Questions about your flying preferences

[Wanderista]

We recently discussed airline preferences but what about other general flying preferences.

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle?

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical?

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned?

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance?

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food?

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)?

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports?

[Cheesecake]

I prefer to sit at the window in most planes, sometimes aisle though. I often check seatguru before choosing a seat and unless the flight is 2 hours or less I never just accept a seat assignment without checking if I can do better.
I stopped asking for special meals when they started to suck worse than regular meals. And I've never found an airline with truly acceptable food yet, except in First Class, which I only fly when my dad springs his mileage and it costs the same as economy on his other preferred airline (this happened once, Northwest only had first class seats left for 90K miles, United asked 100K miles for economy and 3 layovers instead of one, so I got to fly first.) If I could spare the money, I'd totally fly first on all intercontinental flights though!

My most stressful flying situation was last September at Linate, Milan. We got there on time and got in line for security and the line didn't move. It got busier and busier and the line didn't move at all. Turns out some dude ran through security with his carry on bag to catch a flight, not stopping for x-ray or anything, so they closed the whole airport, nothing was allowed to land or take off and no one was allowed to remain/go into the "secure" area.
We ended up changing our flights to the next morning while we still had the chance and obviously 2 minutes after it was re-booked they opened up security again, but we couldn't get back on our old flight.

No favorite airports, I do have some that I truly dislike, like Philly. They're just too damn slow there and don't have a quick connect line at immigration if you need to connect to another flight.

[bugabean]

window

never flown first/business

I don't really care, unless for some reason I have a very short layover, then I want to be near the door

I have ordered special meals, but have some bad experiences with this so I don't anymore

best: Iceland Air, worst: meh, the rest seems pretty much the same to me

One time, my connecting flight was cancelled, and the next flight was also cancelled but they didn't announce it… I happened to overhear a couple of staff people whispering about how it was cancelled and trying to decide when to announce it, and I just started running. The very last flight of the day was closing the gate just as I got there. I was the last one on the plane, and it was nearly empty! There was a huge crowd waiting at the other gate, completely unaware that their flight was cancelled and they could have made that one. I'm glad I made it and everything, but I was really angry for all those people that didn't. That's probably not the most stressful, tbh, but I have too many to think of right now!

Atlanta is my favorite airport. I don't have to try to connect there, though, since I have no choice.

[allibally]

Do you have a preferred seat?
Window usually.

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical?
I've only ever flown economy. Probably always will.


Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned?
I usually like to be near the wings or the back. If I can pick I will pick. But I won't go out of the way.


How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance?
I never order special meals. I don't think I've really ever had a good meal.

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food?
I think Air India has had the best food. Swiss Airlines had okay food. American Airlines tried to serve me terrible cardboard pizza just before landing into JFK. But the attendants were nice and served me Diet Coke a lot. And when I was sick they were helpful with drinks for me. Swiss Air was not.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)?


Finding out two days before my flight that my domestic flight arrived at LaGuardia and my international left from JFK. I was pissed... when I booked it was totally not obvious this was the case. I ended up having to pay for a taxi since I didn't have a lot of time to transfer.

Also when we moved back. We had problems with getting are baggage tagged correctly in Zurich. They had to pull our bags twice while we were trying to figure it out.

Same trip we also only had 2 hours to get through customs at JFK. Including getting the last bit of paperwork done for DH's green card. Then grab our bags to the transfer belt. Then back up to the terminal. We had to switch over three terminals and go through security again. I can't believe we made it on time. I looked like a mess and surely smelled. It was so hot in New York that day and the air wasn't on in the terminal because of construction. All that rushing to literally sit on the tarmac for an hour and a half because of fog. *smacks head*

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports?

Best airport would be Zurich. Very clean and orderly! Customs is a freaking breeze to get through. O'Hare isn't fantastic but it's doable and really the only issue is that it's just crowed and a busy airport.
Worst: JFK and LaGuardia. With any flights we book abroad I prefer to stay far away from these two. Philadelphia is much better choice to have a layover for a international flight.

[Deleted]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle?
>> Definitely aisle, no matter how short the flight is.

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical?
>> I've only flown in Business once when I got upgraded by complete fluke. It was on BA and it was THE best flight so far. If I could afford it I would always fly in business class.

