The Thought Of Flying - Bricking My Pants.

[BoRED S2upid]

Ayahuasca said:

Crashing is one thing, and quick. A fire, asphyxiation, struggling to reach an exit, is something else...

You're welcome.

Surely not. Most plane crashes are instant death for the vast majority.

[djc206]

paulguitar said:

The OP won’t be turning left on a 737 though, unless he’s one of the pilots.


Business and first always strike me as being an incredibly indulgent way to spend a big pile of money. I suppose the only sensible way to be in there is if someone else is picking up the tab, or if you have almost limitless money. So much more can be done with £8k on land than sitting in a tube for a few hours.

Shop around it's not that expensive. I'm currently in the Caribbean. To fly the route we have in economy was about £800 each, we've done it in business for £1100 each. It also means you get to make the most of your holiday, a day either end to battle sleep deprivation and jet lag or a decent kip and full utilisation of your leave/days away, easy choice for that difference in cost.

I'm going to Bali in November, £3500 for 10 nights hotel and flights for two in business, not sure where the £8k comes from?

[Ayahuasca]

BoRED S2upid said:

Ayahuasca said:

Crashing is one thing, and quick. A fire, asphyxiation, struggling to reach an exit, is something else...

You're welcome.

Surely not. Most plane crashes are instant death for the vast majority.

That is what I said.

confuddled.

[V8A*ndy]

boobles said:

The thing is, I know it's safe & I know I am panicking over nothing especially as the flight is only across the pond (N Ireland)

Northern Ireland you say?

You will be fine as long as the pilot doesn't request a visual landing.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/485796...

[Ayahuasca]

I had one of the most exciting flights ever into Belfast from the IOM, in a small plane. I was behind the pilot and there was a ferocious crosswind. We were buffeted and bounced all over the sky, and the pilot appeared to line up with the runway by looking through the side window. I was glad to get down.

[vournikas]

I'm not great when it comes to flying, I must admit. Four hours on a long flight to one of the Greek Islands is about my limit unless it's a special occasion like the Maldives or Cuba.

What did alter my thinking was logging on to FlightRadar24 at 10:00 GMT one day and looking at all the aircraft icons on the screen. There seemed to be fking thousands of them, all in the air, all at the same time. All those flights, all at the same time, and how often do we hear of a plane crash?

It sort of sets my mind at rest.

Probability and all that.

[renmure]

Truckosaurus said:

I also prefer an aisle seat so I don't look out the window and start thinking how far it is to the ground.

I guess you wouldn't want to jump in the back with me then. No aisle seat and a great view of the ground 10,000ft below

Mind you, you would never get me to go up a ladder

[

[DoubleSix]

renmure said:

Truckosaurus said:

I also prefer an aisle seat so I don't look out the window and start thinking how far it is to the ground.

I guess you wouldn't want to jump in the back with me then. No aisle seat and a great view of the ground 10,000ft below

Mind you, you would never get me to go up a ladder

[

Ever had a close encounter with another aircraft?

[paulguitar]

djc206 said:

paulguitar said:

The OP won’t be turning left on a 737 though, unless he’s one of the pilots.


Business and first always strike me as being an incredibly indulgent way to spend a big pile of money. I suppose the only sensible way to be in there is if someone else is picking up the tab, or if you have almost limitless money. So much more can be done with £8k on land than sitting in a tube for a few hours.

Shop around it's not that expensive. I'm currently in the Caribbean. To fly the route we have in economy was about £800 each, we've done it in business for £1100 each. It also means you get to make the most of your holiday, a day either end to battle sleep deprivation and jet lag or a decent kip and full utilisation of your leave/days away, easy choice for that difference in cost.

I'm going to Bali in November, £3500 for 10 nights hotel and flights for two in business, not sure where the £8k comes from?

Wow, for just an extra £300pp, I can certainly see the appeal of business class and I would pay that amount of extra myself. My quoted £8k example figure comes from the research I do when my employers send me on a contract. They put me in economy, and I always have a look on the airline websites to see the prices of business and first. I usually fly to the USA/Canada but my last trip was to Sydney, so I suppose that explains the large sums involved. Certainly, my 14 hour Abu Dhabi to Sydney leg was not much fun in economy, but it was not too terrible and within a day or so mostly forgotten.

[Halmyre]

Audicab said:

Last time I flew to Ireland we were on the front row. There was a young lady, early 20's, who had told the ground crew that she was scared of flying. They put her next to us, luckily my wife who is a sympathetic nurse, not me.

The very attractive stewardess kept talking to her and holding her hand whenever she was panicky, which was very often. She also encouraged her to talk to my wife while I read.

So it's certainly worth letting the ground crew know you are nervous as they will do a lot to try and help.

Thanks for the heads up, must try that next time I'm flying. Wonder how nervous you'd have to be before, er, well, you know...

