# Some tips for those who are about to go on an airplane flight for the first time ever **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 16, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462 "2013-12-16T14:09:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/181 "2013-12-20T20:59:42Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Now that someone mentions it – please, if travelling on business, fly dressed business casual, jacket over your shoulder. Wear the jacket, keep a tie in your pocket. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/182 "2013-12-20T21:11:56Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Wear the jacket, keep a tie in your pocket. I can’t go to a Big Meeting in my rumpled “looks like he slept in it (because i did) suit”. But yeah, I do wear nice chinos and a blazer, just in case. Once, it even got me a free upgrade. Still, my suit bag is hardly one of those huge oversized rolling bags. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/183 "2013-12-20T21:23:32Z")
You just need to pack Tim Taylor style with [a suit in a pouch](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qN_z8K5zvg). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/184 "2013-12-20T21:25:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by JRDelirious View Post > Now that someone mentions it – please, if travelling on business, fly dressed business casual, jacket over your shoulder. I don’t do “business casual.” I have suits for court appearances and other important meetings. Jeans for everything else. On Alaska Air flights, most of us in First Class are way below business casual. Could be the Alaska thing. Or the Seattle thing. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/185 "2013-12-20T21:31:22Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Along with this, when you’re waiting for your bags at the carousel, stand back a yard or so rather than pushing forward to the very edge. > > If we all stand back a little bit, then everyone can see their bag coming, and can step forward to collect it when it arrives. If you crowd the carousel, then other people have to push past you to get their bags, and i _will_ shoulder you out of the way if you refuse to move. I like these kinds of threads. Sometimes I know they can sound a little demanding and there may be disagreement. But, other times, I read something and realize “oh shit, I do that and he is right”. I was always the get a good spot, not pushy or shovey or anything, but I stood right on the darn thing. If everyone stayed one yard back it would be ideal and perfect so next time I will join your movement. I think what happens is one person see another go forward and it is like dominos 🙂 I would imagine folks like you sit back and watch that silently saying “You damn idiots, if you ALL just stood 3 feet back, this would go a lot smoother and you would not have to go road warrior on anyone”. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/186 "2013-12-20T21:35:18Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > requested cite > > [http://www.jber.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100107-097.pdf](http://www.jber.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100107-097.pdf) > > I’m not going to post to my documents due to my wish to remain anonymous, but here is one done quite a bit before I started in that particular area and which I worked on in later documents. Just a guideline, but the full on reports are the same across all agencies within my industry. Um…no. That is a glossary - used only for JBER, by the looks of it - that was typed using double spaces after the period (probably someone like yourself that learned to type on typewriters long before digital). No page numbers, no headers, no footers, no documentation, no author info, nothing. Just because some old fart created a local glossary for in-house using double spaces does not mean it’s somehow your ‘industry standard’. For example, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has publisheda ‘principles, guidelines & best practices’ document that has _shock_ single spaces after periods! How about SERI (Society for Ecological Restoration International)? They have a ‘Science & Working Group’ document available that is…single spaced. Canada’s Parks Agency? ‘[Principles & Guidelines for Ecological Restoration](http://www.pc.gc.ca/docs/pc/guide/resteco/guide_e.pdf%E2%80%8E)’ - you guessed it, single spaced. One more - USDA (Ecological Restoration Implementation Plan)…yep, single spaced. Perhaps you should contact them and let them all know they’re not following your idea of ‘industry standard’ :rolleyes: I’m still open to cites that double-spacing is actually _required_ in some industry that apparently only publishes by chiseling out statements in rock tablets, since I can not think of a single publishing style guide I’ve ever looked at (AP, AMA, APA, ACS, CBE, LSA, CMOS etc.) all say single spacing. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/187 "2013-12-20T21:41:21Z")
Back on topic: if you spill something on you mid-flight and don’t really have a change of clothes handy, get four-five cans of club soda or tonic water from the flight attendant, go into one of the bathrooms ASAP, take off the coat/shirt etc. and drench it in the club soda and wash out whatever the spill was. Up in the air your clothes will dry out _fast_; on a JFK-NRT flight once we helped a woman after the FA spilled a beer all over her shirt. One of the female FAs grabbed an clean t-shirt from her bag to wear, she washed out the shirt in the bathroom, and we hung it up to try in the FA sleeping lounge in the back. I think one of the FAs might have even ironed it for her IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/188 "2013-12-20T21:55:34Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > Um…no. That is a glossary - used only for JBER, by the looks of it - that was typed using double spaces after the period (probably someone like yourself that learned to type on typewriters long before digital)… Just drop your stupid fucking pedantic hijack, you bigot. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/189 "2013-12-20T22:08:17Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Just drop your stupid fucking pedantic hijack, you bigot. Pretty sure one of those words doesn’t belong in there. Fucktart. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/190 "2013-12-20T22:48:10Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > Pretty sure one of those words doesn’t belong in there. Fucktart. Your continued bashing of seniors or people who are older than you are is tiresome and bigoted. Take a fucking break, okay? Yes, it’s true that those who learned to touch type many years ago were taught to double space. It’s a muscle memory that is almost impossible to break. But watching you run your fucking piehole about how older people are teh stoopid is an _ad hominem_ attack and unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/191 "2013-12-20T22:54:47Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > No applying fingernail polish on a plane. And no fingernail polish remover. I still remember the moron who generated a massive acetone stench doing this on a flight many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/192 "2013-12-20T23:14:59Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Your continued bashing of seniors or people who are older than you are is tiresome and bigoted. Take a fucking break, okay? Yes, it’s true that those who learned to touch type many years ago were taught to double space. It’s a muscle memory that is almost impossible to break. But watching you run your fucking piehole about how older people are teh stoopid is an _ad hominem_ attack and unnecessary. Thank you for saying this so better than I did. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/193 "2013-12-21T21:23:15Z")
Also, be sure not to make racist tweets right before boarding a long flight. Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2013, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/194 "2013-12-21T21:31:45Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Also, be sure not to make racist tweets right before boarding a long flight. Just a thought. Yeah, i just started a [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=711071) about that over in MPSIMS. My flight from San Diego to San Francisco yesterday was relatively uneventful, although there’s not usually too much that can ruin such a short flight anyway. We boarded about 30 minutes late due to a late-arriving plane, and of course things were slowed somewhat by people with oversized carryons, and people who just will not get out of the goddamned aisle quickly enough. Overall, though, a relatively painless flight. That’s one of the benefits, i think, of getting away a bit early, and not waiting until the really busy flying days just before Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/195 "2013-12-23T16:21:06Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Oh. No, I need something I can grip if it happens the plane does something bumpy. I have poor balance and little strength in my legs. Tho I suppose I could balance with the bins and then if something happens I’d still have time to drop my hands to grab the seat. I’ll try to remember to do that next time I fly. Don’t grab, press; when things get bumpy, press against those overhead bins. And I say this as someone with equilibrium issues and ankles which give way unexpectedly (I’m told it’ll stop after adolescence, that was 30 years ago). ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/197 "2014-01-08T16:29:43Z")
Spammer reported. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/198 "2014-03-05T07:02:49Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > It is, which is precisely why the airlines should start charging regular checked-bag rates for gate-checked bags. Install a credit card swiper right at the gate if you have to, but stop all these selfish assholes from slowing down security lines because they’re too lazy too wait 15 minutes at the carousel. > > As for those who bring oversized bags onto the plane, it also drives me nuts that the airline staff don’t enforce their own rules, and i agree with **Duckster** that the airlines should work with the TSA, and simply set up a system that doesn’t allow bags bigger than carry-on size through security in the first place. I apologize for quoting myself in order to resurrect a thread that’s been dormant since Christmas, but i thought that some of you folks might be interested to hear that [United](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/carry-crackdown-united-enforces-bag-size-limit) has decided to start taking the carry-on size limitation more seriously. > [@](#): > > The Chicago-based airline has started a push to better enforce rules restricting the size of carry-on bags — an effort that will include instructing workers at security checkpoint entrances to eyeball passengers for bags that are too big. > > In recent weeks, United has rolled out new bag-sizing boxes at most airports and sent an email to frequent fliers, reminding them of the rules. An internal employee newsletter called the program a “renewed focus on carry-on compliance.” > > \ > > People flying with oversized bags can have the suitcase checked for free at the gate, a longstanding practice. But those who get halted at the entrance to security must now go back to the ticket counter and pay the airline’s $25 checked-luggage fee. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/200 "2014-03-05T17:34:46Z")
> [@walethijau](#): > > The size limits on carry-on bags have been in place for years, but airlines have enforced them inconsistently, rarely conducting anything beyond occasional spot checks. It was all fine until they started charging to check bags. That’s why I fly southwest. First two bags free. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/201 "2014-03-05T17:50:46Z")
The best tip for first-time flyers (and those who’ve been flying for a long time) remains: Check your seat assignment against the handy little chart posted by all the seats. It saves all the time-consuming reshuffling that occurs when a dimwit (that’s you) sits in the wrong seat and has to get up and find the right one. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462/202 "2014-03-05T19:04:02Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The best tip for first-time flyers (and those who’ve been flying for a long time) remains: Check your seat assignment against the handy little chart posted by all the seats. It saves all the time-consuming reshuffling that occurs when a dimwit (that’s you) sits in the wrong seat and has to get up and find the right one. I fly SW like perfectparanoia, there are no seat assignments. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-tips-for-those-who-are-about-to-go-on-an-airplane-flight-for-the-first-time-ever/676462.md?page=11)