By Sam
I’m an avid traveller and have spent many hours on a plane. For the most part I like flying, however other passengers can be very annoying at times. Below you will find the five biggest annoyances I have encountered while flying over the years.
These are in no particular order however I am going to start with one that seems to annoy me a lot more than others and it is something that has somewhat recently started happening.
Clapping on Landing
This really gets me and if I’m totally honest I am not too sure why, maybe it is because I have done a lot of flying, so I don’t really see the big deal with takeoff and landing anymore, but I cringe every time a plane lands and a round of applause begins…
There have been some tragedies over the years in terms of plane crashes, but I don’t think this deems it necessary for people to applaud the pilot for landing a plane.
Don’t get me wrong, I think pilots are impressive and it is awesome that they can handle such a fantastic machine. However, they are trained to do so and that is their job, so I fully expect them to land the plane.
We don’t see people applauding our train drivers do we? Or our bus and taxi drivers for that matter, so why do we applaud a pilot for landing a plane? I don’t know the answer, but I for one hope it is something that stops.
Babies Crying/Acting Up
The majority of us are travelling for a break, to relax and enjoy ourselves. Even those travelling on business will likely want to relax on the plane or perhaps mentally prepare for their work.
The last thing anyone needs on a plane is to hear a baby crying. I know it is often pretty hard to avoid and not really anyone’s fault, but it is just so annoying. Perhaps what is worse than crying is young children acting up, running around, shouting etc.
This is something that can and should be dealt with by parents. At the end of the day it is not a private plane, many passengers are sharing it and it is your responsibility to keep your young ones in order.
People Taking Their Socks Off
For the life of me I can’t understand why people think it is okay to take their socks off on a plane… yes I understand your feet can swell a little and feel uncomfortable on a flight. For that reason I can see why people occasionally need to remove shoes, but removing your socks is just a step too far.
Feet are just…. Well…. Not that nice, so keep them covered up. And, if you are going to remove your shoes then make sure your socks are clean and your feet don’t smell.
Hogging the Toilet
This has become less of a problem in recent times as more and more aircraft have toilet area with more toilets and more space to wait, however it is still very prevalent on budget airlines.
I always make sure I have been to the bathroom before boarding the plane and I try and keep my bathroom breaks limited fo
r a few reasons. Firstly you usually have to disrupt somebody else to go to the bathroom and secondly because there is always such a huge queue, most likely because somebody is hogging the loo.
Yeah, I get it, when you’ve got to go you’ve got to go and all that, but c’mon, people just seem to take an absolute age in the toilet for the sake of it…
Just get in, do you thing and get out! There are usually hundreds of people on a flight and more often than not very few toilets, so dragging out your visit just causes a huge pileup.
Reclining & Shoving the Seat
I’ve grouped two together here and these are perhaps the most annoying of all. I’ll start with reclining, which if I’m honest bothers me much less, however it is something that can be annoying.
Firstly I’m just going to say, if you’re planning on reclining your seat then do it the right way. Just politely ask the person behind if they mind. The majority will not say no and it’s just the right thing to do, more than asking it is just informing them that you are going to be putting your seat back, which makes it a lot easier to take than it coming out of nowhere.
Secondly, just bear in mind your surroundings, if you are on a tiny plane with next to no room in front of you then that is true of the person behind, so reclining your seat all the way will likely be pushing the back of your seat right onto them.
Okay, the second thing here is when people shove the seat behind. This is something that I personally find infuriating. The first thing to note here is that fuel is a huge cost for most airlines and the way to reduce fuel is shed weight. This is why we have baggage allowance and also why everything inside the plane is super lightweight – including the seat.
The seat being so light means that you can feel every slight movement from behind. So, every time you fiddle with your table, stretch your legs put your hand on the seat in front the passenger in front of you feels it – every single time.
Planes are not the most comfortable at the best of times, but this is made so much worse if every few minutes your chair is getting a nudge in the back, it really does ruin a flight for someone, so bear it in mind people!
More Travel Tips Type Posts:
