As you may or may not know, we took a trip to Britain last month. We went by plane and I thought I would share with you how it went. I suffer from motion sickness; I am NOT afraid of flying,.....well other than flying anywhere over Asia........they are having a lot of bad luck over there, I just feel ill from the minute the plane takes off until it lands. Gravol doesn't work, so I just put up with it.
We flew with Air Transat which is who we usually use. Cheap and cheerful and gets us from A to B without any detours. It is generally a 6 to 6 1/2 hour flight from Toronto to Glasgow depending on the tail wind. This time we did it in 6 hours straight. We generally set off between 7 pm to 9 pm Toronto time and land first thing in the morning Glasgow time. There is a five hour time difference so we are landing middle of the night Toronto time. So it is a night flight, and they turn the lights down in the plane so people can have a nap middle of the flight if they want; this information is important!!!
For anyone who has flown Air Transat and I guess lots of other cheap and cheerful airlines, there is not a lot of seat room, but I know in our case going from "cattle class" to "club class" the flights were double; and in my case it wouldn't matter where I sat I would still feel as sick as a dog. When we booked the flights there were only two seats left that were together and they were right at the back next to the bathrooms. They got terrible reviews, but it meant me and dh could stretch out and put out seats back.
WE WILL NEVER EVER BOOK THOSE SEATS AGAIN!!!
One our flight we had numerous people with bladder infections as all they seemed to do is go back and forward to the bathroom all night. Oh and every time they had to hold onto the back of my seat; I had the aisle seat.
We had the "Scottish Stretching Team," on board it seems. Half way through the night, three of them got up to stretch, but instead of stretching by their seats at the front of the plane, they decided there was more room by the bathrooms. While they were doing their stretching and hanging onto our seats while doing it, they thought they should make sure the pilot could hear what they were talking about. I turned around and gave them "the look," to my surprise they did not shrivel up and die but carried on with what they were doing. I finally got up to go to the bathroom and said to them, "some people are trying to sleep."
We had numerous little children on the flight the youngest being a 5 week old baby; who by the way we never heard a peep out of. There were two toddlers amongst the kids; a 17 month old who wouldn't go to sleep. Anyone with a child that age knows children get cranky when they don't get their sleep. So the mother walked him up and down and stood behind our seats trying to rock him to sleep. The other toddler was closer to 2 years of age and I am not sure if it was his ears or what but he was NOT a happy camper and screamed on and off throughout the flight. She had another child around 5 years of age with her, who was as good as gold, but she must have been exhausted by the time she got home.
As we got closer to Glasgow the more turbulence we encountered and the sicker I felt. They were having 90 mph winds in Glasgow and lets just say those winds pushed the plane around a lot. Obviously our seat belts were on way before we landed, mine probably even sooner. The landing was that bad all the passengers clapped when we landed as we were all glad to be alive. One of the staff said she had never had experienced such a landing in all her 26 years of being a Stewardess. I did not have a speck of colour in my face dh said until we got through the customs. I did not vomit though, so that's a positive. I did not even speak to anyone until we got through customs as I honestly just wanted to lay down in the middle of the floor and either die or go to sleep I didn't really care either way....LOL
The flight back was a bit better, hardly any turbulence and a half empty flight so everyone got to stretch out. What children that were on the plane we all happy. I still felt as sick as a dog from it taking off until it landed and I was starving for some strange reason. I even asked when they were serving lunch as despite feeling sick to my stomach I had to have something to eat.
First thing we did when we left the airport was find a Tim Hortons for something to eat. Oh and another thing, I have bad ears. I am very familiar with ear infections, so of course my ears pop in the plane. This time however dh was the one who suffered with a bad ear. He went for a couple of days when we got home with reduced hearing in one ear. He is fine now.
I have told anyone who wants to listen, that if I never have to set foot in a plane ever again it will not bother me. I will have to fly again though, as the majority of our families are in Britain, but it is something I am NOT looking forward too. I also get motion sickness in cars, but not to the same degree.
Do you like to fly?
(By the way my stomach is heaving just writing this...LOL)
18 comments:
I think night flights make everything ten times worse. My family have to tie me to wild horses to get me on a plane!
I do love to fly but I haven't in a long time. Sounds like you had a horrible experience though!
I have never flown but from your account, I may never!
