Not a scientific case study but I fly with an empty seat next to me much more often than not, when on SWA that still lets you chose your seat while boarding.
I sit in the last row w/o reclining seats, window -1 pt not a very desirable row
I have on several occasions had people make eye contact with me while scanning for seats in the aisle and promptly turn around. +1
I am nice and polite, ask the Mumpers who have met me. -1
OTOH friends tell me I was intimidating until they knew me +1
Heck I could go on forever but I still get an empty seat next to me most of the time
I got to know a 27 year old blonde woman with about D cup. She reported almost always being subjected to “extra screening”.
Since she hadn’t made the connection, I thought it best to not point it out.
Wherever you are Amanda, I hope all your hopes and dreams have come true.
There’s been quite a few small crashes where the passengers had to get out of the plane in a hurry, but no serious injuries or deaths. Wearing flip flops is a bad idea.
The trip fell through in September, but it’s back on for January.
Question: I’m flying Southwest. I can print my boarding pass here before I leave, but I’ll be departing to come home from my mom’s house with no computer or printer. What do I do about a boarding pass at that end?
If you have a smartphone, you can have the boarding pass emailed to you - you just scroll until the barcode is on the phone screen and then scan it the same you would a paper boarding pass.
No need to print it at home - just register as usual. Print it at airport, at a kiosk or while checking in luggage. Write down your confirmation number so you can input it at the kiosk.
If you don’t have a smartphone, Early Bird Check in automatically checks you in 36 hours before the flight which gives you a good position. It’s $12.50, which is not too bad. But that’s only worth it if you aren’t going to be available 24 hours ahead - the smartphone app and printing the pass at the kiosk works fine for me.
I did sign up for the Early Bird Check-in. I have a smartphone, but it’s a BlackBerry, so not every app in the world is available. Printing at the airport sounds reasonable.
Another question: I know you have to take laptops out and put them in the bin when you go through the x-ray, etc. Does that apply to my kindlefire. too, or can I leave it in my purse?
I’ve never taken my Fire out of the bag. Actually, we flew out of Atlanta last month and didn’t have to take anything out of the bag. Not the laptop, not the liquids, nothing. And kept our shoes on.
Probably the biggest change is that you flew a single engine aircraft. This aircraft has four engines. It’s an entirely different kind of flying…altogether.
You can leave the kindle fire in your purse. You can even leave it on during take-off and landing.
I always bring food and water with me. Usually a 100gm chocolate bar and an empty water bottle that I fill when I’m past security. Carry-on anything you can’t afford to lose for a few days, of course. (You can replace the second day of underwear in a pinch. It might be harder to replace your prescription drugs, or the first change of clothes.)
Security is randomly less complete than it was a while back. The people in charge of security know it is just theater, and would like to scale it back, but don’t have the political capital to do that. So they are scaling it back in bits and pieces, and only requiring the full shabang randomly, so people can’t predict it, dontchno. Of course, the TSA employees take it all incredibly seriously, so don’t try to tell them I said that.
A lot of planes have individual screens on the back of the seat in front of you, and you can select content. That’s the major improvement in flight comfort. (Hey, it’s less uncomfortable if you are distracted.) They’ve stopped feeding you. Sometimes you can buy food – that food is overpriced, but tastier than the “free” airline food used to be. Seats are moving closer together again, after spreading out a bit recently. Jam and soft cheeses count as “liquids or gels” and can’t be carried though security.
Other people have mentioned the millimeter scanner. You managed to miss the nude-o-tron, the new machines just display a cartoon of a person with marks where there is something potentially suspicious (like a kleenex in your pocket or baggy socks.) They usually just briefly pat the area that was highlighted. Security lines are moving about as fast as in the old metal-detector days.
They usually want your liquids in a baggie, but rarely ask you to remove the baggie from the suitcase. I keep a baggie of toothpaste and whatnot next to my overnight kit (which holds my non-liquid toiletries, like a toothbrush) and have never had a TSA agent trouble me about it. I did once have one spend about a minute carefully examining my nail clipper to see how sharp the little file was, but as my husband urgently called about the plane loading, he dropped it back in my bag. I have no idea why he was so worried. They aren’t super good at noticing stuff that they are supposed to stop – I’ve accidentally carried pocket knives through screening a couple of times. But if they catch you with contraband, they may steal it. Nicer airports let you mail it to yourself for an exorbitant fee.
You mean Waldo Pepper isn’t going to be out there doing wing-walking stunts? Bummer. I won’t miss the barrelrolls, however. They made me queasy.
Puzzlegal, I’ve heard about people like you and your nail clippers. You distract the pilot by giving him a manicure while your accomplice takes over the plane.
I’ve had good experiences with SWA, far better than with either American or United. They get the job done without any more than the now-usual airport drama, they have been unfailingly pleasant to me and have more than once got me on a flight out of Dallas when no other airline would, could, or even tried to.
That being said, air travel is abyssmal these days, uncomfortable (I’m tall and long-legged and invariably have insufficient leg room). I’ve had an artificial knee and ankle since an auto accident in 1985 and yet every single time I get pulled out of the security line and have to provide documentation of my bionic parts. If all terrorists attempted to put their WMAs into a titanium knee, TSA would capture every one of them! You will get to know your seat mates far better than you ever wanted to, you will be pressed up against them like teenagers spooning on a movie date. As a right-handed person, I always seem to be seated next to a leftie, making it impossible for either of us to use our dominent hands to flip pages on a Kindle, for example. I’ve learned, if I’m on an aisle seat, to flip pages with my left hand.
I’d say sleep if you can do so in a seated, bolt-upright position. I’ve not quite mastered that art yet. But in any case, think of your destination and how much fun you’ll have and the whole thing won’t seem so dire.
:(
