I am going on my first plane ride. Any tips? What should I do during the ride?

Question

Could you suggest what i should i carry along in case i feel unwell during the ride. Please hep me i am a little paranoid about it.

Answer 1

everyone basically summed it up. bring your mp3, books, a pillow, other entertainment, watch the movies on the plane tv, sleep, relax, buckle up, and enjoy your flight. damn it, i sound like a flight attendant.

Answer 2

When the plane takes off it climbs fairly rapidly and you may feel a soreness in your ears due to a change in air pressure. To cure this, it is a good idea to chew gum.

If you have a bad stomach, take some gravol.

Try to get a window seat. It will keep your mind occupied.

When you first take off, you will notice that the nose of the plane is a lot higher than your seat. Just sit back and remain calm. Try to breathe steadily if you feel agitated.

Sometimes during the flight, you will encounter turbulence.
If this is about to occur, the pilot or stewardess will warn you ahead of time to expect it. You will be asked to stay in your seat and buckle up. The plane may bump up and down, as if you are driving a mini on a hilly road. Not to worry.

Try to keep hydrated by drinking water. Typically, the airplane will be flying at about 30,000 ft, where the air is a lot thinner. The plane cabin is pressurized and oxygen is needed so that you don't pass out. However, planes generally don't give you as much oxygen as you are normally use. This might make you a bit sleepy. The environment in a plane is incredibly dry as well hence the need to drink something. You can purchase drinks and food on the flight so there is no need to take any with you.
Due to restrictions on what you can carry on board, you will not be able to bring any with you either.

If you have the urge to go to the washroom, do so. If you have the urge to throw up, you will find a bag in the back of the seat in front of you. Do so. That's what it is for.

When a plane begins it's descent, you will hear a bunch of noises on the outside of the plane. The flaps on the leading edge of the wings will extend. No, the plane is not falling apart.
You will feel like you are going in a very fast elevator. Don't worry.
Nearer to the ground you will hear a very big noise and perhaps feel a 'bump' in the aircraft. This is the landing gear extending.
You might be feeling anxious about this but consider what you would feel like if it DIDN'T HAPPEN. You'd be in a lot more trouble.

As you approach the runway, the pilot will adjust the speed of the aircraft. Many times you will hear a change in the noise outside;
usually a burst of speed from the engines. Not to worry.
When you land, you may feel a bump or not. Either way, not to worry. Once on the ground, the pilot will reverse the engine in
order to put the brakes on. Big noise. Not to worry.

IF you are communicating with any of the staff on the flight, make sure that you don't make any remarks like "Hi, Jack" or "Be careful with that bag, it's full of dynamite." Although these may seem humourous at the time and may alleviate your stress temporarily, the airline staff do not take kindly to such remarks and will take action to remove you from the flight or have the authorities remove you at the closest airport. This can be incredibly inconvenient.

If there is someone near you on the flight that is causing you consternation, either an unruly drunk passenger or a wailing baby, you may be able to move to another seat if you ask the flight attendant

You can find other advice here:
http://www.43things.com/things/entries/37461

Answer 3

Do not drink alcohol! Planes are already a very dry environment, and alcohol will just dehydrate you more. I do recommend sipping water or coke throughout the flight. And try to move around a bit, especially if it is a long flight.

You can take an antihistamine or Dramamine just before boarding. If your ears are uncomfortable, yawn or chew gum. I don't recommend the nose holding and blowing method, that forces drainage material into your Eustachian tube and could cause an infection further down the road. Every seat has an air sickness bag. You won't need it.

Try to enjoy the ride. Just look at the cabin stewards. if they're calm, then everything is all right!

Answer 4

There's an over-the-counter product called Dramamine that's VERY good and fairly cheap. There's 1 type that more or less knocks you out and 1 type that doesn't. It keeps you from bringing up lunch,dinner,breakfast,and yesterday's lunch-and all the things you forgot you ate in betwee. =)

As for things you can carry along? Most anything goes nowadays. Your cell phone and almost all electronics have to be turned off during take off and landing-cell phones have to remain off from the time you get on,'til the time you get off the plane.

You can take a laptop if you want and play games that don't require the internet,or watch movies,listen to music,write stories,etc. =)

You should be ready for bumps,jolts and the such,though. You'll feel a lot of them. I tremble like a chihuaua in a freezer every time the plane so much as shifts... but it's -really- nothing to worry about. Watch the stewardesses. If they start getting worried-then it's time to worry. =)

Going up is fun. Once you're up in the air it's not like you're even moving. It's almost surreal,watching the plane go up. Coming back down is interesting. Either way,if it's your first plane ride,I wouldn't suggest a window seat unless you're a brave sort. When the plane turns,you'll be staring straight down or straight up and that can be VERY unnerving for a first time flyer. Especially if you can see the ground through the clouds... and see how far up you are.