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned?
>> Not really. For domestic flights within the US we always find #13s available so that's what we pick most of the times. The number 13 means nothing to us italians, I actually like it I love the advance check-in online option and never missed it ever since it was invented.

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance?
>> I'm the gluten free passenger. The crazy looks I get when my tray gets delivered before anyone else's are priceless!

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food?
>> I can't really say... I used to fly Alitalia when I was little and remember liking their meals but I haven't flown with them in probably over 10 years so I don't know. BA has decent meals but I must say that I ate pretty well on Swiss Air last year.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)?
>> Years ago I was supposed to leave for JFK from Rome and the flight got cancelled for 4 days in a row. It was ridiculous. My parents kept driving me to the airport and I just wouldn't leave! The third time around they were like "I'm not doing this again Stella, you go sleep at the Hilton like they offered you and call us when you get to NYC. 'K?" LOL

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports?
>> Haven't seen that many... I like Heathrow and LAX. Hate Fiumicino. If there's an option available of departing/landing in Newark instead of JFK I usually take it.

edited to remove that "read more" crap

[crimsonandclover]

We recently discussed airline preferences but what about other general flying preferences.

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle?
Aisle. I don't like having to ask people to get up if I need to walk around or use the restroom, and I don't mind getting up for them.

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical?
I've never flown anything but economy, although in some cases I've flown United's economy plus. I'd spring for that if it was under $100. Stupid DH once got bumped up to business, got to miss another day of work, and stayed with me in the States for an extra day because of storms in Chicago. ::pouts::

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned?
Don't really care where, but I like to choose in advance to make sure we're seated together and, since having DD, that we have a bassinet seat reserved.

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance?
I thought Air France's food was far above average, and I've never ordered special meals, although I've thought about it.

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food?
Best so far - Air France, worst so far - don't know. United and Lufthansa are usually pretty mediocre.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)?
Oh boy. I've had a few.
1) When we had to rebook to make a meeting with Chancellor Merkel, but they only rebooked me and not DH, then they got DH rebooked onto our flight, we boarded, and then sat on the runway in OHare for 3 hours waiting for a storm to pass. We missed our connection in Brussels and thus the meeting with Merkel.
2) I only had 2 hours in OHare and my flight was an hour late. My suitcase was the second to last one out at the baggage claim, I rechecked it, changed terminals, and the line to security stretched all the way down the departures hall. My flight was already boarding at that point. They let me through the employee's security line, I sprinted down the 56 miles to the end of the terminal, saw the attendant closing the door and yelled out, "Wait!! Is that the flight to XYZ?", panting, sweating, and looking generally horrible after the transatlantic flight. She just looked at me and goes, "No, ma'am. This is the flight to Madison. The flight to XYZ has been delayed 2 hours."

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports?
I hate CDG in Paris because it takes 5 years to change terminals (at least the ones I have to use), I don't like flying through Heathrow because I don't need terrorism fears on top of my regular mechanical failure flight fears, Frankfurt's horrible signage ticks me off every time, but I like Zurich, Atlanta is ok, and OHare is OHare. It feels like my "home" airport, so it's not worth hating or loving. I have to use it 80% of the time.

[dorothyinAus]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle? -- I prefer the window, but I'll sit where-ever to be next to DH

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical? -- I have only ever flow business/First class when I have been upgraded for free

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? -- if I have a connecting flight, I prefer to sit towards the front of the plane.

Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned? -- If I can select it, I will so that DH gets his preferred position.

How about airline meals? -- only ever have them on trans-oceanic flights, and then I'm not too picky

Do you ever order special meals in advance? -- no

What's the airline with the best food? -- Qantas is pretty good. Virgin Australia Domestic has nice snacks on the "Capital Connect" flights.

Worst food? -- United, it was awful and the service was dreadful.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)? -- being delayed nearly 48 hours in LA trying to get to Melbourne because of maintenance issues.

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? -- Adelaide, it's just an awesome airport. Detroit has the cool "trip" tunnel connecting two concourses and a really good selection of restaurants.

Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports? -- I avoid LAX if at all possible. I have NEVER gotten out of LAX on time, and there is NEVER anyone to answer questions or to help with directions. And I have never been there when the food outlets were open, so I am always starving there. And the last time I flew internationally through LAX there were no bathrooms available past the security checkpoint AND there was a wait of over an hour to get through security.

