Travel advice

[twig93]

These are from a flight attendant, posted on Facebook by a mutual friend. Good advice. Feel free to add more and/or ask questions.

@overworked flight attendant

Flying this summer is ROUGH!!! I feel like as a Flight Attendant I should attempt to share some tips to get you through airline travel for the foreseeable future.

1. Things are not good… if its less than 7 hours - DRIVE! I’m not kidding. There is nothing enjoyable about flying right now. On any airline. If you must fly, keep reading.

2. Download and use the app of the airline you are flying. You can do everything on it - get your boarding pass, track your bags, see your incoming plane, and change a flight. It sure beats waiting in the long line to talk to an agent! Trust me - Usually these apps will tell you a flight is cancelled before the crew even knows!

3. Fly MUCH earlier than you need to - a whole day early if its important!! This week I saw many people miss important things like weddings, funerals, cruises, international connections, and graduations. The tears were very real, for very real reasons, and there was nothing I could do! If you have to be somewhere, spend the extra money, go a day early. Have a glass of wine and stay in a hotel, enjoy your night not being stressed while everyone else misses their events.

4. ALWAYS fly the first flight in the morning so you have all day to be rebooked if the shit hits the fan. Yes, that means it might be a 3:00 alarm, but morning flights don’t cancel nearly as often.

5. This is not unique to this year, but keep in mind summer is thunderstorm season. A single storm can shut down a whole airport. We can’t fly through them. Storms usually build as the day gets later. Book early flights!

6. Schedule long layovers - Your 1 hour layover is NOT enough anymore. 30 minutes, not a chance. 3 hours minimum.

7. What you see on the news is an understatement. We are short staffed and overworked. Not just pilots and flight attendants, but also ground crews. Without ground crews there is no one to park the planes, drive jetways, get your bags on/off planes, or scan boarding passes. This causes many delays that snowball throughout the day. Sometimes HOURS.(Another reason morning flights are best!)

8. When flight crews get delayed we time out. We can NOT fly longer than 16 hours. Its illegal. So it doesn’t matter if you have a wedding to get to, when we are done we are done. The way things are now, there are no back up crews, so when this happens your flight cancels. (Now you are starting to see why those morning flights are best!)

9. Avoid connecting in Newark (Or any New York airport for that matter). It is literal hell. You have a 50/50 chance your flight will cancel or missing your connection. They have been cancelling flights at their starting points just to keep the planes out, because there just aren’t enough people to manage the planes, so the gates stay full. Also the restaurants are expensive, it is not a great place to be stuck.

10. Be nice. As stated above, we are overworked and tired. We will not help you if you are mean. No one cares that you are going to miss your cruise if you are an asshole. So even if we can help, we will save our help for someone nice. Tensions are high. Our patience is gone. If you make us mad - you will not be flying on our planes. We will leave you behind without a second thought, and laugh about you later.

11. Being drunk on an airplane is a federal offense, so don’t overdo it. If you drink too much at the bar waiting for your delayed flight you risk not being allowed to fly at all. We are too tired to deal with your drunk ass when we have legitimate issues to deal with.

12. Get trip insurance if you have a lot of money invested. I hate the whole idea of this, but I also hate the idea of losing money. Example: I was working a flight yesterday that waited over an hour for a gate. A family of 8 missed their flight to Rome. The only flight of the day. They were going to a cruise which they would now miss. They were all crying, there was nothing I could do. (Also a reason to fly a day early!)

13. Flights are FULL. If you buy the cheap seats you will not be able to sit with your family. It says so when you purchase your ticket!! Flight Attendants aren’t there to rearrange the whole plane just so you can sit with your family because you tried to save $100 on a third party website.

14. Speaking of third party websites and saving money… Like I said flights are FULL. If a flight is oversold, and no one volunteers to give up their seats, who do you think is the first to be bumped? You guessed it, the family that saved a few $$ by using sites like Expedia, Kayak, Hotwire etc.

15. Pack smart. Don’t be “That guy” Don’t hold up boarding because you have your extenders open till they are busting and you can’t figure out how to make it fit in the overhead. (Passengers are stressed too, they can be aggressive when boarding a delayed flight)

16. Take showers, brush your teeth, leave the perfume off, don’t eat stinky food (caesar salad and tuna fish I’m talking to you!), and bring headphones. Trust me. These things sound basic, but add to stress on crowded planes. If you are stuck on the tarmac for 3 hours after a 4 hour flight, you will thank me for this.

17. Bring a sweater if you tend to be cold. So tired of half naked girls asking me to turn the heat up. NO. Wear clothes!! Side note: If you dress like this and ask for heat, there’s a chance I will turn the AC up.

18. Thats not water on the bathroom floor. For the love of God wear shoes to the bathroom!!!

19. Don’t tell a Flight Attendant they look tired. We are and we know. You may cause us to ugly cry right there in galley.

