HelenaWojtczak 28 | 177
1 Oct 2008 / #1
I flew to Poland on 14th Sept and went by train a lot within Poland then from Poznan to Amsterdam, then flew Amsterdam to Gatwick.
What I cannot BEAR about flying is the way you are herded about just like cattle, made to queue and stand and walk for miles from the check in to the plane and from the plane to the exit of any airport, and in between are squeezed in as tightly as possible into a tiny seat, from which they really do not want you to get up unless you absolutely have to go to the toilet. I hate queuing to go through security, where now they even make you take your shoes off, and all through this cattle-processing all the officials look at you like you are a bomber, even if you are arriving in Britain as a white British person with a British passport. The ultimate insult is that we pay good money to be treated like this!
All the queuing, standing and walking make me fed up and so tired. On Saturday I checked in at Amsterdam airport at 1700 and from that moment I was on my feet, standing, queuing and walking, until 1825. There was one long queue of about 250 people to get through security; only ONE of the four x-ray machines was working! I was in this queue from 1730 until 1815, panicking cos my flight was at 1830! But there were people behind me for the same flight, walking up the queue asking was anyone else for that flight.
Arrived at Gatwick at 1840 and it was just one long, dreary corridor after another, down slopes, round corners, on and on and on. Then queuing with about 200 people to show my passport. When I got to baggage reclaim I looked at my watch and it was 1910. I had been walking non-stop for 30 minutes! Must have walked more than two miles. No travelators or escalators. By the time I reclaimed my suitcase and got through customs etc I finally got to the exit at 1930.
That's 1 hour and 25 mins at Amsterdam and another 50 minutes at Gatwick, a total of 2 hours 15 minutes walking and queuing! Ironically, the flight lasted only 40 minutes.
I'm really surprised at how little I hear people complaining about all the walking and discomfort of air travel.
When you get on a train, so long as you are there a half a minute before it leaves, you are on it! When you get off a train, you're out of the exit within 2 minutes. And in between you can stand up, stretch, walk along the corridor, loiter awhile in the corridor or vestibule or bike compartment. You can check out a better seat, perhaps ask to pay the extra for 1st class if you see that will get you a private compartment. You have MUCH more chance of the seat next to you being empty, of getting a double seat to yourself, or even a whole compartment.
On a train, if geezers want to see your ticket or passport, YOU do the sitting and THEY do the standing and walking, not the other way round, like at the airport.
I'd be glad to hear others' opinions.
What I cannot BEAR about flying is the way you are herded about just like cattle, made to queue and stand and walk for miles from the check in to the plane and from the plane to the exit of any airport, and in between are squeezed in as tightly as possible into a tiny seat, from which they really do not want you to get up unless you absolutely have to go to the toilet. I hate queuing to go through security, where now they even make you take your shoes off, and all through this cattle-processing all the officials look at you like you are a bomber, even if you are arriving in Britain as a white British person with a British passport. The ultimate insult is that we pay good money to be treated like this!
All the queuing, standing and walking make me fed up and so tired. On Saturday I checked in at Amsterdam airport at 1700 and from that moment I was on my feet, standing, queuing and walking, until 1825. There was one long queue of about 250 people to get through security; only ONE of the four x-ray machines was working! I was in this queue from 1730 until 1815, panicking cos my flight was at 1830! But there were people behind me for the same flight, walking up the queue asking was anyone else for that flight.
Arrived at Gatwick at 1840 and it was just one long, dreary corridor after another, down slopes, round corners, on and on and on. Then queuing with about 200 people to show my passport. When I got to baggage reclaim I looked at my watch and it was 1910. I had been walking non-stop for 30 minutes! Must have walked more than two miles. No travelators or escalators. By the time I reclaimed my suitcase and got through customs etc I finally got to the exit at 1930.
That's 1 hour and 25 mins at Amsterdam and another 50 minutes at Gatwick, a total of 2 hours 15 minutes walking and queuing! Ironically, the flight lasted only 40 minutes.
I'm really surprised at how little I hear people complaining about all the walking and discomfort of air travel.
When you get on a train, so long as you are there a half a minute before it leaves, you are on it! When you get off a train, you're out of the exit within 2 minutes. And in between you can stand up, stretch, walk along the corridor, loiter awhile in the corridor or vestibule or bike compartment. You can check out a better seat, perhaps ask to pay the extra for 1st class if you see that will get you a private compartment. You have MUCH more chance of the seat next to you being empty, of getting a double seat to yourself, or even a whole compartment.
On a train, if geezers want to see your ticket or passport, YOU do the sitting and THEY do the standing and walking, not the other way round, like at the airport.
I'd be glad to hear others' opinions.