Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with airplane

How to minimize hassle at DTW?

number9dream — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:03:09 -0800

Airport/airplane security-filter: have you flown from DTW since yesterday? I have a 10am flight from DTW to BWI on Wednesday. I am flying on Northwest/Delta. I need to check one bag, and there is no way I can avoid doing so. My questions are:

1) How much time should I leave myself to get through security?

2) Any specific new security measures I should be aware of? In particular, are liquids in containers of < 3oz still ok?

Bonus question:

3) I've heard that one is not allowed to access personal items during the last hour of a flight. Is this only true of international flights to the US, or does it also apply to flights within the US? Does that mean that I'm not allowed to, e.g., read a book or listen to my iPod during that time?

Bait-and-Switch or ineptitude?... WTF Travelocity!?

blueberry — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 23:27:45 -0800

Buying a ticket to Bangkok—is there a dependable online ticket-searching service that is all about getting the truly cheapest fare? Skinflint-In-Coach.com? Argh!, I spent over an hour today working on the Travelocity site, trying to find a low-priced ticket from Portland to Bangkok. After noodling around with my Portland/Bangkok departure dates I finally found a reasonably priced ticket that I could afford. However when I clicked to order it Travelocity said Sorry, that ticket's not available, please go pick another one—all of the other tickets being at least $500 more. (And annoyingly, when I went back to look at the other tickets, that cheaper un-buyable ticket was still listed as being available)

So, I tried Kayak.com and found that while it searches across four different ticket sites, each site finds fares that differ from each other by thousands of dollars. That is, each site is saying "This is the absolute cheapest flight out there" but actually the ticket prices vary from $1900 to $4000. To my mind, there should be only one "cheapest flight"—you know, hence the "-est" suffix.

So tell me hive mind, is there one ticket-finding site that
A: doesn't advertise tickets that it doesn't have (Travelocity), and
B: searches all flights all through one interface—so you don't have to dig through several different sites and windows wasting time with their laughable ideas of what they call "the cheapest flight"?

[For reference, I'm looking to leave PDX on Dec 9th, and leave BKK on any of the days between Dec 31 and Jan 3]

Kicking Children. Airplane.

zarq — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:12:09 -0800

How can I stop my toddlers from kicking the seat in front of them on an airplane? Can anyone suggest possible solutions for preventing or blocking a 19 month old toddler from kicking the airplane seat in front of them? Does some sort of shield-like contraption exist that keeps their feet from connecting?

My wife and I have flown with my kids a handful of times now, and as they've gotten older and taller, we've had to use our hands to block them from repeatedly kicking the seat front of them. That's only moderately successful. It makes every flight endless, as we (and presumably the people in the next row,) pray for them to fall (and stay) asleep.

They're too young to fly in a bulkhead seat, which would give them plenty of room. They're also still too young to be reasoned with... or bribed with a pony. (I tried.) Inexplicably, my wife still refuses let me pack them in with the luggage. ;)

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Unidentified Flying Boat

renovatio1 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:07:14 -0800

AircraftFilter: Help me identify the aircraft in this photo I looked entirely through my copy of The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft and found a couple that have a similar fuselage, wing placement, and tail section but they are quite obviously not the plane in the photo.

I did a quick search for airplane spotter / identification forums and couldn't find anything that looks all that good. I'll try posting to airliners.net or contacting an aircraft site owner (e.g. www.aviastar.org) but I figured I'd try here first to see if anyone knows; thanks!

What do I expect when traveling by airplane?

fuq — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:34:45 -0800

I am an air-travel virgin and I'm flying out of JFK (NYC) to Charlotte this Saturday and I'd like to know what to expect. What is aircraft etiquette that I'm not familiar with due to not having flown in a plane before? What should I know before I roll into the airport regarding packing and carry-on stuff. How is the security at JFK? Should I expect to be detained due to my beard and unkempt appearance?

