@lljk For me thats the one remaining nice thing. Between .gov and the TSA and the airline beancounters, cattlecar seating unless you pay $$$ more, having to buy tickets for your luggage, the stupid long lines and crappy service at airports, the rest of the joy of flying is just a memory. We only fly now if it takes too long to drive there.
@lljk One time it was the 4th of July when I was flying and as we crossed the country there were so many fireworks I saw from the air. Struck me how tiny they looked - little blips of light - from 30,000 feet compared to when you are watching them from the ground - especially when you are close where they are setting them off and smoldering shells from them are landing in the boat rigging in places like NYC or Norfolk. Or on the car when at my mother’s when the wind is blowing the right direction (they are set off from the high school and her apartment is right next door). Great view from her window so you don’t even need to be eaten alive by bugs to watch.
@hammi99 I missed an opportunity for that in Hong Kong (6 hour layover from 6pm t midnight the kids’ time) because when I was escorting someone’s toddler home from Cambodia they offered to buy first class seats, I told them adoption is expensive enough, cattle class is fine, just please don’t make this child a lap child. Then when They met me in Chicago to get her they gave me a $2000 tip. If they had bought first class I bet I would not have gotten that size of a tip or any tip at all (never even occurred to me that they’d tip me). So I’d say I won that lottery and missing a first class lounge was worth it in the long run.
@UncleVinny Umm… some of the time (and much of the time recently) it is “interesting” in that Arab curse sort of way unfortunately. I could do with a job and a lot of “boring” right now.
When i flew for work I would get nice and drunk for free. The LA to Tokyo flight had a guy i swear his entire goal was to get me drunk. I never got to the bottom of my glass. When i was ready to sleep, i asked for chamomile tea. He said he didn’t have any, but how about coffee and bailey’s?
My favorite flight was heading from the East Coast to Vancouver just after sunset. At altitude it was golden hour for freaking hours, which oughta be an oxymoron or something. Made me wonder if we were going to outrun the damn thing.
@TheFLP I saw northern lights from a plane several times. Very cool to see them from above the clouds. Seen them from the ground too when I lived way up north (at one point in my life I lived a 2 week canoe paddle from James Bay). One night we (worked for Outward Bound at the time) were doing an all night canoe paddle up Lake Nipigon and we had the most wonderful display nearly the entire night.
@Kidsandliz@ralimore While the idea of sex in a bathroom in a plane is NOT that appealing to me, I can vouch for the excitement/titillation that comes with some pretty heavy (but discrete) play under the covers during an overnight flight to Europe on occasion when the seats around us weren’t full.
It’s nice to get there an hour sooner than driving after battling the TSA, unless they make you miss your flight, in which case you could have driven there faster.
Never was a big fan of flying. But a few years ago I impulsively dropped ~$300 on a pair of Bose noise cancelling headphones. (Yes…in the terminal…ten minutes before a pretty long flight. I’m one of those people, apparently. ) And holy heck of a clandestine poolside jamboree on fire if it didn’t change my feelings about flying! Now if it’s a short flight I don’t bring them, but if I’ll be in the plane for over an hour, I put them on after passing security…dreamy muffins, kittens. My life has become a cavalcade of dreamy muffins.
@TheFLP it’s awkward and messy to eat while you’re dreaming, not to mention the choking risks. So imma just a-gonna keep on dreaming of those dreamy muffins. I dare say you’re entitled to whatever dream bends your wick!
@UncleVinny I had a pretty decent set of noise canceling headphones from Able Planet. But last year my step-brother started working for Bose and I was able to get the QC35’s for half price. It really is true, they’re just better than everything else.
The ultimate reward of arriving where you are going in less time than using some other transportation method (if one is even an option)
For instance:
try getting to the southern Caribbean or Europe for a visit without burning all your time up getting there if you don’t fly.
The actual flight experience is actually not as bad on some of the foreign based airlines. As a Delta FF miles user we always try to book out flights on code-share routes run by Air France if possible. The food is better, the staff are friendly (especially since I speak French) drinks are free, and the overall atmosphere is more pleasant.
That being said, I can pretty well put up with whatever for the time takes to get where I want to be… Like St Lucia coming up in Sept for the wife’s 60th.
It’s no secret, I enjoy looking out the window.
And that really is the only part of flying I enjoy.
Every other aspect is just miserable.
I’m incapable of sleeping in an airline seat, too, so if I don’t get a window seat, I’m boned.
That free full-body massage in the terminal by the friendly, hunky guys in the blue shirts is AWESOME!
Sometimes I buy a ticket, but don’t even board the plane, to some arbitrary place, just so I can take off my shoes and get a rub-down by a big sweaty guy, while another blue shirt paws though my carry-on. If I’m lucky, a third might ask me privacy-invading questions during the process.
Another blue shirt paws though my carry-on. If I’m lucky, a third might ask me privacy-invading questions during the process.
Ridiculous. You could mail a full carry-on to me, and I’d comb through it, as well as ask you a list of personal questions, all without you needing to buy a ticket.
The free coca-cola (yeah, I know it’s not really free because I paid too much for the ticket in the first place, but it feels free). I’m a simple sort.
