Andi is a travel lover, foodie, writer, and Francophile who writes the fabulous blog Misadventures  With Andi.

6:17, slam!

6:36, slam!

7:12, slam!

You get the picture. That was how my day started this morning in the hotel I am staying in while attending a business conference.

I am pretty sure that most people’s parents taught them not to slam doors in the house. Why should a hotel door be any different? I understand that these doors are quite often rather heavy, all the more reason to allow it to close gently.

While traveling you are in a shared environment, temporarily borrowing the space that you occupy whether that is the plane seat, the restaurant booth, and yes, the hotel room.

The Golden Rule applies here as well. Do unto others as you would have done unto you.

No one appreciates constant door slamming, especially if they do not have to get up until 8:00 for their conference!

Business Travel 101 is a weekly series about making that first business trip as easy and successful as possible. Packing, security, comfort, and etiquette are all factors that, with a little planning, can contribute to a smooth and efficient trip. If you think of a topic I should include, email me at RoadWarriorette@gmail.com.

Sometimes I feel that everything I write is designed to help people have a calmer, more peaceful trip. Preparing well, packing simply, and being mindful of your fellow travelers are all things that I talk about a lot. If all travelers enacted these practices, the traveling world would be a better place. We’ve talked about preparation and packing, therefor the obvious next Business Travel 101 post is one about etiquette.

Etiquette is something I feel strongly about in my everyday life, as well as my travel life. Not necessarily the traditional, so-many-rules-it’s-hard-to-remember-them-all etiquette, but simply recognizing that you are not the only passenger on the road and acting accordingly. This is a list of my favorite etiquette guidelines, but not by any means all encompassing. If there is one that means a lot to you that I missed, let me know! And let’s travel nicely.

Security

• Be prepared to go smoothly through security.  Know what the current security rules are for the location you are traveling through, and follow them. Have everything ready to go (laptop, bag of toiletries, shoes off, etc) as soon as you get to the bins. Have all change out of your pocket. Have your boarding pass out for people to see. If there is an option to choose your security line based on your level of experience, please choose honestly.

Carry-on

• 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, that 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.

On the plane

• 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.

Once you arrive

• Practice patience while deplaning. Hundreds of people rushing down the aisle to get off the plane all at the same time…..it’s just not possible. Even though it can be frustrating to have to wait what feels an excessive amount of time, be patient. And when it is your turn, grab your stuff quickly. If there is someone who has a tight connection, it is polite to let them go first or pass you in the jetbridge if necessary. Think of how you would like to be treated in that situation!
• Don’t be too loud in hotel rooms. Most of us know this one, but sometimes can be loud without realizing it. I was guilty of this myself once. I was in a room next to a coworker, and she could hear my alarm through the wall. It wouldn’t have been a problem, except that I am a “snoozer.” I set my alarm 30 minutes early, and it goes off every five minutes. Which can be very frustrating for a neighbor.

Readers, what are your favorite etiquette tips?

I know that I am lucky. In four years of traveling for work, I have only had to sit in the middle seat while flying three times. Because I have elite status with American, I typically get to pick a pretty good seat. On Southwest, I usually remember to print my boarding pass early enough that I can pick out a window or an aisle seat.  But as of this past Tuesday, I have had to sit in the middle seat four times. Luckily, it was a short flight. But even on that short flight, I got some nice time for introspection while the guy to my right was jabbing me in the ribs with his elbow. How can we make it easier on those poor people in the middle? Here are a few ways that I came up with.

• Be aware of your personal space. And by extension, of the personal space of the person next to you. Their space is limited enough already without you leaning over to get stuff out of your bag and putting your head in their lap.
• Let them have the armrests. They have to suffer so much already, just let them have it. What can make a bad situation worse? Having the guy on your right jab you in the ribs with his elbow as he pushes your arm off the armrest.
• Help them when you can. Don’t make them reach over you to grab their beverage from the flight attendant. Be polite when they need to get up to use the restroom. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, these are good etiquette tips for everyone.

We are all in the airplane together, friends! Let’s make this trip as pleasant as we can for everyone involved.

I recently read this article from USA Today on travel etiquette. I am all for etiquette, as is evidenced by the many posts I write about it. I think everyone should be cognizant of the fact that they are not the only traveler on the road, and act accordingly. However, this article quoted several people saying that reclining your seat on a plane is rude. I have never thought of it as rude. It’s something that you are allowed to do to make your seat more comfortable. Yes, if someone in front of you reclines their seat it cuts into your space some, but then you recline your seat and gain that space back. It’s not like someone is putting their feet onto your lap–this is space that the airlines have given to each person, not just a select few.

So. My opinion is that it is not rude. What do you think?

Who would have thought the flights to and from Vegas would give me so much to write about? The drunk people, the wireless mouse, grabbing the seat in front of you….. Here is one more.

On the oh so awesome flight home, which included delays and drunk people, there was another element that contributed to my happy, happy state of mind. A family got on the plane and sat two rows in front of us. Beautiful kids, ages approximately 6, 3, and 1. The parents seemed nice, and were responsive to their kids needs. Until the plane took off.

As the plane was taking off, both parents (BOTH) put on noise canceling headphones. The older kids seemed fine–didn’t hear a peep out of them. But the beautiful, beautiful 1-year old started screaming immediately. And I mean screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs. I saw the headphones on the parents and thought, surely they are checking on the video or something they are about to play for the baby. But no, the kid screamed and the parents ignored, with headphones on.

This lasted for over twenty minutes, with one parent occasionally leaning over and saying something to the screaming child. But they left the headphones on. Because, hey, there’s no reason they should have to listen to it too right? Just because everyone else did?

Now, I don’t have kids yet, and I am sure that being on a plane while your child is screaming is very hard. I try not to judge parents for how they handle their kids in any situation, because, again, I have no kids and have no idea how I would handle it. What I am upset about here is the headphones. It seemed like the parents were completely disregarding what was going on, and cutting themselves off from everyone else. The rest of us,  meanwhile, had to listen to their child express her displeasure. Not fun, not fun at all.

This is something that, in my experience anyway, not many travelers think about. How many times have you finally gotten into your seat on the plane, put your stuff where you want it, and settled in with your book and headphones, when suddenly you are jerked backward because the person behind you is using your seat back as their personal handle? Most people don’t even realize that every time they touch the seat in front of them, it moves. If they grab it and use it to support them while they sit down, the person in front of it feels it. If they elbow it while moving their stuff, it’s similar to the kid kicking your seat during a movie. There is often an empty seat nearby that you can use to help yourself balance as you maneuver into your row, maybe in the middle of the row in front of you, or next to you. Use that seat, not the one with the napping person in it.

That is all. Thank you.