tom

it's been many years since I last took a flight to Europe, & I'm pleased to find that many (if not most) carriers to Europe are now completely non-smoking (or so they say). <BR> <BR>The question is, how well enforced is this, and to what degree are "renegades" tolerated? I can imagine on some countries' national carriers, that "anything goes". <BR> <BR>Would I have a better chance of avoiding smokers on some carriers than others?

Bette

Tom, fly only United States airlines when flying to Europe for maximum imposement of no smoking regulations. However, if I were you, I'd be more worried about avoiding smoking once in Europe. Best confine your stay to B&B's in England, most of which are non-smoking, concentrate spending most of your time in Norway where smoking is banned in all public buildings, eating very early in any country to avoid as much contact as possible with any locals, and avoid Germany, France, and Spain altogether. <BR>Another option is to seek help from a travel agent in the U.S. to see if there are escorted European trips for non-smokers.

Chad

Bette, perhaps you intended some of your response to be taken in a sarcastic light, but I have a feeling that you didn't. <BR> <BR>Let me preface my remarks by saying that I absolutely HATE breathing cigarette smoke. But, to recommend that someone "concentrate spending most of your time in Norway where smoking is banned in all public buildings, eating very early in any country to avoid as much contact as possible with any locals, and avoid Germany, France, and Spain altogether" is absolutely absurd. I really don't think I even need to explain WHY it's absurd. <BR> <BR>Tom, the Air France flight that I took from Chicago to Paris two years ago was non-smoking, and I witnessed no "renegades". I've heard others have had different experiences, but I had no problem.

merriem

A little of the subject, but we just came back from Hungary, and I was really surprised how easy it was to avoid the "smoking problem". We stayed at the Hilton, and they have a dedicated "non-smoking" section, there is no smoking on busses, metro, or trains, and most every restaurant had a place where we could sit, and were more than happy to keep us out of the "smoking area"....There is no-smoking on all the European carriers I have been on, with Iberia being the last to change over. Even on Malev, a code share with Delta, no one was smoking.....I wouldn't be concerned.

Ariel

I have neverbeen on an international fight that allowed smoking, and I fly to Turkey every year via some other European city. Been on Air France, BA, Canadian Airlines, Air Canada, Luftansia, the Italian airline, the Spanish airline. It certainly is enforced. Some regional carriers within a country do not always enforce the no smoking rule.

elvira

I have flown both U.S. and international airlines over the last few years, and they are non-smoking, period. No one lights up (much to my dismay, as I'm a smoker), period. The only airline I've been on that does allow smoking is -- Malta Air. <BR> <BR>There may be a few airlines around the world that allow smoking, but virtually all the biggies are completely non-smoking. <BR> <BR>And Bette's absolutely right - avoid dealing with the locals altogether - damn furriners ruining perfectly good countries with their damn furrin ways.

tom

thanks, sounds like the major carriers will be "safe". I'll be visiting Greece, and I expect everyone around me will be smoking. But at least I wanted to avoid it in the confines of a plane cabin for 10 hours.

gary

3 years ago, on United Airlines, we discovered we were on the one flight to Milan (1 per week) that allowed smoking in the last 5 rows. Much to our chagrin, out seats were in the very last row! It had not occurred to me to even ask for non smoking seats. United was unable to move us due to it being a full flight. Throughout the flight (10 hours) smokers not in the "smoking" section would sneak back and light up and smoke with everyone seated around us. It was not pleasant. However, upon return, we wrote a note to United complaining of the situation and they sent 2 $200 vouchers. Lesson: Make sure you request non-smoking on any flight no matter what the carrier.