What are things that you have done in the past that resulted in a more enjoyable flight experience? My flight is two and a half hours on US airlines

Cheapest way from Tokyo to Kumamoto?

0bvious — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:09:56 -0800

Last minute Japan travel: after making an error with timing I need to arrange one-way travel from Tokyo to Kumamoto quite quickly. What are the cheapest options? I have looked into flights and trains (for the 17th of August) and both seem expensive (about £200-£250 a ticket). I am in the UK at the moment. Would it be worth waiting until we arrive in Japan? Perhaps trying to get last minute flights at the airport? Information on this site suggests cheap train travel, but has no links to buy: frommers.com

Air travel is looking pricey: farecompare.com or skyscanner.net

Is it possible to book overnight traisn from the UK? what re the other cheap-cheap train options?

Any help or advice you have would be much appreciated

ear-pop edification

lockestockbarrel — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:35:50 -0800

Airplane ear-popping. Why? The cabin is pressurized, right? So why do your ears pop when you're taking off and landing?

How can I find out historical data on the price of plane tickets?

Mr. Justice — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:18:25 -0800

How can I find out historical data on the price of plane tickets? I am trying to answer several questions that are along the lines of "How much did it cost to fly from airport A to airport B during time C"?

Any online videos to teach a kid about air travel?

Overzealous — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:41:43 -0800

Are there any movies/online videos to show a toddler what to expect from air travel? We're heading out on our first airplane ride (about 2 hours) with our 2-and-a-half year old and want to give him some idea of what to expect on the flight before we head out.

I found this "I'm a Good Little Traveler!" DVD but was looking for something...well...free. Any good links out there? Or DVDs that are recommended to purchase?

Preventing panic attacks on an airplane flight?

wastelands — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:39:32 -0800

What else can I do to help prevent a panic attack on an airplane? I'm flying next month for the first time in almost five years. I have flown four times before, and I never had a problem with panic. Hell, I enjoyed it. I love planes.

But in 2006 and 2007 I had panic attacks on trains and buses. It's not the mode of transportation that bothered me, it was being crowded into a confined space with lots of people, which would be the same on a plane.

The last couple months I've decreased my caffeine intake dramatically (which seemed to make the panic worse), been able to be in crowded situations (like meetings at work) without panic, and started meditating 10 minutes a day in the morning.

But I'll be going from the west coast to the east coast, so it's not a short hop. It'd really suck to have a freak out when I'm stuck on a plane for hours.

Anyway, does anyone here who flies regularly and deals with anxiety have any tips?

Two things I already did: 1) I requested an aisle seat, so I can get up easily and not feel "trapped"; 2) I have been watching videos on YouTube of planes landing and taking off, from the perspective of passengers.

Thanks!

How to make an object rotate while banking on a path in Maya?

N2O1138 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:21:01 -0800

How can I rotate an object in Maya while it's on a path and automatically banking? I'm currently making an animation involving a paper airplane, and I have it set to bank automatically, but I would like it to fly upside down at one point, and briefly turn on its side at another. I'm very new to paths in Maya, and whatever I try to do usually ends up making the plane rotated for the entire animation. Ideally I'd like to be able to keyframe a rotation while still having the paper plane following the path and banking normally. Is this possible?

Are there power outlets on International United Airlines flights?

linzenoonoo — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:55:27 -0800

Are there power outlets on International United Airlines flights? My mother is wanting to be able to charge her laptop on a plane ride to Bejing, and wants to know if she is able to either plug her laptop in on the flight, or bring a cigarette lighter power inverter in order to charge it. Does anyone have any input on this that I can tell her?

pressure in eyeballs - eyeballs in planes

harperpitt — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:14:16 -0800

Some people's ears pop in an airplane. My coworker bursts blood vessels. Why? My coworker Andrew came into work this morning with a gross bloody eye. He'd been on a flight and the pressure change was so intense that he burst a blood vessel in his eye. He says that this always happens to him - he avoids flying for this reason - and claims that it has something to do with his ears not popping. The burst blood vessels also come with intense head pain.

