I'll be going on my FIRST plane trip in April, and I'm quite nervous! Any tips or suggestions to make the ride as stress free as possible?

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• I think flying can be a pleasant thing, despite the other passengers, if you get a window seat and see the beauty of the countryside from a new perspective.
  
  Another suggestion: if you a flying alone, smile and say "hi" when you sit down next to another passenger. You don't need to engage them in a conversation; in fact, don't try to if they seem to want to be left alone to read a book or something. But, later on, if you should get nervous, the person will be more likely to say a comforting word or two if you have initiated contact with a smile.

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  by anguilla on March 13th, 2010

• Wow!!! I am shocked that a flight attendant would advise that merely by being nice a better service would be offered! I understood it was their job to be completely professional! They way you talk it sounds like those waiters who spit in your food if they do not like you! Most unprofessional!

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  by dea_ex_machina on March 13th, 2010

• Thank you for taking the time to answer my question - I find it comforting to receive a reply from a flight attendant who (obviously) is so educated on flights. Those are very good tips, and trust me, I will be incredibly kind to the attendants. I assume they put up with A LOT sometimes so it's the least that I can do.
  
  I'm not as worried about the plane crashing as I am about how I will FEEL when I'm in the plane, if that makes any sense. I don't know what it feels like to go at that speed, height, or what take off and landing is like. I suppose a lot of it is a fear of the unknown.

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  by Raeyni on March 13th, 2010

• The takeoff feels great! You can pretend you're in a spaceship for about a minute. After that, it really doesn't feel like anything. There's just a mild vibration and some noise from the engines. When jets first were used for passengers, one airline boasted that the ride was so smooth you could balance a quarter on your tray table. That still holds true.
  
  If you experience any bumps, just think of them as riding on a bumpy road. You would not believe how well-built airplanes are.
  
  The height lets you see beautiful things out the window.
  
  The landing is one little bump, nothing more.
  
  Have a terrific time at D-World! My sister & family got there today and if you write back in time, I'll tell them to hide a note for you somewhere in the Magic Kingdom.

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  by anguilla on March 13th, 2010

• Dea_Ex_Machina - In a perfect world, I wouldn't have to say so. But it's not a perfect world, and I'm not stupid - I know flight attendants are not always perfectly professional, and frankly, we are human like the rest of you. If you treat someone well, they're more likely to treat you well, it's pretty simple human nature.
  However, you seem to have taken an unfortunate implication from what I wrote - That unless you're nice to your flight attendants, you won't get good treatment. Well, Sadly, this is sometimes true, but a majority of the time, even if you're an utter ass to us, we will provide the same level of service to you, exactly as we are trained to do.
  However, someone who is nice to us, we'll be more inclined to go above and beyond for them.
  Though, I will note with some annoyance that some FAs will indeed do things such as put Vizine in your coffee, which is meant to give someone the runs quite severely. I personally think that's incredibly unprofessional, and it's definitely potentially harmful - I would never do it myself. But some do, just like some waiters spit in food, and that cop that you mouth off to is more likely to give you a ticket.
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  Raeyni - No worries. We do put up with a lot, true, but really, it's part of the job, and you gotta take the good with the bad.
  I mean, sure, I get puked on, yelled at, and have even been assaulted before, but I can't think of vary many other careers with anywhere near the rewards and benefits that I get flying, from things like that travel and monetary benefits, through to the simple stuff like helping people when they get a little scared on the plane, or the looks I get from unaccompanied minors in my care when I do a small magic trick for them.
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  As for the feel? Well, unless something is happening - turbulence, takeoff, landing, stuff like that - It's kinda like walking around on the ground. You don't really feel the speed, or the height, unless you look out the window, and most of the time at cruise, the plane is rock steady. I can't predict it exactly for your own flight, of course, but as a general rule, it's very steady when nothing much is happening.
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  Anguilla - Great tips! Introducing yourself to your seatmate is often a good idea - I was flying(as a passenger) and was put next to a bloke, we got to chatting, and it turned out that we were actually related - he was my second cousin, lived in Townsville. Gate agent put us together, because we had the same last name.
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  You did hit the nail on the head - Planes are very, very well built. The wing of a 767, for example, can deflect 54 feet from it's regular position before it fails. That's the wingtip almost touching the side of the plane, if you can imagine it.
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  I've never tried balancing a coin on a tray table, but I'll try balancing one on they galley counter at some point, see how that goes. Interesting experiment.
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  Oh, man, Disney world is ACE! You'll have some awesome fun there.

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  by Sgt Churba - Rational Response Squad on March 15th, 2010

• Sgt Churba: Isn't Townsville where the Powerpuff Girls live?

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  by anguilla on March 15th, 2010

• Thank you all for your supportive and informative answers! I'm feeling quite a bit better about the trip, still nervous, but also excited. I'm glad that my first airplane ride won't be incredibly long (it's about a 3 hour flight) and I'm sure if I just remind myself to relax, I'll be fine. I'm going to stock up on gum and water for the flight to help with the ears, and also chewing gum when I'm nervous seems to calm me down a bit!
  
  It's good to hear that you enjoy your job as a flight attendent. You probably see ALL kinds of things and ALL kinds of passengers, but it's nice knowing that you still feel good about what you do.
  
  Thanks again!

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  by Raeyni on March 16th, 2010

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