The Best Part of Flying?

[Simo]

Landing back in your home port.

And knowing that you will be home in 20 or what ever it takes.

 

[flyrod]

Sadly it's not available anymore, but the best time I have had was sitting in the jump seat for a take off from SYD just on dusk and then returning for a landing in MEL. On a much earlier flight, while part way through training for a PPL, I asked the captain during taxi to the gate if he loved flying as I did, or was it "just a job". He replied that it was just a job...but its the best job!!

 

[JohnM]

Landing back in your home port.

And knowing that you will be home in 20 or what ever it takes.

So the planning can start in earnest for the next travel .

 

[leadman]

Landing back in your home port.

And knowing that you will be home in 20 or what ever it takes.

Have to agree now, nice to be home rather than living out of a suitcase. Even the free booze doesn't help, rather have a good ale in the backyard than a "Stock standard lager" at 38,000 feet!

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

This is a trickey question.

For me it's the anticipation of the trip. Organising and deciding what to do and where to go once flights are booked.

When I was a cattle class passenger the actual journey was not so appealing, but now I'm starting to learn the tricks of cheap(ish) J and F travel the flight itself can be something to look forward to as I get to fly different airlines.

2 F flights have me excited already for trips next year, and the hope I can score a QF F to LAX next year is also giving me something to look forward to.

 

[flyrod]

This is a trickey question.

For me it's the anticipation of the trip. Organising and deciding what to do and where to go once flights are booked.

When I was a cattle class passenger the actual journey was not so appealing, but now I'm starting to learn the tricks of cheap(ish) J and F travel the flight itself can be something to look forward to as I get to fly different airlines.

I agree with the anticipation of organising the trip. The internet allows so much in the way of pre booking and research, perhaps making it too easy, but it does remove some (not all) of the surprises. It's always interesting to see how reality differs from our expectation.

 

[harvyk]

I agree with the anticipation of organising the trip. The internet allows so much in the way of pre booking and research, perhaps making it too easy, but it does remove some (not all) of the surprises. It's always interesting to see how reality differs from our expectation.

I don't think it removes the surprise. It makes access to information easier, no need to go down to a travel agent / book shop to get brochures / travel guides. But actually seeing a place with one's own eyes, hearing the noises, smelling the smells and of course tasting the local food / brew is a very different experience to seeing a place via photos from good angles with perfect lighting.

 

[flyrod]

Paul Kelly wrote of his first trip to the USA and seeing the iconic sites that we know intimately, for the first time. We grew up watching mostly American television and saw those places on our screens but nothing beats actually being there.

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

I don't think it removes the surprise. It makes access to information easier, no need to go down to a travel agent / book shop to get brochures / travel guides. But actually seeing a place with one's own eyes, hearing the noises, smelling the smells and of course tasting the local food / brew is a very different experience to seeing a place via photos from good angles with perfect lighting.

Oh yes, the food. I love my street food, and so far my vitagen / yakult a day has kept me from any nasty tummy bugs over the years. Am looking forward to having a real Koran BBQ in Seoul in a few months with friends. Also looking forward to some thai street food and those disgustingly good rotti / crepes they smother in condensed milk and sugar (th banana inside makes it "healthy")

Enough of that. I need to get ready for the gym and work. Oh let me win lotto

 

[Dmac6345]

Oh yes, the food. I love my street food, and so far my vitagen / yakult a day has kept me from any nasty tummy bugs over the years. Am looking forward to having a real Koran BBQ in Seoul in a few months with friends. Also looking forward to some thai street food and those disgustingly good rotti / crepes they smother in condensed milk and sugar (th banana inside makes it "healthy")

Enough of that. I need to get ready for the gym and work. Oh let me win lotto

Are you sure there wasn't any of that funny green stuff in those Thai Crepes??

 

[JohnM]

Going to places that I've read about in National Geographic over many years.

 

[harvyk]

Going to places that I've read about in National Geographic over many years.

