Dopers: Share your airport/flying experiences!

[js_africanus]

@GorillaMan

If you’ve got a belt on with a buckle, take it off and put it in your hand luggage before going through the metal detector. Saves an embarassing couple of minutes.

And clean underwear if you’ve lost weight recently…what with your pants falling down and all. So I better get a belt sans metal buckle before going to Ireland. Good call!

[Mama_Zappa]

Lessee: There was the time flying into JFK on a 40-seater, we got hit with the backwash of a jet 10+ miles ahead of us, and the entire plane lurched. The flight attendant was briefly airborne within the plane.

And the time we landed in Philly after a cross-country flight. Supposed to land there, then take off shortly for a flight to Washington DC. Same plane. Well, they announced “Everyone has to leave the plane for a few minutes then return”. As we headed out of the jetway someone at the end said “Go pick up your luggage at Baggage Carousel #3”. Supposedly the plane had mechanical problems and had to be towed away from the gate. We waited 2+ hours for them to organize busses down to DC, then they said “Buses leaving now, no time to run to the bathroom”. We were travelling with 3 young children. We got in at 1 AM. On a bus driven by a speed demon, through the rain, down assorted highways. I was terrified. Seriously considered calling 911 on my cell phone and asking the police to locate the van and pull it over. Obviously we survived.

And there was the time I flew cross-country after a hectic day, with no time to eat lunch. On a 747. Where the food had to come up some sort of “lift” from wherever it was warmed up. And the lift broke. So we got no food. Oh well, the drinks were free that flight.

[SkipMagic]

In LAX, on the way back from our Vegas wedding, auntie em bought me my first ever Playboy. (Which is to say that, yep, I’d seen them before, just never actually “owned” one.)

I’m still trying to decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

[angelicate]

@DMark

I wish, the first time I had flown in a large plane, that someone would have told me that the sounds are normal. That horrible crunching noise after take-off is simply the wheels going into the bottom of the plane. Same when the wheels come down. The sound of engines going louder and then quieter is normal…simply putting their foot on the gas, so to speak. And a rough ride is nothing to be afraid of…planes are designed for pretty wild weather, and just consider it a really cool roller coaster ride.

I was going to mention this. I was completely terrified of flying when I started. We took off and I held my husband’s (Well, fiancee, we were flying to our wedding.) hand so tightly that I thought I’d break his fingers. Then, we start to land and I thought everything was going well until I heard a loud noise and felt something, and I thought “Oh crap, the plane broke!” Then, we landed, or I thought we did. Then, we actually landed and I felt the big “thunk” of the plane actually touching the ground and I thought something bad had happened again.
I’m still not completely confortable flying, and I’ve done it numerous times since then, but I make myself feel better by thinking of all of the flights that go on every day with no problems. Plane crashes are such a rare occurance that people remember specific ones by flight numbers, years later.

Definitely bring snacks, a drink and lip balm.