AnimeSuki Forums

Harogenki · 2004-07-29, 22:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bandersnatch

Flying doesn't really bother me, better than being on a bus sitting three to a seat that barely has room for two while a bunch of kids in the front puke their guts out and then it rolls to where your feet are causing a puking chain reaction. Also some chloroform for annoying kids and people who wont shut up.

Oh my god lol That was seriously one of the funniest things I've ever read, especially the first one, the second is too simpsonsish.

Puking jokes can be hilarious

Mr_Paper · 2004-07-29, 22:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bandersnatch

By the way, does airport security check for liquids? Its a given that metals are checked but do they allow you to walk on with a thermos or something? Could'nt I just fill it up with some hydrochloric acid and start splashing it on people once aboard? Not that I would do that of course

.*Remembers how sodium + water = boom* Hmm I just freaked myself out about flying. Its safer than driving though!!

Yes, they do. Cesium would work better than Sodium, just so you know.

I'm a bit curious, out of the people that enjoy flying, has anyone else ever flown as a courier?

Biohazard · 2004-07-30, 00:01

I don't like flying too much, but despite that i flew alot. I have family over in norway, so i used to fly there once to twice a year.. and i still fly there occassionally...

I usually listen music .. the only things i dun really like is the takeoff and the landing .. but the view is great before landing or after takeoff .. i love that view..

So yeah .. just listen music and relax ...

Lord Raiden · 2004-07-30, 01:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Paper

Yes, they do. Cesium would work better than Sodium, just so you know.

I'm a bit curious, out of the people that enjoy flying, has anyone else ever flown as a courier?

Never flown as an official courier persay, unless you count me courrying myself.

Actual, these days, save for international flights, I'm more one who believes in flying himself from point A to point B. The reason is because of how poor the quality of the commertial aircraft and pilots has become. It's gotten to the point where I really don't them anymore. If I'm going to go down in flames and make a huge divit in the ground, I want it to be my fault, not some underpaid, undertrained, overworked commertial pilot. Well, that's been my opinion of them lately. It may not be true, but it sure seems that way sometimes.

Plus there's also the bonus of having the option to punch out if something goes terribly wrong. In a commertial liner if you're gonna crash, all you can do is apply the boakyag principle. IE: Bend over and kiss your a** goodbye.

tsurumaru · 2004-07-30, 04:59

Hell I've been on a lot of Flights so heres some general tips for you:

Sitting in Economy class seating? Hate the lack of legroom? As you check in always speak nicely to the attendants (or even before when booking your ticket) ask for a seat in the emergency exit row (preferably in the centre of the aircraft,as being close to the centre of gravity will lessen the likelyhood of you experiencing motion sickness) go for the aisle row if you can get it and you will 90% of the time be guaranteed a fair amount of extra legroom. (You may have to accept the responsibility for helping other passengers exiting the aircraft in an emergency and therefore be an adult, but ot be honest with you in the event of an emergency landing being close to an exit can only be a bonus!)

If you dont suffer from motion sickness, dont mind being cramped, but are somewhat of a safety freak sit a couple of rows forward of the aircrafts tailplane at the very rear of the plane. Statistically this is where most of the survivors of an Aircrash are located (as you are furthest away from the fuel tanks). Whilst this isnt very practical (remember however many crashes you hear about Air Travel is the safest form of public transport of them all) it may at least offer you some psychological comfort.

If you are flying to a destination with a new time zone change your watch as soon as you get on the plane (or soon after take off) this will effectively give you more time to mentally adapt to the change in time zone.

Drink plenty of water or other soft drinks! its very easy to dehydrate in an airconditioned environment (especially when being fed snacks like peanuts and other savoury highly salted items) Remember drinking alcohol in this environment is probably the worst thing you could do as this only hastens dehydration.

If you are on a longhaul flight and cant sleep, close your eyes and pretend to sleep for set periods of time (sounds easier than it is! A deeply relaxing form of meditation can help you feel refreshed much like "Power Napping" where again you get no REM sleep will definitely help you feel refreshed).

Lastly its important not to stay immobile for long periods of time so every hour get up and wander around, stretch out your legs/arms and this will help you avoid DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis - Blood clots forming in your veins that can cause you big medical problems, some people are more susceptable than others).

ato · 2004-07-30, 06:20

Having done more than my fair share of flying lately, I can highly recommend a couple of headphones with active noise cancelling. It makes the engine noise, not go away, but loose it's edge to a large extent. Combined with some of your favourite music, the sound situation is muchly improved. Bearable even

Personally, I have a couple of Sennheiser NoiseGard (PXC-250) earphones, and I find them to work tolerably well. Other brands have models as well, and I remember seeing a whole shelf of them when I passed through Heathrow last time.

