Most annoying habits of passengers?

Gwen Cooper

smeal wrote: »

I was parched by the time I got to my seat and ended up sitting in the 7th row thinking to myself it won't be long until the drinks trolley is down as Ryanair usually start serving snacks as soon as the fasten seatbelt sign comes off. Genuinely don't think I've ever felt as dehydrated in my life

That brings back some memories - I was flying from Prague one summer, the sun was roasting and as a nice bonus I had a fever. I was dying to have a drink of water. Never been so thirsty in my entire life. I wanted to buy a bottle of water before boarding but the card terminals were down at the airport and I had no cash on me. So I decided that I will buy a drink as soon as they start serving them after a take-off.

When they came to me, I asked for a bottle of water. The stewardess hands me the water. It's nice and cold in my hands. Happy tears. I hand her my card. Doesn't work. She tries again. Nope. She tries another card machine. Nah. I helplessly sit there and watch her taking the water back. The guy next to me looked at me, smiled at me and after a little while he asked for two bottles of water. I was so grateful. The guy was put on the plane to save my life that day. He was my hero.

As he was holding the two bottles, he looked at me again, smiled, opened one bottle, drank it all in one go and kept taking tiny sips from the other bottle during the flight.

To this day I'm not sure if I want to kill him or if I want to build him a temple for trolling me so hard that day.

Diemos

Wanderer78 wrote: »

obesity is far more complex than height

I'm talking about effect not cause.

ED E

Idiots at security. For christs sake. No, you can't bring your 500ml Pepsi through. Yes, take off the watch.

I've got security down to a tee (used to be a regular flyer) and assuming no muppets ahead its wham bam done. But when you get a pensioner ahead....

Gwen Cooper wrote: »

I was flying from Bristol to Dublin last month, a guy next to me had his phone on the whole time, not bothered about putting it into a flight mode. It looked like he's texting. He covered the phone with his hand every time the steward walked by. It was driving me nuts.

Surely he wouldn't be able to get any signal or connect to the internet at the altitude?

The airplane mode rule is bollocks. There's zero harm in having handsets on. If the tiny transmitter in your pocket is a problem the 500x as powerful transmitter 100m below the plane as it takes off would be far more problematic.

On a short hop flight that maintains a lower alt (not sure how common that is) might keep in range of ground sites enough for SMS use on 2G for a while.

CrankyHaus

ED E wrote: »

Idiots at security. For christs sake. No, you can't bring your 500ml Pepsi through. Yes, take off the watch.

I've got security down to a tee (used to be a regular flyer) and assuming no muppets ahead its wham bam done. But when you get a pensioner ahead....



The airplane mode rule is bollocks. There's zero harm in having handsets on. If the tiny transmitter in your pocket is a problem the 500x as powerful transmitter 100m below the plane as it takes off would be far more problematic.

On a short hop flight that maintains a lower alt (not sure how common that is) might keep in range of ground sites enough for SMS use on 2G for a while.

I read before that the real problem is the effect it can have on the mobile networks if planes are low enough with hundreds of phones, possibly thousands with enough planes, moving from cell to cell at hundreds of miles per hour. Could be total BS.

billybonkers

Why all the hate for reclining seats?

Diemos

Cause they crush your knees and make it difficult to get out of your seat.
Plus they usually come flying back with no warning, i've seen people soaked with tea or water when the seat infront shot back.

Cordell

The airplane mode rule is bollocks. There's zero harm in having handsets on. If the tiny transmitter in your pocket is a problem the 500x as powerful transmitter 100m below the plane as it takes off would be far more problematic

The rules may be bollocks but they have to be observed, because they are the rules
The transmitter outside the plane is not a problem, it is shielded by the airplane metal skin.
And if the phones would be that dangerous they would be locked inside a metal cabinet or some other sort of shielding will be used. But again, them's the rules.

Pawwed Rig

Gwen Cooper wrote: »

When they came to me, I asked for a bottle of water. The stewardess hands me the water. It's nice and cold in my hands. Happy tears. I hand her my card. Doesn't work. She tries again. Nope. She tries another card machine. Nah. I helplessly sit there and watch her taking the water back. The guy next to me looked at me, smiled at me and after a little while he asked for two bottles of water. I was so grateful. The guy was put on the plane to save my life that day. He was my hero.

Rooky error. The trick is to drink the water while she is fiddling about with the machine. Then the reader issue is their problem rather than yours.

nowuckenfurries

Landing Clappers...... :mad: :pac::pac:

plodder

Gwen Cooper wrote: »

That brings back some memories - I was flying from Prague one summer, the sun was roasting and as a nice bonus I had a fever. I was dying to have a drink of water. Never been so thirsty in my entire life. I wanted to buy a bottle of water before boarding but the card terminals were down at the airport and I had no cash on me. So I decided that I will buy a drink as soon as they start serving them after a take-off.

When they came to me, I asked for a bottle of water. The stewardess hands me the water. It's nice and cold in my hands. Happy tears. I hand her my card. Doesn't work. She tries again. Nope. She tries another card machine. Nah. I helplessly sit there and watch her taking the water back. The guy next to me looked at me, smiled at me and after a little while he asked for two bottles of water. I was so grateful. The guy was put on the plane to save my life that day. He was my hero.