[frlcb]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle? I prefer the window

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical? I love flying business but generally fly coach

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned? I prefer to be in the front

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance? Not for me but do get kids meals for the kids

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food? I pretty much hate all airline food

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)? I was on a plane with a bomb threat and subsequent emergency landing; on Friday I flew alone with my kids and they wanted to patdown my 13 month old, and I was crying and she was crying and we had to get management involved and I flat out refused. It sucked.

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports? Singapore has a nice airport

[crimsonandclover]

May 23, 2012 18:48:05 GMT -5 frlcb said:

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)? I was on a plane with a bomb threat and subsequent emergency landing; on Friday I flew alone with my kids and they wanted to patdown my 13 month old, and I was crying and she was crying and we had to get management involved and I flat out refused. It sucked.

Why did they want to pat her down? Were they saying it was a random check? Or did she set off the alarm when she went through? I think that's pretty ridiculous, although I also think it would be hard to set an age for when it's appropriate.

[frlcb]

May 23, 2012 19:08:11 GMT -5 crimsonandclover said:

May 23, 2012 18:48:05 GMT -5 frlcb said:

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)? I was on a plane with a bomb threat and subsequent emergency landing; on Friday I flew alone with my kids and they wanted to patdown my 13 month old, and I was crying and she was crying and we had to get management involved and I flat out refused. It sucked.

Why did they want to pat her down? Were they saying it was a random check? Or did she set off the alarm when she went through? I think that's pretty ridiculous, although I also think it would be hard to set an age for when it's appropriate.

I was carrying her and we beeped. We went threw again and beeped. I tried to get her to walk through again by herself and she wouldn't and at that point they said they were going to pat us both down. I said there was no way that was going to happen and I wanted to try to get her to walk through again, and the woman said too bad, no, I was holding up the line. They ended up getting a supervisor who let me walk through first and have Lila come through after me, she didn't beep, I was patted down and she wasn't.

FWIW I would have left the airport before I would have let them pat her down. While I agree choosing an age is difficult I can personally say that 13 months is NOT an appropriate age the way they touch you in a pat down. They could wand kids.

[dorothyinAus]

May 23, 2012 18:48:05 GMT -5 frlcb said:

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)? I was on a plane with a bomb threat and subsequent emergency landing; on Friday I flew alone with my kids and they wanted to patdown my 13 month old, and I was crying and she was crying and we had to get management involved and I flat out refused. It sucked.

Were you on the flight that had to make the emergency landing in Bangor, ME? I saw that reported on the news just yesterday.

[frlcb]

May 23, 2012 19:26:46 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

May 23, 2012 18:48:05 GMT -5 frlcb said:

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)? I was on a plane with a bomb threat and subsequent emergency landing; on Friday I flew alone with my kids and they wanted to patdown my 13 month old, and I was crying and she was crying and we had to get management involved and I flat out refused. It sucked.

Were you on the flight that had to make the emergency landing in Bangor, ME? I saw that reported on the news just yesterday.

No! My flight with the bomb threat and landing was like 20 years ago!

[dorothyinAus]

May 23, 2012 19:29:29 GMT -5 frlcb said:

May 23, 2012 19:26:46 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

Were you on the flight that had to make the emergency landing in Bangor, ME? I saw that reported on the news just yesterday.

No! My flight with the bomb threat and landing was like 20 years ago!

Good to know. I'm sorry you has such trouble with the TSA people. I have really only had one problem when the agent was sure my glasses frames were setting off the metal detector and took them from me to send through the X-Ray machine. I explained calmly and patiently that I could not see without my glasses, yet she just told me to "step over there." I again explained that I was not going to take a step without my glasses because I could not see anything clearly enough to figure out where I was going. She told me again to "step over there." Again, I said I need to wait for my glasses. She then called another agent who told me if I didn't move he would arrest me.

Thankfully my glasses had cleared the x-ray machine and my DH snatched them off the belt and handed them to me. It was really ridiculous.

[americaninoz]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle?I prefer window so I can rest my head to sleep,

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical?I've always only flown economy, but would love to fly business if I could afford it!

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned?yes I care - a lot! I am showing up 4 hours before our flight to the USA so we can get the seats we want because the airline won't let us reserve them in advance (because we booked through a codeshare). I want the 2 seats on their own in the middle of the plane - so we don't have anyone sitting by dd and I, I printed out the plane seat map from seatguru and will be asking for specific seats!!!

