Best discussion you've had with seatmate?
Nov 5, 2012, 11:34 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Tel Aviv
Programs: United Premier, Air France Silver, AAdvantage, Matmid Gold
Posts: 469
Best discussion you've had with seatmate?
I'm starting this thread to hear some other anecdotes. I was on a regional flight, from RDU to DCA last week, and had a great discussion with the person sitting next to me. We discussed travel, and politics.
Anyone have any cool anecdotes?
Anyone have any cool anecdotes?
Nov 5, 2012, 11:45 am
#2
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,967
I don't generally engage in conversation with my seatmates (usually sleeping, or we don't share a mutual language, but I did have a lengthy conversion earlier this year with an interesting seatmate) Flying to Turkey both my seatmate and I were dozing after long haul flights. We both got up to use the loo and started talking about our flying schedules. That led to a discussion about Turkey and then a discussion about the 'Europe' forum here on FT and how so many North Americans seem to mistakenly believe that Turkey is in the Middle East. (Disclaimer that he resided in North America although from the UK, and he brought up the subject!)
(Note that the destinations forums here on FT were renamed shortly after that conversation)
(Note that the destinations forums here on FT were renamed shortly after that conversation)
Nov 5, 2012, 11:52 am
#3
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 238
Flying back for another year at school, lady beside me was flying home to visit family. Turns out she was an alumni of my school and taught elementary school in the states (first in Texas, now Minnesota). Talked a bit about politics, educational systems in both countries, family, travel. First and only time so far where I talked with a seatmate, and for the entire flight no less. Nice lady.
Nov 5, 2012, 12:03 pm
#5
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: ORD (formerly SAN)
Programs: Hilton Diamond; IHG Platinum; Bonvoy Gold; AA Platinum Pro and United Premier Silver (DH = AA EXP)
Posts: 1,929
I sat next to a travel agent once and she was telling me all about the different cruiselines and what she prefers to travel on. It was interesting since I've actually never been on a cruise before. But now I know what to look for if I do find myself booking a cruise in the future.
Nov 5, 2012, 12:14 pm
#6
In Memoriam
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Easton, CT, USA
Programs: ua prem exec, Former hilton diamond
Posts: 31,801
I flew next to an up and coming Opera performer once, she was fascinating. Lived here and france where her husband was a chef at some spectacular restaurant, was totally addicted to spicy cheese puffs (which was actually why she was in Atalanta, buying more of them but pretending to visit family )
My favorite seatmate though, a story I've told here before. I was flying cross country years and years ago, and there was a newlywed couple next to me. They were very nice and the woman asked if I was looking for something do to (this was before laptops, mp3 players, etc). I said sure, and she handed me a stack of thank you cards and part of her list of gifts and we all wrote out her thank you cards for the wedding. "uncle joe, thanks so much for the toaster it was great seeing you and aunt mary at the wedding"
It always makes me laugh to think of that.
)My favorite seatmate though, a story I've told here before. I was flying cross country years and years ago, and there was a newlywed couple next to me. They were very nice and the woman asked if I was looking for something do to (this was before laptops, mp3 players, etc). I said sure, and she handed me a stack of thank you cards and part of her list of gifts and we all wrote out her thank you cards for the wedding. "uncle joe, thanks so much for the toaster it was great seeing you and aunt mary at the wedding"
It always makes me laugh to think of that.
Nov 5, 2012, 12:40 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Pittsburgh
Programs: MR/SPG LT Titanium, AA LT PLT, UA SLV, Avis PreferredPlus
Posts: 31,008
I usually plop my earphones in a try to avoid much more than a "hello". But I ended up sitting next the Bill Nye (the Science Guy) a few years ago on an F transcon and we chatted most of the flight. We covered a wide range of topics, but mostly the effort to keep women interested in science (I have two little girls and we had a mutual acquaintance in Sally Ride and her program.)
Nov 5, 2012, 12:49 pm
#9
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PIT/CNX
Programs: UA dirt... and btw, THE innovator of the phrase 'gate lice'. Yeah, that's right.
Posts: 2,874
I generally don’t chat w/seatmates either, but every once in a while, it just happens for whatever reason. Two from me:
1. Wow, probably 10+ years ago on an AirTran flight, first class. I’m already seated when an absolutely DROP DEAD GORGEOUS, exotic-looking brunette sits beside me. Great conversation. She was sweet as could be. We talked the entire flight about many things. Sometime during the conversation, baseball came up and she said that she knew many of the Yankees. ‘How?’, I asked. She was Mariano Rivera’s fiancé. No longer married (if they ever did), I believe.
2. On a flight back to PIT, I was seated next to a 50-ish gentleman. Not sure how conversation started, but it turns out that he was an engineer and on his way to Pittsburgh to work on the ‘tunnel under the river’ project (or whatever it was). Simply put, a tunnel for mass transit that connected one of the shores just north of the city to downtown. We continued talking and it turns out that he worked on a similar project in Europe that was featured on the Discovery Channel and as a matter of fact, he got a lot of face time on the show. Can’t remember which tunnel. Not the Chunnel, but rather more recently, the one that did not travel underseas but instead through a mountain for a significant length? Anyways, I peppered him with questions and found the conversation to be very interesting.