(This kind of thing works by sending out a phase inverted soundwave that cancels persistant sound, at least in theory. In reality, it works better in some fequencies than other depending on how the sound propagates through your skull, hehe)

tsurumaru · 2004-07-30, 06:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by ato

Personally, I have a couple of Sennheiser NoiseGard earphones, and I find them to work tolerably well. Other brands have models as well, and I remember seing a whole shelf of them when I passed through Heathrow last time.

These are indeed excellent headphones! (Sadly I can only afford the normal non noise cancelling version)

BME · 2004-07-30, 06:38

10-13h isn't that bad, when my class flew to Beijing it took the better part of 18h, plus we flew in this really cramp Air china 737, it had 2 Aisles, with 2 seats by the windows and 3 in the middle. Compare that to when we flew to London with RyanAir who had 6 seats (3 by each window) in the same aircraft.

LoveOfAnime · 2004-07-30, 12:53

Having recently returned from two weeks in New Zealand I had a lot of flying. Portland OR 2h to San Fransisco 14h to Sydney Australia and then 3h on to Auckland and exactly in reverse on the way home. Couple of things I learned.

1. Take a Blanket of your own as the trip over the pacific can be very Cold!(It was 50 below outside the plane and not much warmer inside lol)

2. Lots of Water as everyone else stated.

3. Some of your own music on a little mini player and good reading material. The Music is probably what I missed the most.

Those are probably the most important. Someone else mentioned snacks that you like and that would have been good too if I had room for it. Hope this helps.

llama · 2004-07-30, 13:04

Personally, I LOVE flying! I've always loved the sky, so the view from the plane never bores me. And any place that I have music in, I can tolerate for a looong time. As long as I've got my headphones, I'm good.

Another suggestion I could think of though, is sit on a pillow! If you're sitting in one place for a long time, it might as well be comfortable.

Mr_Paper · 2004-07-30, 17:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Raiden

Never flown as an official courier persay, unless you count me courrying myself.

I always try to fly as a courier. Sure you basically lose half or even all of your luggage allowance (you tend to get extra carry-on allowances to compensate), but you get between 50% and 100% off your ticket price (I average 85%). Right now, assuming I wanted to go, I could get a roundtrip ticket to Sydney with a 3 month open ended return for about US$500. Or even a US$350 roundtrip ticket to Tokyo with a 30 day open return.

For those prices, I'll happily give up my luggage allowance and fly coach.

Ending · 2004-07-30, 18:24

Motorcycling across the continent beats flying any day, or that is what I hope, at least.

Doesn't anyone here think that if you listen the music while sitting in a moving, cramped, bad-air place make you feel sick? I can't stay like that a moment longer than I have to when it is a car (especially one of those 80's cars sucking all the pollution inside).

Harogenki · 2004-07-30, 18:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Paper

I always try to fly as a courier. Sure you basically lose half or even all of your luggage allowance (you tend to get extra carry-on allowances to compensate), but you get between 50% and 100% off your ticket price (I average 85%). Right now, assuming I wanted to go, I could get a roundtrip ticket to Sydney with a 3 month open ended return for about US$500. Or even a US$350 roundtrip ticket to Tokyo with a 30 day open return.

For those prices, I'll happily give up my luggage allowance and fly coach.

Flying is to damn expensive.

ato · 2004-07-30, 18:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Paper

.. but you get between 50% and 100% off your ticket price (I average 85%).

100% off from the price? You fly for free! I wants!

Seriously though, how does one go about flying this way, and what is the actual baggage allowance? What airline companies offer this kind of tickets? Getting a ticket at 15% of the price usual customers pay would rock incredibly hard, so I suspect there are some serious drawbacks...Or?

Oh, and another tip for long distance flyers - If you like in-flight entertainment, choose a company with modern Airbus-type planes. They tend to have a personal screen mounted in the seat in front of you. If you are the sleeping kind of person, avoid this kind of thing (seat mounted screens) like the plauge - Few things are quite as irritating as the guy behind you hitting the "touch-screen" with all his might one time a minute for 13 hours...

krel · 2004-07-31, 07:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsurumaru

If you dont suffer from motion sickness, dont mind being cramped, but are somewhat of a safety freak sit a couple of rows forward of the aircrafts tailplane at the very rear of the plane. Statistically this is where most of the survivors of an Aircrash are located (as you are furthest away from the fuel tanks).

