Stormbel

Here's the impossible question!

We have just arrived in KUL after a pleasant enough flight from LHR. One of the last passengers to board sat right behind us and we both noted that the odour in the cabin changed for the worse. I have never had such an experience with somebody's hygiene before.
I ended up tying my 2 airline socks together and adding some aftershave for good measure. Not very comfortable but necessary.
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What would you do in this situation?

DYKWIA

LondonElite

LTN Phobia

What did you do with them? Put them over your nose? (A genuine question because I honestly can't guess what you did with them.)

​​​​​​I'd probably have got unwell, genuinely. I sadly ended up with a hypersensitivity to both noise and smell, but noise normally simply stresses me (although it can be a lot of stress), whereas the smell can make me quite ill (as in sick, which is not a good thing, or give me a nasty headache that tablets won't shift - BO would have been in the 'sick' category, whereas a wrong perfume smell would have been in the headache category).

So I'd have got up out of my seat and discreetly asked the crew if I could change seat, explaining my sensitivity.

I had one flight where I could smell the passenger in 2A when I was in 3K on a 777 in F throughout the flight That's quite some BO, or my nose was on an overdrive even for me. I couldn't move because it was full.

Anyway, my sympathy to you. It's horrid having to smell something like BO for ages. Unlike 'silent and deadly' (not pleasant but at least it's temporary), BO tends to keep coming without a break.

I don't recommend stuffing earplugs into your nostrils, before or after dunking them in aftershave. Mouth-breathing on already dry air isn't very pleasant!

mikeyfly

There is nothing anyone other than the individual can do. It's uncomfortable and gross, however I feel this is very quickly going to be OMNI territory !

Soft Top

We've dad this on a few occasions. Many years ago on <SaysQuietly>a charter flight</SaysQuietly> a group of passengers boarded after us in the row ahead of us, (thankfully offset to our seats - would not have liked to be behind them), and they were quite frankly smelling grim, or at least one of them was. I have a feeling this was for Cyprus so 4 1/2 hours of horridness. My wife had some small scented candles in her hand luggage and we spent pretty much the whole flight with these in our hands which we cupped over nose and mouth. Not pleasant!

My wife also flew to Moscow to meet me at the end of a business trip and as anyone who has been to Russia knows body odour is pretty common. The lady next to her on the way out, (FYI - this was BA so we're back on topic), was a well spoken, educated, senior'ish civil servant coming back from a business trip to London. Whilst I was not party to it I am reliably informed she had clearly not washed properly for many days!

amt

Laughed at the guy splashing his airline socks with Calvin Klein and tying them round his face...

Vick’s under your nose, is the traditional method for olfactory toleration of extended periods of sewerage or handling decaying flesh.

Dambus

corporate-wage-slave

Vicks Inhaler Nasal Stick (or the Olbas equivalent) is to my mind an essential item for any well organised HBO traveller. Not just for this situation but for many other flight / travel related difficulties from city pollution, high altitude, travel related bugs and so on.

I haven't worked out the socks solution either, but it certainly sounds novel.

fotographer

well if you had a stuffy nose, probably wont smell a thing
Unfortunately there is not much you can do,
then again, think if you would prefer a child with a soiled diaper (in F) for 8 hours where the mother could not be bothered to change it

thebigben

The airport hotel I stayed at on a TP run in Amsterdam had a concept I hadn't seen before. It had a pillow spray that smelled like lavender, apparently to help you sleep. It was rather pleasant, I think it could be a nice addition to my flight kit.

Sam Bee

Was provided at the Crowne Plaza Manchester Airport. It was fantastic, and my other half is trying to recreate (our house is full of essential oils!).

But CWS point about inhalers is a good one. Just remembered how often i wished I had one overseas (especially if bunged up from long flight) and as of this afternoon will be added to my travel bag.

PUCCI GALORE

I had a pair of passengers who come to mind who wore jackets that made one of the crew nearly sick. She actually tried not to put it with other people's coats. She looked like Yoko Ono on a bad hair day. She rejoiced in the name of Miss Lol and they were, I believe French.

I'm not sure that I should tell this so put the children to bed first.

There - now lots of people dislike the CW seat set up. They did not. They were all over each other. At one stage the person attempting to provide some service prior to retching, saw her actually rund his side with her nose in his arm-pit. When Miss Lol spoke she spoke so softly that the crew had to get quite close to hear her. As the crew member told me later, when you go close up the smell of the Gauloises on her breath and the rest of her odours made it smell like an ash tray in a Parisian Pissotier. Other than that, they were perfectly well behaved and drank but moderately - mostly soft drinks as memory serves.

I can also remember one person who clearly had a problem with moths. He stank of Camphor. I think that he must had marinaded in it for weeks. We had a problem with his card when buying Duty Free - he was out of his seat and all over the poor girl on the Duty Free trolley. She actually looked slightly green afterwards.

With such pretty thoughts I will go and apply another layer of Eau de Toilette.

Often1

As the aircraft was presumably still open, what did the cabin crew do about the issue when you complained? It is a basis to either move the passengers to a more remote area of the aircraft if that type of space is open or to offload the passengers if necessary.

So really need to know from OP when and how he raised the issue.

golfmad

Arghh, was hoping to scroll down and find out about the socks. Come on @Stormbel don't keep us in suspenders...