Art

gerry, why does it bother you when some sits in business class(most international flights no longer have first class). I'm 6'4" and 220lbs. Would you rather have me sigging next to you? No I don't have a lot of money, but I did a lot of business travelling for 5 years and have a lot of FF Miles so I buy coach and upgrade. I actually fit in the seats that way. This way my FFM will last me for several more years as I only use a few on each flight.

Lauren

Having read through all of this, I have to say that lots of you need to be more tolerant. <BR> <BR>Yes, I have had an occasional seat reclined when I didn't want it to, but the horror stories related, well, I haven't experienced them (except when my son was doing the seat kicking--and rearranging the seating arrangement solves that problem). <BR> <BR>Think back to the days of yesteryear when everyone had a lot more room on the planes, smoking was allowed on international flights, and very few of us would have had the funds to take an international flight. Yes, can be cramped and uncomfortable, but I tend to forget all about it once I get there. <BR> <BR>If someone does something annoying, try being polite. If that doesn't work call the FA. <BR> <BR>The guy handcuffed to the seat may have been being extradited or totally out of line as a result of too much imbibing.

Melissa

Once, I was trapped on the INSIDE next to a guy who had not showered and had been drinking. Then he fell asleep with his mouth open. It was a full flight so I couldn't move. <BR> <BR>Last trip, I was trapped (on the INSIDE!) next to an old man, bless his heart, who wanted to talk about himself and WWII the whole time. Loudly. Even during the movie!! I would tap his arm and motion to the screen, but he wouldn't stop! <BR> <BR>Another time, I was assigned next to a family with a teenage boy who was obviously mentally ill. My mom jumped up after about 1/2 an hour and made me switch seats. I hadn't noticed, since I was engrossed in my reading, but she said he kept looking at me and then doing some sinister laugh to himself. Even after we switched, she said he kept looking over her at me. ew. <BR> <BR>And then there was the time *I* was a horrible seat mate. I sat next to a whiny woman who didn't want me there, and I assured her I'd be as considerate as possible. Well, I was like Kramer! Things would fly off my tray and onto hers, purely by accident. I was mortified every time I made a move and things would land on her side. She was very displeased. Of course, I can laugh about it now. She's probably waiting to post about me here.

xx

Pay no attention to Gerry. Anyone who would get nervous because another passenger is Middle Eastern, i.e., looks like Sadam Hussein is just a big ol' racist, in my opinion.

Jeanette

Within the same hour after having witnessed a fist fight, the captain coming out, the restraining of the individuals etc. etc.- we had a trio of little girls next to us playing at least 45 minutes of a hand slapping game which sounded much like the flesh pounding we had just heard. Both parents were asleep. One woman finally woke up the father and told him to make them stop, as we had told them in English and they obviously didn't get the easy message of "NO" or "Non" or "Nein" or whatever. <BR> <BR>Drunks on flights are far worse however and we had at least 5 or 6 on out last flight from Milan- stealing bottles off the carts too and going into the tiny tiny bathroom two at a time. HUUUMM!

KC

On a charter from Lyon, France to Cairo. Me, my wife, and a zillion frenchmen/women. One of the first nonsmoking flights. It was 1990. Vast majority of France plus just about everyone on this flight were smokers. People started having nicotine fits, then whole plane erupted in panic as a dozen guys up front rioted. Panic spread. Pilot or co-pilot came aft brandishing weapon. I speak fluent French but not good enough to follow the fast slang and obscenity that was flying faster than the plane. Plane landed without outright violence, but Egyptians with submachine guns met us. We were detained for 3 hours in the middle of the night as pilot and crew identified the major culprits. They were hauled off in a military troop carrier. God knows where. All I can say is that if there was a little kid kicking the back of my seat, or somebody snored too loud, or anybody had lice in his hair or was too fat or shuffled cards loudly.... I sure as hell missed it!

elvira

JFK to Paris, 3 or 4 generations of one family, including a baby about a year old, seated in different rows. All night long, they'd get up and stand next to a family member and yack as if they all had cotton stuffed in their ears. The baby fussed a little and then went to sleep...oh no that couldn't happen...they'd pick him up and pass him to another family member so he'd wake up and scream. He'd go back to sleep...and they'd wake him up AGAIN to pass him to another family member. My sister, who raised two of her own, said "are these people NUTS? You thank God when the kid goes to sleep!" <BR> <BR>El Al flight London to New York: half the bathrooms were out of order. Young woman next to me goes into one of the two working bathrooms; a half hour later, a line has formed. An older woman had to sit on a stool in the galley as she felt so ill, but couldn't get into the bathroom. I knocked on the door "I hate to bother you, but there's a woman out here who really needs to use the bathroom" nada I finally asked a flight attendant if she could open the door, the woman had been in the toilet for almost an hour...the extremely helpful attendant shrugged and said there wasn't anything she could do...by this time, my eyes are floating and the older woman was the color of clotted cream. Finally, the wench opens the door...new hairstyle, full makeup. A good example of why no guns are allowed on planes...