I don’t mind the aggravation that comes with flying. If I’m flying it means I’m on vacation and going somewhere awesome. It’s still incredible to get on a plane in your hometown and get off it somewhere new and exciting. And yes, I always want the window seat.
Catching up on magazines I had laying around and watching TV shows. I went to a friend’s wedding a month ago (8 years since I last flew), downloaded a bunch of shows to my Kindle, and watched them on airplane mode.
Back when they served actual food, and before United sucked, they served excellent chicken cordon bleu for dinner on most of the flights I took. I always looked forward to that. But I no longer fly with my job, and when I do, there’s almost never any food now.
All of it! I’m a seemingly rare wolf who loves every aspect of air travel, except maybe long lines at security. Airports, planes, the shuttle between terminals, everything is fun for me. I especially love the excitement of takeoff and the sounds of the engines…the older and louder, the better! (I the MD-80!!) Oh, and you haven’t lived until you’ve watched the moon rise over the wing of a 777 at 38,000 feet. The soft moonlight cast over endless miles of white clouds is magical.
The afternoon airplane naps
The view out the window.
@lljk Yes!!
@Kidsandliz @lljk I’m a sucker for a window seat, even though my fear of heights should have me gibbering.
@lljk For me thats the one remaining nice thing. Between .gov and the TSA and the airline beancounters, cattlecar seating unless you pay $$$ more, having to buy tickets for your luggage, the stupid long lines and crappy service at airports, the rest of the joy of flying is just a memory. We only fly now if it takes too long to drive there.
@lljk One time it was the 4th of July when I was flying and as we crossed the country there were so many fireworks I saw from the air. Struck me how tiny they looked - little blips of light - from 30,000 feet compared to when you are watching them from the ground - especially when you are close where they are setting them off and smoldering shells from them are landing in the boat rigging in places like NYC or Norfolk. Or on the car when at my mother’s when the wind is blowing the right direction (they are set off from the high school and her apartment is right next door). Great view from her window so you don’t even need to be eaten alive by bugs to watch.
I’ve never been on a plane.
For knit-pickers, nitpickers, and others:
Technically, even being in one is on one.
I.e You’re sitting on a seat bolted onto a plane, etc.
First class lounges in Asia
@hammi99 I missed an opportunity for that in Hong Kong (6 hour layover from 6pm t midnight the kids’ time) because when I was escorting someone’s toddler home from Cambodia they offered to buy first class seats, I told them adoption is expensive enough, cattle class is fine, just please don’t make this child a lap child. Then when They met me in Chicago to get her they gave me a $2000 tip. If they had bought first class I bet I would not have gotten that size of a tip or any tip at all (never even occurred to me that they’d tip me). So I’d say I won that lottery and missing a first class lounge was worth it in the long run.
@hammi99 Tokyo Narita is my favorite airport ever. Then Incheon. That’s even before you get to the lounges.
@Kidsandliz ??? Your life is interesting!!!
@UncleVinny Umm… some of the time (and much of the time recently) it is “interesting” in that Arab curse sort of way unfortunately. I could do with a job and a lot of “boring” right now.
The part where I don’t travel by air.
When i flew for work I would get nice and drunk for free. The LA to Tokyo flight had a guy i swear his entire goal was to get me drunk. I never got to the bottom of my glass. When i was ready to sleep, i asked for chamomile tea. He said he didn’t have any, but how about coffee and bailey’s?
I don’t air travel at all. Never have. Never want to.
My favorite flight was heading from the East Coast to Vancouver just after sunset. At altitude it was golden hour for freaking hours, which oughta be an oxymoron or something. Made me wonder if we were going to outrun the damn thing.
@TheFLP I love this story and want to subscribe to your newsletter
@TheFLP I’ve had similar experiences on planes. I mostly found it disorienting, but also lovely.
@TheFLP I saw northern lights from a plane several times. Very cool to see them from above the clouds. Seen them from the ground too when I lived way up north (at one point in my life I lived a 2 week canoe paddle from James Bay). One night we (worked for Outward Bound at the time) were doing an all night canoe paddle up Lake Nipigon and we had the most wonderful display nearly the entire night.
Air travel is like using the toilet. You look forward to it, want it to be over quick, and are relieved when it is over.
My ex and my brother both work for the airlines, and I’m a fan of Southwest Airlines. I’m pretty happy with air travel.
Crush a bunch of podcasts
The fact that no matter what time it is its still acceptable to drink in the airport bar.
I work for an airline, so it’s those rare flights when I get first class for free because no one snagged that last seat.
Mile high club…6 times now.
@ralimore I so do not believe you.
@ralimore gross
@Kidsandliz @ralimore While the idea of sex in a bathroom in a plane is NOT that appealing to me, I can vouch for the excitement/titillation that comes with some pretty heavy (but discrete) play under the covers during an overnight flight to Europe on occasion when the seats around us weren’t full.
It’s nice to get there an hour sooner than driving after battling the TSA, unless they make you miss your flight, in which case you could have driven there faster.
