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John_Cillis

Window or aisle seat?

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23 hours ago, VeryBumpy said:

Same here. It's not so much the planes or airlines, it's the people, they are now monsters making flights a real test of patience and tolerance.

All of my airline flights go through Detroit, via Delta, and I love the McNamara terminal there. It's clean and spacious, with huge windows giving a great view of the airside operations. Even though they process an enormous number of passengers every day, it doesn't feel crowded. I sometimes book my flights so I will have at least a 2-hour layover, just so I can watch the Delta 747s arrive and depart - something that will no longer be possible after this year when the 744s retire.

Last week though, I had to pass though Atlanta - arghh! The terminals there have all the ambiance of a downtown bus station. Dirty, low ceilings, no windows, and milling crowds packed wall-to-wall. Most of the gates have inadequate seating, so many passengers have to stand while waiting to board outgoing flights. The F international terminal is very nice, but the rest of it... ugh. The flightside ops are a wonder of efficiency with 5 runways, and cleverly designed SIDS and STARS allowing enormous numbers of aircraft to arrive and depart with little or no delays, but the terminals are a different story.


Jim Barrett

Licensed Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic, Avionics, Electrical & Air Data Systems Specialist. Qualified on: Falcon 900, CRJ-200, Dornier 328-100, Hawker 850XP and 1000, Lear 35, 45, 55 and 60, Gulfstream IV and 550, Embraer 135, Beech Premiere and 400A, MD-80.

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Definitely the window. The last few times I was stuck in an aisle seat, I was pretty much bored out of my mind and constantly turning to look out the window despite not being able to see much.


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Window seat on short haul, and almost always an aisle seat on long haul. Especially for long haul, I like being able to get up and walk around, go to the toilet without asking the people next to me to allow me to pass.

The window view is good for aviation geeks, but on long haul, generally you have to shut the window blinds anyway. You can normally get a decent view on cameras when provided.

 

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The passenger on my flight home from London in June actually reached over shortly after we took off and closed my window blind.  Very rude.  I would love to fly a 787 because you can dim the window without darkening it all the way, but BA only flies a 747 out of Sky Harbor.  Finally I opened the window when we reached the rockies and I videoed the last five minutes of flight to touchdown and exit onto the taxiway.

John

 

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4 minutes ago, Cactus521 said:

The passenger on my flight home from London in June actually reached over shortly after we took off and closed my window blind.  Very rude.

He would have got my whisky and soda in his lap shortly after.

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7 hours ago, bic said:

Last year when leaving Dublin, after getting into the line to check-in, someone approached us and started having a conversation with us.  We thought it was very cool, but realized they were profiling us.  We were completely caught off guard.  The last time I was profiled was in Cairo going to Tel Aviv in 1985, give or take a year, by El Al Airlines.

Yea but honestly this wasn't a case of profiling, he was a Kiwi and a legit fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, no one pretends to be a fan of that team to profile people, Leafs fans are nuts because that team never does anything.

It was the same last time we flew into Vancouver, the guy doing the Boarder Patrol there when he finished processing us asked us about living in New Zealand, reason why he asked was because when he migrated with his family his two choices were to Canada or New Zealand, they ended up in Canada but he said he always wondered what life would have been like if his family went to New Zealand instead, he finished the talk with a big 'Welcome to Canada' and a big smile, it kind of gave us goosebumps as what a way to enter a country and for my partner it was her first visit to Canada. These are just Canadians and Kiwi's and Aussies and what they are really like. 

As for Israel I do give them credit as security their is really tight and risks are much higher however they do a better job of it, I think that is because they have been doing it for longer and have decades of experience, and in many ways wrote the book on many things. You never hear people complain about them as they do the TSA


Matthew Kane

 

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I fly three or four times per year, mostly for work (going to academic conferences). I always book a window seat: I love watching the scenery rolling by, and take offs and landings are so much more enjoyable when you can see them.

I fly out of CYVR, and even when I've flown to the USA, the US Border and Customs Control Officers at Vancouver International have been polite and relatively friendly. Coming back into Canada after travelling internationally is never an issue, either. The few times when I've actually had to talk to a Canadian border official have been fine.

