Flying-which airline do you use?

I'd definitely rather sit next to a kid than a drunk person on a plane, no doubt.

How about the finest Brazilian butt-man in all of Europe?  Who talked incessantly about how rich Brazilian butts and German noses had made him. 

Maybe the guys was some kind of regular travel who had his special seat.  Like the train I used to take in the morning to Waterloo, territories were claimed all over and fiercely defended. 

The best flights by far are the ones when the seats are empty next to you. That's happened to me a couple times, and it's been a-mazing.

I need to have an aisle seat. I get too claustrophobic and uncomfortable otherwise. It's not so much an issue for a short flight, but for long haul I definitely need aisle.

My eyes would have rolled REALLY far back into my head with that comment.

Sadly, they no longer have the "tuck in box".  Eliminated in the past year.  That was a fun trick I learned, that they had a box of yummy snacks for you to help yourself to in the galley throughout the flight. 

But they will still give you a drink.   

Tuck box has been restored apparently in economy but after that joke of a service (snack sized mars bar for a second meal after 8 hours... are you for real?) in 2016 I will try my darndest to avoid BA, so I haven't actually seen it in person. Don't expect much and expect to get back there ASAP!

Virgin has free booze - they came around with the drinks cart about 4 times (FULL drinks cart) on our flights to/from Carribean last week. And they are serving Fever Tree tonic (BA serve Schweppes) with Bombay gin (BA serve Beefeaters I believe), or Dewars for whisky. They were rather skimpy with the food but do you really need a bread roll? However, they have an adorable little afternoon tea box with some nice treats in it and serve a hot chocolate/tea service after dinner on the overnight flight.

Tops in the booze goes to SAS though - we found an outstanding new gin (Harahorn, from Norway, with Fever Tree) as they serve it in their premium cabins. Man, we must have had about 4 each, each way, on top of cognac after dinner and wine with dinner. Now I order it from Germany.

Really excited to try Qatar as we are in a (rare) business seating due to an incredible fare and supposedly the food/booze will be flowing on all flights and in the lounge at Doha!

One thing to note: although I try not to fly BA longhaul we still collect the bulk of our miles in the Avios program for use either in the US or continental EU. They have their uses primarily for shorthaul redemptions, last minute, in order to get a positioning flight for a better airline or really expensive flights between two points. Its the taxes longhaul out of the UK ON TOP of the required Avios that make it a poor choice for long haul economy redemption.

OH! I did not know that! I have over 55,000 miles on AA...I need to look into how to use them on BA then 

Check out the blog Head for Points, he is UK based and has several tutorials on how to use AA miles on BA and vice versa.

The best flights by far are the ones when the seats are empty next to you. That's happened to me a couple times, and it's been a-mazing.

I need to have an aisle seat. I get too claustrophobic and uncomfortable otherwise. It's not so much an issue for a short flight, but for long haul I definitely need aisle.

When I check in, I always do a quick scan of the seating chart, and if I see an empty row available, I move myself to the middle of it.  I have had flights where I had a bank of 4 seats all to myself before.  Guess who had a lie-down for most of the flight? 

When I check in, I always do a quick scan of the seating chart, and if I see an empty row available, I move myself to the middle of it.  I have had flights where I had a bank of 4 seats all to myself before.  Guess who had a lie-down for most of the flight? 

Me and the now-4-year-old travelling from Shanghai to London.  . She was almost a year old here.

Me and the now-4-year-old travelling from Shanghai to London.  . She was almost a year old here.

Aww...!  Exactly, though.  Nice relaxing flight. 

How about the finest Brazilian butt-man in all of Europe?  Who talked incessantly about how rich Brazilian butts and German noses had made him. 

My headphones would have been in so fast, I would have injured my neck!

Just flew BA to the US and back in economy and everything was great.
We were lucky and had a row (3 seats) to ourselves on the way out on a Boeing 777 and we had loads of legroom.  On the way to Boston, we had a meal (dairy free for hubby and he said it was really tasty), free wine and they were happy to oblige, a magnum ice cream, lots of water/juice/tea, and then sandwiches and snacks (afternoon tea).   

Way back were were on an A380, which being double decker you would have thought it would be a bit more spacious,but no, we were crammed in (at least it was a row of just 2 seats so we didn't have to fight with another person). Still, brand new plane, and the entertainment system was great.  Flight went super quick , nice fast tailwind but not bumpy at all!  A380 is a quiet airplane (like the 787 Dreamliner), with good air quality.
Food was really good too on the overnight and J was really happy to get a gorgeous dairy free chocolate cake slice. Only disappointment was that J only got applesauce for his breakfast. We asked for more wine and they ran out, so the nice flight attendant gave us sparkling wine   

... Only disappointment was that J only got applesauce for his breakfast. We asked for more wine and they ran out, so the nice flight attendant gave us sparkling wine 

I honestly started bringing the containers of instant oats (they're light and disposable) so that I'd always have a decent breakfast when flying overnight. I usually bring enough food in general just in case I can't eat the gluten free meal due to other allergies. But hey, good excuse for extra wine!

I'm looking forward to hopefully not having to fly alone again, but it will be a challenge. I try to get "bulkhead" seats because it means less people to smell, but airlines charge such a premium for them it's not always possible, and some are right next to the bathroom so no better for me.

Oh the wine wasn't because of the applesauce, as we stopped drinking by breakfast. HAHA.    

Yeah, we did think we should make sure and have some food on hand next time, just in case. 

I honestly started bringing the containers of instant oats (they're light and disposable) so that I'd always have a decent breakfast when flying overnight. I usually bring enough food in general just in case I can't eat the gluten free meal due to other allergies. But hey, good excuse for extra wine!

I'm looking forward to hopefully not having to fly alone again, but it will be a challenge. I try to get "bulkhead" seats because it means less people to smell, but airlines charge such a premium for them it's not always possible, and some are right next to the bathroom so no better for me.

I thought about you when we were coming back from our trip to Italy the other week.  We had collected our bags and were headed to the exit door, turned the corner, and BAM!  Knocked over by a wall of horrible perfume smell for the last 20 feet as we were forced to walk by some dodgy shop. 

I thought about you when we were coming back from our trip to Italy the other week.  We had collected our bags and were headed to the exit door, turned the corner, and BAM!  Knocked over by a wall of horrible perfume smell for the last 20 feet as we were forced to walk by some dodgy shop.

It's brutal! No one wants to smell that even if they don't get overly sick from it!

Slight diversion....

it's amazing what some airlines will serve when you request a diabetic meal. Seriously, one time it was a roll, some grapes, and fruit juice for breakfast. Holy carbohydrates! Supper was worse. A roll, a small salad, a pudding cup, and some sort of marinated veg, if memory serves. (It's been a lot of years). But when we asked, the flight attendant told us that there was only one kind of "special" meal no matter what your request was for, and so you either got that one or the regular meal. (Which was a pasta dish, on that flight.)

For some weird reason, airlines think that "diabetic meals" need to be sugar free and high carb but low fat.  Okay, not that any airline food is healthy, but that's taking the piss. If you're a person with Diabetes who eats low carb, you're screwed. 
That said, lots of the special meals are pretty good these days.   It's quite complicated trying to make food taste good in the air!