As one who was always terrified of heights (and I mean heights like two story houses) the thought of flying never really entered my mind. Until....my daughter and her British husband were going for a visit the year after they were married and I was TOLD I was going because really, the only thing on my bucket list was to go to England. So, I went. My first flight was a long-haul to London. It was a night flight so I ate my dinner, took my allergy meds which knocked me out and I was rip roaring and ready to go when we landed. I don't get motion sickness so that wasn't an issue. Everybody else, apparently, stayed awake all night in case the pilot needed help flying the plane but not me. It wasn't as great coming back because it was a daytime flight and seemed to take forever (10 hours). We were sitting by the emergency door which was great because we had a lot of leg room but there were a lot of children on the plane and one decided he wanted to look out my window so I had a toddler on my lap most of the flight. He was nice toddler though and didn't do anything yucky like spit up or cry so it was fun, actually. My next flight was a 45 minute flight to San Antonio which was a lot less appealing. Lots of students on the plane, smaller plane, we were at the back by the galley and I was quite smushed. It was better than the 4.5 hr. drive though. Wouldn't think of getting on a plane right now though but I would love to go to England again.
I love flying, would fly everywhere if I could.
I have problems sitting for so long, I can't stand the engine noise,or the smells. Night flights are dreadful...I NEVER eat anything,but cover myself in a blanket and try to block out sounds and smells with the blanket. Daytime flights are better,but I get so bored as I can't stand watching the movies they play.I hate being near children on flights ever since on a flight for work,a child sneezed all over me and gave me conjunctivitis.
Jane x
Oh my, Gil, you sound like my poor sister who would have just as soon died also! I do get some motion sickness, but Dramamine helps me. Sorry you had such a rough time of it but glad you got to see family!
Hugs,
Deb
Oh boy! I must admit reading your post with a bit of envy. Not for the motion sickness, (happily I'm ok with that), but for the 6 1/2 hour flight instead of my 9-10 hour flight from Vancouver. I'm also tense on flights and sometimes feel like I have to concentrate on the flight so hard because I'm the only one keeping that sardine can in the air with my concentration. 11+ years of living in England and Canada, millions of years more of living between Europe and Canada, and it doesn't get any better with time!
Fortunately I don't suffer from motion sickness but I am always glad to get off the plane. My joints can't take sitting in those tiny seats for hours and hours any more.
That first flight was a nightmare!
I've only done short flights, really, and the only thing I've noticed is the tendency for ears to pop.
I've never been able to sleep while flying so I always arrive jet lagged and ready for bed but of course it's usually around 9:00am. I find I manage ok on the trip there but after the return trip it takes me a few days to get my internal clock properly set once again. Motion sickness sounds dreadful!
I hate long haul flights but don't get motion sickness. My hubby, over the past few years, seems to be getting worse when he flies. He becomes apprehensive and has sort of panic attacks. On our last trip, to the US, he found these ginger chews and they seemed to calm his stomach as we were taking off and landing. I think we had orange flavour. Ginger is very calming so perhaps you could enquire at your pharmacy about different tablets etc.
http://calmmindbusybody.com/chimes-review-ginger-candies/
Cheers - Joolz xx
Oh dear!! Sounds like a tough flight. i've just heard ads on the radio for Air Transat - seems like they fly from Ireland now?
I love flying I would prefer to fly then be on a ship traveling in the middle of the ocean . Half of my family are in Britain the other half in Scotland and one day soon we will be going over to visit both by plane. Thanks for sharing I hope your next flight is a nice one for you ! Have a good weekend !
I hate to fly and always have. Not that I don't do it a couple of times a year. I can't eat anything before I fly and must fast the entire time. I take Dramamine to help me sleep through it or at least dose. I actually will get pasty, nauseated and sweaty when I am standing in line to board. I'm such a wimp.
Oh no. Not good at all. But at least you only fly 6 1/2 hours. When we flew to London from Melbourne australia it took over 22 hours! And on the way home we didn't even get a stop over it was off one plane and run all across the airport and straight onto another. I don't get sick but my poor nieces and sister in law do. It was horrendous but if we want to visit other countries we have to do the long haul
I have only been on a plane twice in my life, believe it or not, and I am 58! The first time I was around 20 and only flew from Montreal to New Brunswick, which is just a 45 minute flight. I remember my ears were popping even though I chewed gum, which was supposed to help.
The other time I flew was on a private plane piloted by my then boyfriend, I was pretty nervous and we only flew to Quebec City. I forget how long the flight was...yes, I was nervous.
I love train rides but of course this doesn't work for going overseas. LOL! :)
You know what, I don't like to fly either. And I'm not afraid of heights, and I've never gotten sick on a plane. I just don't like it. I want to though. I want to travel and see places and do things. My sister was a blessing when we went to Italy (14 hour flight) because she downloaded a couple of movies, and Downton Abbey on her Ipad. So we watched movies and I was distracted. Have you ever heard of those wrist things with little "buttons" on them that you wear for motion sickness. My Mom swears by them. She also has gotten something from her Dr. called "the patch" for motion sickness. You might check into them. Or Xanax! And sleep the whole flight away!!!
Cindy Bee
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