My Flight from Hell

[KWC]

Yeh you read correctly. Anyone had one of those flights that you wished, well just never happened?

Let me walk you through my hell on a flight, from this April, pull up a chair with a drink in your hand and enjoy the trip at my expense .

We were sitting in the departure lounge as you do, people and departure board watching, when a family who looked as if they could be trouble! walked by.  I know one shouldn't pre-judge etc, but this time I just knew some poor barsteward was going to get it on their flight back home.

We sat in our seats, wife across the aisle seat from my aisle seat, when said family from hell waddled up the aisle. Oh crikey I thought, please god, not next to me (I had 2 seats to my right free and 3 in front)   Thanks a lot god ya idiot!!  They pushed and squeezed their way past me into their seats.

Anyhow up we go and then they started!  Mum and her little (5 Year old approx)  err - daughter who was sitting next to me were ok for all of 2 mins when the little one started to play with her table latch, then mum grabbed her by the arm and proceeded to berate her, shouting, swearing loudly, while smacking her very hard on the arms a good 5-6 times.

Then did the little one not do it again! Again mum metered out her foul mouthed tirade while leathering the little one. I at this point suggested that she shouldn't be hitting the kid like that!   I got a "whats it got to do with you ya f-cker "etc.  After another few minutes the hyper active kid with 16 duracell batteries up her backside was looking over my shoulder asking what I was looking at on my i- phone.  I said its a snooker game.  Oh I can play that, can I have a wee shot at that. err no the batteries are low.

Then she went off on one again that why did I have a hot meal and they didn't? To which the mother slapped here again saying "shout yer f*cking mouth " I have a packet of crisps and a wee bottle of water for you.  The kid went into full on scream mode, while the attendant came down to see what the fuss was all about, I begged her to get me another seat, nay even offered a few quid to sling someone else out of their seat for me, but the plane was full.

  Then the grandfather who was sitting in front of me, got up and told me to "get out" while he proceeded to drag the girl out of the middle chair, across the arm rest while she screamed even louder due to the pain I guess she was feeling, with her granddad trying to pull her arm off her body .  He then lifted her up swearing at her to sit f*cking still while he forceably dumped her into his now vacant seat. 

At this point he sat next to me and took control of the arm rest to the right of me . then opened up a full sized paper (I assume there was no Sun newspapers left!) so much that I couldn't see what I was doing. 

Then all hell let loose again. Another member of the family (young guy about 15-17) from hell who was sitting quiet enough while this was going on, ended up fighting with the kid out on the aisle, not serious stuff, just jesting etc, until the little kid kicked her  brother hard between the legs, so much so that I nearly choked on my bacardi and coke and made my eyes water.  At this point the stewardess came down and they sat back down again.    Then the kid who was sitting in front was rocking on her chair, and looking over to me eyeball to eyeball, asking the usual qualified question again: what you reading now mister?

This lasted  just about all of the 41/4 hrs it took to get us to the airport and away from them.  I even delayed my walk to the baggage area to see what way they went

The best bit for me was when a women, who had witnessed the above said to my wife: If I was you, I would make sure you gave your man a couple of stiff drinks when he gets in, for the sh!te he had to put up with on that flight - and I did ,:D

I don't suppose it can get any worse that that?   Can it! 

[dagwood]

Jazzes could have been worse, imagine if they were on the outward flight and the apartment next door. They probably qualify as under privileged members of society and could give lectures on "how to claim your entitlements".     

[woe10]

Imagine being in the same Hotel !!!    Probably Costa Caleta.  The thing is, there's getting more and more Families like this over here since the cheap, rubbish, All Inclusives started sprouting up. Caleta seems to attract them.

So much for "Quality Tourism"           

[moonraker]

How on earth did you manage to stay calm for the flight!!! You must be able to keep your temper under control. There should be ejector seats on planes for families like that. What is the reason for such foul mouthed bad behaviour and in front of children as well shame on them
Have to agree with Woe o this one.

Mawbeef

[Blueboy7]

I feel sorry for you, it must have been hell, the worst thing you can do is complain to that type of family. I had a really good laugh at your very witty post, spot on.

[woe10]

I feel sorry for you, it must have been hell, the worst thing you can do is complain to that type of family. I had a really good laugh at your very witty post, spot on.

You should be able to complain to the Air Hostesses, but they don't give a damn 

[appy ammer]

I didn't think Paddster was going out till September

[glenys]

I recommend flying with Easyjet and booking out ALL the seats around you, it would be worth the money.  Hope you have better luck next time.

[Paddster]

I didn't think Paddster was going out till September

Miss you Brendan ya southern less than perfect 

[fifi]

Oh dear, blindfold and ear muffs next time Kenny.

[Can the Man]

OMG Kenny, I feel so sorry for you, I hope the return trip was better.

I had a similar experience a few years ago on a flight to Turkey, where 2 mothers with 1 teenage girl, 1 teenage boy and a girl about 12 but was so physically big took up a lot of space. The 2 mothers and teenage girl got drunk on the flight so the teenage boy and 12 year old girl were left to their own devices. It was disgraceful and the flight attendants were unable to do anything about them. Horror, we had them on the return flight as well, thankfully not as drunk.

[KWC]

Oh dear, blindfold and ear muffs next time Kenny.

Naw fifi, you need to keep your wits about you when these sort of people are all around you.

In fact looking back it was pretty entertaining and to see how some folk live their lives and show absolutely no respect for - well anything really.  But that seems to be the way things are headed

As for keeping my cool/temper, there isn't much an individual can do in this case. If I got angry and said the wrong thing and got involved, perhaps stoated one of them, I would be the one being awaited for at the airport on landing. So the way I look at it is, just ejoy the spectacle of how the other half live

[zedzedeleven]

I once watched an episode of "Skint". Dear God, imagine getting stuck with them on a plane. Thankfully they only went to Skegness for their holidays.

