Last week, I fell asleep in an airport. In my defense, I’m six months pregnant, I had gotten up that morning at 4am, and after a hard day of presentations was completely wiped out at 5pm. The thing is, I didn’t even realize I had fallen asleep until I woke up. Mortified, I looked around to see if anyone had noticed. It was hard to tell. I don’t see anything strange or embarrassing about sleeping on planes, but for some reason airports seem more like a public place and so sleeping seems wrong somehow. Maybe it’s the fact that people are sitting facing you, as opposed to in rows. Anyway, it made me wonder—what do other people think about sleeping in airports? And do you feel differently when you’re traveling for business as opposed to fun? Do you think it’s weird when others sleep in airports?

 Loading ...

When you arrive at the airport, one of the first obstacles you encounter to getting to your final destination is the security line. Hundreds of people, all trying to get through that rope line to prove who they are, take off their shoes, send all of their belongings through an X-ray machine, then go through a scanner to make sure they’re not carrying anything dangerous…..well, it’s no wonder things can get a little testy! But don’t worry, I’ve put together a list of tips to help us get through that testing ground with our dignity and sanity intact (sort of).

• Be prepared to go smoothly through security.  Know what the current security rules are for the location you are traveling through, and follow them.
• If there is an option to choose your security line based on your level of experience, please choose honestly.
• Have your boarding pass and ID out for the TSO before you get to the front of the line. Don’t hold up the line putting it away; wait until you get to the next line.
• Have everything easily accessible (laptop, bag of toiletries, etc) so that you are ready to go as soon as you get to the bins. Have all change out of your pocket, preferably in a pocket in your bag.
• Wait to go through the metal detector until your bags are through the x-ray machine. First, simple etiquette. No one wants to be responsible for moving someone else’s things through. Second, if your belongings are out of your sight, someone could steal something. No reason to tempt fate!
• If for any reason you can’t go through the metal detector or body scanner, let the agent know up front. This may take some extra time, so be prepared.
• Once through security, grab your stuff and move it over to the bench or table nearby. Please don’t hold up the line so you can dig your change out of the bin!
• Remember (and this can be hard for the seasoned travelers, myself included) that not everyone flies every week. Some people will simply take longer than we’d like, and getting frustrated with them won’t make your own trip go any more smoothly.

For a full list of tips to make going through security smooth as silk, check out my Security Refresh from January.

Readers, what do you think? Did I miss anything? What is important to you, etiquette wise, when going through security?

Don’t forget about the National Anniversary contest!!

After a flight last week, I realized I may have left something out of the Plane Etiquette Roundup from a few weeks ago. Something important. I was flying home from Nashville and preparing to enjoy a nap after a long, long day trip. Almost asleep, I was at that in-between stage where you’re still kind of aware of your surroundings but very relaxed. Suddenly a huge cloud of odor accosted my nose. It took a second for me to react, but I jerked upright, looking for the culprit. A woman across the aisle and two rows up was spraying perfume on herself. (To give you a little background: I am incredibly sensitive to scents. I can get a migraine in seconds from certain smells, and am allergic to many others. Luckily, I actually have a pretty terrible sense of smell normally. I like to think it’s my body’s way of protecting me from harm. Anyway.) I immediately started sneezing repeatedly, getting curious stares from my neighbors. Eventually I stopped sneezing, but my eyes were itchy and watery the rest of the flight. (Pictured: the very lovely Thierry Mugler Angel Eau de Toilette. Smells great, but wait until you land!)

Another example: fingernail clipping. Remember what happened to my friend several months ago? Well, after I relayed this perfume story to the Home Warrior, he told me an even worse story that happened to him on a recent flight. He was looking at stuff on his iPhone when a piece of a fingernail hit his tray table. (I shudder as I write this.) Turns out the guy in front of him was clipping his nails and lost control of one. I asked the HW why he didn’t tell me about this when it happened, and he said he knew I would freak out. He was right.

There are many personal grooming things that simply should not be done when you are in close confines with other people. Spraying perfume, clipping your nails…. I’ve even seen people brushing their hair and clumps of hair flying onto the people behind them. Please be aware of those around you, and if there is any way that what you are doing could impede on their personal space, wait until you land. Obviously not all personal grooming activities are irritating to other passengers—using a cleansing cloth on your face or hands, putting on makeup—those kinds of things can be done without disturbing fellow passengers. Just be mindful! And remember, you’re sharing a small space with hundreds of others. When in doubt, wait until landing. Your neighbors will thank you.