One more piece of info: an airplane is designed to go nose-down first if the engines fail. so the ones at the back will experience the least shock when the airplane crashes. btw the fuel tanks are at the wings and wing centre section (where the 2 wings join at the fuselage), so you still are the safest at the back farthest from the tanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsurumaru

Drink plenty of water or other soft drinks! its very easy to dehydrate in an airconditioned environment (especially when being fed snacks like peanuts and other savoury highly salted items) Remember drinking alcohol in this environment is probably the worst thing you could do as this only hastens dehydration.

True, the humidity level is only about 30% in a commercial aircraft.
and another piece of advice, don't dig your nose because it can get quite dry while flying. your nose'll bleed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsurumaru

Lastly its important not to stay immobile for long periods of time so every hour get up and wander around, stretch out your legs/arms and this will help you avoid DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis - Blood clots forming in your veins that can cause you big medical problems, some people are more susceptable than others).

not unless you're sitting in first class

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harogenki

Flying is to damn expensive.

but with budget airlines, the cost has crashed a lot.

a good pair of noise cancelling headphones would be the Sennheiser PX-250, they are portable and have a carrying case. unfortunately they are quite expensive. i can only afford the non-noise cancelling PX-200.

Funnylink · 2004-07-31, 07:38

Get a laptop with alot of battery life and alot of juice for games. Put some headphones on and listen to your music and chill while playing games and sipping on your ice cold soda and eating your penuts.

Mr_Paper · 2004-07-31, 15:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harogenki

Flying is to damn expensive.

Really? You know that Sydney flight I mentioned, the normal fare for that flight is around US$5000. That's a 90% discount on the flight which isn't all that bad when you think about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ato

100% off from the price? You fly for free! I wants!

Seriously though, how does one go about flying this way, and what is the actual baggage allowance? What airline companies offer this kind of tickets? Getting a ticket at 15% of the price usual customers pay would rock incredibly hard, so I suspect there are some serious drawbacks...Or?

The drawbacks? Let's see... Overly curious customs agents ( =P ) and occasionally not being able to find the courier rep. in the terminal. Don't misunderstand, this is in no way illegal but some customs agents just get a little too curious when you're going to be staying in a country for 2 weeks with only a backpack and a small brown paper envelope. Your luggage allowance is how much luggage you're allowed to store under the plane. Most airlines allow upto 100lbs of luggage per person, when flying as a courier you're usually only allowed to bring about 30-40lbs of luggage (the rest is used for the packages you'll be couriering). You still get your carry on luggage, which if you're thrifty enough is all you really need.

These people are my heroes: http://www.couriertravel.org/

While they're not a courier service, they actually consolidate all courier service flight lists into one database, they help book the flights and give you all the relavent info about your flight (ie: what visas will be needed, courier service contact info, etc.) Aside from courier flights, they also list wholesale tickets, last minute specials and confirmed standby specials.

Wandering_Youth · 2004-08-06, 10:11

Greetings from somewhere in China! Ha, I was able to get a hold of a computer with a decent connection in a 5 star hotel. The hotel we're staying at is just so sweet. I got a big flat screen tv with free HBO, nice fat beds, and classy bathroom. I have seen the dark and unpleasant side of China and it makes me greatful to have a decent home back in the states. I saw some pretty nasty things over, but I also saw good things. The most surprising thing that I discovered over here was that I had a cousin who was the VP of Animax. She offered me tickets to Comic Con in Hong Kong, however sadly I can't read Chinese so I had to turn it down.

Well, I need to log off now cause they charge a fee for using the internet. I'll post some pics when I get home which means I need to sit in the plane for 13 hrs again. Ugh!

dreamless · 2004-08-06, 10:54

you'll get used to flying soon enough... I fly a lot, at first it was pain beyond imagination, but now I can sleep through it with some free wine

hmm... speaking about the dark and unpleasant side of China... I've been to both China and US, and they seem to have their equal share of dark unpleasant sides... no?

Cz · 2004-08-08, 03:27

Argh. After coming back from a long trip by train, I think travelling by train is just as bad as travelling by plane. I endured a 16-hour train ride which became a 20-hour train ride due to various delays along the way. First it was a leaking brake drum in one of the sleeper cars. Then it was interruption by freight trains blocking some tracks along the way. Maybe this only applies to the Amtrak train service in the U.S. but who knows...