Andrew is a healthy dude, mid-twenties, with no afflictions that I know of. What could be causing him this problem? Is there anything he can do to prevent it happening in future?

Thanks, hive mind!

In what percentage of large passenger jet crashes are there any survivors? And on those occasions, what is the average survival rate?

Joe Beese — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 18:03:49 -0800

In what percentage of large passenger jet crashes are there any survivors? And on those occasions, what is the average survival rate?

Why are airplane seatbelts different from car seatbelts?

gleuschk — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 08:20:39 -0800

Why are airplane seatbelts different from car seatbelts? It seems odd that we would have these two totally different designs for seatbelts. If the airplane one is better (safer, easier to unlatch in a hurry, whatever), why don't we use them in cars? If not, why do we use a design that has to be explained to people? Is there something about the two designs that makes one better in a plane and the other better in a car?

I want to soar!

baphomet — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 09:24:52 -0800

I'm considering getting a fixed wing pilot's license after school, but I'm not sure where to start. Ideally I'd like to integrate flying with my major (geography/geology) to lead to some sort of career path-- aerial survey work, that sort of thing. I'm assuming that this will require graduate-level training on the academic side, which is something I'm planning to pursue anyway.

That said, I'm not sure:
1) How realistic this is as a goal, because
2) I'm not especially familiar with modern aviation, though obviously I'd like to be

So, suppose someone who knows only the most basics about airplanes in general wants to someday fly one, especially in a professional/scientific capacity. Where do they start? I don't think this is something I'll be able to pursue for at least a few years, but I'd like to be as familiar as possible with both the process of certification and the general mechanics/physics behind flying, so I'm as prepared as possible for flight school when I get to that point. Recommendations on books/articles/films/whatever, as well as personal experience, would be greatly appreciated.

I'm always serious. And don't call me Shirley

Jon_Evil — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:29:05 -0800

Can I book a round-trip flight with different passengers on the initial and return flights? Five of us are going to Ohio, but live in New York. One wants to fly out with us, but stay longer and drive back to New York later. Another will already be in Ohio, but needs to fly back to New York with us. Am I allowed to only buy four tickets and have the two people share a round trip flight? If I'm not allowed, is there a way to do it anyway?

Airplane hallucinations?

Rinku — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 19:15:37 -0800

While descending in a plane, I saw strange swimming lights. What's the deal? I had a window seat, right near the front of the plane. I began to see the lights when we were descending, specifically when we were between two layers of cloud. It was in the early afternoon today, and even though we were below one layer of cloud it was still very bright, and the ground was completely snowed over so there was a lot of light from below as well. I could still look out the window without squinting, but everything was either white or gray and my eyes didn't know where to focus.

I kept looking, though, and I started to see rapidly moving, swimming flecks. They were black and white not colored, and they were constantly in motion. It was a little like looking at a cloud of flies, but they moved faster, and never really seemed to stop. It reminded me of a sped up biology film, of bacteria or something similar squiggling around a petri dish.

I talked to a friend about it and she said that it could have been the floaty particles in my eyes, but they were moving much much too quickly, and at one point, as I was watching them go, I saw one of the usual back-of-the-eye detached blood vessels float past my field of vision, and it seemed to be "behind" of the specks, as in, the thread was in my eye as usual and the specks were storming in front of me. I also noticed that the specks were three dimensional, as in, I could focus my eyes in or out, and change what part of this particle field I was looking at. I could look further, and the specks closer would go out of focus and vice-versa.

While I was watching them, I tried closing my eyes several times, or looking inside the plane. They vanished when I was looking anywhere besides outside.

After I was watching these specks or particles or sparks or whatever they were, I began too see something else too, black shapes coming and going right around where I focused my vision. It was if I was going backwards rapidly through a tunnel.

