Is anyone else out there a WP (Platinum FF) and scared of flying? I am absoultley terrified of flying but still continue to do so! Would love to hear some of your stories!

James

Terrified mate but also love it - very strange combination. Not a WP but have done many LHR-SYD flights over the years as well as many others around the globe. I am very particular about which airlines i will fly and even the type of aircraft. Must say i prefer the metal to be reasonably young in age...

I don't actually have a really bad flying story to be honest. Had somw awful turbulance once flying across the Indian Ocean from Joberg to Perth which saw the plane divert a long way south to avoid it. The Captain announced it was the worst he'd seen in 20 odd years of flying. Plane was just bumping around like crazy and there were a few upset passengers. I was surprisingly calm and just sank a few more reds (probably not the best thing)

Been lucky i guess and long may it continue...flying back to Sydney next month so i think I will avoid reading the rest of this thread till I am safely back in London in December

Hello,

It's strange, I don't have any issues with midflight, more the takeoff and landing (i've had more abortive landings and takeoffs than i care to remember!) I can happily look out of the window at 36,000ft but have to have my eyes closed on takeoff and landing!

Have a safe trip back to London... Im petrified as in December I shall be flying Melbourne-Sydney-Hong Kong- Vancouver- JFK- Miami- London- Bangkok-Sydney-Melbourne!!!!!! im just dreading the flights even now.... and what makes it worse is that i can't take my special cigar lighter to the USA

James

I am also more relaxed midflight..i think takeoff is my least favourite experience and the initial part of the climb..Not as nervous on landing unless it is through heavy cloud...I am ok on a clear day if i can see everything. if i can't I just close my eyes and try to switch off

Not matter how much i fly or how i tell myself the safety stats etc..it just doesn't go..

Still its all worth it to travel

I have bizarre thoughts.

everytime i fly or see a plane takeoff I wait for an engine or two to explode at about 300 feet just like in my nightmares.

I love flying and nothing scares me about it except that if I'm in economy I get pictures in my head about seeing the seats/partitions infront of me coming towards me (assuming the plane crashes head on somewhere) and the last thing I see before dying is that 0.001/sec of crap heading my way.

If I'm in biz I love everything including turbulance but when in First I think "i pay so much for this seat they better not crash".... then I got wonderring if you'd get a refund if you died.

But at least you can die knowing you got a free ride into (or in) Business Class (or First) - even though it might have lasted only a microsecond and that you didn't get to enjoy the cabin service.

Would you get the SC for the higher class of travel for that .0001 seconds or would that be considered an Operational Upgrade

Certainly an involuntary op-up due to random occurrences of atypical externalities causing differential integration of aeronautical transportation device beyond normal design criteria affording rapid termination of functionality of SLF.

I find that when you take off, going down the runway is fine, its when the engines cut back and the nose begins to fall (its a decrease in power for the noise etc) makes me feel that the plane is headed for the ground!!! or a sharp left/right turn has me shuddering.

The other issue i have is landing near water, prime examples of this are Hong Kong, Gibraltar, Sydney. where you can see water either side till the plane touches down.

If it's a clear day, im normally ok with landing (except in the places above!) however my fave sound is the "bong" when the plane gets to the gate, that means you have arrived safely!!!

Do not come to Wellington then. Approaches are over water, northern is between two hills. Most of all the wind and turbulence with the pilots making constant throttle changes will leave you with very dirty clothes!

Landing from the south is worse than from the north, especially if flying in from AKL (or anywhere north of WLG really) since turn across cook strait is normally a cross-wind and when on final approach get buffetted by the winds gusting down the hillsides and gullies. That said, most of the time it isn't that windy - in the past few years WLG has more fog than AKL or CHC.

Well the flights I had in the past month were definitely bumpy both from the north and south. Last flight from SYD pitch black due to cloud cover and rain had the older couple next to me scared with the man holding a barf bag while the wife was about to break his arm.

Also the northerly (or more accurately northwesterly) tends to be stronger than the southerly in Wellington.

I miss the HKG Kai Tak landing.

Flying OW airlines doesn't give me the creeps. Apart from those AA S80s in the US. Chinese airlines give me the creeps... (less CX/KA).
I just don't feel safe flying with Chinese carriers...