As he was holding the two bottles, he looked at me again, smiled, opened one bottle, drank it all in one go and kept taking tiny sips from the other bottle during the flight.

To this day I'm not sure if I want to kill him or if I want to build him a temple for trolling me so hard that day.

That's unimaginable cruelty. If there's a god, he'll certainly pay for that.

On the other side, my wife was delayed around 5 hours returning (FR) from Berlin (SXF) to Dub last Friday. The terminal was struck by lightning, flooded and had to close for a few hours. There is probably no worse place than SXF to be stuck in, but she got chatting to a Dutch woman whose flight was cancelled and who ended up being offered a lift by car to Amsterdam. Before she left, she offered my wife the use of her apartment in Berlin if her flight was cancelled too - someone she had only just met a few hours earlier.

Gwen Cooper

plodder wrote: »

That's unimaginable cruelty. If there's a god, he'll certainly pay for that.

On the other side, my wife was delayed around 5 hours returning (FR) from Berlin (SXF) to Dub last Friday. The terminal was struck by lightning, flooded and had to close for a few hours. There is probably no worse place than SXF to be stuck in, but she got chatting to a Dutch woman whose flight was cancelled and who ended up being offered a lift by car to Amsterdam. Before she left, she offered my wife the use of her apartment in Berlin if her flight was cancelled too - someone she had only just met a few hours earlier.

I'm laughing about it now. Let's face it, that guy was an a**hole, but also a genius. :pac:

That's so nice - people tend to stick together in these situations and support each other much more. Hope that someone will be as kind to that Dutch lady as she was to your wife

eusap

My pet travel hates

1. Travelers standing in a Long security queue and do absolutely nothing to get ready for security, Coat Left on, Belt On, Laptop and Ipad in bottom of suitcase, liquids in bottom of case.

2. Travelers arriving to security with a cup of coffee in hand and arguing that they just bought it and should be allowed keep it.

3. Travelers arriving to security and have a pocket full of change which they put in the tray and then spend 10 mins picking it all up again on the other side.

4. People queuing when plane is not there, If there is no seats near the gate I often start the queue to get people out of there seats and then I go and sit down.

5. Travelers who completing take the piss with bringing bags on-board, typically laptop bag and case = OK, then comes the Suit Bag, Shopping bag and then a man bag.

6. Travelers who have Frequent Flyer cards who seem to think it makes them a VIP, Last week a Lady skipped the queue of 20 people because she had a card, the guy in front got there before me to tell the lady the 20 people also had them and to go to the back of the queue.

7. Standing at a full baggage carrousel when the conveyor can not load more, and nobody will straighten up the bags to allow more to come out.

Gwen Cooper

eusap wrote: »

My pet travel hates
4. People queuing when plane is not there, If there is no seats near the gate I often start the queue to get people out of there seats and then I go and sit down.

Hats off to you.

sandbelter

Without any doubt....it's passengers trying to strike up a conversation with you.

GreeBo

Wanderer78 wrote: »

So yes, we should continue to shame people who are struggling with such complex issues?

Why is it seen as "fat shaming" exactly?

Do we shame married people into buying an extra seat for their partner? How about their kids?

Irish Steve

My pet hate is not an issue that happens in the aircraft, it's the insanity that happens just after people emerge from the arrivals doors, and get to the narrowest point in the whole place, the exit through the barriers designed to keep meeters and greeters back from the doors. The number of people that stop dead with a clatter of kids in tow and trollies heaving with oversize bags to greet half of Ireland in the middle of the gap is only nauseating. I want to get out of the place, but short of being rude and forcing my way through, I end up having to wait for the whole performance to take place. Why they can't move to one side beyond the barriers defies belief, but it happens on a regular basis.

Re mobile phones, they can and do affect some systems on the aircraft, but the real reason they are supposed to be in flight mode is that due to the height above the ground, one mobile transmitting data can be seen by possibly hundreds of ground stations, and that causes massive confusion to the servers that drive the network and determine which cell to use to communicate with the mobile.

As for security, so much of what happens now is not really essential, but the system insists on keeping it, the biggest problem is the complete lack of clarity, some days they insist on all shoes being removed, and all belts, on other days, they don't, and the way to ensure the quickest processing is to tell people clearly and in advance what the rules are today, not snarl and snap at them for not realising that the rules are different today.

Yes, pensioners may need a bit more time, or a (never available by the belt) seat in order to remove shoes, due to restricted mobility, and removing trouser belts for some people could mean serious embarrassment if they don't then keep one hand in a pocket or on the waist band to prevent them obeying the call of gravity at the wrong moment. The same is true after scanning, while it's better than it used to be at Dublin, trying to collect all the belongings, and get to a seat to replace shoes, with only one hand to deal with all the bit that had to be removed is not easy, the system is not set up to make it less stressful for people who are not young, fully mobile and strong, which can make the experience very stressful for older, infirm or otherwise affected people, and there are a significant number who fit into this category.

