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Things that annoy me when I travel

Things that annoy me when I travel

Old Jan 10, 2010, 11:34 am
  #1  
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Things that annoy me when I travel

Okay, so I have been noticing lately that there are more things that annoy me when I travel, and I know I'm getting older (mid 40s) but as someone who travels every week (normally Cdn domestic) it seems like there are no manners left.

I'm not sure any of these are specifically related to being female (so this may be moved), but here goes:

Not in any specific order:
  • loud talkers on cellphones in boarding lounges who don't have the courtesy to walk away from the crowd to shout into their phones - businessmen and late teens/early 20s women seem to be the culprits I encounter most often. My favorite is the business person who has a loud call discussing either their company or clients with their business card prominently displayed on their carry on - have spent time plotting revenge - maybe an email to their boss? (I know, I could move seats ...)
  • the parents of "adorable" children who persist in being inordinantly loud talkers, so that everyone within a 10 foot radius admires their little angel. As a mom of two I know that (medical issues aside) children hear perfectly fine, so there is no reason to impose your adoring parenting on all those around you
  • on the same note, I truly am sympathetic to a child or baby having a difficult flight, and am one to offer any help or empathetic glances - however, letting your over two year old child yell, play their electronics without headphones, kick the seat - that is just bad parenting. Air travel is captivity for a period of time, so please prepare your child that whatever rules you have at home may need to be even tighter in terms of respecting those around you.
  • please reconsider that massive dose of cologne the morning before the flight - no matter how nice it might smell to you, the majority of travellers I talk to say that they prefer clean scent free neighbors (especially in economy)

It may be that I expect too much, especially from economy, and I'm sure there are things I do that could annoy others but I'm curious about the experiences of others. What annoys you when you travel?
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 11:58 am
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Because this is not specific to women travelers I am going to move it to the TravelBuzz forum.

l'etoile
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 1:26 pm
  #3  
 
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Man oh man, have I been waiting a long time for a thread like this. Here are the air travel things that drive me crazy:

  • The jerks who recline their seats right back into me. Where am I supposed to put my knees?
  • The bozos who complain when I recline my seat back. I mean, I paid for a seat that reclines, so what am I supposed to do, stay all scrunched up just because you want my seat's room?
  • The horrible little brats who scream, shriek, and kick the seat for the whole flight. Can't their parents control these tiny tyrants?
  • The ding-a-lings who complain about my kids behaving like kids on the airplane. I mean, children are going to act like children, so get over it!
  • The weirdos who snarl that my carry-on fills up too much of the overhead bin space. Like, did they reserve it or something?
  • The clowns who stuff a huge oversize wheelie, which they really should have checked, into the overhead bin so there's no room for my stuff. Thanks a lot!
  • The fools who jabber away at the top of their lungs on their cell phones at the airport. What makes you think I'm interested in your private affairs?
  • The lame-brains who give me dirty looks when I make a call on my cell phone. I've got the phone, I need to make the call, so deal with it.
  • The yahoos who sit around the airport or on the plane doing nothing but complaining about how other people make their air travel miserable. Hey, if it's such a hassle, why don't you just stay home?
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 1:54 pm
  #4  
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Originally Posted by tlvancouver
Okay, so I have been noticing lately that there are more things that annoy me when I travel, and I know I'm getting older (mid 40s) but as someone who travels every week (normally Cdn domestic) it seems like there are no manners left.

I'm not sure any of these are specifically related to being female (so this may be moved), but here goes:

Not in any specific order:
  • loud talkers on cellphones in boarding lounges who don't have the courtesy to walk away from the crowd to shout into their phones - businessmen and late teens/early 20s women seem to be the culprits I encounter most often. My favorite is the business person who has a loud call discussing either their company or clients with their business card prominently displayed on their carry on - have spent time plotting revenge - maybe an email to their boss? (I know, I could move seats ...)
  • the parents of "adorable" children who persist in being inordinantly loud talkers, so that everyone within a 10 foot radius admires their little angel. As a mom of two I know that (medical issues aside) children hear perfectly fine, so there is no reason to impose your adoring parenting on all those around you
  • on the same note, I truly am sympathetic to a child or baby having a difficult flight, and am one to offer any help or empathetic glances - however, letting your over two year old child yell, play their electronics without headphones, kick the seat - that is just bad parenting. Air travel is captivity for a period of time, so please prepare your child that whatever rules you have at home may need to be even tighter in terms of respecting those around you.
  • please reconsider that massive dose of cologne the morning before the flight - no matter how nice it might smell to you, the majority of travellers I talk to say that they prefer clean scent free neighbors (especially in economy)

It may be that I expect too much, especially from economy, and I'm sure there are things I do that could annoy others but I'm curious about the experiences of others. What annoys you when you travel?