Last week, we talked about etiquette for planes. One could reasonably argue that etiquette for carry-on suitcases should fit under that umbrella. And it probably does. But this is such an important part of thoughtful travel that I felt it deserved its own post. Here are some guidelines for how to share that overhead bin space, nicely.

• Know your airline’s guidelines. All major airlines have the size and weight restrictions for carry-ons on their website. If your bag is too big, they may make you check it. Also, there are slightly different size requirements for international carriers vs. American carriers, so make sure your bag works for your continent as well.
• Make sure you can lift your bag. You may not be able to depend on having people around you that can help, and some flight attendants are prohibited from helping customers put bags up.
• Put your suitcase on the correct side of the airplane, facing the correct way. Listen to what the flight attendants tell you to do, and do it. If one side of the plane is made to hold rollaboards, please put your suitcase there. That way there is room for everyone’s stuff.
• Only put your large bag in the overhead. Put your purse or briefcase under the seat in front of you, until you know for sure there will be room. Also, don’t put your jacket in a bin unless it’s going on top of or in front of your bag. Again, we’re trying to make room for everyone.
• Put your bag in the bin as close to your seat as possible. If you are sitting in row 25, and there is no room over 25 and there is room over 23, that’s one thing. But if you’re sitting in row 25 and you put your bag over row 8, the people in row 8 won’t have room.
• Don’t make it your plan to gate check.  If you bring a normal sized carry-on that you are happy to bring on the plane or gate-check, that is one thing. But please don’t bring an oversized bag on the plane, expecting they will make you gate-check it. If you are bringing too much stuff, check your bag. If you don’t want to pay the fee, bring less stuff. Don’t slow everyone else down because you’re trying to save $20.
• When getting your bag out of the overhead bins, please, please be careful. I have seen people get hit in the head, and come close to getting hit myself, by rogue rollaboards.

Readers, what are your favorite etiquette tips for carry-ons?

Sometimes while traveling we get so focused and in the zone that we forget we are not the only passengers on the plane. Still, recognizing how to coexist in a metal tube very closely with 150 strangers can make for a better flight for everyone. Here are some of my favorite etiquette tips for air travel.

• When you are standing up to go somewhere, please don’t grab the seat in front of you for balance. Most people, it seems, simply don’t think about this. Every time you touch the seat in front of you, the person sitting there can feel it. Grab your own seat if you need help!
• Let the middle seat have the armrests. You may be tall, have long arms, need a lot of space…. It doesn’t matter. The person in the middle has less space than you, and it makes their flight better if they get the armrest too.
• Respect the crew. If the flight attendant tells you to turn off your cell phone, do it. If they tell you where to put your bag, put it there. The crew is responsible for the transport and safety of over a hundred people. They are not your personal chef, bartender, or secretary.
• Keep your kids corralled. Whatever it takes to keep your kids happy, be it snacks, juice, music, a coloring book, please do it. Don’t let your child kick the seat in front of them! I know sometimes it’s unavoidable, but if it is constant throughout the flight it can get very uncomfortable for the person in that seat.
• Be mindful of reclining. When I posted about whether or not reclining your seat is rude, the results were definitely mixed. If you need to recline your seat, make sure that you don’t keep it reclined the entire flight, especially during food service.
• Watch your bags when going down the aisle. Make sure you know where your purse or briefcase is. It’s so easy to accidentally hit everyone in an aisle seat by simply not paying attention.
• Don’t shout. The background noise on planes is so loud that it can hinder conversations with people around us. But please, don’t shout. The person next to you may be super interested in what you’re saying, but I bet the guy three rows in front of you is trying to work/rest/read, and isn’t worried about all the details of your daughter’s wedding.
• Know your limits. I have definitely enjoyed a glass of wine or two (especially in first class!) on occasion during a flight. Just remember one drink on a plane is equal to two drinks on the ground. So please, know your limits and don’t get super drunk.

Readers, what are your favorite etiquette tips for passengers on a plane? (And watch for the carry-on etiquette round up next week!)