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance?I usually order a vegetarian one - I like that it comes first and I as a rule usually don't eat meat on airplanes cause it's usually really gross

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food? all gross as far as I'm concerned

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)?well other than dd and I getting ONE window seat on the last flight back to the USA and me crying until they gave us 2 seats cause all the bulkheads were full?

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports?Best? hmmm I don't know - I like Sydney - it's very 'new' and lots of nice shops (and they have victoria secret there!!!! we don't have it anywhere else in the country as far as I know!). I HATE flying through LAX - they have SUCH a long walk from the plane to where you recheck your bags, and they don't give you your gate checked stuff til you get to the baggage area - OMG it was terrible carrying dd for so long last time - I thought my arm was going to fall off!

[expatjen]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle?
*i like window seats the best. But will sometimes opt for the aisle if it's a shorter flight

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical?
*we fly in business for international travel, but economy for domestic flights.

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned?
*i don't really care what part of the plane we are in, but I'd prefer not to be at the very back.

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance?
*I used to order special meals-low sodium, but they weren't good at all. so now I just stick to the regular meals.

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food?
*he best food I've had is on Singapore airlines. Yum! Worst was probably on delta.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)?
*gettin stuck in Tokyo during the earthquake/tsunami with our 8-month old. Not fun at all.

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports?
*i like singapore airport for being clean, big and easy to navigate. I also actually like terminal 5 at heathrow, too. I try to avoid Mumbai airport and LAX for international flights.

[anna7602]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle?

I don't generally care now that I have DD. I usually let her have the window.

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical?

I have only ever flown first class once. It was kind of nice, but not worth the $$$ to me. I'm kind of the just-get-me-there mentality, so chattle-class will do for me.

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned?

Usually just go with what is assigned unless I have a tight connection to another flight and need to get off quickly.

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance?

I've never ordered a special meal on a plane.
What's the airline with the best food? Worst food?

I think American Airlines has decent food, especially on the flights to Latin America. Cubana de Aviacion has the worst.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)?

My RyanAir disaster in February when the airline employees told DD her doll counted as an extra carry-on and had to be checked or left behind. DD cried, of course, and even I started bawling. We did not get on this flight and then I spent a crazy day at the airport trying to book another flight back to Paris and subsequently entertaining DD in a really small airport while DH lay in bed at home with pneumonia. I drank a mini bottle of red wine and that helped, but it's still not an experience I like to think about much.

DO NOT EVER FLY RYAN AIR, PEOPLE!

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports?

I like Madrid Barajas because of the shopping options. Jamon iberico and a Corte Ingles outpost at the airport, yes please! Plus it just seems generally well-laid out and doesn't seem to have a crazy amount of delays with irate customers milling about (like Miami, more on Miami below).

However, I usually just go by price when booking flights, not which airport I will have a layover in.

That said, if I can get a direct flight to a Latin American city instead of flying through Miami, I will try to do so if the cost differential isn't too much. Miami is the worst airport for so many reasons (although the food options are good, at least). Even when my final destination is Miami itself, I try to fly into Fort Lauderdale airport.

[potatopie]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle?
Aisle. I'm a frequent bathroom user and also like to get up and get things from my bag a lot.

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical?
We're too cheap to pay for first class, though I did get bumped up once just from Joburg to Cape Town. It wasn't anything special for that short a flight.

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned?
My first (and longest) flight to Cape Town had me in a bulkhead seat, aisle seat, right next to bathrooms and an emergency exit. I could straighten my legs completely to touch the wall in front of me. And stand too. It was nice.

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance?
never


What's the airline with the best food? Worst food?
South African is pretty good. One of the Chinese airlines was the worst (can't remember which). The meat was gross and the dessert was some sort of salty gelatin.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)?
DH and I had a LDR between Ottawa and Chicago for a couple years. There was a lot of flights cancelled due to snow. Stressful times. Lots of tears.

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports?
I remember liking Amsterdam and I'm flying that way in July. Should be nice. I hate Heathrow, I'm afraid of delays and lost luggage, and being trapped in that little terminal for long layovers sucks.

[Waffles]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle?
I've always preferred the window, turns out well as H prefers the aisle for his long legs.

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical?
I've never flown business or first. Would love to but it's so expensive...

