Loudy Loudersons
 

I travel a fair bit and have had a range of co-travelers. My noise cancelers plus loud music can't drown out the people behind me. 4+ hour transcon flight at night. Stink eye from me is not working.

What is etiquette to make it go away?

c|d

Turn around and say, "Excuse me, but it's nighttime and I can still hear your conversation through my noise-canceling headphones & music. Would you mind talking in quieter voices? I would appreciate it." If the lights are off, you can add, "the lights are off and some of us are trying to rest."

I've gotten past the whole passive-aggressiveness and just ask people straight up what I want. This worked on a 9:30pm LAX-JFK flight. Besides, you won't see them ever again after you leave the airport, so who cares what their reaction is? And you never know if there are other passengers who are bothered by it as well but don't want to say anything ... you'll be a hero in their eyes.

+1

Etiquette dictates that you try communicating with the mouth part of your face before progressing to the stinkeye.

+1 .. I did say do it and let us know how it went!

I agree. Sometimes you have to speak up. I approached a cell-phone VERY LOUD TALKER in the MSP SC last week ... just motioned to him to "shuttee please" and he immediately picked up and moved away to another area, and the people in the lounge area seemed relieved and said "thank you". Why suffer?? Loud talkers usually are oblivious. They need a nudge. Oblige them.

Agree that just asking "could yo please be a bit softer" is worth a try.

I would note though that there is a difference between a red-eye as you mention, and an evening flight as in the OPs case. Almost nobody is sleeping on the last westbound flights.

So it does depend some on the OPs "noise sensitivety".

[QUOTE=cardood;17297177My noise cancelers plus loud music can't drown out the people behind me. 4+ hour transcon flight at night.
c|d[/QUOTE]

That's the one thing about noise-canceling headphones. They drown out "ambient" noise just fine; which makes it much easier to hear the loud voices and screaming babies. It is a great way to eavesdrop however!!

I was just about to post this same comment!

The first time I used them I kept thinking "Why are he a-holes in front of me talking so loud!" After a little while I realized the talkers were actually SEVERAL rows in front of me!!!

I've been on flights with crying babies where I found it easier to take OFF the headphones as the engines helped to drown out their crying!

Yep. That's why I like noise *blocking* headphones. I have etymotic ER-2S headphones with custom earmolds. No batteries. All sounds are blocked (not just constant sounds). Better sound quality than Bose (I used to own a pair - they're comfy as hell but also sound like hell). Very small and compact.

I was actually an offender of this once, I'm ashamed to admit. I got upgraded next to another FlyerTalker I hadn't seen in a while, and we were having a grand time catching up. We weren't thinking much of our conversation until the gentleman seated behind us asked us very politely to keep our voices down, and we of course adjusted immediately.

I actually appreciated the comment - I don't want anyone to be inconvenienced by me on a flight, and was more than happy to adjust my volume (and then quickly wrap up my conversation entirely) to accomodate the request.

I say go for it and politely ask the offender to speak more softly - they may be rude about it, but odds are just as good that they'll be embarrassed and apologetic like I was in that situation.

If that doesn't work, try the browneye.:eek:

The only thing worse than the Loudy Loudersons are their neighbors, the Stinky Stinkersons.

Ear plugs
 

For precisely the reasons stated (about noise canceling headphones), I prefer foam earplugs. (Mac's are my current favorites. A years supply for the price of a drink). But if it comes to it, a verbal, respectful request has worked best for me. You take the high road and hope for civility. If that fails, hummm, we each have our own personality.

How about the 50 something year old dad with a 4y/o n 5y/o who talk n run up n down the f/c cabin. Mom was in the back and kind of was hoping that somebody would have swapped with her so she could stay up front with the kids before we departed. I was about to do it, but my bag did not fit in the undersized overhead bin on the mad dog so no way i was gonna leave my bag under the seat with a stranger coming from an international destination. Longest 3hr flt of my life :(. It was longer than my flight london to miami a couple weeks back. Its kids i know, but pops needed some help real bad.

Mr. Stinky Stinkerson was on my flight a few weeks ago, OAK-SLC, sitting right behind me. Smelled like a wet shirt that had been put in a plastic bag and left for a month. He had really been working on that stink of his and I ended up taking a middle seat half way back to get away from the odor... It was the kind of stink that will stay in your nose for days after if you don't get away from it.

So is it ok to tell Mr. Stinkerson that he needs to "freshen up a bit" before takeoff?