Airline Travel Questions

King Kong

I haven't flown in a very long time. End of this month I'm flying out to Orange County and had a few questions.

Last time I flew anywhere was in 98, with all the post 9/11 stuff should I expect anything majorly diffrent?

From what I remember back then I had a 1 hour check in before flight and went thru a metal detector. No biggie.

My last question is I'm a large guy. I used to play college football so yes I'm not only wide but tall as well (350 and 6'4). From what I'm told my flight has seating two people per row per side and sitting next to me is my 3 year old. Should I be worried about seat sizes (flying coach). I can't remember if the arm rests fold up for my room or not.

lordswing

the armrests do fold up, so you should fit fine

*edit*The inside armrests fold up, but the ones near the window or aisle do not

King Kong

I guess I should have added I'm flying on Northwest if that helps.

Dioltas

Remember that if you bring liquids on boards, they have to be in containers that are 3oz or less - and that's the original container, not just 3oz left in a 16oz bottle or anything. Most airports they will give you a large clear ziplock bag to put them in prior to passing through security, but I was at a small airport in January that made you buy one, so it might be worth it to bring one yourself. Other than that, just be sure to have your shoes/coat off before going through security (makes it faster), and you'll be good to go.

Raziel

It's been about a year since I last flew, but if you have a laptop or digital camera, they may ask you to turn it on to prove that it's not a cunningly-concealed doomsday device, so keep it at the top of your bag.

As for the seats, I'm also a goliath of a man - 6'4" with the legs of a giraffe, and my ass atrophied from being curled up in one of those horrid seats. When the seatbelt sign is off, get up and take a walk or two to stretch out.

wenchkilla

Something that was a real surprise to me after not flying for several years: You will not be getting food. You may be paying $3 for a small pack of assorted nuts.

Have we learned nothing from James Bond? A gun camouflaged as a camera will ALWAYS correctly function as a camera.

kaliyama

King Kong wrote: »

I haven't flown in a very long time. End of this month I'm flying out to Orange County and had a few questions.

Last time I flew anywhere was in 98, with all the post 9/11 stuff should I expect anything majorly diffrent?

From what I remember back then I had a 1 hour check in before flight and went thru a metal detector. No biggie.

My last question is I'm a large guy. I used to play college football so yes I'm not only wide but tall as well (350 and 6'4). From what I'm told my flight has seating two people per row per side and sitting next to me is my 3 year old. Should I be worried about seat sizes (flying coach). I can't remember if the arm rests fold up for my room or not.

I have long legs. For a couple of years I was doing LAX - Heath row or Schiphol every couple of months. It was hard enough to sleep at whatever awful flight time i had so i could be marginally less jet lagged, let alone cram my legs into crappy NWA/British airways seats.

I found this out when I slipped on some ice in Helsinki and my side was killing me - I wasn't going to be able to deal with it on the return flight without painkillers I didn't have. So I told them this and they put me in the front of a section where I could strech my legs out completely. If you're going to be on the thing for more than an hour or three, tell the people at the desk you have a leg injury or something and ask if they can help you with anything. I think if you ask them for a seat change directly they're more likely to say no because they think you're trying to con them or they think seat change = $$$. If you let them suggest it on their own or you bring it up after their own inadequate offer it may work better.

If you're in a smaller plane, it doesn't make much difference though.