1. Wow, probably 10+ years ago on an AirTran flight, first class. I’m already seated when an absolutely DROP DEAD GORGEOUS, exotic-looking brunette sits beside me. Great conversation. She was sweet as could be. We talked the entire flight about many things. Sometime during the conversation, baseball came up and she said that she knew many of the Yankees. ‘How?’, I asked. She was Mariano Rivera’s fiancé. No longer married (if they ever did), I believe.
2. On a flight back to PIT, I was seated next to a 50-ish gentleman. Not sure how conversation started, but it turns out that he was an engineer and on his way to Pittsburgh to work on the ‘tunnel under the river’ project (or whatever it was). Simply put, a tunnel for mass transit that connected one of the shores just north of the city to downtown. We continued talking and it turns out that he worked on a similar project in Europe that was featured on the Discovery Channel and as a matter of fact, he got a lot of face time on the show. Can’t remember which tunnel. Not the Chunnel, but rather more recently, the one that did not travel underseas but instead through a mountain for a significant length? Anyways, I peppered him with questions and found the conversation to be very interesting.
Nov 5, 2012, 12:50 pm
#10
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,747
I sat next to Father Ted Hesburgh, president of Notre Dame from 1952-1987, on a flight from Paris to Tel Aviv on TWA. I'm not Catholic though I had heard his name. It was interesting to see that he was treated like a rock star by some of the crew including a pilot. Anyway, he was very social and spent a lot of time talking to me about ecumenical peace initiatives he was working, thus his trip to Israel. He subsequently sent me an autographed copy of his autobiography. What a lovely man.
Recently, we were flying home from Maui. The fellow next to me ran the business side of a household for an Indian lady whose brother is chief of one of the southern California Indian tribes. His partner was seated next to her, and his law practice focuses on Indian issues. If I remember correctly, 9 of the 24 F seats on our flight were taken by her entourage, and she had 3 teen grandchildren in coach. This is a small tribe that has become very wealthy thanks to gaming. The tribe owns 3 planes including a Gulfstream 5. They have been renting out Neckar Island the past several years, but had to stay elsewhere this year due to Richard Branson's home being destroyed by fire. He needed to make a decision as to whether to take their own plane or fly commercial.
Recently, we were flying home from Maui. The fellow next to me ran the business side of a household for an Indian lady whose brother is chief of one of the southern California Indian tribes. His partner was seated next to her, and his law practice focuses on Indian issues. If I remember correctly, 9 of the 24 F seats on our flight were taken by her entourage, and she had 3 teen grandchildren in coach. This is a small tribe that has become very wealthy thanks to gaming. The tribe owns 3 planes including a Gulfstream 5. They have been renting out Neckar Island the past several years, but had to stay elsewhere this year due to Richard Branson's home being destroyed by fire. He needed to make a decision as to whether to take their own plane or fly commercial.
Nov 5, 2012, 1:09 pm
#11
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 6,338
Two for me...
On a flight on OZ to ICN... Seatmate was a UPS pilot heading over to pick up a flight.. I'm ex-Aussie military.. he was ex-USAF and had flown OV-10's and A-10's.. 2 of my favourite "ugly stepchild" type aircraft...
We talked a lot.....nice guy.
On a USA domestic.. Got talking to a rather elegant lady I was sitting next to.. she asked me why I was in the US... I said I was there for a shooting competition..she asked what kind... I told her and added that it isn't the most widely known sport and she probably wouldn't have heard of it...
She laughed and said she was quite familiar with it... then gave me her business card.. turned out she was a lawyer working for a gun rights organisation!
On a flight on OZ to ICN... Seatmate was a UPS pilot heading over to pick up a flight.. I'm ex-Aussie military.. he was ex-USAF and had flown OV-10's and A-10's.. 2 of my favourite "ugly stepchild" type aircraft...
We talked a lot.....nice guy.
On a USA domestic.. Got talking to a rather elegant lady I was sitting next to.. she asked me why I was in the US... I said I was there for a shooting competition..she asked what kind... I told her and added that it isn't the most widely known sport and she probably wouldn't have heard of it...
She laughed and said she was quite familiar with it... then gave me her business card.. turned out she was a lawyer working for a gun rights organisation!
Nov 5, 2012, 1:17 pm
#12
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 162
I generally don’t chat w/seatmates either, but every once in a while, it just happens for whatever reason. Two from me:
1. Wow, probably 10+ years ago on an AirTran flight, first class. I’m already seated when an absolutely DROP DEAD GORGEOUS, exotic-looking brunette sits beside me. Great conversation. She was sweet as could be. We talked the entire flight about many things. Sometime during the conversation, baseball came up and she said that she knew many of the Yankees. ‘How?’, I asked. She was Mariano Rivera’s fiancé. No longer married (if they ever did), I believe.