20. Happy Travels!

[ArthurItas]

The pilot/crew shortage now is real. Summer thunderstorms will only further complicate moving pilots and staff to other locations.

[twig93]

I’m now getting nervous about an upcoming 56 minute layover in ATL. The first flight says it is 100% on time, so hopefully they maintain that track record. Second flight is only 80% on time, but it’s ok if that one is a little late. Fingers crossed.

I think both flights will be in the same terminal. They’re both operated by the same airline anyway. (Not switching from Delta main line to Endeavor or SkyWest to Republic or something like that where changing terminals would be more likely.)

[John.S.Mill]

hmmm I have several trips coming up later in the summer. one international. hope things get better then

[Gonzo]

don’t bring a bomb on board, even if the probability of two bombs being on board is astronomical

[ArthurItas]

56 minutes in ATL should be fine, but I’d recommend you not to check a bag. If you have to check one, keep some underwear and toiletries in your carryon.

[Nick_Papagiorgio]

Some acquaintances are in Scotland golfing right now. They’ve been there 5 days and their clubs haven’t arrived yet. At this point they’re just hoping they get them soon after getting home. They’re playing whatever rentals the courses have each day.

Know several people that have had to spend the night in a hotel after a cancellation to wait till tomorrow.

[twig93]

Yeah, I won’t have to check a bag this trip. There’s one bottle over 3.4 oz I’d like to bring, but I’ll just buy another at my destination.

[ao_fan]

@overworked flight attendant

Avoid connecting in Newark (Or any New York airport for that matter). It is literal hell. You have a 50/50 chance your flight will cancel or missing your connection. They have been cancelling flights at their starting points just to keep the planes out, because there just aren’t enough people to manage the planes, so the gates stay full. Also the restaurants are expensive, it is not a great place to be stuck.

Um i live in new york. Thanks for dissing my city bitch

Also, not sure if i should show my mother this. She just booked her first flight in over 50 YEARS for this coming November out of Newark, the airport she disses after giving all these reasons not to fly

[twig93]

I don’t think it’s meant as anything personal against NYC or certainly New Yorkers.

But it is very expensive compared to most of the the rest of the country, and apparently have even more cancellations than most other airports.

[twig93]

I hope your mother’s flight is uneventful.

[John.S.Mill]

Sounds like you can smuggle a lot of alcohol during this mayhem. I shall keep this in mind.

[ao_fan]

i don’t want to jinx it, but i’ve flown a few times recently out of LGA and none of my flights were cancelled. flying again july 4 weekend. my flight back is 8pm, so entirely contrary to her advice. not ideal because the cab line in LGA at midnight on a sunday is INSANE!

oh actually my flight there is at 5, so both legs of the trip are contrary to her advice.

I’m not a morning person. there is no way i’m taking that advice and setting any alarms for 3am. i refuse to fly in the morning at all. i always stay up late the night before packing and if i fly in the morning i’m guaranteed to be a zombie all day.

[NerdAlert]

My fear of flying and resulting stubborn insistence on driving anywhere is finally paying off. We had zero issues getting to and from our destination last weekend.

[twig93]

Well I am not afraid of flying, but I do like a good old-fashioned road trip. Flying is OK if you go first class but lees OK otherwise. I usually just book first class.

I cheaped out on my upcoming trip and booked coach. Got complimentary upgrades to Comfort Plus on the flights out, but just downgraded from a middle seat in Comfort Plus to an exit row window seat in coach for the shorter flight. No free booze, but I think I’d rather have the window. Looking good for a first class upgrade on the longer flight, but we’ll see. I could theoretically get the first class upgrade on the shorter flight but there’s only one seat left in first, so it seems unlikely.

Driving is supposed to be better for the environment, even in most single-occupant vehicles. So you can also take comfort in knowing that you’re selecting the greener mode of transit.

[Cooke]

Just want to say this is not unique to the US: most other countries are experiencing similar issues with plane travel. For example, Pearson Airport in Toronto may be as bad as Newark this summer. Unbelievable chaos there.

[OutdoormanNowActuary]

@NerdAlert

My fear of flying and resulting stubborn insistence on driving anywhere is finally paying off. We had zero issues getting to and from our destination last weekend.

Same!

[ArthurItas]

I’m typically indifferent between driving and flying somewhere around the 6 hour drive time mark. Depends on other factors too of course. 6 hour drive or take connecting flights? Driving. 7 hour drive but would like to bring the dog or lots of stuff? Driving. Flight cost, number of daily nonstops, will I need a car at destination, and time to/from airport at both ends are also important considerations among others.

[T-roy]

Ugh, My red line is 6 hours. But I get it. I can change to 7 hours
Great advice!

[twig93]

Yeah, will you need a car when you get there is huge. Renting a car is considerable extra time and expense.

Another one is how close / easy is it to get from your home to the origin airport and the destination airport to your actual final destination.