying, "but have you tried just not having anxiety?" I don't get it. Address the feeling, let it wash over you. It won't wash over. It sticks and causes the chemicals in my body to fuck me up completely. I can already tell you that I'm anxious.
    - bmacho 2y ago
      > "but have you tried just not having anxiety?" Probably this is _the_ solution for many? GP seems to talk from experience with this, or similar situations. Probably it could work for you too, if you haven't tried it yet. (Also, if you haven't tried it enough times. One experiment/measurement is not enough.)
    - HelloMcFly 2y ago
      This feeling of letting it "wash over you" is a verbal construction that is very helpful and apt for some, but others may describe it's different. Some people may start to think of it as "experiencing these feelings with more remove" or something. It's something that takes practice often done with guidance from a therapist or psychologist. For many (this is not universally true), what is experienced as "anxiety" is like a preset program or routine that auto-executes across cognitive, behavioral, and emotional channels. CBT isn't a cure, but helps you interrupt the program during its cycle or before it starts by inserting new and different programs that don't auto-run without effort. As you sense your anxiety spiking ("awareness training" may be needed to get this early insight), you engage in behaviors or techniques to prevent the normal cycle of anxiety spiraling and calm the nervous system. It is effective, but it is not a magic trick and takes practice.
tetha 2y ago
Hence why I like going by train tbh. A long-distance train (well, long-distance for German standards. Probably grocery-distances in terms of the US standards) reaches the main company office in 5 hours or so, while a flight (including all of the stuff around it) takes about 3 hours. Except with the train, I can just drop myself into the seat 10 minutes from home and go to sleep / work / do other things for those 5 hours without a care in the world.
- ghaff 2y ago
  Well, then you're talking Boston to NYC or NYC to Washington DC in the US basically. In which case I agree train is better. But there aren't a lot of options to do that.
smoe 2y ago
For me, the size of the seat area is probably the biggest nuisance on a long flight. I'm not super tall, but above average and depending on my body position, either my knees or shins are always lightly pressed against some hard plastic or metal from the seat in front of me. Not painful, just a constant discomfort, especially if the person in front moves a lot. The biggest quality-of-life improvement for flights, for me, was paying up each way for an emergency exit seat. A secondary benefit that I hadn’t initially considered but turned out to be huge is being able to get in and out of my seat at any time without making the entire row get up or having to get up for others.

Snoddas 2y ago

You must be of size medium to small then because legroom is definitly an issue for me, especially for longer flights and I'm just 180cm. (just below average hight) Or alternativly you can afford better seats than me.

Toutouxc 2y ago
The "just below average" caught my attention, and it looks like that that's probably not true about most countries in the world..? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average_human_height_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average_human_height_by_countr...
- 4gotunameagain 2y ago
  Yeah but the person you are replying to is Swedish, according to a previous comment of his.
happymellon 2y ago
I am of the same height as you, and I managed a Ryan Air flight to Madrid a couple of weeks ago with enough legspace that I was able to put my bag under seat in front and pull it out without having to shift around noticeably. On the other hand, I took an Iceland Express flight many years ago, and my knees were uncomfortably pressed against the seat in front. It does seem to be all over the place.
kaffekaka 2y ago
Indeed. I am 190 cm and leg room is by far the biggest issue when flying.

bartread 2y ago

Airport bullshit/overhead, and transit times, are why I massively prefer overland or over water transport for shorter journeys (up to say 1000 miles) even when it takes a few hours longer. I’d rather be happier, less stressed, and get there more slowly, than go through all the nonsense. I can always read, work, play a game, or just watch the world go by so the time isn’t wasted (unlike so much of the dead time in a noisy and crowded airport). It also has the increasingly important benefit of being more environmentally friendly.

