I am PETRIFIED this will happen again and spoil my holiday and wondered if any of you
There are a few things that can help:
1) Buy yourself EARPLANES in a pharmacy or at the airport. They are disposable and only good for a roundtrip, but really help. A flight attendant recommended them to me years ago.
2) Give yourself to sprays of Afrin Nasal spray to eachnostril as the plane is taking off.
3) As recommended by others, take a long acting decongestant.
Hope you have a safe painfree trip!