[Travel] Airports and flying

[chickens]

Speaking for myself, the one delight of the covid lockdown was that there was no risk of having to go to an airport and fly anywhere.

I’m not a nervous flyer, but I absolutely loathe the entire airport process, being herded about like cattle and then moved from one waiting area to another. Queuing and then queuing again. I find it unbelievable that airports haven’t found better, less intrusive ways of managing security and keeping people moving than the current systems.

I’ve deliberately avoided flying post-Covid, and haven’t missed it at all, but now my partner informs me that a trip that requires flying (to visit family) is on the horizon. Has anything changed?

Am I being a precious snowflake by being so annoyed by the whole airport circus, or do others find it equally inhuman and frustrating?

Are some airports better than others?

And yes, this is absolutely an idle off-season post to pass the long weeks until we’re back in action.

 

[Live by the sea]

I fly quite a bit , nothing much has changed although the facial recognition cameras at Gatwick help speed things up when getting back into the country .

I understand the rules regarding liquids and the amounts you can bring will shortly be changing for the better

 

[HeaviestTed]

I think you just need to get there early, skip as much as you can afford (fast bag drop, pay for premium security), have some food or drink and be patient.

You will have to wait at some point, may as well be calm and enjoy it rather than rushing and getting angry.

The bit that annoys a lot of people is the “gate closes at xx” and having to be in that little holding area and leave it to the last minute then have to stand there while everyone moves onto the next phase. Just get there early and get a seat, take a magazine or book or watch something on your phone.

Airports are as stressful as you make them.

 

[Husty]

Absolutely, 100% being a precious snowflake. Happy to have helped.

 

[knocky1]

Regular flyer Rish! Sunak finds it all very stress free.

 

[Live by the sea]

Regular flyer Rish! Sunak finds it all very stress free.

Flying first class helps !

 

[banjo]

Flew from Gatwick in June. No hassles at all, going out or on return. Had a 20 minute queue through passport control at Nice airport though. The joys of Brexit.

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

Snowflake alert, although if you're talking about Stansted Airport you may have some good points - that place is a sh!tshow!

 

[beorhthelm]

airports say something about inability to design pleasant environments, they are very utilitarian. except id say small ones, that kind of have some character, even if thats as a contrast from the larger ones. for example Prestwick, though as i type i think that character is 1970's office aesthetic. so yes, they are all crap places to be.

 

[Official Old Man]

With you all the way. Like sheep, a group of 1000+ people arrive at a desk to be met by a computer. These 1000 are sent on a long walk through passport control and security to meet again as a herd in a large waiting room, otherwise known as Wetherspoons. Then they are split up into groups of 100 and sent again on a long walk through endless corridoors where they can go plane spotting, "is that ours?". The herd are then checked again and put into a small pen with 50 seats big enough to hold 75 people. A pecking order means some believe they have the right to stand at the boarding doors. An anouncement is made "Will those with seats 35 to 45 come forwards". Somehow everyone has these seats. Anyway, 100+ do manage to squeeze into a small tin can and, despite the worry, no one has the same seat as you so there was no reason to run on.
Yes, I'm looking forwards to European Football.

 

[ElectricNaz]

Flying is great, love it.

But agreed, airports sometimes seem a bit like a cattle herding exercise. My tip if you hate the circus like atmosphere of an airport is to always book the airport lounge (and any kind of fast track through security you can get your hands on). And also - always try and take hand luggage only if you can (i.e. if you have a washing machine at your airbnb / apartment, take as little as possible and chuck a couple of washes on during your stay) as then you don't need to 'queue' to check in a bag (Wouldn't recommend that at a hotel as they charge through the nose to shove your stuff in with all the dirty towels they were gonna wash anyway).

And absolutely yes, some airports are better than others. Some airports have air con, some don't. Some have delightful outside spaces, some are windowless prisons. Some have weird extra security checks as well which always confuses me - so once you've gone through 'main' security, you then need to go through security again at your gate where bags are checked manually by additional security peeps. Some airports will randomly check bags even though you've taken out every single electronic device and have zero liquids (This last one confuses me, why the need for random bag checks if security is supposedly so tight)

 

[Bozza]

Flew from Gatwick in June. No hassles at all, going out or on return.

Parents who are confined to flying within school holidays can only dream of such an experience.

Five years and counting...

 

[chickens]

Snowflake alert, although if you're talking about Stansted Airport you may have some good points - that place is a sh!tshow!

Thanks, Stansted crossed off the list of potential departure points.

 

[chickens]

airports say something about inability to design pleasant environments, they are very utilitarian. except id say small ones, that kind of have some character, even if thats as a contrast from the larger ones. for example Prestwick, though as i type i think that character is 1970's office aesthetic. so yes, they are all crap places to be.

Absolutely this. It feels to me as though they were designed for an alien species by someone with no knowledge of what humans find enjoyable or relaxing. I struggle to think of a less pleasant environment.

 

[Boroseagull]

Tend to indulge in www.loungepass.com to ease the crowds, arrive early to relax before the usual bun fight of boarding. Last time we returned to the UK (for a funeral) my wife had had a hip replacement 5 weeks before so we requested assistance. Malaga assistance was amazing from first check in to their waiting area, electric carted everywhere - nothing was too much trouble. Contrast that with Stansted! Ambulift off the plane and to the edge of the apron. There were 10 wheelchairs there and one, yes one, assistant to push them. 4 people needed assistance so we managed, luckily with only carry on bags. A seemingly endless traipse through the airport, up and down floors via lifts (several were not working so we had to double back) until we got to Border Control. There, and only there, it was great - separate lane and very courteous officer to help. Then it was back to pushing the wheelchair out to the courtesy busses and just dump it there.

 

[goldstone]

It is incredible that we had the technology to get men to the moon over 50 years ago and yet we still have to hand search bags at airports. Blows the mind.

 

[The Clamp]

Flying first class helps !

As does taking private jets everywhere.

 

[The Clamp]

I don’t fly much so haven’t got that “here we go again” vibe that frequent flyers must get.

I’m usually with mates as well so that probably helps pass the time.

I can’t drink alcohol when I’m flying either as I have the bladder of an infant hummingbird so even a half a lager has me worrying about toilet visits on the flight.

I guess it also depends if you’re looking forward to your destination.

 

[hart's shirt]

Are some airports better than others?

With previous experience of LHR, a couple of evening flights from LGW-DXB this year were thoroughly preferable than slogging up to London.

Emirates have the online check-in with seat choice 48 hours prior to departure. Bag drop took around 5-10 minutes from getting off the train.

It was the last flight of the day then (8:20pm), so a complete breeze to get through security which took less than 5 minutes.

If you're feeling really stressed by the whole airport thing, try to think of it as an experience in itself.

Book a lounge, get there early, enjoy the free food and drink, freshen up, read the papers, watch some planes...

At the very least, it'll probably calm your nerves for the next time.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

I worked for BAA in construction at Gatwick for 15 years including when they were constructing the North Terminal which was state of the art at the time. I always got the impression that their main aim was to maximise profit from their catering and duty free concessions and the passenger experience was secondary. In fact we referred to it at at as a supermarket which had an airport attached. Having said that Gatwick is way better for flying out of than Heathrow.