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned? I select in advance: I don't care much where in the plane we are unless we can get exit seats but always try to get seated in a row of two.

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance? Nope, it's all pretty crap anyway.

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food? Thai airlines was good. Etihad ok. Everything else sucks.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)?

There was the flight back from Cancun where the cabin stank of petrol. Turns out they had not closed the fuel cap thingy correctly and petrol was leaking all over the tarmac... we then had to sit on the stupid plane for 2 hours while they refuelled, etc.

Also our trip to Venice with our mothers when our bag didn't show up. I spent two days walking around the whole town in my high heels.

And it was a bit of a nightmare when the air traffic control went on strike the day we were supposed to fly to Edinburgh - the trip was a birthday present for H to see a comedian the next day so we had to go! We had to make our way through Amsterdam by train on the day of a massive european demonstration that was starting at the train station we were trying to get to!

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports?
Nope. But I do try to avoid Heathrow at all costs.

[GilliC]

On long daytime flights I like aisle in the middle section. It's easy to get up when I need to, and there's only one person who needs to climb over me. Plus, no one wants middle of middle, so I have the best chance for an empty seat next to me if I sit in the back.

On overnight flights, I need the window so I can sleep leaning against the bulkhead.

I never pay more than discount economy, but if the company ends up buying me a full-fare I'll pay the miles for an upgrade. I won't usually pay the copay for a mileage upgrade from cheap economy though.

I always choose seats in advance if I can. See the above preferences. And I use seatguru religiously. Flying into Newark or Heathrow, I like to be in the front of the plane to beat the crowds to immigration and flight connections.

No special meals. And I skip dinner altogether on 8-9 hour overnight flights so I have more time to sleep.

Best food? Maybe Singapore Airlines. Jet Airways was pretty good too. And I usually like Lufthansa's.
Worst food? Probably one of the Chinese airlines. Or United. United has some pretty disgusting food.

Not the most stressful (because I gave myself tons of buffer time) but the most annoying:
15 hours on a little 757. The last three there was no food or water, and the crew was about to mutiny. I was flying Oslo-Newark en route to Antarctica, and that freak October snowstorm arrived an hour early, so we had to divert to Montreal. Sat on the ground for three hours, refueled, and (thank God) serviced the lavatories and emptied the septic tank. Since it had been three hours, they were allowed to open the emergency granola bars and everyone got one. Flew on to Newark and circled for an hour. When we landed, there were planes in the way and we couldn't get to our empty gate. Then it was three more hours before they could get us a gate crew. We were just sitting there looking at the airport. And that is a TINY plane to be on for 15 hours.

Of course no one could make a connection. The rebooking line was a mile. No hotel space. I slept on the floor in front of the check-in desk with a stand-by reservation for 6:30 am. They didn't even open the desk until 6:35! WTF?! Luckily I had a 2-night stop in Houston. They wanted me to stay in Newark for two days and then fly straight on to Buenos Aires but I got an unscheduled overflow flight out at 8:30 the next morning.

Best airport is Singapore Changhi. I never have a long enough layover to enjoy that place! I don't usually pay too much attention to connecting airports except to avoid certain ones, but I generally like Newark as long as nothing goes wrong. Quicker immigration lines. But when something goes wrong, that place just can't cope with any kind of hiccup.

[pittpurple]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle?
Aisle for sure. DH prefers window so we regularly don't sit together if it's a 3-across

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical?
We always have to fly whatever way is cheapest and I can't see that changing any time soon!

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned?
I'm compulsive about this. Check seat guru and definitely have many opinions.

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance?
Always (yeah, I'm an annoying traveller!). I was on a flight once where they ran out of one option of food and the other option had shellfish so I couldn't eat anything. So I ordered vegetarian for a while until someone suggested kosher (I grew up kosher) and that's been my thing recently. I agree with PP, the meat on planes freaks me out a lot.

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food?
Never, ever order a vegetarian meal on Air France. It's a standout for the worst food I've ever had... anywhere. Otherwise, it's all the same and mostly horrible.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)?
Oh god, so many. We always have issues at Heathrow - once no one was working on the 'other passports' line when I was travelling back from Santa Fe on my own. I'd already been travelling 24 hours and I was just stuck on the wrong side of passport control. There might have been tears.
In Santorini, all the flights were delayed and the passport control person went on his cigarette break for what felt like hours. There was no food or drinks available in that part of the airport and it was so, so crowded. Everyone seemed to have a screaming baby and it was unbelievably hot.