I talk about airport security a lot, but honestly it seems like the general population still needs a lot of help. There are a million things you can do to set up your stuff correctly so that you go through security efficiently (see recent post Security Refresh for step by step instructions). I know that all of my fabulous readers know how to get through the line with a minimum of fuss and without slowing anyone down, but just in case someone hasn’t heard this very important tip, here it is again.

Once you get through the metal detector or the body scanner, immediately go to the X-ray machine. Pick up your stuff, and grab your suitcase and briefcase. Then move out of the way, over to the benches, chairs, or tables set up specifically for the purpose of arranging your things. Then you can leisurely put your shoes and coat back on, put your laptop where it goes, and repack your liquids bag, without holding up the security line. It’s so simple!

You may be wondering what brought this on. Friday, when attempting to leave town, I was behind a business traveler. He seemed to have his stuff pretty well together, and got through the line rather quickly. But when he got to the other side, he stood there blocking access to the X-ray belt, while he put on his coat and put in his earbuds. I was speechless. The whole process took him several minutes, while my items were trying to come out of the machine and couldn’t. Oy.

Readers, what’s the strangest thing you’ve seen someone do when picking up their stuff in the security line?

Coming home from Chicago, Part 2.

I’ve already shared the first etiquette issue I witnessed on Saturday. Well, here is the second. Southwest had the best flight times for Saturday (had to get home for my nephew’s first birthday!), so I flew them home. I really like Southwest—the flight attendants are usually pretty happy, the seats are a little bit bigger, and I typically can get a window seat without too much trouble. Other business travelers I’ve talked to don’t really like their boarding system, but I don’t have a problem with it. Especially now that they have the numbers to go along with the boarding groups.

(For those of you who aren’t familiar, here’s how it works. When you check in, you are assigned a boarding group (A, B, or C) and a number for your place in line. They have everyone line up basically in order for each boarding group, and then once you’re on the plane you choose whatever seat you want. This has always worked fine for me in the past, with no significant issues.)

However, on the last two Southwest flights I’ve taken, there have been issues. Flying to LA, I had place A30. Our group was boarding, the line was moving along, and then it just stopped. I waited a minute, and realized the lady two people in front of me wasn’t moving. “Excuse me,” I said, “are you in the A group?” “No, I’m a B,” she said. Okeydokey. I walked around her and boarded. Of course, it turned out the woman in front of me was also an A, so she followed me. At the time, I just thought, that was weird and kind of rude, but whatever.

Then Saturday happened. I was B23, not a great spot, but what can you do. I was behind a large family, and our group was boarding. And same as last time, it stopped. The family and I waited patiently, as there were several people in front of us waiting to board. Or so we thought. After a couple of minutes, the gate agent said, “Any more B1-30? Nope? Okay, B 31-60 come on down.” I waved my arm. “Wait!” I said. “There are more of us!” Still the line didn’t move, so I just went in front of everyone and boarded. The family followed close behind. Turns out yet another family had gotten in front of them, that were part of the C group. What the heck, people?

Friends, please wait until the gate agent tells you to line up before getting in line. It is frustrating for those of us waiting to board for people to jump in line and then keep us from getting on the plane during our group. This goes for other airlines too. If you are flying American, and you’re in boarding Group 4, please don’t stand up and clog the boarding area until it’s closer to your turn. It is very difficult to maneuver a suitcase through a hundred people to board, when those people won’t be boarding for like ten minutes anyway!

Readers, what are your thoughts on this? Have you experienced people not waiting their turn to board?

Don’t forget about the contest going on through Sunday!! You could win two nights in a Courtyard Marriott.

Last week on my way to Nashville, the last seven or eight passengers to board had to check their bags. This has become fairly standard, as more and more people try to carry-on to avoid checked-baggage fees. I get it, I really do. It sucks to pay $40 or more extra per trip. But as much as the flight attendants say it, there will never be room for everyone’s bag. There are ways, however, to make sure there is room for many, many bags. (Pictured: Samsonite Women’s Xspace 30″ Expandable Spinner, available on Amazon for $159)

The key? Put your bag in the right way. It is the biggest single thing you can do to make sure the most passengers can fit thier bags in the overhead. It can be slightly confusing, because on some aircraft the bags have to go in wheels first, on some they have to be handle first, and on a few planes they can only fit sideways. (In the past, I’ve always had a hard time getting my bag to fit wheels first on Southwest planes, so I’ve had to put it sideways. Last week on my flight home, though, I was able to make it work. So I guess it really depends on the plane.) On some planes, i.e. the Super 80s that American uses all the time, the bags will only fit on one side. The most important thing is to listen to the flight attendants! If you fly all the time, you probably know on any given plane how your bag will fit. But if you don’t fly as much, or you’re on an unfamiliar aircraft, pay attention!