We descended through the lower layer of cloud and they started to fade rapidly, first the black backwards tunnel part, then the specks. It might be worth noting that as we came through the cloud layer, there was still snow throwing up light from below, and at that point I could still see them faintly, but when we flew over houses and roads they left completely.

The specks, and the black tunnel bit, were in black and white, and I could focus my eyes on them. It was very different from, say, pressing on your eyes and seeing bluish-purplish-reddish blotches. I've had minor migraines, where you see a floating patch of black-white-rainbow-flashes and it's hard to focus on anything. It was different from that as well.

At the time of this strange visitation, I was a little drowsy from leaving early to get to the airport but still completely awake. I was suffering from a sinus-pressure kind of headache, but it wasn't very bad, and I've had those without hallucinating many a time. I wear glasses, I'm near-sighted, and had them on at the time of the "vision." I had not taken any medication that morning or the day before.

Any guesses, metafilter? Is there a name for this kind of thing? Has anyone experienced anything similar?

Help - missed flight!

mateuslee — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 04:15:39 -0800

Missed my flight and can't afford a new one - What are my options? So, my brother was planning on leaving Amsterdam with AirLingus/United Air tonight when, just a second ago, he realized that actually the plane had already left this morning. So, he missed it. Anyway, what are the options? Is there anything he can tell the airline that would get him out of this situation and save him some or all of the price of a new ticket? Any ideas are appreciated!

Thanks

and will either give me free Guinness?!

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 07:32:12 -0800

Should I book a flight with Aer Lingus or American Airlines? The price is the same (~$380). The flight is one way, transatlantic Dublin-Chicago. Probably no checked baggage (though a very slight possibility).

I don't have any experience with Aer Lingus and haven't flow on AA in a loooong time so I don't know which one would be better as far as comfort/food/etc.

What kind of lighters are allowed on an airplane?

phyrewerx — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:50:29 -0800

What's the difference between a torch lighter, and a butane lighter, and what is allowed for a Canadian domestic flight? I have a lighter that I would like to take carry with me while I fly between two Canadian cities. Transport Canada says that Zippo lighters are ok; but what does that mean? Does it have to be that brand? The bottom of this lighter has a screw top, and a tiny nozzel underneath, if that is of any help.

What is downstairs on a plane?

meech — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:14:57 -0800

Where do the air hostesses/stewards go when they go downstairs on long haul flights? The door to the stairs is in the middle of the plane by the toilets and pretty much looks like a toilet door. They go down stairs and turn a corner and that is all you can see.

I'm not sure what kind of plane it is on but it probably a 747 or 767. Are there any photos out there of this space?

Who took this photograph?

bjrn — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:27:08 -0800

Help me identify this photograph. The form I have it in is cut from a magazine (or similar) and then glued to a piece of sturdy paper, the person I got it from doesn't remember where she got it. I just think it's a really nice picture and wonder if it'd be possible to get a better quality version somewhere. I've tried googling around, but to no avail.

I might be home for christmas...

shesaysgo — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:30:18 -0800

Should I use a credit card to buy a plane ticket home? I'm a freshman in college about 5 states away from home. My girlfriend and I were hoping to go home this Christmas, but we don't have all of the money right now. We might be able to scrounge up the money for one ticket, but not for two. So we were thinking about opening a credit card with Wachovia to buy the tickets and pay them off the months after christmas.
I've never had a credit card before and I was kind of leery of getting one, but this is the only way I'd be able to go home for christmas. I think my emotions might be clouding my judgement, so:
What should I do? Is it a wise idea to buy the tickets with a credit card? If so, are there any cards you can reccomend?

What's new about paper airplanes?

ericc — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:00:29 -0800

What interesting things have happened to paper airplanes in the last 20 years? It’s been about that long since the last time I’ve made a paper airplane. Presumably there have been some advancements. Scientific advancements. Practitioner advancements. Business advancements. What’s new and exciting about paper airplanes? Who are the names to watch? Where’s the hotbed of paper airplane activity?