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports?
I think Edinburgh is nice so I don't mind spending time there. Almost all flights from here go through Heathrow, CDG or Amsterdam - I hate Heathrow and CDG with a passion so I pay extra when Amsterdam is an option, it's a lovely airport (and one without buses so you can always run for your flight)

[bugabean]

May 23, 2012 17:28:14 GMT -5 @jewels6711 said:

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance?
>> I'm the gluten free passenger. The crazy looks I get when my tray gets delivered before anyone else's are priceless!

When I ordered special meals, I was served last. Perhaps this is just one more way that Delta sucks.

They put a sticker on my seat to identify me as the one with the special meal, but that didn't stop the attendant from roaming up and down the entire plane calling my name to try to find me. All four times. It was totally ridiculous. But the most ridiculous part was when my "dairy-free" breakfast was cereal. When I reiterated that I had asked for dairy-free, the attendant scowled at me and said "so don't pour the milk on it." And what did all the other people, the ones who DIDN'T specifically ask for a dairy-free meal, get? A fruit plate. No lie.

So that's why I don't order special meals anymore.

[travelingturtle]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle?

Window, so I can put the window down the whole flight. I'm amazed at how many people who elect aisle seats get upset with me because I don't want the window open.

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical?

I'm economical on class of service. But, I have preferences for airlines that I will pay more for to avoid other airlines.

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned?

I prefer to sit towards the front if I can change it. Otherwise, no big deal.

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance?

No

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food?

I really liked the food I had on an AirTransat flight once. It was a spicy thai cold noodle dish. For worst food... not sure. My H didn't like a recent meal on LH.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)?

The first time we flew with W the pretty short flight was delayed about 7 hours.

I've had a million bad CS experiences with Delta, but I still fly them.

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports?

I like Hong Kong. I don't try to connect or fly via certain airports, but there are airports I either try to avoid all together or avoid because it's winter and I don't want to connect in a place that is likely to get snow.

[blushing]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle?
I like the window seat or the middle 4 seats if its just DH and I. He can't sleep on a plane so I lie across 3 sears and put my head on his lap.

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical? Only ever flown economy

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned? I don't mind as long as its not too close to the toilet queue .

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance? I have ordered special meals because I was allergic to yeast.

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food? Best would be Qatar airlines. Lovely food and they never stopped feeding you. Worst - SAA. They had ordered me smoke salmon for my special meal, but I don't think they had covered it up properly and served it mid flight over the ocean. It was dried out and yucky so I never ate it, but to be fair the flight steward thought it was yuck too so he went to business class and started stealing biscuits, fruit and chocolates for me. And stocked me up for my connecting flight too.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)? At Washington airport all the computers went down for a few hours and they could not get us booked onto our connecting flight or anything, that was annoying! Oh and when we landed at Heathrow airport no one was allowed to disembark and then the police came on board and escorted a guy off. That was stressful, but only for a few minutes.

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports? No favourites. Doha airport is definitely the most boring airport that I have been to.

[ktkl09]

May 24, 2012 5:30:13 GMT -5 blushing said:

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle?
Aisle, most of the time.

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical? I would never pay for business or first, the price is insane, but I've flown both a lot (my godparents paid for it, miles, being bumped, etc)

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned? I don't like to be in the back, it freaks me out. I always try to choose something closer to the front.

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance? I usually order a vegetarian meal because the meat on airplanes is gross... but lately the vegetarian breakfast seems to be some sort of melba toast and an apple. Not exactly filling.

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food? Air France had decent food, also Thai airways. Worst: American or United.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)? Once I was on a plane to Honolulu nonstop from St.Louis, that had to have an emergency landing (I forgot for what) in Las Vegas, we landed hard and fast, the engines were smoking, we came to a halt at the END of the runway. There was even foam and an entourage of fire trucks and ambulance waiting for us on the runway.

The creepiest experience was flying one day after the "liquid bomb" plan was found out. I had to fly from JNB-LHR-ORD, and London Heathrow was ground zero of this. It was terrible, the security leaving JNB was bad, we couldn't take anything on board, not even a book. Everything had to be checked, our passports were checked nearly 10 times before boarding. Due to security issues, we missed our connecting flight in LHR and were bumped to the next. For some reason they gave us first class (the only good thing of the day), but the flight was creepy, completely silent, the flight attendants seemed to be very stressed and on high alert. Once again, we could bring nothing on board and had lots of security checks before boarding.

