For Fellow Impatient Travelers: Tips So You'll Never Be "That Guy!" When You Fly

[Stellajack]

Weather_Lady; YES! The dude in the TSA line who hasn't done a single thing to get ready to pass through security! It makes me wonder if these guys aren't "plants" for real-time training purposes, especially now that they have reps at the beginning of security lines to tell you even before you put items in the bins, "sir, you'll need to untie those boots, take off your chains, etc."

The guy who stows his carryon and then rises to go through it for retrieval of some item that he can't live without for the trip duration is the absolute worst. He brings the entire boarding process to a halt. The best response to him is to squeeze between him and the arm rest behind you. At least he will think about it the next time, especially when travelers boarding behind you follow suit and his thighs take a beating from the pressure of the arm rest in his own row.

All these annoyances are going on while the airline crew are announcing, "ladies and gentlemen please board, stow your carryons and take your seat quickly so we can get underway". I believe the airlines are the primary reason boarding is chaotic. Years ago when they boarded from back to front, the entire process was smoother. Anyway that's my two cents on this process. All the observations have been right on.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

One more thing I have with Southwest boarding when you have lets say A25 boarding don't run up to the sign that says A1-25 and try to be the first in line, you are A25 not A1 get back so A 1-24 can actually get in line in the correct order. I know counting is hard, but I'm sure your 5 year old would be more than happy to help.

 

[awoogala]

The problem with the tsa at orlando is that they change their mind constantly. In September, they were yelling in our faces NOT to take anything out, NOT to remove shoes. screaming, honestly. (I was in the process of removing everything...).
February trip, same side of airport, no one saying anything, I started to remove everything, they started yelling at everyone to remove everything.. they need to stay consistent.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

The problem with the tsa at orlando is that they change their mind constantly. In September, they were yelling in our faces NOT to take anything out, NOT to remove shoes. screaming, honestly. (I was in the process of removing everything...).
February trip, same side of airport, no one saying anything, I started to remove everything, they started yelling at everyone to remove everything.. they need to stay consistent.

Yea last time we flew out of Orlando they were yelling telling everyone not to remove anything including watches and jewelry and screamed at my daughter over leaving her mouse ears on and pulled my husband to the side for screening because of his watch, and they just yelled us to leave everything on.

 

[Phonedave]

Yea time we flew out of Orlando they were yelling telling everyone not to remove anything including watches and jewelry and screamed at my daughter over leaving her mouse ears on and pulled my husband to the side for screening because of his watch, and they just yelled us to leave everything on.

I'm PreCheck, so I don't know if this pertains to all TSA lanes, The last three times I have flown (since March), in 5 of 6 airports (only Kerflavik in Iceland did not do this) I start to remove my watch and they stop me and say "You don't need to remove that". I say "It sets off your detectors". They say "please just go through". Then I set off the detectors, they wand me, and hand examine my watch.

Newark, Atlanta, Dallas-Forth Worth, JFK, Grand Cayman - Same thing in each airport.

-dave

 

[Phonedave]

Here's one of my pet peeves: please don't be that guy (in tight, coach seating) who reclines his seat back so far, that it's practically in the face of the passenger in the row behind hm!

I'm 6'4" and while I don't particularly like it, I tolerate people reclining their seat - if they are going to sleep / recline. It's when they immediately recline the seat back as soon as they are allowed to, then put down their tray table, set up their tablet, and watch a movie while leaning forward so they can see the screen. WHY DID THEY HAVE TO RECLINE THE SEAT BACK?

Oh, and if you are going to recline, let the person behind you know before you do, or at least recline slowly. The person behind may have stuff on the tray table, and when you recline the seat at Mach 5, everything goes flying into their lap. It never happened to me, but I have also seen people have tablets / laptops get wedged between the tray table and the recessed area of the seat during a violent recline.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

I'm PreCheck, so I don't know if this pertains to all TSA lanes, The last three times I have flown (since March), in 5 of 6 airports (only Kerflavik in Iceland did not do this) I start to remove my watch and they stop me and say "You don't need to remove that". I say "It sets off your detectors". They say "please just go through". Then I set off the detectors, they wand me, and hand examine my watch.

Newark, Atlanta, Dallas-Forth Worth, JFK, Grand Cayman - Same thing in each airport.

-dave

I know , it's like they just want to slow things down.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

I'm 6'4" and while I don't particularly like it, I tolerate people reclining their seat - if they are going to sleep / recline. It's when they immediately recline the seat back as soon as they are allowed to, then put down their tray table, set up their tablet, and watch a movie while leaning forward so they can see the screen. WHY DID THEY HAVE TO RECLINE THE SEAT BACK?

Oh, and if you are going to recline, let the person behind you know before you do, or at least recline slowly. The person behind may have stuff on the tray table, and when you recline the seat at Mach 5, everything goes flying into their lap. It never happened to me, but I have also seen people have tablets / laptops get wedged between the tray table and the recessed area of the seat during a violent recline.