Toppin

Any other stories!!

shari

On a 10 hour overnight Elal flight from Newark to Tel Aviv, I was seated on the aisle in the back left section of the plane. This was unfortunately, the seat *closest* to Jerusalem. Every time I tried to doze off, a group of about 10 orthodox men stood up, gathered in front of my seat and decided to pray loudly every few hours. Not only did they keep waking me, but they blocked me into my seat as well. I am jewish, but this was absurd! There is such a thing as silent prayer! (and in one's own seat) I complained to the FA, but nothing was done. I arrived very tired and cranky in Tel Aviv and slept through the first day of my trip. Needless to say, I have not flown Elal since...

BG

How about a mother who lets her three year old child do her business on the back of the plane because the bathroom was occupied? This mother held her child up in the air to let her urinate (Splattering urine all over the place!). It got on my leg and the person who was seated near the bathroom. It's a biohazard!

brian

The most annoying airplane passengers are those like the man who was sitting in seat 32C on Iberia flt 6275 on March 17th of this year. (I'm still a little bitter, can you tell?) <BR> <BR>Before the flight ever left the ground in Madrid, this man was asleep. He snored louder than I even knew was humanly possible. This was no short nap either. He snored like this for SIX hours! I tried to sleep too, but couldn't because of him. I tried to watch the movie, but I couldn't turn the volume up loud enough to drown him out. I even tried my ear plugs. Nothing worked! Some fellow passengers & I also tried to wake him up... we tapped him, we bumped him, we pinched him and he just kept right on snoring. <BR> <BR>We he finally woke up I told him that I'd hoped that he'd enjoyed his nap & gotten some much needed rest because the other 150 passengers in coach had not been able to sleep a wink!

sarah

I have three good ones: <BR> <BR>Philadelphia to Worcester, MA: I was coming home from college in Richmond when they announced during my layover in Philly that they were overbooked and needed volunteers to be bumped. I accepted eagerly, though the rest of the mostly older crowd on the flight wasn't going for it. When they saw the deal I got (free ticket to anywhere in the US and a flight to Boston in an hour, plus a ride to Worcester airport), they were all clamoring to get in on it. They had their 12 volunteers in a matter of minutes and the flight quickly took off. When they took us aside to issue boarding passes for the Boston flight, they agent realized that there were suddenly 13 of us. One man had purposely missed the flight to get the free tickets. The agent told him he couldn't have one and a pitched a fit, managing to gain the backing of the rest of the group. Fed up, I told them all that he was lucky to get the flight from Boston (my gutsiest air travle moment ever, unsurpassed to this day). The agent promptly invited me to make as many free phone calls as I needed and hustled me upstairs to the new flight, while my fellow passengers seethed by the pay phones. These same peopel were livid to find that the airport limo we'd be taking to Worcester wasn't of the Hollywood-stretch variety at all, but just a regular old bus. i kept my mouth shut on that one as they were already hating me and there was no one around to protect me. <BR> <BR>Cathay Pacific Hong Kong to Tokyo: <BR>It was easy to ignore the 5-year-old in front of me who had reclined his to the point that my knees were pressed into my chest (despite the fact that his feet hung a good foot off the floor). As I sat by the window the lady on the aisle was picking pimple-scabs off her chin, inspecting, putting them in her mouth (to clean them?), removing them, re-inspecting them, and then wiping them on the seat back in front of her. This, over and over, breaking only shortly when the Salisbury Steak was served. I was lucky; my husband, seated in the middle, had the unobsructed view of the whole time these unspeakable horrors were afoot. <BR> <BR>Ryan International Air Kennedy to Cancun Feb. '01 (Never, ever fly charter!!): My annoyance at everyone of the boorish characters on this flight was multiplied by a factor of ten due to the close quarters and low-level of service. But, my favorite was the lady that couldn't stand to have her breakfast tray in front of her for one more minute. She scooped up the trays from her entire brood and took to the aisle despite the fact that the Flight Attendant was headed up from the back of the plane collecting trays. When the FA told her to wait she took this to mean that she should camp out in the aisle balancing six or seven trays of picked over scrambled eggs on the back of my seat. I tried in vain to watch the movie, managing only some huffing and slit-eyed looks in the way of discouraging her behavior. After about 15 minutes she lost her grip, dumping six icy half-full apple juices all over me. I looked up, shocked, for my apology, but she didn't even look at me. She yelled to the FA, "See?! I knew something like this would happen." At this the FA took hertrays and rolled her eyes at her. I was left sloshing in cold juice fro the rest of the hellish flight. <BR> <BR>Air travel affords such a wonderful opportunity to share intimate space and interactions with that segment of the population we so judiciously avoid in our daily lives. <BR> Seriously though, I am gratefull for any chance that I have to travel and accept that until I win the lottery I will just have to put up with these little indignities. They do make for good stories...

topper

to the top!!!!!