[Biscuit]

A couple of years ago I was on the flight out to Fuerty when a child spilled drink all over me. No worries, I thought, its only a nipper.

The father leaned over and yelled very aggresively "it was an accident right? If you don't f*kn like it, f*k off and sit somewhere else, c***."

I was somewhat taken aback by this, ok, bloody scared.

He spent the whole flight getting drunker and shouting across the plane what a tw*t I was and what a c*** I was and coming up with theories of what would "f*kn sort me out." I am too embarrassed to say what his theory was.

I was nearly in tears the whole flight. Woman on my own, no-one helped.

I spent 3 weeks in Caleta absolutely terrified of running into him, as, having lived with someone like this, I know full well he will flip back into that mode in a second should he see me.

The wife apologised quietly when he was in the loo. She let me move into the window seat to get away from him. I suspect she may have taken a beating for that. The disturbing thing was neither she nor the toddler reacted to his furious raving. Used to it. Poor sods.

These people need rounding up and putting down.

[fatherted]

Incidents like these makes one ever so proud to be British eh

[sorepaws]

I suppose it just a symptom of low cost flights - the benefit is we all get to travel to our favourite places - the downside so does everyone else. So what can you do ?

KWC54 you were very restrained and for that you deserve a medal.

As someone who travels mainly for work I have had a few interesting experiences including being on a 9 hour flight between 2 rather large Americans (other large nationalities are available!) who both fell asleep. Now bear in mind that before they fell asleep they were between them occupying about 20% of my seat, when they started to nod off they both gravitated towards me. SO now you have to imagine a fairly thin Brit disappearing under 2 large Americans who then began to snore in unison.
At this point I did think about calling the Stewardess to see if there was another vacant seat, but I was unable to move 
It was to say the least an interesting trip !

My tip for noisy flights - Noise cancelling Headphones
My Tip for sleeping passengers - climb over them every possible moment to get to the loo.
My Tip for parents with unruly children - sterilisation - oops maybe that's one step too far?

Happy Holidays and Flights

[Paddster]

Not sure if i could keep my temper in check to be honest - here's hoping for a peaceful flight 

[fifi]

Oh dear, blindfold and ear muffs next time Kenny.

Naw fifi, you need to keep your wits about you when these sort of people are all around you.

In fact looking back it was pretty entertaining and to see how some folk live their lives and show absolutely no respect for - well anything really.  But that seems to be the way things are headed

As for keeping my cool/temper, there isn't much an individual can do in this case. If I got angry and said the wrong thing and got involved, perhaps stoated one of them, I would be the one being awaited for at the airport on landing. So the way I look at it is, just ejoy the spectacle of how the other half live

Not always easy I know but I always remember my Mum telling us when we were young to try to make allowances for those that know no better through their own upbringing and the mentally ill. At times it can be pretty tough though and I wonder if she was right.

[Biscuit]

Not much good when you are threatened with a smack just for existing...they just dont give a damn....

[isleswing]

Just imagine what it would be like on the Marbella flights (or even Benidorm !! )

At least you tend to get a better class of yob going to Fuerte 

[Mr Boo Boo]

Hi Sorepaws ( know what you mean, I was on a 12 hour flight to Hong Kong during the outbreak of SARs, the chap next to me was ~ 18 stone and coughed all through the flight.....  total nightmare

[Super Simon Garner]

Ha Ha , you`re right about what you say regarding waiting in airport lounges ,I`ve done it numerous times . You spot em and then watch em,all the while thinking "please God not on my flight"
I once had a sinilar experience with a family with children.Outbound flight the kids played up all the way and the parents hardly bothered. Absolute nightmare!
Coming back I spotted em at the airport and immediately went to find the Prayer room.When we got on the plane I was sat in an aisle seat and as it started to fill up the two seats next to me and the three in front were empty.An old fella just across the way turned and said "you were sat with the family from hell on the way out weren`t you and they are sat in them seats now going back" My heart sank and from the look on my face he could see I was gutted . He then burst out laughing and said "I`m only joking they`re sat at the front,I`m their Grandad and even I wont sit with them"  The relief !

[notdeadfred]

My sympathies to all who have experienced this kind of flight with people like this. We had a very close call on our own return Thomson flight from Fuerte to Manchester this May. As usual, we had terrified ourselves in the departure lounge by spotting "families from hell" that we seriously hoped we would not be sitting next to on the aircraft. But of course, our hearts sank when we realised that not 1 but 2 such clans were going to be sitting just behind us. They boarded with all the expected shouting, swearing, banging, laughing etc etc and we braced ourselves for a nightmare flight.

Imagine our relief then when soon after the cabin doors were closed the chief stewardess (or whatever they call them nowadays) leaned over to us and said in a quiet voice that there were some unused extra legroom seats available at the front of the aircraft and as we were regular Thomson flyers would we like to move to them? We were on our feet before she got to the end of her question! The extra legroom bonus was great in itself but it was made all the better by knowing that we had narrowly avoided 4.5 hours of purgatory. Needless to say Thomson have moved up a few notches in our esteem now.

Several other people from seats around those families were also moved to spare seats at the front, and I did wonder if the crew had identified the troublemakers and had deliberately cleared some space round about them to help them deal with the expected trouble, but that's probably crediting them with too much foresight!

[c matthews]

wife and I sat behind a family . flying from Cardiff they had a teenage boy who was letting off with the parents laughing . it was not funny .glad we were staying in a apartment