Although with my luck I'd probably get the slightly camp guy.

[HoHoHo]

paulguitar said:

djc206 said:

paulguitar said:

The OP won’t be turning left on a 737 though, unless he’s one of the pilots.


Business and first always strike me as being an incredibly indulgent way to spend a big pile of money. I suppose the only sensible way to be in there is if someone else is picking up the tab, or if you have almost limitless money. So much more can be done with £8k on land than sitting in a tube for a few hours.

Shop around it's not that expensive. I'm currently in the Caribbean. To fly the route we have in economy was about £800 each, we've done it in business for £1100 each. It also means you get to make the most of your holiday, a day either end to battle sleep deprivation and jet lag or a decent kip and full utilisation of your leave/days away, easy choice for that difference in cost.

I'm going to Bali in November, £3500 for 10 nights hotel and flights for two in business, not sure where the £8k comes from?

Wow, for just an extra £300pp, I can certainly see the appeal of business class and I would pay that amount of extra myself. My quoted £8k example figure comes from the research I do when my employers send me on a contract. They put me in economy, and I always have a look on the airline websites to see the prices of business and first. I usually fly to the USA/Canada but my last trip was to Sydney, so I suppose that explains the large sums involved. Certainly, my 14 hour Abu Dhabi to Sydney leg was not much fun in economy, but it was not too terrible and within a day or so mostly forgotten.

I was going to say much the same

By chance we are off to the Caribbean in July and the cost to upgrade to Upper Class is nowhere near as much as people think.

I suppose it depends on how you prioritise spending your hard-earned

[paulguitar]

HoHoHo said:

paulguitar said:

djc206 said:

paulguitar said:

The OP won’t be turning left on a 737 though, unless he’s one of the pilots.


Business and first always strike me as being an incredibly indulgent way to spend a big pile of money. I suppose the only sensible way to be in there is if someone else is picking up the tab, or if you have almost limitless money. So much more can be done with £8k on land than sitting in a tube for a few hours.

Shop around it's not that expensive. I'm currently in the Caribbean. To fly the route we have in economy was about £800 each, we've done it in business for £1100 each. It also means you get to make the most of your holiday, a day either end to battle sleep deprivation and jet lag or a decent kip and full utilisation of your leave/days away, easy choice for that difference in cost.

I'm going to Bali in November, £3500 for 10 nights hotel and flights for two in business, not sure where the £8k comes from?

Wow, for just an extra £300pp, I can certainly see the appeal of business class and I would pay that amount of extra myself. My quoted £8k example figure comes from the research I do when my employers send me on a contract. They put me in economy, and I always have a look on the airline websites to see the prices of business and first. I usually fly to the USA/Canada but my last trip was to Sydney, so I suppose that explains the large sums involved. Certainly, my 14 hour Abu Dhabi to Sydney leg was not much fun in economy, but it was not too terrible and within a day or so mostly forgotten.

I was going to say much the same

By chance we are off to the Caribbean in July and the cost to upgrade to Upper Class is nowhere near as much as people think.

I suppose it depends on how you prioritise spending your hard-earned

Indeed it does, absolutely right. It is something I think about quite a lot. I am often tempted to throw some of my own money at an upgrade on top of what my employers have paid to put me in 'steerage', but so far I have always talked myself out of it. When I board the plane, on some plane types and configurations I walk through a business class cabin before reaching economy, and feel rather envious of the denizens within drinking their Champagne. Once we all file off the plane a few hours later though, and I walk past the empty seats and the used headphones and newspapers on them, I always feel a sense of relief that I did not spend all that money since we all ended up in the same place at the same time and i perhaps have a slightly stiffer knee and drank a less agreeable wine.


Maybe one day I will cave in though!

[HoHoHo]

paulguitar said:

Indeed it does, absolutely right. It is something I think about quite a lot. I am often tempted to throw some of my own money at an upgrade on top of what my employers have paid to put me in 'steerage', but so far I have always talked myself out of it. When I board the plane, on some plane types and configurations I walk through a business class cabin before reaching economy, and feel rather envious of the denizens within drinking their Champagne. Once we all file off the plane a few hours later though, and I walk past the empty seats and the used headphones and newspapers on them, I always feel a sense of relief that I did not spend all that money since we all ended up in the same place at the same time and i perhaps have a slightly stiffer knee and drank a less agreeable wine.


Maybe one day I will cave in though!

As a rough guide at the time we booked to upgrade from Premium Economy to Upper Class both ways added £200 per person on our flights.

It's a just under a 9 hour flight, the return being overnight and I have a 7 and 11 year old so having beds make perfect sense to me

We also have use of the airport lounges, loads of free stuff, priority boarding, 96kg maximum weight in baggage per person (we're going for nearly 3 weeks and I intend to take scuba/snorkelling gear etc. and I can fill a suitcase with the best of them!)

But most of all I can stretch my legs and enjoy the flight

Edited to add the cost of the flights alone now is £10,000, I paid nowhere near that!

Edited by HoHoHo on Friday 20th January 10:23

[renmure]

DoubleSix said:

renmure said:

Truckosaurus said:

I also prefer an aisle seat so I don't look out the window and start thinking how far it is to the ground.

I guess you wouldn't want to jump in the back with me then. No aisle seat and a great view of the ground 10,000ft below

Mind you, you would never get me to go up a ladder

[

Ever had a close encounter with another aircraft?

Not really. It's all sensible stuff even tho it is "see and be seen" but transponder equipped and full ATC communication helps as does the "big sky, small plane" theory

[Halmyre]

It's never occurred to me before but I just had the thought, given how crowded the skies are supposed to be, how often do you see another aircraft after you've taken off? I prefer a window seat, and generally look out quite a lot, but only one or twice have I seen one, usually some distance below me. Someone used the phrase "small aircraft, large sky", but you could also say "large aircraft, even larger sky".

[lewisf182]

I never use to be bothered about flying, have gone on holiday every year since I was born via plane and for some reason it only became a problem when i was around 16.. can't pin point why even! But I now visit the doctor and get diazepam to take pre flight, it's really strange as your just ridiculously calm but still aware of stuff which previously would have had your heart racing.. It's not a complete fix and I'm not sure I'll ever be comfortable with it, I just tolerate it otherwise I'd never get abroad to nice places.

[djc206]

paulguitar said:

Wow, for just an extra £300pp, I can certainly see the appeal of business class and I would pay that amount of extra myself. My quoted £8k example figure comes from the research I do when my employers send me on a contract. They put me in economy, and I always have a look on the airline websites to see the prices of business and first. I usually fly to the USA/Canada but my last trip was to Sydney, so I suppose that explains the large sums involved. Certainly, my 14 hour Abu Dhabi to Sydney leg was not much fun in economy, but it was not too terrible and within a day or so mostly forgotten.

Malaysian are doing Sydney for £2k return in business at the moment, send your boss the url

[boobles]

V8A*ndy said:

Which airport are you flying into? Belfast International or Belfast City.

Arrived safe & well yesterday morning in to Belfast int... The journey to Luton airport was fun though (87) miles for us, as the motorway at fleet services was shut & the diversion at 4am was"interesting" to say the very least....

[RDMcG]

There is no logic to phobias and lots of good advice here.

Still ,reminds me of a deal I was working on many years ago. We had to go to Manhattan as part of the negotiation. My colleague had a morbid fear of heights and the office we were visiting had windows pretty much down to the ground and great views. My colleague had to sit in the conference room with his back to the windows. I was amused.


It's was the World Trade Centre, though.

[silverfoxcc]

When i started on the check in desk at T1, my second 'customer' was a family dragging a small boy ( about 5 ish)towards me. This lad was NOT happy at all, and i was ready for the kicking,screaming and shouting show. My 'puppy walker' suddenly went invisisble.
so after i checked them in, row of three, in front of wing. ssmall chat revealed it was first time for young pax.

Left my desk, went round to the front and knelt so we were eye to eye. conversation went like this

MeAre you scared?

YB yes

M Why

YB dont like planes

M how dont you like them if youhave never been on one?

YB Dont know

M well i have a surprise for you. Can you see the sun? ( it was very overcast)

YB No

M so when the plane goes up in the air, it goes through some fog ( his eyes widened a bit)
and when it pops out at the top o it, the dun will be shining, just for you in the lane. (Still widening) And when you look out of the window you will see that all the clouds ,instead of being grey down here, are all white and fluffy( By this time we were eye to eye contact, and he was transfixed, Mum and Dad just standing back listening) and they look like lots and lots of cotton wool balls ,BUT BIG!,and do you know what i waned to do the first time i saw them? ( shaking of hed)
I anted to jump out and bounce on them', he starts to giggle,but they wouldnt let me, so i had to sit and watch all the tings on the ground through the gaps in them. Does your dad drive fst?
YB Yes

M well you can tell him him that the plane will go along the ground fster than he has EVER been.
AND i have given you the window seat so you can see everything. Here are your tickets. you nned to show them to that man ( security entrance)

Then lad grabbed both parent hands and pulled them toward securiy shouting, i wan to see the cottomn wool blls and all the other things, and Daddy that man says the plane goes faster than you.

Parents looked at me and said 'have you got kids?, said yes, and they just nodded and said thank you for everything.
I felt as if i had won the lottery,one satisified child.

My walker then reappered and said, you dont need me, and walked off.

Chucked in in a week later when i aw what the rosters were. horses get more time off between shifts than we did. But i loved every minute of it.


OP go ahead nothing at all to fear, and enjoy it