What do you hate most about air travel?

[Barney Stubble]

Is it the inconvenience of the excessive security hoops one must jump through thanks to 911? Perhaps it's the small child 2 rows behind you that picked this flight to exercise his lungs to their fullest extent?

While those are all annoying for sure, none of them are my number one pet peeve. For me, it's the asshole in front of me that reclines his or her seat the minute it's permitted to do so and keeps it there until the final decent at which time it's announced that "at this time we ask that tray tables be secured, and seat backs be returned to their upright position."

When the seat in front of me is reclined, I have about four inches of space between my face and the top of the person's head in front of me. I can read the hair folicles and tell how badly that person needs Head and Shoulders.

I can see the need for reclining seats on redeye flights, but any other time is just rude as hell. It takes a special brand of self-centered asshole to invade the space of the person behind them so intrusively.

I've decided to fight back. I'll tap the person on the shoulder and politely ask them to put their seat forward because I might sneeze in their hair. If they ignore my request, I make sure that person can't sleep by nudging, pushing, and bumping the seat back at irregular intervals.

Hey, give a little - get a little.

 

[StevePerry4Ever]

http://www.maniacworld.com/everything-is-amazing-nobody-is-happy.html

 

[SloppySeconds]

douchebags who let their little brats scream the whole flight. I mean I get it that it hurts babies ears to fly and sometimes they're gonna cry, but when you let your kids run up and down the aisle and scream and just make a scene, that's not acceptable. Parents who just ignore that or ask the kid if they wanna do this or wanna do that piss me off to no end.

 

[TropicThunder]

I've only ever flown three times in my life, and I was the unfortunate parent who got stuck with a screaming baby the whole flight. Four. Fucking. Hours.

He was 8 months old, and the flight occured outside of his sleeping schedule, so he was awake the entire time. I had to hold him in my arms for the whole trip because he was too small to put in the seat next to me. He was climbing and struggling the whole time. I managed to keep him quiet for a few minutes by feeding him, but other than that, he screamed the entire way. I was in tears by the end of the flights, and I would have pulled my own hair out if I had a free hand.

Worst experience ever.

 

[SloppySeconds]

That really really sucks. You're the exception. It sounds like you at least tried to keep him quiet. And when they're that little there's only so much you can do.

 

[ndj101982]

douchebags who let their little brats scream the whole flight. I mean I get it that it hurts babies ears to fly and sometimes they're gonna cry, but when you let your kids run up and down the aisle and scream and just make a scene, that's not acceptable. Parents who just ignore that or ask the kid if they wanna do this or wanna do that piss me off to no end.

I can understand the crying on a flight because it's not like the parent can take the kid out of the room. What I hate more than anything is when a douchebag parent(s) lets their kid scream its head off in the middle of a restaurant or store and not take them outside to calm them down. I get they want to teach the kid that it can't get what it wants by screaming, but do that at home. Don't make other people's lives miserable when out in public.

 

[milagros317]

The lack of leg room is the worst aspect for me. 🙁

 

[He-Man]

The fact that if you want anything even CLOSE to a meal on a long flight, you have to be in first class.

Though I get around that by taking sandwiches. Easy to get a 6-inch sub or a good-sized wrap thru security --though I bet the other passengers who don't think of doing that hate my guts. lmao!

 

[asutickler]

If they ignore my request, I make sure that person can't sleep by nudging, pushing, and bumping the seat back at irregular intervals.

Heh. I totally agree. People are often surprised at the sudden, violent leg spasms that can occur in cramped airline conditions. 😀

Your post made me think about it a little bit, though... Next time I'm just going to lean forward, set my chin on their headrest, and start talking to them about something random in a soft, creepy voice.

 

[AngelOfDarkness]

Having to get there obscenely early and having to wait for two hours for our flight. That is a close tie with take-off/landing.

 

[Persephone]

I actually don't mind flying...I have flown a few times in my life but they've always been transatlantic flights so they are always at least 7 + hours.

The worse experience I ever had was flying back from Rome last May because this freakishly TALL man was seated behind me and I couldn't recline my seat in the least. It was such a pain in the ass. I couldn't feel my tail bone by the time we descended.

Anyway, I always think flying is fun, but I've always flown with friends so it's always been an enjoyable experience 😀

 

[maniactickler]

Turbulence

 

[WorkInProgress]

Wow, something we agree on, hay eghpayrus. Turbulence scares me. I was on a particularly bumpy flight yesterday, and thank God I had already had two glasses of red wine before it got really bad.

 

[Myriads]

I can understand the crying on a flight because it's not like the parent can take the kid out of the room.

SOP in the 70's and 80's for parents flying with a small kid was to give it a big shot of NyQuil before boarding.

Sleeping kid annoys no one.

Alas the practice passed by the end of the 80's.

What annoys me is the lack of any food. I still remember being served a steak with a baked potato and veggies on china with silverware, and a piece of pie for desert on a Pan Am flight back in the early 70's. Now people fight over a pringle.

Myriads

 

[justatickler]

The fake aura of security and hurrying to wait are what piss me off the most. I've flown so many 5-12 hour jaunts that the leg room issue doesn't bother me nearly as much as that crap. Granted, I'm more than ready to get off once we land, but the actual flying portion I sort of like. The terrifying reality of there being a thin aluminum shell and some inertia that keeps me from plummeting 40,000 feet, I do not. But all of that is perfectly manageable without having some dumb**** pretend to check my laptop for bomb parts.

Compared to 100, hell, even 40 years ago, I think we have it made, quite frankly.

 

[He-Man]

Now people fight over a pringle.

I guess they can't help it. After all, "once you pop, you can't stop. " 😀 (maybe there needs to be a support group for pringles addicts)

 

[WorkInProgress]

I find it horrifying that parents would give a very small child a sedative for the sole purpose of keeping that child quiet, or that anybody would desire it. A young child's nervous system is delicate, and there's no guarantee that a psychotropic drug won't do some damage, perhaps subtle but still real. I would get down on my knees and beg parents not to use drugs just to spare me having to hear a child make noise.

 

[StevePerry4Ever]

Don't worry, sedatives nowadays are harmless, it not like chloroform.

 

[darkscar]

Ez Flying i hate hights

 

[TickVix]

I'm not a frequent flyer, but when I do fly the things that I really am not a fan of would be baggage check fees, take offs and landings, and of course kids that enjoy kicking the back of your chair. Yep that's about all I can think of at the moment.

 

[Morpheus72]

The Teee Esss Eh.

 

[DontAskJusTckle]

I hate the security and the selective enforcement of carry-on items. For example, the last time I traveled abroad I bought a bottle of liquor from the duty free store right there in the airport. When I went through security, they said I couldn't bring it on the plane. I showed them duty free receipt and they just brushed it off impatiently.

So I'm on the other side of security sans liquor, and as I'm watching those board my plane I see several with other brands of liquor out in plain sight.

 

[alchemy]

The fact that you have to jump through a million and one hoops and practically disrobe so these bozos can give people the illusion of security

 

[Artoo]

Having to go through "additional" security, on account of the possibility that I might be a problem passenger.
I mean, fuck - I'm brown but I'm not a terrorist. There's nothing I believe in strongly enough to die for!

 

[StillJustSteph]

Ironically enough, my least favorite thing is actually Lou's favorite! I hate having to take off my shoes at security. It always makes me feel so self conscious for some reason, like everyone is staring at my feet. Thankfully, I have never had to succumb to a strip tease or a body scanner. In fact, I've never even been singled out in line, and made to adhere to an even more invasive search (but I think my fear of having to do that some day is another reason I just hate the whole process). S