We’ve all been there . . . you know when your booking your flight and wonder who you’ll end up sitting next to. Is it going to be a talker, someone who keeps to themselves. We’ve all had that one flight with that one seatmate, who makes the flight miserable. Maybe they don’t listen to the rules, or maybe they argue with the flight attendant, or maybe they do something to make it miserable to sit by them.
I can’t even remember where I was going on this flight, but I was flying somewhere with my mom. Our flight had taken off, I was comfortably sitting in my seat, reading a book. I went to put my arm on my armrest (thank god I glanced over in the process). My armrest was completely taken up my the bare foot of the girl sitting behind me. Her bare feet where stuck between my mom and I’s seats, resting on our armrest!!!! I was horrified and disgusted that someone would ever do that! I turned around and stared at her until she removed her feet. Luckily, I have never experienced this since!
Your seatmate can make or break the flight
Another encountered occurred last summer when I was flying from Fort Myers to Chicago, with a layover in Atlanta. I was sitting at the gate with open seats next all around me. I saw this older guy walking towards me. I kept thinking I really hope he isn’t going to sit right next to me, with all these open seats surrounding us. He did. His appearance was really sloppy and there was a slight odor surrounding him. I boarded the plane and was comfortably seated and pulled out my homework. Then I see him walking down the aisle. “Please Please don’t sit next to me” kept going through my head. Unfortunely that was not to be . . . he sat down next to me, and took up the armrest and leaned towards me for a majority of the flight. He began eating a sandwich that he had brought with him. No problem . . . until he started dropping the lettuce, tomato, and dressing all over himself and the seat. He then proceed to wipe the dressing up with his finger, and licking his finger. He would pick the rest of his droppings up from his lap and seat, and proceed to eat them.
As we were taxing to the gate he read the title of textbook very loudly (I was taking a class on serial killers for my criminology degree). He begins asking me a lot of questions . . . where do I live (I told him Tampa), he wanted to know why I was flying from Fort Myers. Where was I going? Everyone kept staring at me with this look of pity while we were waiting to deplane. I was creeped out by this guy, so when it came time to deplane, he exited the row, and I stayed and let a couple rows pass. Phew I shouldn’t see him again. Nope, he was waiting for me right outside the plane for me, and talked to me the whole way into the airport. I didn’t respond to him, went straight to the monitor to find my gate. He bent down messing with his bag, I immediately walked away (very quickly), and ducked into the bathroom for about 10 minutes. I never saw him again.
Seven bloggers share their stories of experiences they have had while flying. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cringe, and some may just make you angry.
Katie from Kitty to City
On a flight from Denver, CO to Orange Country, CA I was sitting next to a 55 year old Barbie. I’m pretty sure she was all plastic (to each their own). Right after takeoff she pulled out her Louis Vuitton; dug around for her make-up bag, slathered on some bubble gum pink lipstick, and proceeded to check herself out in her compact mirror. Then to my horror she pulled out a pair of tweezers. Now what could she possibly do with tweezers while in flight? Pluck her eyebrows? No…they were already perfectly shaped. Do you know what she did? She decided to pluck her chin hair. After each pluck she blew on the tweezers as if she was blowing the seeds from a dandelion. She’d watch the hair in awe as it floated away….on to me! Eww.
Michaela from This FP Planet
There’s bad etiquette and then there’s just total disregard for the rules! I recently had the misfortune to be on the same flight as one ignorant soul who believed all warning notifications were beneath him. Cue this bedraggled flyer attempting to board our refuelling aircraft whilst puffing on a lit cigarette, totally disregarding all of the pretty darn obvious ‘NO SMOKING’ signs. I guess no-one ever mentioned to him just how flammable aircraft fuel is? Not to mention all the cigarette smoke currently drifting down the aisle. Not ideal! Our flight attendant did manage to pounce on his before the smoke had filled up everyone’s lungs, but come on guys! Let’s all remember to pack the common sense next time we go abroad.
Evan from Pretty, Wild World
This did not happen to me, but it happened right before my eyes. A friend and I were flying to England for a vacation but on the plane we were assigned to separate seats. It was cool with us because we weren’t too far from each other. Halfway through the flight, I saw the lady sitting next to my friend putting up the armrest. I did not pay much attention to her as I was reading an interesting article about “Running with the bulls in Spain”. Next thing I knew, she was resting her head on my friend’s lap and she (my friend) did not even realize it for she is a heavy sleeper. She was in quite a shock when she finally woke up!
My worst flight was a 7 hour trip from Montreal to Brussels. I was reading my book during take off, a Jeanette Winterson novel about sex and gender, when the man sitting next to me asked what it was about.Me: Its about gender identity and things like that.
Him: Is it good?
Me: Very (as I turn back to my book to continue reading)
Him: Will you read me some.
Me: …He then takes my book out of my hands, loses my page, and starts reading through it. I ended up having to put my headphones in and pretend to be asleep to stop him from talking to me.
By the time we had landed in Brussels he had finished 5 (mini) bottles of wine and had finally started snoring. Loudly. I on the other hand was tired, cranky, and gratefully to be away from book stealing alcoholics.
Aside from my love of travel personally, my job requires me to travel from Sydney to Melbourne often. This is one of the busiest routes in the world and is primarily frequented by business travellers who tend to arrive at the airport at the very last minute. My biggest frustration is being stuck behind people in the X-Ray queue who have no idea what they are doing. Don’t be that person! You can make the difference between me catching my flight and not. I realise that everyone has to have a ‘first time’, but please for the love of God, don’t wait until you get to the front of the queue to learn the ropes. Here’s what you need to do instead:
- Be considerate of those behind you. While you might have all the time in the world, chances are they don’t. If you are slow please let them in front.
- Wear minimal metal so that you don’t have to take too many items off while everyone behind you is impatiently watching you undress.
- Pack the things you need to scan separately at the top of your luggage so they are easily removable.
- Remove laptops, jackets, phones, liquids, aerosols and anything else that needs to go through separately BEFORE you get to the front of the queue. Better yet don’t bring them at all.
- Empty your pockets! Especially coins! They will trigger and you will need to go through the detector again!
- This is not the time to chat. While I’m sure your conversation is of critical importance. Please save it for the other side.
Have you had a seatmate from hell? A moment where you’ve just had to shake your head at your fellow travelers? We’d love for you to share them below! Don’t forget to follow us on facebook, instagram, and pinterest to stay updated on our travels.
Thanks so much for the feature. So many great stories here 🙂
Thank you for contributing! I enjoyed reading the stories that submitted.
Oh my gosh this had me laughing so much! It’s amazing how crazy some people can be while flying!
Thanks for stopping by Marisa! People watching is one of my favorite things to do while traveling. Human behavior is so interesting! Everyone’s stories had me laughing!
Oh my some of these are awful! I’ve experienced the out of control kids whose parents to nothing to control them (like tell them to stop kicking the back of the seat or stop sneezing all over everyone).
I did one time sit next to this lady who was flying to her mother’s funeral. She poured her heart out and cried to me the entire flight. I am not trying to sound like an insensitive person, but it was so awkward as I had no idea what to say and just wanted to read my book.
LOL… shaking my head and laughing:) Some people…
I can’t believe the rudeness of some people. Putting your feet through the gap and on someone arm rest in front of you. No way! Putting you head in some strangers lap. What the hell is going on in that persons brain! Some people are just plain strange, rude or both! Great read!
I couldn’t believe it when I went to put my elbow on my arm rest and someone’s barefeet were there! I’m glad you enjoyed reading everyone’s stories!
Great stories, but even better closing advice. Keep flying high and living unstoppable!