The only good thing about trains is the cheaper fare and the extra leg room in the coach section, which I travelled on. If you pay for the sleeping accommodations, it costs as much as a plane ride or more. The major disadvantage of trains is the extremely long delays. A long ride like the one I took can be delayed up to hours. I know because on my trip to my destination, the train was delayed by 5 hours and 40 minutes before it left the station at Chicago. No reason was given. On the way back, the train left 50 minutes late (it is normal for most trains to be up to an hour or so late), but due to the problems I mentioned above, it arrived 5 hours late at Chicago, making me miss my connecting train by an hour.

This was with a 4-hour difference between my original time of arrival and the departure time of the connecting train.

If you have no fear of flying and have the money, I would really suggest flying instead. Otherwise, be prepared to suffer the long delays associated with travelling by Amtrak in the U.S. I would forgo the "scenic ride" and dining car meals and sleeper cars for the faster travel and fewer delays and better trip organization of the commercial airliners.

2004-07-30, 06:20	Link #26
ato Oups... Join Date: Jan 2003	Having done more than my fair share of flying lately, I can highly recommend a couple of headphones with active noise cancelling. It makes the engine noise, not go away, but loose it's edge to a large extent. Combined with some of your favourite music, the sound situation is muchly improved. Bearable even Personally, I have a couple of Sennheiser NoiseGard (PXC-250) earphones, and I find them to work tolerably well. Other brands have models as well, and I remember seeing a whole shelf of them when I passed through Heathrow last time. (This kind of thing works by sending out a phase inverted soundwave that cancels persistant sound, at least in theory. In reality, it works better in some fequencies than other depending on how the sound propagates through your skull, hehe) Last edited by ato; 2004-07-31 at 10:30.

2004-08-06, 10:11	Link #38
Wandering_Youth lost in wonder forever... Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: edge of my dream in the land of twilight...ZzzZzZ	Greetings from somewhere in China! Ha, I was able to get a hold of a computer with a decent connection in a 5 star hotel. The hotel we're staying at is just so sweet. I got a big flat screen tv with free HBO, nice fat beds, and classy bathroom. I have seen the dark and unpleasant side of China and it makes me greatful to have a decent home back in the states. I saw some pretty nasty things over, but I also saw good things. The most surprising thing that I discovered over here was that I had a cousin who was the VP of Animax. She offered me tickets to Comic Con in Hong Kong, however sadly I can't read Chinese so I had to turn it down. Well, I need to log off now cause they charge a fee for using the internet. I'll post some pics when I get home which means I need to sit in the plane for 13 hrs again. Ugh! __________________

2004-07-30, 00:01	Link #23
Biohazard -kanashii~desu- Join Date: May 2003 Location: Germany Age: 38	I don't like flying too much, but despite that i flew alot. I have family over in norway, so i used to fly there once to twice a year.. and i still fly there occassionally... I usually listen music .. the only things i dun really like is the takeoff and the landing .. but the view is great before landing or after takeoff .. i love that view.. So yeah .. just listen music and relax ...

2004-07-30, 04:59	Link #25
tsurumaru I refuse to die dammit! Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: UK Age: 47	Hell I've been on a lot of Flights so heres some general tips for you: Sitting in Economy class seating? Hate the lack of legroom? As you check in always speak nicely to the attendants (or even before when booking your ticket) ask for a seat in the emergency exit row (preferably in the centre of the aircraft,as being close to the centre of gravity will lessen the likelyhood of you experiencing motion sickness) go for the aisle row if you can get it and you will 90% of the time be guaranteed a fair amount of extra legroom. (You may have to accept the responsibility for helping other passengers exiting the aircraft in an emergency and therefore be an adult, but ot be honest with you in the event of an emergency landing being close to an exit can only be a bonus!) If you dont suffer from motion sickness, dont mind being cramped, but are somewhat of a safety freak sit a couple of rows forward of the aircrafts tailplane at the very rear of the plane. Statistically this is where most of the survivors of an Aircrash are located (as you are furthest away from the fuel tanks). Whilst this isnt very practical (remember however many crashes you hear about Air Travel is the safest form of public transport of them all) it may at least offer you some psychological comfort. If you are flying to a destination with a new time zone change your watch as soon as you get on the plane (or soon after take off) this will effectively give you more time to mentally adapt to the change in time zone. Drink plenty of water or other soft drinks! its very easy to dehydrate in an airconditioned environment (especially when being fed snacks like peanuts and other savoury highly salted items) Remember drinking alcohol in this environment is probably the worst thing you could do as this only hastens dehydration. If you are on a longhaul flight and cant sleep, close your eyes and pretend to sleep for set periods of time (sounds easier than it is! A deeply relaxing form of meditation can help you feel refreshed much like "Power Napping" where again you get no REM sleep will definitely help you feel refreshed). Lastly its important not to stay immobile for long periods of time so every hour get up and wander around, stretch out your legs/arms and this will help you avoid DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis - Blood clots forming in your veins that can cause you big medical problems, some people are more susceptable than others).

