Search Results for: blog how to handle flying with smelly seatmates

Making Summer Flying Bearable

Airports don’t exactly spell f-u-n, especially during the chaotic summer travel season. However, there are ways you can make your layovers bearable by following a few simple tips: Hang at an airline lounge: Amenity-filled airline lounges are typically reserved for first-class passengers or business flyers who have accrued a few million miles criss-crossing the globe. Fortunately, these days you can gain access to these elite rooms even if you are flying with an economy-class ticket. For example, if you are a member of Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounge, Continental’s Presidents Club, United’s Red Carpet Club, or the US Airways club, … Continue reading →

Good News for Obese and Disabled Airline Passengers Flying To and From Canada

Disabled and clinically obese travelers booking flights on Canada-based airlines were just given a break from the government. A few days ago the Canadian Transportation Agency mandated that local airlines offer physically challenged or clinically obese travelers accompanied by an attendant the ability to fly using one ticket, even if they take up two or more seats. That means carriers such as Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz and WestJet have one year to institute a “one-person, one-fare” policy. The ruling applies to disabled people, including severely obese passengers, who require two seats to accommodate their size. It also applies to … Continue reading →

Airline Travel: “Seatmates of Size”

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I’ve blogged about smelly seatmates, seatmates with attitude, and talkative seatmates, but with spring break upon us I figured it was a good time to tackle the topic of large seatmates and the stereotypes that come with them. Admit it; I’m sure at one point or another you’ve experienced having the person seated next to you on an airplane take up not just their seat, but part of yours. Let’s face it; travelers come in all shapes and sizes, yet airplane seats don’t seem to accommodate that fact. What’s more, studies … Continue reading →

Get the Most Bang for Your Travel Buck

Want to live like the President of the United States without having to spend millions campaigning for the title? Then head to Charlotte, North Carolina, before September 8th. That’s where you’ll find the “American Presidential Experience 2012.” The traveling exhibit is one of the hot spots for non-politicos checking out the Democratic National Convention. Visitors of all ages, races and creeds can get in some hands-on learning about this country’s top job and the men who held the position, from George Washington to Barack Obama. The 30,000-square-foot, nonpartisan exhibit is crammed with presidential memorabilia, including a full-size recreation of the … Continue reading →

Finding the Right Seat

I have always preferred window seats on airplanes. While I agree that aisle seats work better if you have a small bladder, like to stroll around or need access to the overhead bin throughout the flight, I’m not a big fan of beverage carts, flight attendants and others smacking into me as they make their way down the plane’s narrow aisles. And then, there’s the dreaded middle seat. Or, purgatory, as I like to refer to it. Does anyone ever request a middle seat? Not likely. According to travel experts, exit rows, aisle or window seats, and seats located near … Continue reading →

Too Fat to Fly

Did you know that there are Internet forums designed for people to rant about having to fly next to oversized passengers on commercial airliners? I was sent a link to one the other day and couldn’t believe the viral viciousness being spewed by random flyers. One poster had the gall to tear into an overweight woman he was forced to sit next to whose “blubber spilled over the armrest” and invaded his personal space. The guy then cited a recent incident in which a woman and her mom were allegedly singled out by a Southwest employee for being “too fat … Continue reading →

Are You a Rude Rider?

Shortly after graduating from college I moved to Atlanta for a job. However, instead of finding an apartment in the heart of the downtown metro area, I opted to share a house in the suburb of Duluth with a couple of friends of friends. Thanks to MARTA (Atlanta’s public mass transit rail system) I was able to park and ride to work each day. My point of origin was the second to the last MARTA stop and my final destination was downtown, so I was forced to ride the rails for more than an hour round-trip. It was during my … Continue reading →

Toddler Diaper Changes at 30,000 Feet

I keep seeing the same commercial over and over again. It features a mom who declares that her toddler will be potty trained in time for an upcoming family camping trip. The mother claims that the trip was the impetus for getting her tot on the potty-training bandwagon. The commercial never reveals how the potty training goes or whether the family makes it to the campgrounds sans a box of diapers, but I digress. The point is I’ve known many a mother who has vowed that her child would be out of diapers in time for an important trip. For … Continue reading →

What is Flehming?

I was sitting in the playroom at the cats-only boarding facility with a pair of cats from the same family. You may remember them — the annoying younger cat who kept patting his brother’s rump for attention? I had my legs stretched straight out, and the two cats were walking back and forth sniffing me. After sniffing a particular spot on my leg, the younger brother looked up at me and made a weird face. His mouth was hanging open, his nose twitched, and his lip curled up. This reaction is known as flehming. Cats have a vomeronasal organ (also … Continue reading →

JetBlue’s “Toilet Man” Talks

You had to know this guy wasn’t going to stay quiet for long. Think your last flight on JetBlue Airways was bad? Well, I doubt it was as horrific as the one Gokhan Mutlu sat through a couple months ago. The New Yorker says his flight from San Diego to New York stunk—-literally. And, guess what? He’s now suing the airlines for more than $2 million because of it. “It” includes being forced to sit on the plane’s toilet for more than three hours during a flight from San Diego to New York. According to court papers, Mutlu maintains that … Continue reading →