You’ve heard it all before, and you’ll probably hear it every time you fly. The overhead bins are shared space. So do your best to share!!

My own over-stuffed travel purse

You’ve probably seen it happen–someone walking down the aisle of an airplane, totally focused on what’s ahead of them, and completely unaware that they are hitting everyone already seated with their bag. This past week, the woman in front of me on our normal sized Super 80 (so not a small plane with a smaller aisle) was pushing her rollaboard in front of her and had her large purse on her shoulder. As she was walking by a group of people already seated, she literally hit a woman in the face with her purse. Obviously, she wasn’t trying to be rude, she was just completely oblivious.

My recommendation: don’t keep your purse or briefcase on your shoulder—hold the straps in your hand. Then either pull or carry your rollaboard, depending on how narrow the aisle is. It’s not as comfortable this way, but at least you have more control over where your bags go. And you’re more likely to avoid hitting someone in the face.

Ah, the bulkhead. One of the best seats on the plane! Extra leg room, no one in front of you, a place where you can spread out all of your stuff and finally be comfortable. Or is it? So thought the woman sitting there on my flight early yesterday morning. She sat down in her seat, put her tote bag in the corner in front of her, and got out her water, magazine, purse, and snacks, and set them down around her feet. Obviously, not someone who flies all of the time. The flight attendant came over and let her know that she couldn’t have anything by her feet, and that both of her bags needed to go into the overhead bin. She freaked out. I mean, I could hear her side of the conversation with the flight attendant three rows back. “There’s plenty of room! Why can’t I have my purse? I have to have my purse! What if someone steals it?” Etc.

The bulkhead can seem like a great place—you really do have lots of leg room. But if you are paranoid about your possessions being out of sight for a period of time or need lots of stuff for a flight, it may not be the place for you. For a reason I’m not completely clear on, you are not allowed to have anything at all around your feet, not even behind your legs. (I think it has something to do with needing the area around your feet clear if there is an emergency and you have to run off the plane) If you do sit there, it’s easiest if you don’t need much besides a book or magazine. Certainly you can work there, just make sure your laptop or whatever else you need is close to the opening of your bag—it’s tricky to rummage around while the bag is in the overhead bin. Whatever you do, don’t force your bag under your seat—then you are taking away from the room of the person behind you.

Eventually, the woman yesterday gathered all of her things together and put them in the overhead bin, sighing loudly to signal her displeasure the whole time. (If she had listened to the flight attendants’ announcements in the first place, she would have known the score before she sat down. But that’s a rant for another day….) After takeoff, she loudly excused herself to the person next to her as she went to pull her purse out of the overhead bin. “So sorry! But I had to put all of my things up there, and I need them, so I have to go in front of you.” Passive-aggressive, yes. Oh well. Next time you sit in the bulkhead, try to be nicer and more prepared than her! Your fellow passengers will thank you.

This may be another one of those things that, like grabbing the seat in front of you, if you don’t fly often you don’t think about it. But after almost every flight I’ve taken over the last few weeks, someone has stopped abruptly, right in front of me, in the middle of the jetbridge (or the space right outside of it).  Maybe people are trying so hard to get off the plane that they don’t arrange their belongings in a comfortable way, and they need to stop and fix them? Or they want to get their phone/keys/wallet/etc. out of their bag? Regardless of the reason, it can cause a logjam, or even someone to run into you. I came this close to running into someone who stopped right in the middle of the path outside the jetbridge on Saturday.

This is true for the airport in general, and really any place where there is a hallway or walkway used by lots of people at a time. If you need to stop, glance around you and then move to the side without running into anyone. I actually treat it like driving–I look to my blind spot, then get out of the way. Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances, but please, move over to the side if you have to stop.