The only real difficulties I experience is when I travel within Canada to smaller, regional airports. Security is far, far tighter in these places--unnecessarily so. It seems unlikely that people might want to highjack or blow up a DHC-8-100 departing from Cranbrook, BC (CYXC) or Prince George, BC (CYXS), yet I have been hassled over a container of skin cream medicine that was over the 100 ml size in Prince George when I wasn't even asked about it in Vancouver. I think it was around 120 ml, as if 20 ml would make a difference.

Oh well ... small price to pay to be safe, I guess.


Joel Murray @ CYVR (actually, somewhere about halfway between CYNJ and CZBB) 

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14 hours ago, JRMurray said:

The only real difficulties I experience is when I travel within Canada to smaller, regional airports. Security is far, far tighter in these places--unnecessarily so. It seems unlikely that people might want to highjack or blow up a DHC-8-100 departing from Cranbrook, BC (CYXC) or Prince George, BC (CYXS), yet I have been hassled over a container of skin cream medicine that was over the 100 ml size in Prince George when I wasn't even asked about it in Vancouver. I think it was around 120 ml, as if 20 ml would make a difference.

Oh well ... small price to pay to be safe, I guess.

But that is the same with the police too, you could walk around Vancouver high on Heroine and the VPD won't care, you can walk around Prince George after a few beers and the RCMP will likely Taser you. Small towns are always like that.

At least in New Zealand we only have security on any aircraft being a 737 or A320 or higher. Any Dash 8's, ATR's or B1900D type aircraft we have no security, no screening, you can just step on and off like its a bus. And with Smartphones you can check in from anywhere and arrive at the airport 10 minutes before departure, they won't check you for anything. :cool:


Matthew Kane

 

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I fly weekly for work. Typically get first class window unless I fly no class Southwest. If you want a great experience, fly the 787 first class. Its incredible. I love it over the 777 first class cabin.

Back to window vs aisle, I'm 6'4" the aisle allows you to stretch out a leg better. The downfall is that I seem to get someone with the bladder the size of a grape in the middle or on the window getting up all the time. The window you can put on your headphones and put your head against the side and go to sleep.

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I prefer the window, but only if there are two seats in the row and my wife is on the aisle. It is one of the main reasons I'll upgrade to first on short flights or select a flight with an MD80/90 if it is available. If there are three seats, my wife gets the center and I get the aisle. I need to walk around once per hour or I go nuts.

Now that we had our first kid, things should work out better when we start flying with him. Of course, I am only referring to seat selection issues here and fully realize flying with a child opens up a lot more issues:)

One thing I absolutely despise is when people have the window and the close the shade during takeoff and landing. They should banished to center seats for eternity. I know they want to lean against the side of the cabin while they are sleeping, but there is a reason they call it a window seat and not a wall seat. Window seats come with responsibilities.

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I am with you on people who close the shades, or my experience flying home from London where the passenger in the aisle closed the shades.  To fly eleven hours inside a darkened cabin is maddening.  If people want no light they could spend a few $ and buy eyeshades.  We pay good money to fly and should be able to fly in the comfort of our choosing.

John

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Unfortunately there are far too many pax who are not aviation enthusiasts and just use the airliner as a subway train or some such..

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Mark Robinson

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1 hour ago, HighBypass said:

Unfortunately there are far too many pax who are not aviation enthusiasts and just use the airliner as a subway train or some such..

Very true.  Can't say that everyone would be excited about flying,  Today most fly as public transport, whereas in Europe, rail seems to dominate, people commune better closer to the ground.  Me, I still feel that euphoria of escaping gravity and getting off the earth, looking out over the ever changing landscape.  An old friend, Bill Garnett, was the first pilot who let me fly a plane out of Napa.  It was a polished aluminum old Cessna, and in exchange for cleaning it he would take me and my friend up flying over the patterns made by the San Pablo Bay.  He made money by taking aerial pictures of landscapes and selling them as art.  Here is a link about him:

http://communityofcreatives.com/garnett/

Sadly he passed away in 2006 but I am sure he is still flying up there somewhere.

John

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