Avoid typing with great “enthusiasm” (excessive keystroke pressure)on your laptop keyboard. The person in front of you can hear, and feel, every keystroke in their back.

If any part of your body doesn’t fit into your seat-space, go first class or pay for two seats. (See #1). Your seatmate paid for their entire seat and they should not be expected to accommodate your knees, thighs, feet, arms, etc just because they have enough room to be comfortable. And, if your belly is too big, the armrest can’t be fully lowered, which means your seatmate can’t lower his/her tray table into a usable position to eat or work on a laptop.

No laptops in the seatback pockets. The person in front of you can feel every ridge of it through the seatback.

Turn off your laptop, IPod, phone, etc when told to. A rude seatmate didn’t bother to turn hers off (and she put it in the seatback in front of her for takeoff). When I told her that her laptop must be off, she said “Oh, we won’t crash”. My response, “Do you want to take that chance with 250 lives? If we crash and you’re responsible, you’ll burn (and the flames from the plane are nothing compared to where you’ll be going.)”

I love the six degrees of separation phenomenon. I found this site through a LinkedIn interest group (TSC Alumni) and it is a wonderful discussion thread. I’m a lifelong road warrior and serious airline (Continental) and hotel (Marriott) “point monger” (intentional euphemism). Your 23 travel tips are long overdue and many should be shared with the airlines so they can implement them. If acceptable, here’s #24, which could well be 13A from above.

I’ve actually had some success in getting this announced by flight attendants since a “maroon” dropped his laptop bag onto my seat tray smashing my laptop and sending an ice tea spraying over a dozen people nearby. He reached to answer his cell, forgetting he hadnt’ finished putting the bag in the overhead…then watched it drop, break my laptop and bonce into my lap. He kept talking while he gathered it back up and jammed it into the overhead, never apologizing to any of us affected by the drop. There’s a special hell for people like that.

Rule 13A / 24) Everyone boarding an airplane should be required to unshoulder and carry at knee level their backpacks, laptop bags or anything slung over their shoulders so that they can bring 150 lbs of stuff onto a Regional Jet. Like the organized lady who commented a few times above, I feel like I’m cheating if I’m not on the plane, with all my gear stowed, in my seat and reading in under 45 seconds. There is nothing I’ve ever done and no one I know so important that talking with them can’t wait 2 minutes while I quickly and efficiently board and aircraft. This goes doubles for the pack of clowns who bring their cell phone conversations into the bathroom and hold them while using the facilities – these people are mentally disturbed IMHO.

I totally agree with everyone who commented that treating the staff – from the Pilot down to the folks who vacuum the plan — with courtesy and dignity. I’ve yet to meet a gate agent who could ward off rain or stop it from snowing. Likewise, when a pilot who probably could land an F/14 on an aircraft carrier, decides the weather is too bad to fly – they’re just doing their job and ensuring our safety. What should they do – fly anyway and possibly crash, burn and kill 72 passengers and crew just so one person can make their Cedar Rapids connection? I don’t get it and I’ve been flying for my job for 25 years now and still don’t get it.

I’ve rambled far too long. Thanks for this discussion. I’m sending a link to a dozen other Road Warriors who will really benefit from reading it. Can’t wait to see what you’ve got to say on the rest of your BLOG.

Rod R

Suggestion #24 – Don’t stand in the middle of the concourse – waiting for someone in the bathroom, looking clueless. If your going to stop, move against a side wall.

Suggestion #25 – Don’t stand in front of the gate 20 minutes before boarding, again blocking the concourse.

Suggestion #26 – When forming a line for food, coffee ,etc, take the line down the side wall, not out into the middle of the concourses so people have to walk around or through the line.

Do you hear a theme going here!!

When picking up baggage from baggage claim, do not stand right in front of the conveyor. That will only make it harder for other people to get to their bags. If everyone stands a few feet away from the conveyor, then there will be plenty of room for people to come forward to retrieve their bags without having to excuse themselves to get through and there will be plenty of room for people to haul their bags off the conveyor without injuring someone who insists on standing right next to the conveyor.

These are excellent.

Two quick stories about airlines.

1. Treat the staff with respect – when weather cancels your flight, it is not the fault of the staff. See a note I wrote about that here – http://harrytucker.blogspot.com/2008/02/customer-service-doing-right-thing.html

2. When you land in an emergecy landing as I did once (full crash position and the whole nine yards) and you have to go to the counter to book an alternate flight, express your gratitude to the staff about their maintenance, their training and their professionalism instead of bashing them about how ticked off you are because you are late going nowhere in particular.

When I was in a near disaster a couple of years ago (described by the pilot as one of the top three scariest events in his life) and went to the counter, the people ahead of me in the line tore a layer off the poor lady in the counter. When it was my turn, I expressed gratitude to them because of their maintenance, training, etc and how grateful I was to be alive.

My reward for doing this outside of treating this woman as a human being? I was put in executive class on the next flight out, with vouchers for meals and souvenirs at any kiosk / restaurant in the airport while I waited. The people ahead of me, who were going to the same destination as I was, were put on standby until the next day, probably giving them something else to complain about.

The moral is – the world treats us as as we treat the world.

Take care and thanks for this list.

Harry