My mother is in her mid 90's, and prefers to travel for nearly 12 hours by train and ferry rather than fly an hour from their local airport simply because the stress levels are so much lower that way. She's profoundly deaf, and my step father has a pacemaker, so can't go through the scanner arches, which means they get separated at security, and with the noise levels at the scanners, even with hearing aids, most of the time, she can't hear what the people close to her are saying, which then causes more problems because the people concerned react badly to what they think is "being ignored". Yes, there's pressure on to get the maximum number of people through in the shortest possible time, but does that mean it has to be so impersonal and at times downright difficult for the people who don't fit the "normal" profile?

GreeBo

People who stop at the top of an escalator to look around....its like they are unaware that the rest of us are on an automated stairs and have no where to go other than crash into them.

Then they give you a look when you force your way by them!

RebelButtMunch

People who have to have their shins pressed up to the luggage belt. Sit back and relax until your bag comes along.

Gwen Cooper

GreeBo wrote: »

Why is it seen as "fat shaming" exactly?

Do we shame married people into buying an extra seat for their partner? How about their kids?

While I see the point that you're making, that's the stupidest analogy I have ever seen.

HeidiHeidi

GreeBo wrote: »

People who stop at the top of an escalator to look around....its like they are unaware that the rest of us are on an automated stairs and have no where to go other than crash into them.

Then they give you a look when you force your way by them!

This x 100!

GreeBo

Gwen Cooper wrote: »

While I see the point that you're making, that's the stupidest analogy I have ever seen.

Then clearly it isnt.:cool:

Gwen Cooper

GreeBo wrote: »

Then clearly it isnt.:cool:

Nah, it definitely is. I see the point that you're making based on your previous posts.

Wanderer2010

OldNotWIse wrote: »

Also people jumping up as soon as the plane lands and then standing like knobs for ten minutes waiting for the doors to open.

This. 100%. Never got that- the plane wont be ready for at least another 10 minutes whats the point in jumping up all impatient straight away whilst looking at your watch. People are odd.

GreeBo

Gwen Cooper wrote: »

Nah, it definitely is. I see the point that you're making based on your previous posts.

So explain how its so stupid then?

For the other passengers, they dont care what the reason for them not having their full seat is, they just want it. So whether its fat, a shetland pony or just some tool who sits with his legs wide open, I dont care.

I want the space that I paid for.

If someone is feeling shame for having to pay for the space they are taking up, surely thats on them and not anybody else?
Unless you think the seats are too small and are an unrealistic target for the average or slightly above average body?

Mutant z

Those who throw their stuff within your leg space despite overheàd luggage storage units they are there for a reasòn use them.

theirishhitman

When people are who are seated at the rear of the plane put their hand luggage in the overhead bins at the front to collect on their way out.

This means that I have to go past my seat to find a empty bin than turn round to squeeze past the crowd in the aisle to get back to my seat.

OldNotWIse

GreeBo wrote: »

Why is it seen as "fat shaming" exactly?

Do we shame married people into buying an extra seat for their partner? How about their kids?

Because everything is "shaming" these days. Nobody is ever annoyed or offended anymore, they are shamed.

plodder

Irish Steve wrote: »

As for security, so much of what happens now is not really essential, but the system insists on keeping it, the biggest problem is the complete lack of clarity, some days they insist on all shoes being removed, and all belts, on other days, they don't, and the way to ensure the quickest processing is to tell people clearly and in advance what the rules are today, not snarl and snap at them for not realising that the rules are different today.

Dublin is not the worst by any stretch for this because you generally have enough time to get yourself organised, which was why recently when I went through and an unusually cranky security guy was barking unhelpfully at everyone. It was surprising because I've always found the experience efficient enough and the staff professional. I was through it before I got the chance to say something to him and it wasn't worth the hassle then.

Gwen Cooper

GreeBo wrote: »

So explain how its so stupid then?

For the other passengers, they dont care what the reason for them not having their full seat is, they just want it. So whether its fat, a shetland pony or just some tool who sits with his legs wide open, I dont care.

I want the space that I paid for.

If someone is feeling shame for having to pay for the space they are taking up, surely thats on them and not anybody else?
Unless you think the seats are too small and are an unrealistic target for the average or slightly above average body?

I didn't say I don't agree with you. I said that it's a stupid analogy. The stupidest, in fact.

Comparing a person being forced into buying an extra seat for themselves and a person being forced to buy a seat for their partner and children, meaning other people who are getting on the plane, is idiotic.

Wanderer2010

GreeBo wrote: »

So explain how its so stupid then?

For the other passengers, they dont care what the reason for them not having their full seat is, they just want it. So whether its fat, a shetland pony or just some tool who sits with his legs wide open, I dont care.

I want the space that I paid for.

If someone is feeling shame for having to pay for the space they are taking up, surely thats on them and not anybody else?
Unless you think the seats are too small and are an unrealistic target for the average or slightly above average body?

I'm gonna jump in here and say that yes, in general, ever for non-obese people, the economy seats on most planes are only barely wide enough. CityJet is 17 inches which is really tight. You have a big breakfast and you will be breathing in to wrap the belt around your waist!