All in all,I hope you have fun. Most longer flights have movies nowadays and headsets run between $2-$5 (sometimes they're free,but don't count on it) and you'll either get a snack and a drink or an actual meal. Most planes don't care if you bring in food from the terminal,either,or from home.

Answer 5

Well if you try not to think about it too much you should be fine. Not too many people have an actual fear of flying though some people tell themselves they do. Once you get into the plane, calm yourself down by getting used to the look and feel of it. Take deep breaths before takeoff and landing. Often there's a channel on the audio provided with relaxing music, that helps some people..guess that depends on how long your flight is. DO NOT scare yourself by thinking through all the "what if's" of flying. Just enjoy the feeling of being so high above ground, it really is pretty amazing! Should you get motion sickness, again take deep breaths, drinking small sips of coke helps some people, there are also motion sickness tablets you can buy in a pharmacy to chew on or you can just chew gum...also the flight attendants are usually pretty helpful if you tell them you don't feel well. But in my experience deep breaths usually do the trick, also if you find you feel sick just try to fall asleep, it'll help. Hope you enjoy your flight and where ever it is you're going!

Answer 6

Great. Don't worry. As soon as you board depending on the flight time, get a blanket and pillow above as it may get a bit chilly. Pick and aisle seat that way you can get up, use the head or stretch legs without having to crawl over other passengers. The air quality in flights is better now than before so you might be free of air sickness. Bring some reading material, like a good book.

Answer 7

don't be paranoid, flying is actually the safest form of travel. i would bring like a puzzle book, a book, gum, maybe a CD/Mp3 player/i pod to listen on the plane, cards to play solitare, a camera would be good so you can take pictures of the clouds lol, umm i would pack a jacket, not a big one a light one b/c sometimes plane balnkets still don't help if it is cold on the plane. don't be worried, just have a good flight and have a nice trip.=]

oh yeah-you can go to some shops in the airport and buy a water bottle and some snacks or a magazine for something to do.

Answer 8

a million) Sleep earlier the flight. 2) Watch the safe practices video. And recognize the crew are there on your safe practices and they are truly experienced. 3) do not ignore that 1000's of planes takeoff and land on a daily basis without incident. 4) attempt to sleep on the plane. 5) eat or drink juice to keep blood sugar widely used. 6) end observing takeoff and landing video clips or aircrash learn. That merely scares human beings. 7) convey various distractions like music, books, magazines and so on.

Answer 9

Just ENJOY THE RIDE!!! You are likely to be seated in the noisiest section near the wings, and likely to encounter heavy turbulence!! You will see the wings flapping up and down, and intense shaking of the seats and overhead locker bins!! Perhaps the odd lavatory door will bang open and shut while take off!! All kinds of mysterious sounds bells, ping-ping noises will be heard! You may also see some tips for dire straits like wearing an oxygen mask or landing over water! Remember, the tube that you sit in (cabin) is carried by the wings..and not vice versa- depending on the design, wings are designed to flex up to 20 feet up and down!! Now thats scary...and in the midst of all this, you might enjoy superb cuisine served by very attractive attendants (depending on your preferences) and get a wink or two of sleep. Also, remember, if it is a long flight, the air is likely to be stale (inspite of re-circulation) so you will be inhaling the rejections of others digestive systems (in gaseous form)..and the flight attendant running briskly up and down the aisle, is, well, crop-dusting!
After all this, you will land on mother earth and swear to yourself that this is the best experience you've had in life!
Bon Voyage! and-er- dont get up or act jumpy or nervous-there are "people" watching !!

Answer 10

chew gum if your ears feel pressurized. bring water(even though they have it on planes but its more convienent then asking the flight attendants for water 24/7 and u wont get dehydrated.

for entertainment bring some sort of music player, books in case u feel airsick and u can take your mind somewhere else. Laptop to watch videos in case the plane doesnt have a tv and doesnt have the videos u wont and the screen is too small.

Answer 11

oh just bring a ipod or mp3 player and don't worry..
on my first flight i was scared alot but seeing how calm everyone else was and thinking about where i was going (japan) really made me exited to fly. now 10 years later i have flown over 60 times probably more, all long haul flights to asia with tons of layovers. and yes i still get a little nervous before i fly but i really enjoy flying.
i think if you are having trouble during your flight for health reasons a flight attendant will be able to assist you..
the one thing that gets me is the dry air when you are at cruising altitude. i get frequent nosebleeds..
but don't worry enjoy your flight and best of luck!