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10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 [Next] - If the air gets too dry in the plane, wet some paper towels and breathe through the wet towels. 21-Apr-2001 Simin Wang ID40 - Evian spray - the greatest invention ever for air travel! Great way to freshen up and moisturize your skin. Especially useful if your nose feels so dry that it hurts. 1-Jan-2000 Cindy Tang ID1200 - Most people have a fear of heights. This is a reasonable survival trait! However, when coupled with extreme media coverage of disasters, this can lead to very debilitating fear of flying. Furthermore, for many people, not having any control of the plane makes the fear worse. This is not unlike how one usually worries more as a passenger in a car than as a driver of a car. This is not necessarily a rational fear, if looked at in the context of all possible hazards. There are far fewer fatalities per airline passenger-mile than there are per automobile driver-mile. This is probably due in part to the fact that someone else is doing the driving, and that someone else has been extremely well trained, is not tired, is not drunk, and has a backup in case he or she spills coffee in his or her lap. Knowing a little bit about aerodynamics can sometimes reduce your anxiety. Despite what we all learned from watching Saturday morning cartoons, you do not hang in the air until you look down, you can not run into and become part of a painting, and, in particular, you do not go straight down the moment you run out of speed. Cartoon Laws Of Motion do not apply in The Real World. Even if airplanes flew like bricks, the plane would cover quite a few horizontal miles were it to fall. But planes are not bricks, they are sideways sails. Lift is generated by the forward motion of the plane, so the plane does not even fall as fast as a brick. In the time that it takes for the airplane to get to the ground, the pilots have quite a bit of time to search around for a convenient highway to land on. Captain Tom Bunn, who is both an airline captain and a licensed therapist, tells me that a 747 at cruising altitude that lost all power to all engines would have about 132 miles to find a suitable road on which to make an emergency landing. Captain Bunn is president of SOAR, which counsels people with fear of flying. (A friend of mine swears that the way to conquer fear of flying is to take soaring or hang-gliding lessons so you can feel the force of the lift. Windsurfing might also help.) Furthermore, commercial jets always have at least two (and usually three) engines. The chances of two failing simultaneously are very, very slim. So relax. Personally, I lost all fear of flying after living close to an airport for a few years. The airplanes kept going up and they kept landing. They kept going up, and they kept landing. Over and over and over again, hundreds of times per day. And never once did a plane crash at that airport. This made me understand at a very visceral level just how safe air travel is. If all this logic doesn't help you, join the ranks of thousands and do what they do: get drunk before you get on the plane! (Note: I got some pretty irate email from an airline steward complaining about how awful drunkards were to deal with on the plane. If you aren't a happy drunk, booze might not be the best relaxant.) 12-Nov-2005 Tim Matthews ID1538 - Food on airlines is about what you would expect, considering that all the food must be prepared ahead of time and served to a large number of people with very different taste preferences. It is amazing that the food is as good as it is, but still, it frequently will not please you. U.S. carriers are pretty good about accommodating standard dietary preferences, but you have to help them out. If you are vegetarian or keep kosher, tell your travel agent when you purchase the ticket, and the airlines will usually accommodate you. If you have food allergies, you are probably safest bringing your own food with you. (In fact, even if you eat anything, you are probably better off bringing your own food with you!) Be advised that many countries have import restrictions on foods; If you bring food, be sure that you either finish it all on the plane or make sure that it will clear customs. Morley Selver suggests never getting on an airplane hungry. You might think you will get a meal shortly, but the following could happen: 1) Everyone boards the aircraft, then they decide they have to fix something. They are not sure how long it will take, therefore nobody is allowed off. 2) You take off on a 3-hour flight that has 2-1/2 hrs of turbulence where the flight crew is not allowed to serve meals. 3) You do not like the food. 4) There is an electrical problem with the galley and you're half of the plane does not get a meal. The best bet is to eat before you get on or take something you can snack on (e.g. a granola bar). If you take two, you may be able to sell one for a few bucks! :-) 12-Nov-2005 Tim Matthews ID1537 - I always carry on board while I'm travelling by air overseas: many magazines, crosswords, and some stuff so that I can have fun during the flight that may happen to be very long and borring. I always also carry a book, and depending on the weight of my hand baggage, I 'forget' all the stuff like: magazines, crosswords, etc. ... on board. That way I'll not have to carry a heavy load and during the flight I'll have heaps of fun with my things. 21-Apr-2001 Celso Cardoso ID83 Would You Like to Add a Travel Tip?We welcome QUALITY travel tips from our users.Note: you will be required to enter the characters from a security image, so please make sure that you have your browser set to view images. (This measure was necessary to reduce spam.) You will be able to provide your URL, if applicable. Submit your travel tips and hints here. |
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