Anyone for Scrabble on International flights?
 

About a year and a half ago I made the long schlep from LAX-AKL and brought with me travel Scrabble. I thought it was a great way to kill some of the 12.5 hours in coach and my seat mates were very happy for the diversion.

I have since lost that game but I have found a great replacement I can only order in the UK... magnetic travel Scrabble! I know many of you fly internationally and I was wondering how many of you would be open to a game if a complete stranger made the offer? I'll be flying in biz to South East Asia soon and the first leg is 14 hours and I know I can only sleep/eat/watch movies for so long.

What does the board say? Is it an idea any of you would take up?

p.s. For the moderator: I posted on UA as I'll be flying on UA metal and wanted UA biz passengers feedback.

I played online recently and I was completely destroyed.

I think this thread will and should be moved to TravelBuzz!

I take my travel Scrabble with me too on long flights and would welcome anyone asking me to join in. A tournament over the ocean sounds like a splendid idea.

Interesting question. I dont think it would fly too well in C on that flight. I could see it working if you get to know your seatmate and they are looking restless, but otherwise it could lead to an embarrassing "no thanks".

It would depend on how I was feeling, if I had work to do, and how personable the scrabble fanatic was. Remember many people of transpacs in C do this regularily. Would you do this to your seatmate on a transcon?

Good luck. In some ways I wish flying wasn;t like sitting in the subway.

When traveling with my three little one's, one or all, in addition to the electronics (DVD players, Gameboys and other annoying devices), I always make sure they bring along a magnetic Travel scrabble set, a magnetic travel chess set, a Boggle, letter writing paper, envelopes and pencils/pens. All these things act in concert to keep them quietly occupied and I know the other passengers like that.

As for me playing a game with another passenger, well, I generally don't like being seated next to anyone I don't know anyway, so wanting to play a game with them is a bit out of order if you ask me.

I don't ever get to fly international, but I love Scrabble, so I'd play if anyone ever asked. That magnetic Scrabble would come in handy if I ever tried to squueze in a quick game on one of those Brasilia's! :D

agree with the other posters...i'd probably be weirded out if the guy (or gal) next to me on a plane offered me a game of scrabble. (could make the rest of the flight somewhat uncomfortable.)

i suppose, if someone was a HUGE scrabble fan, it might go differently?

I do find that since I am a young female that travels solo 98% I get engaged in conversations on flights, especially in C. Maybe the lack of a laptop and suit seems refreshing??? But I can relate to the subway analogy, sometimes I just put on my iPod and tune out. How much tuning out on a long-haul flight can you do? I always end up with the group standing in the back of the plane chatting with the FAs.

Did you use American on New Zealand spelling in the rules? :eek:

I'm afraid I'm a Scrabble novice and always forget about establishing the rules. It was always my Brit beau that won with the 'dual' spelling and all that strange slang.

I would certainly hope the offer came across as friendly and not weird. I'm not trying to get people to buy AmWay over here.
:p

How about using a U.S. Scrabble dictionary to guarantee proper spelling and keep our the said-strange slang while allowing the use of "our" (as in honour) endings over international water?

I don't necessarily see how this would make the rest of the flight uncomfortable if you politely refused. Seems to me a good way to pass some time on a long flight, especially if already talking to a seatmate. It would be odd if it were the first thing said, or if the person seemed really insistent, but assuming it's just a friendly offer, seems nice to me. I think most C pax are (I hope) capable of declining politely if not interested. :)

That said, I do have a habit of zoning on shorter flights. And it would probably very much depend on my mood and the person asking whether I was up for it. And I stink at Scrabble so might choose not to embarass myself :p

Ideally, there would be some kind of bulletin board available for those inclined to engage in any kind of in-flight social activity, but then again, you might get nabbed for "congregating for unknown purposes." :)

It sure was. I looked up amazon.co.uk and found the pocket magnetic travel Scrabble for 13 pounds of so. Too bad shipping would cost me an arm and a leg. I guess I'll have to wait until the next time I fly into LHR to get me one of these unless some FT member volunteers to pick one up for me before then. :D