# The Mile High Club -- what's the thrill? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489 "2005-10-10T02:40:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/1 "2005-10-10T02:40:52Z")
Someone recently told me the point of the mile-high club was the intensity of the orgasm, due to oxygen deprivation. I said no, there’s no physiological element involved, it’s all about doing it in a semi-public situation. What’s the straight dope on this? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/2 "2005-10-10T02:44:32Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Someone recently told me the point of the mile-high club was the intensity of the orgasm, due to oxygen deprivation. I said no, there’s no physiological element involved, it’s all about doing it in a semi-public situation. > > What’s the straight dope on this? Well, you’re right that it’s definitely not the former. Otherwise everyone would have moved to Denver by now. As for what makes it a thrill psychologically, I suspect that depends on the individual psyches involved. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/3 "2005-10-10T02:48:33Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Well, you’re right that it’s definitely not the former. Otherwise everyone would have moved to Denver by now. > > As for what makes it a thrill psychologically, I suspect that depends on the individual psyches involved. Ha! Thanks, **Q** – I looooooooove being right! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/4 "2005-10-10T02:50:12Z")
Oxygen deprivation? In a modern pressurized airplane? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/5 "2005-10-10T02:51:03Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Someone recently told me the point of the mile-high club was the intensity of the orgasm, due to oxygen deprivation. I said no, there’s no physiological element involved, it’s all about doing it in a semi-public situation. > > What’s the straight dope on this? Well, there won’t be any oxygen deprivation because the airplane cabins are pressurized. I suppose if there was a catastrophic depressurization it could be a factor - and an additional incentive to make with the hanky-panky. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/6 "2005-10-10T02:58:07Z")
Crap. Talk about some fast replies. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/7 "2005-10-10T02:59:57Z")
I don’t think its either the O[sub]2[/sub] thing or the semi-public thrill-thing. I think its just the bragging rights thing. I’m guessing this term first came about in the late 60s/early 70s before airline deregulation made flying cheap. IOW it was just something else the so-called ‘jet-set’ could do that you couldn’t… ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/8 "2005-10-10T03:02:32Z")
> [@Hail Ants](#): > > I’m guessing this term first came about in the late 60s/early 70s before airline deregulation made flying cheap. The story I’ve heard is that it came about during the early years of flying, and the sport was to bring up a woman in your plane and manage to seduce and have sex with her before the plane crashed. No autopilot back then. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/9 "2005-10-10T03:16:35Z")
There are some [flight services](http://67.15.5.133/flights.html) that will take you on a personal ride to bliss for a fee. It seems to defeat the purpose to me but whatever works for you. I always liked the “top-floor” club. You get in an elevator in a tall building during a non-busy time of day. Have whatever you deem successful sex before it reaches the top. Emergency stop buttons and unplanned people trying to get on make for fun times. Most of that stuff is easy if you just don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/10 "2005-10-10T03:26:59Z")
I found this in a discussion group over at [The Phrase Finder](http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/26/messages/870.html) > [@](#): > > mile high club, the A fantasy club for which the only criterion of membership is that a person has been fortunate enough to have had sexual intercourse whilst flying as a passenger on a plane. First heard during the international flight boom of the early seventies and swiftly picked up by popular newspapers in the US and the UK. Still very popular (presumably people are ‘joining’ every day as air traffic steadily increases). Gays are also eligible, withh the captain’s announcement ‘we are now cruising at 30,000 feet’ often causing amusement on US flights. One memorable British equivalent is the ‘three foot six high club’ whose members join by having sex during a British Rail journey (Nic Van Hear, 1980), although this club has as yet escaped the newspapers’ attention. > From _The Slanguage of Sex_ (1984) by Brigid McConville & John Shearlaw > > Mile-high club. A notional ‘club’ evolving in the 1970s of those who have coupled sexually while in an aeroplane. The first recorded incident have taken place in 1916, when Lawrence Sperry, an aircraft designer flying a biplane over New York, lost control and crashed, although he and his lover lived to tell the tale. A more recent equivalent is the ‘mile-deep club’, whose members have followed their example while travelling through the Channel Tunnel. > > From _Brewer’s Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable_ (2000) by Adrian Room ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/11 "2005-10-10T04:58:16Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > The story I’ve heard is that it came about during the early years of flying, and the sport was to bring up a woman in your plane and manage to seduce and have sex with her before the plane crashed. No autopilot back then. I’m not sure I’d be bragging about that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RayMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e495f1/32.png) [@RayMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RayMan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/12 "2005-10-10T05:00:05Z")
Dude, the thrill is that you’re havin’ sex! In an _airplane_ no less! ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/13 "2005-10-10T06:04:39Z")
> [@RayMan](#): > > Dude, the thrill is that you’re havin’ sex! In an _airplane_ no less! I guess it beats masturbating like a motherfuck. (no pun intended) ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/14 "2005-10-10T06:14:35Z")
I’m a double member of the mile high club. Sadly my first membership was taken from me when I learned you had to have **a partner** when you join. The thrill was sneaking into the bathroom with your partner and going at it quickly before getting caught. I was in my early 20’s at the time and my girl and I had a habit of doing goofy things like this. Now that I’m older I don’t think I’d bother renewing my membership. I’d much rather spend a bit more time with sex then knocking it off in 5 minutes for shits and giggles. ---
**Author:** ![teemingONE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@teemingONE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teemingONE)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/15 "2005-10-10T07:30:24Z")
sorry for the hijack but; What would happen if you got caught? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/16 "2005-10-10T10:54:08Z")
> [@teemingONE](#): > > sorry for the hijack but; > > What would happen if you got caught? Frfom what I hear, it is not illegal if you do it in the bathroom. Furthermore most flight attendants won’t say anything if you are very discrete (e.g., do it in the middle of a red-flight and are very discrete). Some people skip the bathrooms and try to do it in their seats believe it or not. That can get you arrested. Airlines reserve the right to ban you from future flights for any of that stuff. [http://67.15.5.133/flights.html](http://67.15.5.133/flights.html) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/17 "2005-10-10T11:52:13Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > Oxygen deprivation? In a modern pressurized airplane? (Logged out about thirty seconds before you posted this.) Yeah, this was exactly what I said. He said, well, then, how come drinks hit you so much harder on a plane than they do on the ground? Since even in my drinking days I didn’t drink on planes, I had no evidence on that point one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/18 "2005-10-10T11:55:26Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > He said, well, then, how come drinks hit you so much harder on a plane than they do on the ground? I suspect the answer is “they don’t”. > [@](#): > > Since even in my drinking days I didn’t drink on planes, I had no evidence on that point one way or the other. I’ve never drunk on a plane either, to the best of my recollection. Why would oxygen deprivation cause alcohol to hit harder anyway? **Qadgop**? ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/19 "2005-10-10T13:23:38Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > (Logged out about thirty seconds before you posted this.) > > Yeah, this was exactly what I said. He said, well, then, how come drinks hit you so much harder on a plane than they do on the ground? Since even in my drinking days I didn’t drink on planes, I had no evidence on that point one way or the other. Cabins are not pressurized to sea level pressure. The actual cabin pressure may be about the same as the air pressure at about 5,000 feet. Therefore, for many people there is a slight oxygen deprivation that can cause drinks to hit you harder. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489/20 "2005-10-10T13:41:39Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Frfom what I hear, it is not illegal if you do it in the bathroom. But don’t you dare light up that post-coital cigarette afterward! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mile-high-club-whats-the-thrill/325489.md?page=2)