Speaking from experience, PLEASE don't bring the chicken (or whatever smelly food) on the plane. My first "solo" trip to Europe (without parents) was on Air France with a friend. They were serving fish as an inflight meal -- very fishy smelling fish. I got sick to my stomach (literally)and was nauseous for the rest of the flight. Smells can become highly overwhelming on a contained airplane.

All, I was serious when I posted this. I really thought about bringing some tasty food on board. And since the only thing I can think of that's easy was Chinese food.....

I'd like to be courteous to other passengersv too. When I consulted my husband who is not going with me, I got a lot of heat from him and of course, from this board :)

I have decided against it and will bring something cold like a sandwich or salad instead. I think I'm leaning towards a salad and some fruits.

So if you guys smell some Chinese food, it's not me!!!

All, I was serious when I posted this. I really thought about bringing some tasty food on board. And since the only thing I can think of that's easy was Chinese food.....

I'd like to be courteous to other passengersv too. When I consulted my husband who is not going with me, I got a lot of heat from him and of course, from this board :)

I have decided against it and will bring something cold like a sandwich or salad instead. I think I'm leaning towards a salad and some fruits.

So if you guys smell some Chinese food, it's not me!!!

Thanks so much!

Funny how being on a plane changes your sense of taste...I am not typically a big fan of McDonald's salads with chicken, yet a few trips ago, in a rush I bought one for my flight. It tasted SOOOOO good on the plane! I still don't like them on the ground, but it's my standby (pun intended) in the air.

fyi, I'd rather smell Chinese food than perfume!

I'm glad Tiaw... I was thinking...it would be my luck you and the Orange Chicken on one side...and some gent who was marinated in some horrid musky cologne on the other. Pheweee!

Have fun!

Travelnut and SusieC, you really hit a hot button with your rants about perfume/cologne. I'm one of those guys that finds strong perfume smells very uncomfortable. Not exactly allergic, but a trip into a Hallmark greeting card store is an agonizing one for me. I grab the first card I see and still emerge with streaming eyes.

On elevators or airplanes I, and a lot of other guys I know, are in a great deal of discomfort from people who have just dumped on their mornings ration of foo-foo juice.

It seems that I am just getting comfortable on a plane and ready to settle down for a nap after the meal, when the person next to me will get up, go to the restroom, and return having liberally refreshed their scent.

Agony! I would really prefer a slight ration of B.O. rather than the chemical attack.

:-(

I'm with you on that, Nukesafe! I have bad allergies and used to have asthma, and being around someone who reeks of perfume makes me feel like I'm going to have an asthma attack--I just can't breathe. Ugghh!

Count me in as another who would campaign to have perfume outlawed on planes. I'll take smelly food or (as already mentioned above) a slightly less than freshly showered person over someone drowned in cologne or perfume any day!

I would rather have orange chicken or perfume next to me, over a drunk large guy with sweaty body odor and unwashed hair! (Yes, I was trapped like that once. Bad karma, man.)

But aside from that, I don't think orange chicken would be that strong a smell. That's JMHO.

Anything with garlic in/on it , is sickening to smell on an airplane. (to me) as well as fish.
Lately, every time we fly, they serve some sort of bland/not smelly chicken dish ( I don't eat them anyway) so at least they don't smell bad.
We usually eat at the airport before the flight, if we need a meal before flying. I sort of don't like to eat before or during flying, a long time fear of being airsick keeps me drinking but not eating :)

nukesafe, intrigued by "a trip into a Hallmark greeting card store is an agonizing one for me". Do you get scented cards in the US (where I assume you hail from) ?

Caroline,

Hallmark stores have lots of scented candles which "perfume" the air.

Interesting how people have different tolerances for certain scents. I cannot think of a more offensive "aroma" than body odor. Splash on the perfume, baby.

Watch the sandwich choice too! I had to laugh out loud at this topic as my fiend and i brought deli sandwiches from NYC on a jet blue flight once and unknowingly, really permeated the plane with the smell of onions! It was embarrassing....

Thanks Jocelyn !

Patrick - what a heavenly thought!! A dim sum trolley !!!!!!! Perhaps after that goes by a few times, they could bring a dessert cart through.

Hi wondering, was just reading this thread and it made me think of the fellow across the isle from me on my last flight. He too had sandwiches with a real strong onion in them. It was terrible. Especially 30 minutes later when he unwrapped and started eating the second one, LOL. Being aware of food aromas on a plane is a very good idea.

A bit off-topic, but I started to feel a drip-drip-drip on the top of my head once as out plane started its takeoff from Athens.

As the plane's ascent steepened, the drip became a stream, then a gush. Seems a very disagreeble guy in the seat behind me had stowed a bottle of ouzo (a Greek licorice liquer) in the bin above my seat. Did he apologize for his lack of common sense? No way. In fact, he was so drunk he accused me (yes, accused me) of "stealing" his booze. The flight attendant came to my rescue and provided a towel. She also lectured this surly gorilla.

But I did smell kinda interesting all the way to New York.

LOL USNR, I hope you grabbed the bottle and took a sip or two!!
I had a drunk woman who was wandering around the plane spill a glass of red wine all over the front of my dress one time when I was flying to Italy. I know the feeling of total embarresement. And I was stuck in Amsterdam for hours thanks to an air controllers stike in Italy. That sure made the wonderful situation go from bad to worse, LOL. Only time I hadn't worn black on the plane of course! Take care.

Ouzo, USNR, yeeccch. I suppose if you had gone out in the rain with that stuff on your head, you'd have turned completely milky white!