What's the worst (or best) thing about air travel?

@therealjrn I do that the whole flight.

@rockblossom I feel super old, because I remember seeing that episode on late night TV when I was a kid in the 80s.

@rockblossom @Thumperchick
pats head
you young whippersnapper

@rockblossom @Thumperchick that is the episode I remember best from my youth!

@Thumperchick I didn’t see it when it first aired (Oct 1963), but I saw a rerun in 1964.

@rockblossom @Thumperchick I saw it in 1963. It was scary.

@rockblossom @Thumperchick @werehatrack 1963 ftw

@rockblossom @Thumperchick @werehatrack
IDK - even as a young kid, I thought the wing creature was kind of cheesy…

@macromeh @rockblossom @Thumperchick Oh, it was cheesy, but the jump scare on the initial glimpse, when I was 9, was a thing. (Not huge, but I recall it. I also recall that on the rest of them, I was thinking “wait a minute, how is that thing staying on the outside of the plane? How did it even get there?”)

@Cerridwyn

@ironcheftoni that’s one thing I appreciate about PDX. They’re not allowed to gouge. They have high street pricing. It might be what you’d pay downtown instead of in your neighborhood, but it’s no where near other airports. I remember buying a bubbly in pdx but was short on time but had a decent connection in Seattle so I figured I’d get stuff there. I had a 16 or 20 can at PDX that cost 2.29. A 12oz can at the same concession was 4.99 in Seattle. It’s crazy!

@ironcheftoni @sillyheathen
Lone Star steakhouse in Atlanta has essentially the same prices as my unit in Montgomery. I was pleasantly surprised one time when I had a couple of hours to kill (having missed a connection) so SWMBO and I decided to eat dinner and have a beer there. But, OTOH, I learned that you can’t get a steak knife there since they’re inside the TSA cleared area!!
Favorite place for a connection now is Nashville. There are a couple of bars in the concourses that have musicians playing anytime they’re open. Nice to be able to sit and have a beer and listen to someone playing music (live) to while away a couple of hours while you’re waiting.

@chienfou @ironcheftoni charlotte’s airport used to be similar. Musicians, plants and rocking chairs. Now that I’m down for.

@ironcheftoni @sillyheathen
That’s cool. Seems like I’ve been through Charlotte a few times… maybe?.. I’ve been in a couple of other airports that have long connectors between terminals that are populated with rocking chairs so you can sit and look out the windows. Actually seems like a brilliant idea.

@chienfou @ironcheftoni I’ve had a maloof rocker cut out for quite some time. Once the shop is finished, almost there!, that will be the first project I finish. It’s from black walnut. But I have plans to make others with some cool and fun designs by laminating different woods and even potentially different materials. Super excited. I’m a sucker for a rocking chair.

@narfcake
unfortunately having to go through TSA again for a connecting flight is an automatic if you’re flying in from an International flight… Found that out the hard way when I bought a bottle of local liquor at duty free. No problem for the international flight, but then was stuck trying to go through a TSA checkpoint with a fifth of liquor. It was a bit of a PITA.

@phendrick
Thankfully I don’t get air-sick anymore (since I was a kid 60 plus years ago). I think not having any passengers smoking on the plane made the difference!

Late edit:
Best thing is going to go getting to go to a far off destination,
Worst thing is all the waiting

@tohar1
Thankfully in 70 plus years of air travel I’ve had very few flights that were too disrupted by people or turbulance. I’ve also had some very memorable long-distance flights when flying international.
Since my superpower seems to be the ability to sleep basically anywhere, under any circumstances, that may have a lot to do with it

@chienfou Whew! I’ve had some doozies! I envy your ability to sleep on an airplane though. Not in my wheelhouse unfortunately.

@tohar1
My wife is the same way. I always feel so bad when I’m sacked out & drooling…well, after I wake up of course!

@chienfou That is funny! Reminded me of one early-AM flight when I had an Asian girl, probably 20-ish, sitting next to me. She was reading a magazine in her native language, so I guessed she didn’t speak English. About 5-minutes after takeoff, she lays her head on my shoulder & was out cold. She didn’t move at all until we were on final approach. Never said a word to me when she woke up. Didn’t bother me. I found pretty good humor in it, just another story to tell. Guessing it was common in her culture the nonchalant way she did it.

@tohar1
I must say, it’s nice to have purpose!

@chienfou I’m sure Mrs. H. wouldn’t have found it as “cute or innocent” as I did… Don’t go telling her now!

@tohar1
Deal

@tohar1 or on Southwest before they started making people board in number order, mad rush to the gate to avoid a middle seat.

I have a flight on southwest next month. They first one for me where seats are assigned. Should be interesting.

@Cerridwyn
Airport in Kona Hawaii is like that… all outside. And Montgomery’s airport is a regional airport with just a handful of gates. If there are three people in front of you at TSA… it’s considered a massive traffic jam! It’s super easy to breeze in and out of, and the flights connecting on Delta through Atlanta are sometimes cheaper from Montgomery even though you get on the exact same connecting flight as if you had driven to Atlanta to take off. Parking lot is also intimately small so no more than 2-3 minutes from the front of the terminal to your car when you get home. Rates are pretty good too.

@Cerridwyn The boarding gates at Palm Springs were a later addition, hence being detached.

