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The longest I've flown is BOS-Chennai (via Frankfurt and one time via Heathrow). The total time is about 19-22 hours (including a 3-5 hour layover or so). I've flown this business class only (not on my dime, thankfully) so it really hasn't been that bad. I've heard awful stories about Lufthansa's economy class seats too (I usually do this route on Lufthansa). The food, drink, room and seats in business class are fine. I can manage.
The worst flights (in terms of time) I've had were Madrid-JFK on Delta (economy) with strong headwinds (close to 9 hours I believe) and BOS-SFO on Jet Blue with headwinds forcing a stop in Salt Lake where strong winds kept us grounded for an extra hour and a half. Total time- 8 hours on a flight scheduled for 6. It was a bumpy ride with the fasten seatbelt sign illuminated most of the time.
I'll fly as long as you can keep me in the air if I'm business or first class. I think I'd crack at about 12-15 hours of economy.
I just returned from a torturous flight from Madrid to JFK. OK, that was my longest flight and I will not be doing that again. My body is still recovering a week later.
Add to that, I HATE FLYING! Did I make this clear? I HATE FLYING! But we fly at least 3 times a year and I deal with it. Newark to Orlando, Newark to Vegas, Newark to Phoenix, and we have 2 flights planned - Newark to San Francisco and Newark to San Juan. I will deal with them with some nice tranqs and pray the people on the plane don't get mad when I yell "OH SH*T" when the plane does a sudden drop from turbulence; or when I start to cry because the turbulence is non-stop. I try not to make comments about the wings flapping so much they look like they are about to fall off.
We fly economy but my husband buys 3 seats so I can move around/squirm because of my bad back. My 3 worst flights were from Newark to Miami where we were scheduled to take-off before 7 am and didn't get off the runway until 2 pm having sat on the taxi-way for over 6 hours! They held the ship - seriously. Next worst was the AirEuropa from Madrid to JFK. What on earth is the airline thinking when the arm rests only go half way up?! Plus it was turbulence all the way (thanks to Tomas), seatbelt sign on for all but maybe 30 minutes. And the next worst was Nashville to Newark - turbulence, rain, lightning, side-slipping the entire trip. I had read the weather report and didn't want to even get on the plane - but I did - and I'm sorry I did. Nex time it's stand-by so I don't HAVE to get on if I want to stay over an extra night.
Flights, especially overseas flights, are a luxurious experience, even in coach. Free food, padded seats, and often personal entertainment screens.
Compared to MOST other forms of long-distance travelling I've done, flying is a joy. A chance to catch up on sleep, waking up to be catered to by flight attendants, and maybe watch a few movies.
Flights, especially overseas flights, are a luxurious experience, even in coach. Free food, padded seats, and often personal entertainment screens.
Compared to MOST other forms of long-distance travelling I've done, flying is a joy. A chance to catch up on sleep, waking up to be catered to by flight attendants, and maybe watch a few movies.
My only complaint is that it is too expensive.
Thats right spending 12 hours in a train with wooden seats, no airconditioning, almost as many animals as people and with a top speed of about 15mph is something everyone should do once. Makes you appreciate luxuries a lot more.
Thats right spending 12 hours in a train with wooden seats, no airconditioning, almost as many animals as people and with a top speed of about 15mph is something everyone should do once. Makes you appreciate luxuries a lot more.
0 India, Cambodia, China. These are the worst places I've been for mass transit (I'm sure there are worse, I just haven't been there.) "Organized" ground transportation may be your feet, a board bolted in the back of a Unimog (if you're lucky) and no matter what, it's always crowded, noisy, dirty, and looooong. Once I noticed a bus driver in Cambodia dealing with the annoying passengers/livestock by drinking beer. Nice.
1 Malaysia, Thailand, Spain, Hungary, Slovakia and Vietnam are better, but still no fun.
2 Trains in Western Europe are hit-and-miss, depending on the country and the line.
3 Flying is better than all the above, at least on domestic US and Chinese flights.
4 International flights beat domestic.
5 Trains in Taiwan and Japan are better than flying, but they take so darn long to go any great distance. Some HS trains in developed countries (and if you are VERY lucky in China) are also good.
6 You can't beat travel by super-ferry or cruise ship. Except for the time it takes. Even if you don't have a cabin on a ferry, you've got the run of the ship's salons, which is pretty much like hanging out in a string of nice hotel lobbies for 30-something hours.
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