Well, now that you have me started! There are too many annoyances to mention, so I will categorize them as best I can:

AMATURE TRAVELLER'S....people who don't fly too often and therefore have no idea how anything works. I am sympathetic to a degree, but getting to the security line and forgetting to put your toilettries in a baggie and taking off your jewelry impacts everyone. Same with booking specific seats..this is not the 1970's..you cannot show up at the counter 40 minutes before departure with 6 family members in tow and expect to have seats together, and you certainly cannot POACH other people's seat when those people have selected and paid for those seats weeks in advance, and have the BP to prove it. They are also gate lice, blocking the gate as soon as FC boarding is announced even though they are not FC.

Amature travellers tend to be disoriented as well, and are guilty of those little annoyances..blocking a jetway in like disoriented cows standing stock still and thereby, blocking foot traffic, or walking back from the lav and grabbing everyone's seat to steady themselves, waking up ailse seat nappers one at a time.

DYKWIA's. Do You Know Who I Am? These are the ones that miss their upgrade and poach your F class seat, and argue about it with the FA when you demand your seat. These are the ones that get the middle seat in coach and take your aisle seat, and get furious when asked to move from it....because they fly SOOOO much and are semi famous local celebs or politicians.

HOTELS: Insufficient electrical outlets, missing toiletries, noisy ac units, dirty floors, and surprise "fees" for parking, internet, or "resort". ONLY DECAF COFFEE in the room!

CARS: 120 dollars a week in week 45. 400 dollars a week in week 46. "Entertainment Sports Authority Tax". Class creep..since when did a Nissan Sentra become "mid-size"??? A whole day's charge for being 5 minutes late, 20 dollar charge for being 1 hour early. "We already inspected the car, it's fine" when you pick it up.
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 2:06 pm
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I was only really annoyed once in all of my travels last year.

Was it the irreg ops? Only really had one bad enough to mentions, and AA took of me, so that's not it.

Only had one bag misplaced, and it caught up with me 3 hours later, so that's not it.

BUT I was sitting on an AE flight from ORD-CLT after getting off of a TATL from Germany, and two days earlier had done a longhaul from JNB-LHR-FRA (point is I'm tired)

So those of us who had our carryons bag checked at the gate are waiting for our bags when a lady with 3 "darling" children, who were all a joy [ sarc] on the flight take their bags and open them, totally block the jetway so no one else can get up to the terminal.

It seems each of the three kids needed their own PSP, blanket, toys, ipods and who knows what else. All for a flight that lasted less than 90 minutes.
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 4:26 pm
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Originally Posted by Cha-cha-cha
Man oh man, have I been waiting a long time for a thread like this. Here are the air travel things that drive me crazy:

  • The jerks who recline their seats right back into me. Where am I supposed to put my knees?
  • The bozos who complain when I recline my seat back. I mean, I paid for a seat that reclines, so what am I supposed to do, stay all scrunched up just because you want my seat's room?
  • The horrible little brats who scream, shriek, and kick the seat for the whole flight. Can't their parents control these tiny tyrants?
  • The ding-a-lings who complain about my kids behaving like kids on the airplane. I mean, children are going to act like children, so get over it!
  • The weirdos who snarl that my carry-on fills up too much of the overhead bin space. Like, did they reserve it or something?
  • The clowns who stuff a huge oversize wheelie, which they really should have checked, into the overhead bin so there's no room for my stuff. Thanks a lot!
  • The fools who jabber away at the top of their lungs on their cell phones at the airport. What makes you think I'm interested in your private affairs?
  • The lame-brains who give me dirty looks when I make a call on my cell phone. I've got the phone, I need to make the call, so deal with it.
  • The yahoos who sit around the airport or on the plane doing nothing but complaining about how other people make their air travel miserable. Hey, if it's such a hassle, why don't you just stay home?
^ - We're all on one side or the other on these specific topics and the debate will never end.
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 4:31 pm
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Originally Posted by Cha-cha-cha
Here are the air travel things that drive me crazy: ...
Me, too!
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 5:00 pm
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Originally Posted by ArizonaGuy
^ - We're all on one side or the other on these specific topics and the debate will never end.
+1
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 7:07 pm
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Originally Posted by Cha-cha-cha
Man oh man, have I been waiting a long time for a thread like this. Here are the air travel things that drive me crazy:

  • The jerks who recline their seats right back into me. Where am I supposed to put my knees?
  • The bozos who complain when I recline my seat back. I mean, I paid for a seat that reclines, so what am I supposed to do, stay all scrunched up just because you want my seat's room?
  • The horrible little brats who scream, shriek, and kick the seat for the whole flight. Can't their parents control these tiny tyrants?
  • The ding-a-lings who complain about my kids behaving like kids on the airplane. I mean, children are going to act like children, so get over it!
  • The weirdos who snarl that my carry-on fills up too much of the overhead bin space. Like, did they reserve it or something?
  • The clowns who stuff a huge oversize wheelie, which they really should have checked, into the overhead bin so there's no room for my stuff. Thanks a lot!
  • The fools who jabber away at the top of their lungs on their cell phones at the airport. What makes you think I'm interested in your private affairs?
  • The lame-brains who give me dirty looks when I make a call on my cell phone. I've got the phone, I need to make the call, so deal with it.
  • The yahoos who sit around the airport or on the plane doing nothing but complaining about how other people make their air travel miserable. Hey, if it's such a hassle, why don't you just stay home?
Me tooo
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 7:21 pm
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Originally Posted by pinworm
Well, now that you have me started! There are too many annoyances to mention, so I will categorize them as best I can:

AMATURE TRAVELLER'S....people who don't fly too often and therefore have no idea how anything works. I am sympathetic to a degree, but getting to the security line and forgetting to put your toilettries in a baggie and taking off your jewelry impacts everyone. Same with booking specific seats..this is not the 1970's..you cannot show up at the counter 40 minutes before departure with 6 family members in tow and expect to have seats together, and you certainly cannot POACH other people's seat when those people have selected and paid for those seats weeks in advance, and have the BP to prove it. They are also gate lice, blocking the gate as soon as FC boarding is announced even though they are not FC.

Amature travellers tend to be disoriented as well, and are guilty of those little annoyances..blocking a jetway in like disoriented cows standing stock still and thereby, blocking foot traffic, or walking back from the lav and grabbing everyone's seat to steady themselves, waking up ailse seat nappers one at a time.

for me its travelers who can't spell.
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 7:30 pm
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Originally Posted by andrewbashuk
for me its travelers who can't spell.
Or punctuate properly.
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 7:39 pm
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I'm particularly annoyed by complainers...

Flying is public transportation, for better or for worse. Deal with it.
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 8:10 pm
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Originally Posted by tlvancouver
Okay, so I have been noticing lately that there are more things that annoy me when I travel, and I know I'm getting older (mid 40s) but as someone who travels every week (normally Cdn domestic) it seems like there are no manners left.
Passengers who talk to me even though I could care less and am in the mood to be anti-social. From the 9 year old boy to the 65 year old grandpa, to the college student sitting next to me in J. And they keep on talking even though I don't respond.

Amateurs in the coach line telling me "the end of the line is over there" as I walk towards the first/business/elite line.

Passengers crowding the boarding gate while first/business/elite passengers are boarding. The plane won't leave without you, and your seat is assigned.

Last edited by Wiirachay; Jan 10, 2010 at 8:21 pm
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 8:21 pm
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Originally Posted by Wiirachay
Passengers who talk to me even though I could care less and am in the mood to be anti-social. From the 9 year old boy to the 65 year old grandpa, to the college student sitting next to me in J. And they keep on talking even though I don't respond.

Amateurs in the coach line telling me "the end of the line is over there" as I walk towards the first/business/elite line.
That IS funny about the talkers, I know they're just friendly but enough!

I always have my headphones in my ears when allowed, even if not connected to my iphone, find that it discourages chatting when I've had a long day and just want to mellow out. Have to be careful not to let the "unplugged" end come loose though, that's a little embarrassing.

I thought of a few more - people that can't control the volume of their audio - listened to some pretty special language from the fellow beside us when he was listening to his rap music. The things my 10 year old has learned from flying... Totally off topic - had the pleasure of following an Escalade while driving - couldn't believe they were watching hard core porn on their DVD in the vehicle. I'm no prude, but this was around 3 in the afternoon!

I know these things shouldn't annoy me!
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Old Jan 10, 2010, 9:25 pm
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I don't travel that often compared to many on here, but one thing that always gets on my nerves is when the plane lands and the announcement comes over saying please stay seated until the seatbelt sign is turned off. There is always a couple of people who proceed to completely ignore this announcement and start open the overhead lockers.

Its always funny to watch these people take just as long as everyone else to disembark the plane along with everyone else.

Oh and when boarding calls for parents with young children and people who need special assistance, there is always a couple of completely able bodied people, with no children who seem to think they have the right to board ahead of everyone else.

Oh well, the joys of cattle class travel
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