I saw a laptop go flying into the isle, drinks spilt in people lap, but my favorite was when the mach 5 recline into my knees caused me to violently twist my knee trying to escape it and I got a torn meniscus on my way to Disney world, the land of walking, I think people should have a little common courtesy when you see someone tall or long legged behind you don't recline, it's not that much more comfortable for you and much more comfortable for the person behind you.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

Sorry, but the whole allergens thing... no. If I want peanuts on an airplane then I’m not going to ponder the 4% of people who have an allergy and perhaps the sub 1% who are allergic without touch. I’m not cracking shells and leaving everything on the floor.

I understand but I sure would not want to be that person who caused that 1% to die. When I was in high school a girl died because someone threw away a snickers wrapper in the trash can in the classroom.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Andy Richter Shames ‘F**ker' Over Gag-Inducing Violation Of Airplane Etiquette

“When he just put them back up I decided f**k it, I’m tweeting."

www.huffpost.com

 

[Raineman]

Everything in this thread makes me feel lucky that we have the option to, and prefer to, drive to WDW. I'd rather drive for 20 hours than spend 3 hours in a plane and deal with that.

 

[Stellajack]

Everything in this thread makes me feel lucky that we have the option to, and prefer to, drive to WDW. I'd rather drive for 20 hours than spend 3 hours in a plane and deal with that.

You may be right about that, but, I still prefer our 2 hr. flight to WDW and the indescribable feeling of joy when we see Disney's Magical Express bus!

 

[Plowboy]

Andy Richter Shames ‘F**ker' Over Gag-Inducing Violation Of Airplane Etiquette

“When he just put them back up I decided f**k it, I’m tweeting."

www.huffpost.com

This wasn't per chance the guy who went to the can barefoot (see page 1 of entries)? Asking for a friend...

 

[ninjaprincesst]

You may be right about that, but, I still prefer our 2 hr. flight to WDW and the indescribable feeling of joy when we see Disney's Magical Express bus!

View attachment 406548

Everything in this thread makes me feel lucky that we have the option to, and prefer to, drive to WDW. I'd rather drive for 20 hours than spend 3 hours in a plane and deal with that.

I would have to agree 2 1/2 on a plane is better than 22 hours driving and losing 2 to 4 park days, I just don't have that much vacation time i can take at once.

 

[Raineman]

I would have to agree 2 1/2 on a plane is better than 22 hours driving and losing 2 to 4 park days, I just don't hae that much vacation .

If you're not a fan of long drives and/or don't have the time to do it, I can understand why flying is the better option. My DW and I don't mind the roadtrip (our DD has a different opinion, mostly due to her being such an aviation nut), and we make sure we can book the extra time needed to drive. Plus, on our way home we like to stop in Savannah for a night or two to explore and do some ghost tours. Also, I'm not a big fan of flying in general-I'm somewhat claustrophobic, so the cabin size and the lack of legroom definitely trigger that a bit, and I had a bad experience a couple of years ago on a flight, when I had my first epileptic seizure, so that's kinda in the back of my mind whenever I fly now.

 

[DryerLintFan]

I can say from experience, no amount of prep makes it easier to take off your combat boots and put them back on in a TSA line in a timely manner. Very grateful that most TSA agents let us skip that step when traveling in uniform.

 

[Weather_Lady]

I can say from experience, no amount of prep makes it easier to take off your combat boots and put them back on in a TSA line in a timely manner. Very grateful that most TSA agents let us skip that step when traveling in uniform.

Oh dear - I hope you didn't think my criticism was leveled at anyone (armed service, law enforcement, etc.) who has to travel in uniform! I was frustrated at those who choose to wear things like combat boots (or any other difficult-to-remove item that has to come off in the security line) for fashion reasons, but I should have been more specific. Feeling very sheepish now...

 

[DryerLintFan]

Oh dear - I hope you didn't think my criticism was leveled at anyone (armed service, law enforcement, etc.) who has to travel in uniform! I was frustrated at those who choose to wear things like combat boots (or any other difficult-to-remove item that has to come off in the security line) for fashion reasons, but I should have been more specific. Feeling very sheepish now...

No, absolutely not! I choose specific shoes when I travel for fun that can slip on and off easily. We all should be thinking ahead like that. I even avoid tennies. Your post just brought some memories back of trying to navigate TSA lines in combat boots! Comical, at best

 

[Stellajack]

I can say from experience, no amount of prep makes it easier to take off your combat boots and put them back on in a TSA line in a timely manner. Very grateful that most TSA agents let us skip that step when traveling in uniform.

Thank you for your service!

 

[Phonedave]

No, absolutely not! I choose specific shoes when I travel for fun that can slip on and off easily. We all should be thinking ahead like that. I even avoid tennies. Your post just brought some memories back of trying to navigate TSA lines in combat boots! Comical, at best

That's why I like Pre-Check. Keep your shoes on. However, it used to be most people in Pre-Check knew what they were doing, that's one of the reasons it went faster. Now, not so much. A few weeks back I was flying EWR-DFW and I was in the Pre-Check line at DFW. It was moving so slow because people had no clue what to do. Some were removing shoes, others were trying to take out laptops, or were looking for trays to put stuff in. They opened an other lane and the TSA guy said "This lane is only for people who have done this before. If you know what you are doing, please use this lane". A bunch of us breezed through 3-4 times faster than the other lane was moving.