Passenger flying

[mutt]

Do you still enjoy flying as a passenger? With over 200 hours of passenger flying this year and another 50 hours scheduled for June I'm getting to the stage where the thrill and excitement is gone! The prospect of 16 hours cooped up in a 747 just isnt appealing anymore.

Has anyone got any suggestions on how to bring back the enjoyment?

Mutt.

[Onewordanswer]

Try first class and mogadon

[Rollingthunder]

Nah, it's bloody boring unless you can see out the front windshields. Take a good book or two and a bacon sarnie or two. Likely to be better than the in-flight food..

I only get interested during turbulance or crosswind landings.

[Omaha]

I still enjoy it but then again I do far less flying than you mutt.

I still get excited at the thrill of take off & landing & speeding down the runway & always feel very disgruntled & cheated if we have a short landing depriving me of some of my thrill. I love when we're below the clouds & I've a good view & you can't beat coming into Ireland on a clear day with the fabulous views of Dublin bay stretched out before you & trying to identify all the land marks. Taking off recently was just as exciting since we took off from Milan & I was able to identify Lake Como from its description in the guide books. Indeed I had a birds eye view of all the Italian lakes despite only staying on Lake Garda. There's something special for me being able to look down on the earth from thousands of feet up & defying gravity. Above the cloud cover I find it rather boring to be honest though a nice meal often distracts me, even better if you've an interesting pax beside you which isn't always the case.

It's also interesting to see the difference between how airlines perform & the difference in the flying experience with each. I've never flown an Oriental airline before so I'm really looking forward to that.

Most activities that become routine become boring mutt but since I take my breaks in Ireland during the summer & am not due on an aircraft again till September flying is far from routine for me & I still get a sense of excitement & occasion about it.

[redsnail]

Bring back the enjoyment when you have to travel. That's a tough one and I do know how you feel. I have to airliner at least once per tour, often it's 2-4 times and it does get tiresome.

Since my trips are usually no more than 1-3 hours long it's not the flight that does my head in, it's the check in/security/being bussed to the aeroplane that tires me. Can't escape that.

Inflight? I usually catch up on the paperwork or do some reading. I usually hassle for an aisle seat for a fraction more leg room. Since I am in uniform I have to be on my best behaviour and so occassionally (if room) I'll be upgraded to business class. That always cheers me up.

[ExSimGuy]

"Take a Bacon Sarnie"

- hey! You obviously don't know where Mutt flies out of

the check in/security/being bussed to the aeroplane that tires me

- yes, I do a lot of flying - sometimes a one-hour flight with a hour to drive to the a/p, 2 hours check-in, best part of an hour in the immigration/visa queue and getting baggage. Long-haul is worse - LHR immigration isn't too bad but at PHL it's a long hike from the a/c, then a queue for immigration (although I go there twice most years - how about a "frequent flyer program" for airports )

But for the program for the next couple of months, my trusty Cherokee (Jeep, not Piper!) will be my mount, and my highest altitude will be the top of the escarpment road at Taif - Mutt, any chance of some hospitality, and maybe a sim visit even, in early July in JED?? (Unattatched Effays always a bonus )

[mutt]

It sounded so nice when the IFS said, Mr Mutt you are the only passenger in business class so we are going to move you to first class......

Two sectors done, now in changi and the only passenger allowed off the aircraft to go shopping... Another two hours flying to go before the end...

ESG, Will spend most of June in Brazil and Ireland, so will be stuck in the magic kingdom in July.... The door is always open..

Now back to my boring flight.....

Mutt.

[rsoman]

I used to fly from MAA to DEL reguarly and without fail whatever the airline I took (may be because there are no moving maps in the domesti flights here), threre used to have this monotonous announcement from up front.

I"Our route will take us over HYD i a few min then over NAG and pass along side BHO abeam AGR and into DEL" or the other way.

It became so monotonous that I could repeat it in my sleep! After having suffered this for nearky 7 years now I switch jobs to find I am still in airway W20 - in HYD! Now the only change is the monotone begins or ends one stop ahead!



.

[sixmilehighclub]

Drink.
Lots.

[Avtrician]

Dont realy enjoy the flying, seats are too close together to get comfortable, and not wide enough. Wish I could aford first class.

Love flying in choppers but.

[SLF]

I've just tried to add up my sectors this year - 3 x ATL, 2 x CMB, 2 x CPH, 1 x CMB/SIN/MEL, 1 x AMS I reckon that's about 160 hours - all in the back or LoCo apart from 1 CMB/LHR C upgrade using miles.

The important thing is to relax, not get wound up by queues, delays or your fellow passengers. I sit there, snooze, and fairly attractive people bring you just about edible food and alcohol - never found this too stressful myself. Generally don't suffer from jet lag, catch up on my reading matter and enjoy the relative isolation.

[mutt]

Here i go again... 3 sectors, 15 hours travel time.. But at least this time I'm enjoying some nice free beer before boarding. There are some benefits to first class travel...

Mutt.

[Gouabafla]

Noise cancelling headphones are worth the investment.

[PilotsPal]

So far this year:
14 x LHR/GLA weekends
1 x LHR/EDI GLA/LHR weekend
1 X MAN/ORD/MCO/ORD/MAN holiday

The US trip was a upfront one and about half the weekends are upgrades (all with BMI). By far the worst element is the journey to and from LHR.

One thing I've discovered on BMI - do not drink the tea unless you're sitting in the first few rows of the cabin and get it fresh. It seems to develop a rather unpleasant taste after a fairly short while. And why is it always a choice of egg & ham or just egg sandwiches on a Friday evening? And they insist on putting egg in everything on the morning flights? Guess the only thing I don't eat!

[Damsel]

I'm afraid the joy and novelty of flying as a pax wore off long ago! I have now reached the stage that I will no longer travel unless it is in Business class therefore I always travel staff subload business (reservations are always excellent and will tell us what flights are best also the shortest flight I usually take is a 7 hour international one). In the last month I have travelled BNE/SIN/HKG/SFO/YVR/CAL/YVR/ then finally YVR/ICN/SIN/BNE except for a couple of sectors in First Class (fantastic) and the internal north American sectors the rest of the flights were in Business class. Excellent service and all very relaxing. Next week it is BNE/SIN/BNE and then again in July the same thing. There is no joy in sitting in economy even with 60 channels of entertainment and a choice of meal. Today flying is just a necessity and a part of life. So to answer your question, no I don't enjoy flying as a pax.