Never was a big fan of flying. But a few years ago I impulsively dropped ~$300 on a pair of Bose noise cancelling headphones. (Yes…in the terminal…ten minutes before a pretty long flight. I’m one of those people, apparently.
) And holy heck of a clandestine poolside jamboree on fire if it didn’t change my feelings about flying! Now if it’s a short flight I don’t bring them, but if I’ll be in the plane for over an hour, I put them on after passing security…dreamy muffins, kittens. My life has become a cavalcade of dreamy muffins.
Thank you for listening.
@UncleVinny Are dreamy muffins edible, though? I don’t want muffins I can’t eat.
@TheFLP it’s awkward and messy to eat while you’re dreaming, not to mention the choking risks. So imma just a-gonna keep on dreaming of those dreamy muffins. I dare say you’re entitled to whatever dream bends your wick!
@UncleVinny I had a pretty decent set of noise canceling headphones from Able Planet. But last year my step-brother started working for Bose and I was able to get the QC35’s for half price. It really is true, they’re just better than everything else.
The ultimate reward of arriving where you are going in less time than using some other transportation method (if one is even an option)
For instance:
try getting to the southern Caribbean or Europe for a visit without burning all your time up getting there if you don’t fly.
The actual flight experience is actually not as bad on some of the foreign based airlines. As a Delta FF miles user we always try to book out flights on code-share routes run by Air France if possible. The food is better, the staff are friendly (especially since I speak French) drinks are free, and the overall atmosphere is more pleasant.
That being said, I can pretty well put up with whatever for the time takes to get where I want to be… Like St Lucia coming up in Sept for the wife’s 60th.
@chienfou British Airways and Qantas are great.
There is no part I secretly enjoy. The only good thing about it is it’s faster than driving. Usually.
Arriving at my destination.
It’s no secret, I enjoy looking out the window.
And that really is the only part of flying I enjoy.
Every other aspect is just miserable.
I’m incapable of sleeping in an airline seat, too, so if I don’t get a window seat, I’m boned.
Love the rush of
takeoff
The flying part.
I like most of it. Crowds, airports, large spaces, coffee, walking between terminals, reading, the motion of the plane, looking out the window…
Security…who doesn’t secretly love waiting in a long line to be violated by TWA. Can’t wait for my next flight!
@msqaf00 TSA?
@chienfou @msqaf00 No, TWA, the airline, back from the grave just to violate travelers.
@chienfou @msqaf00 @whogots Them and Pan AM both.
That free full-body massage in the terminal by the friendly, hunky guys in the blue shirts is AWESOME!
Sometimes I buy a ticket, but don’t even board the plane, to some arbitrary place, just so I can take off my shoes and get a rub-down by a big sweaty guy, while another blue shirt paws though my carry-on. If I’m lucky, a third might ask me privacy-invading questions during the process.
Funny thing is, they don’t accept tips.
@simssj
Ridiculous. You could mail a full carry-on to me, and I’d comb through it, as well as ask you a list of personal questions, all without you needing to buy a ticket.
@PlacidPenguin @simssj But what about the pat-down…?
@simssj And you usually get a “happy ending” (getting on with your life). TSA pre-check for the win.
Getting to my destination faster than I would if driving. That’s literally the only reason.
The free coca-cola (yeah, I know it’s not really free because I paid too much for the ticket in the first place, but it feels free). I’m a simple sort.
@jitc I go with tomato juice because it’s almost as sustaining as a meal and costs like $4 a glass in restaurants.
@jitc Particularly when they give you the whole can.
@cinoclav that is the best feeling.
@moondrake If I were a bigger fan of tomato juice, I’d probably do that, too. Nothing like getting more bang for your buck! Er, non-buck.
@jitc exactly why the wife and I usually opt for a can of bloody mary mix (and a Iime)
@jitc Kinda like when hubby and I would go to the casino, lose 4k but get a free meal.
I don’t mind the aggravation that comes with flying. If I’m flying it means I’m on vacation and going somewhere awesome. It’s still incredible to get on a plane in your hometown and get off it somewhere new and exciting. And yes, I always want the window seat.
9am Bloody Mary.
Catching up on magazines I had laying around and watching TV shows. I went to a friend’s wedding a month ago (8 years since I last flew), downloaded a bunch of shows to my Kindle, and watched them on airplane mode.
Back when they served actual food, and before United sucked, they served excellent chicken cordon bleu for dinner on most of the flights I took. I always looked forward to that. But I no longer fly with my job, and when I do, there’s almost never any food now.
joining the Mile High club…
Talking the ears off of the person next to me because they’re trapped.
People watching
Boozing it up before boarding, assuming I’m not talking the red-eye when the bar is closed, which I usually am.
All of it! I’m a seemingly rare wolf who loves every aspect of air travel, except maybe long lines at security. Airports, planes, the shuttle between terminals, everything is fun for me. I especially love the excitement of takeoff and the sounds of the engines…the older and louder, the better! (I
the MD-80!!) Oh, and you haven’t lived until you’ve watched the moon rise over the wing of a 777 at 38,000 feet. The soft moonlight cast over endless miles of white clouds is magical.