During your next flight, be considerate of the passenger in front of you. When settling down into — or, getting out of — your seat, don’t grab the seat in front of you for leverage.
Nothing is more startling (or, annoying) than to suddenly feel your seat rock backwards because the passenger seated in the row behind you couldn’t just use the armrest.
Forget buying expensive products that promise to keep you healthy when you fly. This simple, but unglamorous trick, prevents me from getting sick every time.
Before I head to the airport, I put a generous amount of antibiotic ointment on a cotton swab and then coat the inside of my nose. It creates a barrier for the germs and keeps my nose from becoming dry and irritated while breathing the recycled air in the plane.
(Of course, I have no medical proof, but I never get sick after flying when I remember to do this.)
Last year on our flight to Las Vegas, I asked several of the other passengers if they would like to partake in a drawing for a chance to win money before landing in Vegas.
Several passengers were interested, so we got a trash bag and a marker, and each passenger that wanted to play wrote their seat number on a dollar bill and placed it in the trash bag.
After asking everyone if they wanted to play, we had a young passenger draw one of the dollars from the bag and that person won all the cash.
1. Don’t fly – if you feel sick before boarding a flight, talk to an agent about rebooking on a later flight. Trust me, it’s better to be sick in the terminal than on an airplane. At least in the terminal you can leave. Once on the plane you’re stuck.
2. Don’t ask to sit in first class – On a recent flight during boarding, a passenger told me she felt ill and then immediately asked if there were any first class seats available. Just because you’re sick doesn’t mean you can sit in first class.
3. Do locate the barf bag – As soon as you feel nauseous look inside the seat back pocket in front of you for a barf bag. Because you may not have one. It’s amazing just how many have been transformed into hats (pictured), dresses, ipod holders, gum holders, trash bags, or used as paper for writing letters.
4. Do tell a flight attendant – Don’t wait until the last minute to inform a flight attendant you’re not feeling well. Tell us ASAP! This way we’ll be able to take better care of you. We’ll even give you something bigger to throw up in. Those little barf bags are not large enough for projectile vomiting. Trust us, we know.
5. Do sit near the front of the aircraft – Mix an upset stomach with a little turbulence and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. The front of the aircraft is always a lot less bumpy than the back. Just make sure to ring your call light and tell a flight attendant what’s going on before it gets too bumpy to move you to another seat!6. Do get comfortable – Recline your seat and if possible, turn the air vent on high. If you’re feeling clammy, a flight attendant will bring you a cold, wet towel to place on the back of your neck.
7. Do drink soda – Without ice. On my last flight a doctor informed the crew that Coke works better than Ginger Ale. “The syrup has medicinal properties,” she said. Make sure to get rid of the bubbles (carbonation) first by stirring or pouring the liquid from one plastic cup to another before serving it to a sick passenger.
8. Do eat something – Think white; bread, dinner rolls, biscuits, crackers, whatever. Take small bites and eat slowly.
9. Don’t barf on others – Once a passenger barfs on another there’s usually a chain reaction. This is a flight attendant’s worst nightmare. A friend of mine had a little boy on board who vomited on several passengers as he ran to the lavatory. Soon there were 40 other passengers joining in.
10. Don’t barf in first class – On my last flight a woman ran all the way from coach to first class and then locked herself in the lav for thirty minutes. We were on a 757. There’s only one bathroom in first class. The cockpit never got a potty break.
11. Do discard barf properly – When that same sick passenger finally exited the lav, she attempted to hand me a warm bag of barf. We were in the middle of the meal service. Please, I beg you, discard barf in the proper location, the trash receptacle located in the lavatory.
12. Don’t be embarrassed – flight attendants deal with sick passengers all the time. It’s no big deal. Just about everyone has felt sick on an airplane at some time or other, and if they haven’t their time is coming. Remember to lend them your barf bag.
13. Ask for a wheelchair – Before the airplane lands, tell a flight attendant you’d like to have a wheelchair meet the flight. This way you won’t have to walk through the terminal if you’re still feeling badly.
14. Don’t fly – Got a connecting flight? Go back to number one and stop there!
You’re on a flight trying to get a little rest when the kid whose been kicking your seat for the last half hour suddenly begins to scream.You do what any normal passenger would do and spin around, shooting the parents an evil look. When that doesn’t work you ring your flight attendant call light and ask the attendant if perhaps she can help, all the while thinking thank God we’re landing soon. What the heck is wrong with that kid!
Blocked ears. Altitude changes increase air pressure as the plane lowers. The change in pressure pushes the eardrum inward. Because children have relatively narrow Eustachian tubes, they may not function as effectively as an adults’, especially if they’re clogged by an inflammation or ear infection. Blocked ears can cause severe pain, dullness in hearing, and can occasionally lead to hearing loss.
What a parent can do
What to do when your own ears hurt
Are your ears bothering you after a flight? Do what I do and try taking taking a hot steamy shower and drink plenty of hot tea. If plagued with ear pressurization problems, invest in a pair of disposable ear plugs like EarPlanes which can be found online and at local pharmacies in sizes for both adults and children, and don’t leave home without them!
Photo courtesy of TomD