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(Click the image to view a larger version.)
The same plane as before. Nothing special.
Some flying tips I've learned:
- 777's have entertainment sets for every seat in coach. You
can select which movie you want to watch, or just watch the GPS
signal as you fly through the sky. The 777 was probably the
most comfortable plane to fly on my trip.
- To get some extra leg room, put your second bag in an
overhead bin. If the plane's packed full, you may not get this
luxury. But if there is space, then you've just bought
yourself some extra leg room for stretching out.
- Bulkhead rows are nice because no one will lean their chair
down in front of you. So, you get some extra room at your
chest-height while sitting down. The downside is that you
don't get to stick you feet underneath the seat in front of you
-- there is no seat to stretch out underneath. So,
the best bulkhead seats are aisle - where you can stretch your
legs into the aisle when necessary. Be wary of carts, though.
- As for which bulkhead rows - I think the one dividing
coach/economy and business is the one to go for. Few people
will wander through that passageway, so the aisle is pretty
safe to stretch out into.
- Take off your shoes and wander around in socks. It's a lot
more comfortable and relaxing. Make sure to wear or have some
decent socks to wear, though; sometimes, the airlines will even
give you some to wear.
- On shorter flights (like domestic ones), rent one of the DVD
players from InMotion Pictures.
For $10/day, you get a DVD player and a movie. For a 2 hour
flight, nothing makes it go by faster than watching The Matrix
for the 47th time. Or, bring an extra movie from home to
shorten a cross-country flight to two movies. I've never had a
Bay Area to Seattle flight go by so quickly and enjoyably.
- Remember to drink lots of water on the plane. Try
to bring on board a 1 litre bottle to nurse during the flight.
Whenever the attendents come by with beverages, ask for water.
At the start of the flight, ask for a bottle -- they'll
probably have some little bottles, which are useful because
they have caps and they're bigger than just one cup. Later in
the flight, the crew will have run out of bottles, so you'll
just get a cup. No biggie. Just take every opportunity to drink
water. You can't drink too much. But if you don't drink
enough, you'll feel light headed, perhaps nauseous, and you'll
have a harder time adjusting to the new local time zone.
Corin Anderson |
corin@the4cs.com
Created: Wednesday, May 09, 2001