kjkjadksj 2y ago
Why can’t you read at the airport?
- bartread 2y ago
  Depending on how the airport is arranged you can find yourself doing a lot of walking or standing around in not quite stationary queues. If you can manage to find somewhere to sit down where it isn't too noisy, it's fine, but often that's harder than you'd think, and you find your concentration is just continually broken by something or other that's going on or that you need to pay attention to. Budget airlines and priority boarding are a particular bugbear of mine here. Most people pay for priority boarding just for the extra bag it allows you to take into the cabin. You end up with two thirds of the flight made up of people who have priority boarding. That's great, but there's only so much space in the overhead lockers, so you have everyone queuing up way before boarding starts to avoid having their cabin back checked into the hold at the gate. The whole process is just... endlessly tedious and wearisome. I'd genuinely rather board a much slower form of transport, like a train, coach, or ferry (or even drive under some circumstances) than deal with being treated like cattle at an airport. The whole experience of airports, and getting to and from them, sucks.
- ulkhf 2y ago
  In America, all the gates (I have been to) subject you to constant noise pollution in the form of announcements over the public address system.

pipes 2y ago

Yep. It's the feeling of being in constant high alert the whole way through the airport. I regularly take a 40 min flight and it leaves me exhausted because of this. My theory anyway!

krisoft 2y ago
> It's the feeling of being in constant high alert the whole way through the airport. This is something you can change though by changing your mindset and outlook. Airports are what they are, they are highly predictable and unlikely to change drastically. On the other hand you can recognise when you are begining to feel on alert, acknowledge it and let go of the feeling. Let it wash over you like a wave. You are presumably not a terrorist, nor a criminal. The worst thing which can happen is that there is some misunderstanding and you are delayed a bit. And even that is very unlikely. If you make peace with that maybe that will help with the feeling? Not saying that you can go full meditating zen monk with “this one little weird trick”, but if you can make the experience more pleasant for yourself by just a little bit maybe that is worth the try?
- Loughla 2y ago
  Mindfulness and CBT sorts of things have always seemed like saying, "but have you tried just not having anxiety?" I don't get it. Address the feeling, let it wash over you. It won't wash over. It sticks and causes the chemicals in my body to fuck me up completely. I can already tell you that I'm anxious.
  - bmacho 2y ago
    > "but have you tried just not having anxiety?" Probably this is _the_ solution for many? GP seems to talk from experience with this, or similar situations. Probably it could work for you too, if you haven't tried it yet. (Also, if you haven't tried it enough times. One experiment/measurement is not enough.)
  - HelloMcFly 2y ago
    This feeling of letting it "wash over you" is a verbal construction that is very helpful and apt for some, but others may describe it's different. Some people may start to think of it as "experiencing these feelings with more remove" or something. It's something that takes practice often done with guidance from a therapist or psychologist. For many (this is not universally true), what is experienced as "anxiety" is like a preset program or routine that auto-executes across cognitive, behavioral, and emotional channels. CBT isn't a cure, but helps you interrupt the program during its cycle or before it starts by inserting new and different programs that don't auto-run without effort. As you sense your anxiety spiking ("awareness training" may be needed to get this early insight), you engage in behaviors or techniques to prevent the normal cycle of anxiety spiraling and calm the nervous system. It is effective, but it is not a magic trick and takes practice.

tetha 2y ago

Hence why I like going by train tbh. A long-distance train (well, long-distance for German standards. Probably grocery-distances in terms of the US standards) reaches the main company office in 5 hours or so, while a flight (including all of the stuff around it) takes about 3 hours. Except with the train, I can just drop myself into the seat 10 minutes from home and go to sleep / work / do other things for those 5 hours without a care in the world.

ghaff 2y ago
Well, then you're talking Boston to NYC or NYC to Washington DC in the US basically. In which case I agree train is better. But there aren't a lot of options to do that.

smoe 2y ago

For me, the size of the seat area is probably the biggest nuisance on a long flight. I'm not super tall, but above average and depending on my body position, either my knees or shins are always lightly pressed against some hard plastic or metal from the seat in front of me. Not painful, just a constant discomfort, especially if the person in front moves a lot. The biggest quality-of-life improvement for flights, for me, was paying up each way for an emergency exit seat. A secondary benefit that I hadn’t initially considered but turned out to be huge is being able to get in and out of my seat at any time without making the entire row get up or having to get up for others.