Fly Friendly - Tips for Airplane Passanger Etiquite
travel tips
Flying is not fun, but you can make it more enjoyable for your fellow passengers and yourself if you follow some rules of common courtesy and etiquette.
1. When in line to board the plane, avoid wearing your combat boots that take a day and a half to remove. Remove those personal piercings and heavy jewelry that will set off the metal detectors and cause delays. If you have a metal rod anywhere in your body, bring a copy of the x-rays to show the inspector and speed things up for all of us.
2. Place your carry on bag in the compartment over your own seat. A new annoying trend lately is for people to put their carry-on in the compartment at the front of the plane so they can rush off and grab it as they exit ahead of everyone else. I've seen irate passengers who have seats at the front of the plane take those bags out and dump them on the floor.
3. Try to keep your voice down when chatting on your cell phone or with your companion. I once sat across the isle from two doctors who had a loud and lively discussion about a very delicate and disturbing medical procedure they'd just completed. Yuck and yikes!
4. Remind your child that kicking the back of someone's seat for four hours will possibly drive the person in front of them into a screaming fit or worse. Take along some quiet activities for your kids, like a new coloring book and crayons, Gameboy game, or maybe duct tape if nothing else works. (just kidding).
5.. Respect other passenger's personal space. Hogging the arm rests is frowned upon. Maybe you can't help it that you weigh three-hundred pounds, but try not to make others suffer along with you.
6. Once you put your bag in the overhead compartment, leave it there! I sat next to a woman who had a young child with her (who was very well behaved) but she had all of his toys and snacks in the overhead and must have banged me in the head at least three times by constantly wrestling it up and down (and up and down, repeat).
7. Personal hygiene is a must. Please, please bathe or shower the day of your flight. Close quarters and smelly people don't mix well. It's impressive that you're going green and saving water, but turning green because you haven't washed for three weeks is a different story.
8. Have mercy on your fellow passengers who have allergies or sensitive noses. Save that killer patchouli or your new expensive perfume for after you deplane. Many folks get screaming headaches or throw up when heavy scents are inflicted upon them and may prove the point by throwing up on you.
9. If you tend to sleep, snore and drool during long flights, get a window seat and lean against the side of the plane, not your seatmate.
10.. Avoid telling plane crash or hijacking stories to anyone on the plane or you may cause and anxious passenger freak out and cause an emergency landing.