And one I had food poisoning on an United flight from ORD-LHR. 8 hours of puking on a plane, while the flight attendants didn't care, then was denied boarding of my next flight for being too sick. Awesome day at LHR.

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports? I hate CDG, worst airport.

Best...I like ATL, LHR, and Geneva.

[frlcb]

May 24, 2012 5:22:23 GMT -5 bugabean said:

May 23, 2012 17:28:14 GMT -5 @jewels6711 said:

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance?
>> I'm the gluten free passenger. The crazy looks I get when my tray gets delivered before anyone else's are priceless!

When I ordered special meals, I was served last. Perhaps this is just one more way that Delta sucks.

They put a sticker on my seat to identify me as the one with the special meal, but that didn't stop the attendant from roaming up and down the entire plane calling my name to try to find me. All four times. It was totally ridiculous. But the most ridiculous part was when my "dairy-free" breakfast was cereal. When I reiterated that I had asked for dairy-free, the attendant scowled at me and said "so don't pour the milk on it." And what did all the other people, the ones who DIDN'T specifically ask for a dairy-free meal, get? A fruit plate. No lie.

So that's why I don't order special meals anymore.

I used to order vegetarian meals, and always get kids meals for the kids and Delta always brings them out first on every flight I have ever been on. I think you have incredibly bad luck with Delta

[EllieT]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle? I like the window

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical? We've only ever flown economy and I doubt we will ever pay for business class. It's just too much $$$ - at this point we can't afford it at all and even if we could in the future I think I'd rather spend that extra $$ on location (better/more food, better hotel, more shopping or if possible extend the stay)

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned? Not really, though I usually pick the back of the plane for some reason. The only important thing for me is that I get to sit next to SO.

When flying out of Vancouver last year we could not check in online for some reason. The woman at the check in counter was obviously new (had a first day at work badge). It took for ever for her to check us in and once she was done and we got our boarding passes we noticed she had put us in row 60 and 35 or something like that, like not even close. When we mentioned this she pretty much told us quit whining and deal with it. We ended up having the gate agent change our seats, and it seemed like she had done the same thing to a lot of other people as the line to the gate agent to change seats was looooong. This was a 10 hour flight, would not have been a big deal for something like a 1-2 hour flight.

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance?No special meals. Eventhough the food might not be great, I'm just happy as long as they feed me.

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food? they're all the same to me. I just want to get something to eat. Though KLM has been good, cookies/snacks and drinks even on short flights within Europe and plenty of drinks on transatlantic flights. And ice cream on hot summer flights.

My biggest beef is with Westjet. I accept the fact that they don't serve you free food since they are sort of low cost. But I really do not think it's ok when they run out of the food they sell before they come to your seat. This has happened twice now while flying to/from Hawaii (6 hour flight). One time the FA was sort of bitchy about it making comments like 'oh honey, no one has ever starved to death in just 6 hours' and 'where you late or something, why didn't you eat at the airport?' I mean if your info says you sell food then I really think you should you know have enough food. By the time they reached us they were literally out of everything.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)? the most stressfull situation was when I flew back to Sweden from Vancouver by myself after visiting SO. It was the day of the big black out in eastern US/Canada (Aug 2003). I was waiting in line to check in as this was happening and no one knew anything about it. They just sort of started to pull people (I think those who were supposed to fly to airports in the affected area) out of the line yet the line just got longer and longer and barely moved. I did have plenty of time from the beginning but by the time I was finally checked in I was really really late. I was told to run as fast as I could and didn't even get to say good bye to SO. I was on a small commuter flight from Vancouver to Seattle and they leave from a small gate at the very far end of the airport. I was running, not knowing if I would make it and wondering what the hell I would do if I missed the flight. At the same time SO was driving back from the airport not knowing if I was stuck on the airport or what happened. As it turned out when I reached the gate after my sprint my flight was delayed. Not a fun way to end the visit.

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports? I really like Schipol airport in Amsterdam. I also like Kastrup in Copenhagen. They are both sort of big open glass buildings with great shopping. Vancouver international (non-US) departures is also pretty nice. I do not like Heathrow and I think most US airports I've been to have been pretty boring. Seattle used to really suck - it's better now after the renovations but it still sort of sucks since you have to take a train and end up in a smaller boring section.