Up until a few years ago, Long Beach was the same – boarding gates were detached from the terminal itself. They are still ground level, though, so boarding is on ramps or stairs. No jet bridges, kind of like Ontario was before 1998.

@narfcake yeah I liked the old Ontario airport. I remember when my daughter was like 11. She got to go to space camp. Delta was the official Airline for space camp. And Delta had its own terminal. This was of course well before 9/11 and after though they had started not letting people into the gates. Except Delta did. Her flight back she flew into LA and then a puddle jumper to ontario. They actually let me out on the tarmac to escort her off the plane. That’s the way kids should be allowed to fly

@Cerridwyn @narfcake
even today you can get a ‘waiver’ from TSA to escort a minor (under 16 I think) to/from the gates.
Did this last year at San Francisco, have done it in Atlanta and Denver as well. Will be doing it in ATL and MIA in a couple of weeks for granddaughter and friend for a cruise.
I think in this day and time it is a good choice since the airlines would have all kinds of liability issues if a late flight got cancelled and they had to lodge a minor overnight.
BTW you can also get a slip for an elderly/handicapped person as well.

@Cerridwyn Many years before Covid (BC) I have been through the Pittsburg, PA airport, back then it was Kool, It had an literal Shopping mall with Mall prices NOT airport ones.

@shahnm
Fun! What are you flying?

@chienfou Cirrus SR20

/image Cirrus sr20

@shahnm
Very nice. A friend of my sisters (who’s a commercial pilot) was flying his private plane back with his daughter from college not long ago and ended up having to drop it on a highway. Thankfully no one was injured!
I’ve had the good fortune to fly in a private plane a handful of times.

@chienfou @shahnm Where’s our flying cars? I was told there would be flying cars.

@chienfou @therealjrn
Add this to the long(ish) list of flying cars that will never actually see the light of day for consumer purchase…

@chienfou @therealjrn
This, on the other hand… I gotta get me one of these…!

@chienfou @shahnm @therealjrn
As to flying cars. You put up with idiots in ground traffic every day. You want to deal with them in the air?

@chienfou @shahnm @therealjrn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrafugia

@chienfou @shahnm @therealjrn
https://nypost.com/2025/12/15/lifestyle/worlds-first-flying-car-available-to-customers-by-early-2026/

@chienfou @mycya4me @therealjrn I’ll believe it when I see it. I’ve been following these “flying cars” for decades, and none have ever actually made it to market. Reality and cost considerations, safety issues, roadworthiness compatibility with airworthiness in the real world… Everything always gets in the way.

With that said, the small manned drones that are cropping up will probably make the flying car boondoggle moot.

@chienfou @mycya4me @therealjrn Another issue has been that the weight required to make aa traditional airplane-type “flying car” (i.e. with wings and thrust requirement) meet roadworthiness regulations is prohibitory for leaving the ground for any meaningful duration, speed, or altitude

The newfangled “flying cars” are basically drones in a car-shaped mesh shell. Even still, for the frame to have the structural strength to protect occupants in road accidents, the damn thing will weigh too much to actually fly meaningfully. Or else it will be light enough to fly ok, but a death trap in a fender bender with a BMX bike…

@chienfou @shahnm @therealjrn Well the Terrafugia Has several Working prototypes, taken them to Fly-In & Autoshows they got a waiver from the FAA for the Weight & the DMVs for certs. Pretty much along the way to production model, But the Cash Flow started to run out. they have been bought by a Chinese venture company… Very little has been heard from them. They look more like a Car with Wings & a Pusher prop!
There has been a few good ones But most of the time it is the Cash Flow! Yes I would like to get one myself, But by the time they get a good one out I do believe I will be a bit too Old. Sad!

@chienfou @mycya4me @therealjrn

they have been bought by a Chinese venture company

This is why we can’t have nice things…

@chienfou @shahnm @therealjrn Yep! they will give it back to us Cheaply made,

@werehatrack
/giphy Get off my lawn

@chienfou That, too.

@OnionSoup
Wonder if THIS has anything to do with it?
![1]

“There’s an app for that…”
[1]:

@chienfou @OnionSoup

/8ball Did @Thumperchick win big?
Very doubtful

@therealjrn @Thumperchick oh! I fly to Vegas on Friday! I bought the Englishman tickets to the rugby exhibition that’s happening this weekend for his birthday. Let me know if you have any tips or if you did anything fun! He’s not allowed to gamble and if we had a few more days I might consider it but it’s such a chore for me. I only do tables or sports book but I usually do pretty well. I think I made $4500 last time I went.

I’m just stoked that we get to see the rhinos play and don’t have to fly to Leeds to do so. This was from the previous summer when we were back in Yorkshire. So excited! Can’t wait!

@sillyheathen @therealjrn @Thumperchick
Have fun. Should be some great matches!
And yes… I’m a table game player as well. Slots hold NO appeal to me. Being able to interact with the dealer and the other players at a blackjack table is more than half the entertainment for me…

@sillyheathen @therealjrn the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay was pretty great for a daytime activity.

But the kid’s favorite daytime thing was Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart in Area 15. It’s a trip, but a fun one.

I hope you have a blast!

@chienfou @therealjrn @Thumperchick yes! I love the blackjack tables! Maybe I’ll play a little. It’s been ages. But I’m definitely going to the shark reef aquarium. We’re staying at Mandalay because it’s walking distance to the stadium. I love paludariums and aquariums.

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