2004-07-30, 06:38	Link #28
BME Belldandy Fanboy Join Date: May 2003 Location: Stockholm, Sweden, Where Polar bears roam the streets Age: 39	10-13h isn't that bad, when my class flew to Beijing it took the better part of 18h, plus we flew in this really cramp Air china 737, it had 2 Aisles, with 2 seats by the windows and 3 in the middle. Compare that to when we flew to London with RyanAir who had 6 seats (3 by each window) in the same aircraft.

2004-07-30, 12:53	Link #29
LoveOfAnime ~Lost in the Moonlight~ Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: WA State Age: 51	Having recently returned from two weeks in New Zealand I had a lot of flying. Portland OR 2h to San Fransisco 14h to Sydney Australia and then 3h on to Auckland and exactly in reverse on the way home. Couple of things I learned. 1. Take a Blanket of your own as the trip over the pacific can be very Cold!(It was 50 below outside the plane and not much warmer inside lol) 2. Lots of Water as everyone else stated. 3. Some of your own music on a little mini player and good reading material. The Music is probably what I missed the most. Those are probably the most important. Someone else mentioned snacks that you like and that would have been good too if I had room for it. Hope this helps.

2004-07-30, 13:04	Link #30
llama Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Arizona Age: 38	Personally, I LOVE flying! I've always loved the sky, so the view from the plane never bores me. And any place that I have music in, I can tolerate for a looong time. As long as I've got my headphones, I'm good. Another suggestion I could think of though, is sit on a pillow! If you're sitting in one place for a long time, it might as well be comfortable.

2004-07-30, 18:24	Link #32
Ending Senior Member Join Date: May 2004	Motorcycling across the continent beats flying any day, or that is what I hope, at least. Doesn't anyone here think that if you listen the music while sitting in a moving, cramped, bad-air place make you feel sick? I can't stay like that a moment longer than I have to when it is a car (especially one of those 80's cars sucking all the pollution inside).

2004-07-31, 07:38	Link #36
Funnylink Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ohio Age: 46	Get a laptop with alot of battery life and alot of juice for games. Put some headphones on and listen to your music and chill while playing games and sipping on your ice cold soda and eating your penuts.

2004-08-06, 10:54	Link #39
dreamless /Ultimate Magic Attack!!! Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Time Warp/Future	you'll get used to flying soon enough... I fly a lot, at first it was pain beyond imagination, but now I can sleep through it with some free wine hmm... speaking about the dark and unpleasant side of China... I've been to both China and US, and they seem to have their equal share of dark unpleasant sides... no?

2004-08-08, 03:27	Link #40
Cz Needs more sleep~ Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: #animesuki	Argh. After coming back from a long trip by train, I think travelling by train is just as bad as travelling by plane. I endured a 16-hour train ride which became a 20-hour train ride due to various delays along the way. First it was a leaking brake drum in one of the sleeper cars. Then it was interruption by freight trains blocking some tracks along the way. Maybe this only applies to the Amtrak train service in the U.S. but who knows... The only good thing about trains is the cheaper fare and the extra leg room in the coach section, which I travelled on. If you pay for the sleeping accommodations, it costs as much as a plane ride or more. The major disadvantage of trains is the extremely long delays. A long ride like the one I took can be delayed up to hours. I know because on my trip to my destination, the train was delayed by 5 hours and 40 minutes before it left the station at Chicago. No reason was given. On the way back, the train left 50 minutes late (it is normal for most trains to be up to an hour or so late), but due to the problems I mentioned above, it arrived 5 hours late at Chicago, making me miss my connecting train by an hour. This was with a 4-hour difference between my original time of arrival and the departure time of the connecting train. If you have no fear of flying and have the money, I would really suggest flying instead. Otherwise, be prepared to suffer the long delays associated with travelling by Amtrak in the U.S. I would forgo the "scenic ride" and dining car meals and sleeper cars for the faster travel and fewer delays and better trip organization of the commercial airliners.