2. On a flight back to PIT, I was seated next to a 50-ish gentleman. Not sure how conversation started, but it turns out that he was an engineer and on his way to Pittsburgh to work on the ‘tunnel under the river’ project (or whatever it was). Simply put, a tunnel for mass transit that connected one of the shores just north of the city to downtown. We continued talking and it turns out that he worked on a similar project in Europe that was featured on the Discovery Channel and as a matter of fact, he got a lot of face time on the show. Can’t remember which tunnel. Not the Chunnel, but rather more recently, the one that did not travel underseas but instead through a mountain for a significant length? Anyways, I peppered him with questions and found the conversation to be very interesting.
1. Wow, probably 10+ years ago on an AirTran flight, first class. I’m already seated when an absolutely DROP DEAD GORGEOUS, exotic-looking brunette sits beside me. Great conversation. She was sweet as could be. We talked the entire flight about many things. Sometime during the conversation, baseball came up and she said that she knew many of the Yankees. ‘How?’, I asked. She was Mariano Rivera’s fiancé. No longer married (if they ever did), I believe.
2. On a flight back to PIT, I was seated next to a 50-ish gentleman. Not sure how conversation started, but it turns out that he was an engineer and on his way to Pittsburgh to work on the ‘tunnel under the river’ project (or whatever it was). Simply put, a tunnel for mass transit that connected one of the shores just north of the city to downtown. We continued talking and it turns out that he worked on a similar project in Europe that was featured on the Discovery Channel and as a matter of fact, he got a lot of face time on the show. Can’t remember which tunnel. Not the Chunnel, but rather more recently, the one that did not travel underseas but instead through a mountain for a significant length? Anyways, I peppered him with questions and found the conversation to be very interesting.
Nov 5, 2012, 2:00 pm
#13
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Florida
Programs: UA Premier Gold, TK Elite Card, AF Gold Medallion
Posts: 256
A few years ago, flying into IAD, I happened to be sitting next to an off-duty FA, and we got to talking about the (in)famous all-white 767's that are usually sitting at IAD - I had recently read the linked thread. She said she had heard vaguely that they were used by the government, but that one of UA's senior pilots was riding a few rows behind us (he was flying IAD-KWI-BAH later that day). As we stood on the tarmac waiting for our gate-checked luggage, she asked him about the planes. He just smiled and said, "If I told you that, I'd have to kill you..." 
Nov 5, 2012, 2:32 pm
#14
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: LAS
Programs: DL PM, UA PS, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 4,904
Three pop to mind. One was an Alaska 737 flight in coach from YVR to LAX on Memorial Day, where I had the window, an old vet had the middle (and didn't want to switch), and a Canadian-Dutch woman had the aisle. We ended up talking the entire flight about the world and politics, and it was interesting since we were all from different backgrounds. The convo started when the vet picked up an application for an AS Visa and I told him to look online for a better bonus 
Second was a Delta LAX-JFK flight in biz on a 767, my seatmate was just a bit older than me and worked for a large electronics/entertainment company. We got to talking about his work, which seemed interesting (I was 21 and unemployed at the time), then proceeded to drink the plane dry, as we were both massively delayed and the flight took about 6 hours. We had an FA who looked like a younger Deltalina stop by our seats plenty of times to quietly chat and fill up. She taught me the Biscoffs/Lime "recipe" that I still do to this day.
Third was another Delta LAX-JFK flight in biz on a 757, this one a redeye, and I was seated next to a drop dead gorgeous woman. She asked me if I had an iPhone charger, and since my phone was at 95% or so, I let her use it during the flight and that was the in. Talked over drinks about random stuff; combined with a very drunk Russian woman across the aisle (who had to be escorted back to Economy for the remainder of the flight
) and a near medical diversion from coach, and that was definitely one of my more interesting flights. I meant to sleep on that flight, ended up temporarily falling asleep in the shower at the JFK SC and almost missing my connect to DCA.
Second was a Delta LAX-JFK flight in biz on a 767, my seatmate was just a bit older than me and worked for a large electronics/entertainment company. We got to talking about his work, which seemed interesting (I was 21 and unemployed at the time), then proceeded to drink the plane dry, as we were both massively delayed and the flight took about 6 hours. We had an FA who looked like a younger Deltalina stop by our seats plenty of times to quietly chat and fill up. She taught me the Biscoffs/Lime "recipe" that I still do to this day.
Third was another Delta LAX-JFK flight in biz on a 757, this one a redeye, and I was seated next to a drop dead gorgeous woman. She asked me if I had an iPhone charger, and since my phone was at 95% or so, I let her use it during the flight and that was the in. Talked over drinks about random stuff; combined with a very drunk Russian woman across the aisle (who had to be escorted back to Economy for the remainder of the flight
) and a near medical diversion from coach, and that was definitely one of my more interesting flights. I meant to sleep on that flight, ended up temporarily falling asleep in the shower at the JFK SC and almost missing my connect to DCA.
Nov 5, 2012, 2:54 pm
#15
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: DCA
Posts: 727
... one of UA's senior pilots was riding a few rows behind us (he was flying IAD-KWI-BAH later that day). As we stood on the tarmac waiting for our gate-checked luggage, she asked him about the planes. He just smiled and said, "If I told you that, I'd have to kill you..."