My Nana used to work in a Travel Agency back in the 80's, I still remember going in there from time to time seeing the photo's of far away places. Yeah, nothing quite like actually seeing a place first hand which you've seen a photo of countless number of times.

 

[Himeno]

So the planning can start in earnest for the next travel .

so the planning can get delayed by the airlines changing everything on you?

Coming home is the thing I hate most about travel.

 

[SamR]

Oh gosh. Everything. Just everything.

The anticipation. The planning. Booking everything bit by bit, whether it's hotels or flights or ground transport and seeing it gradually laid out in my Tripit itinerary. Researching what restaurants are near my hotel for an awesome breakfast.

Figuring out how many points and SCs I will earn. Thinking about what to wear on the flight and what I might eat in the lounge before I board.

Figuring out what I have to buy before I go. Packing and having the bags by the door, waiting for the car to pick me up. The text message when the car arrives.

Priority check in. Having a browse of the pointless duty free on the way to the lounge. Meandering to the gate just before the boarding call. Priority boarding. Heading to J, or even Y+ and/or other pax sighing with desire at my seat on their way to Y.

The surge of power at take off. Nobody able to get me on my phone while I'm in the air. FAs bringing me booze and eats.

The view of my destination from the air. A safe, powerful, comforting landing. Knowing there will be a car to pick me up after a long flight while others fight for a cab or have a loooong journey in a shared shuttle (never again!).

Finding a restaurant where I can eat vegetables after living on convenient food for a little while. Feeling reassured that I won't get scurvy after all.

Don't love the car picking me up for the return journey, but do love the Australian accents on boarding a QF flight for the long flight home. And everyone around me loving that also.

Fresh asparagus served to all pax on board, and then using the loo, not so much.

The terracotta tile roofs of the houses of Sydney on approach. And the purple flowering jacarandas dotted all over the suburbs, if they're in season.

Knowing there will be somebody waiting for me to come home.

 

[leadman]

My trip planning has changed so much now over the years; I look at the rough plan and book what i call the "backbone leg" the most expensive or longest leg. Then all the side trips hang off that, but i leave the return backbone leg open. I know my travel agent hates this but when you do 15 to 20 legs a trip x 7 to 8 times a year it gives me maximum flexibility and I can often grab cheap flights when needed and if i have a hold-up or change of plans I'm not tied down with a massive itinerary I have to change.

I also note that my booking time before departure is shrinking almost down to the 24 -48 hour mark, which frustrates my wife even more!!!!

 

[straitman]

For some of us that is quite a hard question to answer because having been involved in the aviation industry for 45+ years my perspective is, I dare say, quite different to most people here.

There have been many great parts and a few diabolically bad parts. First solo flights on each aircraft type were always special but even more were sending a student on his first solo flight. Probably the absolute best parts were when completing a rescue, both from the self satisfaction perspective and also the gratitude from the individual. The most unusual was a rescue in Queensland in the 1974 floods where the farmer insisted that the dog was winched up before Mum and the kids. :shock:

The low points were the friends I lost through flying accidents of the years though fortunately the last close friend lost was in March 2003. See: Rescue Hero Dies in Helicopter Crash.

 

[flyrod]

For some of us that is quite a hard question to answer because having been involved in the aviation industry for 45+ years my perspective is, I dare say, quite different to most people here.

There have been many great parts and a few diabolically bad parts. First solo flights on each aircraft type were always special but even more were sending a student on his first solo flight.

I remember my first solo from 15 years ago as if it was yesterday. It was a beautiful calm Autumn day. I did just one circuit, but was so excited afterwards.

 

[sinophile888]

I find turbulence surprising relaxing.

 

[cirqueboy]

Hurtling down the runway in a CR2 and the MD80. I really love sitting up the front and feeling the power of the engines up the back.

 

[leadman]

Hurtling down the runway in a CR2 and the MD80. I really love sitting up the front and feeling the power of the engines up the back.

Liftoff sitting in the upper deck of the 747 was always wonderful. The 380's just don't have that feeling.....