Generally we try to avoid any stop overs in the US, it just adds extra stress having to go through US customs and immigrations even though our destination is not in the US, so that usually mean we have a stop in either AMS, CDG, Heathrow or Frankfurt. If I can choose I prefer to fly KLM via Amsterdam (we generally only fly between Vancouver and Sweden) but in the end it all comes down to money. Whatever is cheapest is the one we will pick.

[clickerish]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle? Depends on the flight, but lately Aisle, because I take medication that makes me go to the bathroom a lot. Stupid. I look like a pregnant woman.

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical? I can't afford it at all, but I would if I could, because I am cramped.

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned? I get motion-sick sometimes, so I prefer to be up ahead, and yes I care.

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance? My parents used to get us kid meals--these days no.

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food? Thus far, the best food has been TAP or KLM in that they offer a variety and it's not disgusting with tater tots. Worst, probably overall I have had the worst experiences on BA, but PAL, for example, you can't even drink the water because they refill the bottles from the tap.

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)? Delays and cancellations, while lousy, don't bother me. What bothers me lately are the turbulent flights where I feel like I am going to lose my lunch. So I will pick my last flight of three separate airplanes, all with huge turbulence in 9 hours. Just to get home from Florida.

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports? I prefer to pick airline over airport, honestly, but I love Schipol. Singapore has a great airport as well. Madrid Barajas is a nightmare since they have lost my luggage every time. And I guess I do try to avoid Paris because I was there the day before the terminal collapsed in 2004, which sort of unnerved me.
[/quote]

[Wanderista]

Do you have a preferred seat? Window? Middle? Aisle? I love the window although if it's a route I've flown a lot and it's during the day, I'll sometimes go with aisle.

Do you prefer to spring for first class or business or do you like being economical? I usually always fly economy unless I get bumped up to economy plus or business. I generally wouldn't pay for a higher class though, maybe I would try using mileage upgrades on a longer flight though. Generally, I'd say that I don't mind economy.

Do you care about where your seat is located in the plane? Do you tend to select your seat in advance or just go with what is assigned? I'm glad to know that I'm not the only person who loves SeatGuru! I love choosing my own seat when possible.

How about airline meals? Do you ever order special meals in advance? I never order special meals, but on longer flights the quality of the food does factor in when possible. (I wouldn't pay substantially more for it but if I'm looking at two similar fares, it might sway me).

What's the airline with the best food? Worst food? I usually like Virgin's but then I have not really flown other airlines that are known for being good. I also really hate United's "food".

What's the most stressful flying situation you've had (delays/cancellations, bad airline experience, airport crowding, etc)? I flew on the day that terrorists blew up a car at the airport in Scotland. I was flying out of Heathrow but security was up and it was a total mess. I and another random girl on my flight had to beg other passengers to let us jump ahead of them. Then it was a hard run to the gate to make the flight. When I sat down, I panicked because it did not look like the seat I'd booked. Then I realized I was in business class. I'd been bumped up, the only positive of that flight.

I also had a bad experience connecting in Munich last year, but that was not the airport's fault. The US-bound section was the only part of the airport with horrible lines. Then, United had REALLY bad Gate check-in service. I nearly missed the flight because of their ineptitude (improper signs, lots of staff standing around and staring at the waiting passengers, one very slow passenger being allowed to hold up the only working check-in desk for 45 mins). I did get bumped up to a higher class again though.

What is the best airport that you have visited so far and why? Do you deliberately try to connect into or fly out of certain airports? I've always avoided the busier airports for connections too, CDG, any NYC ones, LHR. My favorite airports to connect in so far have been Munich and Minneapolis. I will admit that I factor in the connecting airport if I need to have one when I book. I won't pay significantly more because of it, but I will opt for a comparable fare over another based on the connecting airport listed.

It's great to hear about everyones' varying experiences and perspectives. Thanks!

[allibally]

ktkl09 - I too have been sick in and out of the bathroom throwing up on a 8 hour flight. It was terrible. The Swiss Airlines attendants were less then helpful. I had the call button on for water. I ended up having to walk to the rear of the plane. The icing on the cake was when I asked for some water and sprite because I was sick they looked at me like o.O and then pointed to it.