Nervous flyer- returning 16/9/13 MCO-LGW

I didn't realise what a nervous flyer I could be until I was on the plane on Monday 9/9/13- we had a patch of turbulence that was on and off for a few hours and it really unnerved me, the take off made me nervous also.. Not much u can do when your on the plane but now I am panicking big time about the fly home on Monday. To the point where I'm not really focusing on my holiday.. All I can think about is flying home, we are flying over night Monday night from MCO and got told by another guest at our hotel that flying over the atlantic at night can be some of the worse conditions and turbulence can be dreadful- it's really stressing me out also can anyone tell me if we fly close to land at all as when you watch the plane on the monitor it just looks like we are constantly flying over the atlantic- this doesn't make me feel better. Someone also said that there is bad storms expected over the atlantic on Monday! People have well and truly scared me- even to the point where I have looked into other ways to travel home! X

Loocyevans, poor you, but you are not alone. The first thing to do is try and relax on holiday. Focus on the good stuff when you get home too - decent cup of tea and your own bed are my favourites! What you can't do is change the weather. Please be assured that pilots try and avoid going anywhere near the big storms; they will route around, climb, anything to lessen the angst down the back of the aircraft and the guys and girls in the 'driving seats' are very good at what they do, I promise. Turbulence is just pockets of air and gusty winds which might feel abit uncomfortable but aren't dangerous, nor is flying a 'mile high' over the sea - being in sight of land makes little difference as you still need a runway to land on so taking the quickest route across the sea will mean you are home much faster. Don't be afraid to tell the cabin crew you are nervous, they are brilliant to talk it over with as they fly every day. Finally, a small dose of alcohol might allow you to relax, have a snooze and then when you wake up, you'll be safely home in Blighty.

Hi loocyevans and welcome to V-Flyer.

Just to echo the words of LizzieP, please try and relax about the flight. It is a few days away and you have a few days left to enjoy yourself!

I can't really add on to what LizzieP has said only to say that if any pilot thought there was any danger to their passengers or the safety of the aircraft, they wouldn't fly. The pilots are on the plane themselves and certainly do not want to fly if it is not safe.

I'm not a nervous flier myself but one of my travelling companions really is. The advice I can give you is to invest in some travel sickness pills, have a calming drink before you get on the flight (something soft, avoid alcohol if you can as it can heighten senses and make things worse (just my opinion of course!)), have a snack before you get on the flight (again, something easy to digest).

Wear something comfortable and layer up so if you feel hot, you can take off a layer etc ... it will help with anxiety if you can do something about feeling hot, cold etc ... Keep yourself hydrated on the flight as well.

Try not to be one of the last on board, try to get settled in your seat so you are comfortable and not rushing to pack bags in lockers and sit down as they are closing the doors.

If you go through a pocket or turbulence, close your eyes and imagine yourself walking through your house at home, try remembering every single details such as a pattern on the carpet, wallpaper, pictures. The only point of this is to remove your conscious mind from the situation.

And definitely let the cabin crew know you are feeling uneasy before take off. 9 times out of 10, they re is a dedicated "nervous flier friend" cabin crew person on board - I forget the proper name! They'll keep an eye on you and if possible, give you a heads up when the turbulence is coming up. They'll pop by and check on you even if you are asleep (they wont disturb you if you are).

I wish you a safe and quiet flight home on Monday.

loocyevans
I can totally understand your nervousness
And I think what lizzieP said is so right
Enjoy your holiday as much as possible
And definitely tell a member of the CC that you are feeling nervous about flying. In sure they will look out for you.
If possible try to be tired enough for the flight that after a glass of wine you will sleep for most of it
Hope you have a good flight and let us know how you get on
Will be thinking about you on Monday

TBH - I find that the turbulence helps to rock me off to sleep at night. Do you know any relaxation/breathing exercises which you can do to try and relax you into a calm state? That may help. Tell the Cabin crew about your worries and hopefully they should also be able to give you some advice to reassure you. Please try and enjoy your holiday over the weekend and ignore any remarks from other people about bad storms; as Lizzie says, the pilot will deal with that.

Katie

I am a recovering nervous flyer. I was so scared of flying in the past that I didn't used to get on a plane. Now I make regular transatlantic trips after taking the Virgin Flying without Fear course. The main things I learned that still fill me with confidence every time I fly are:

The plane is designed to withstand any turbulence that Mother Nature throws at it.

The captain will do his or her upmost to make the flight as comfortable as possible and as Lizzy says fly around the turbulence where possible.

When you are on the plane imagine that it is a boat on the sea, the air around it is the ocean and the plane 'rides' the waves, sometimes it is rough, sometimes it is smooth but it is not dangerous.

Definitely tell the person at check in that you are a nervous flyer, and tell the cabin crew when you get on. If possible try to get a seat where you can see a member of the crew. You will notice that if there is any turbulence they are not at all worried and will carry on with their duties, even if the captain puts the seatbelt signs on for the passengers the crew will continue to move about the cabin. If it gets so rough that the captain asks the crew to sit down even then you will see that they are not at all concerned.

If you could watch the plane go through the turbulence from the outside you would be surprised at how calm it looks, it feels a lot rougher than it actually is.

Buy some rescue remedy at the airport, maybe take a travel sickness pill.

Try some deep breathing, in for ten seconds, out for ten seconds, it will help you slow your heat rate and reduce your feelings of panic.

Virgin used to have a nervous flyers channel which you can listen to on board, it has deep breathing and relaxation techniques, I'm not sure whether its still there?

Please try not to let this ruin the rest of your holiday. If you still feel nervous when you get home look up the flying without fear course, it changed my life.

From a physics perspective, aircraft are designed to be able to fall literally kilometres in wind shear (only happens about once in a billion flights) before catching stable air again, with no structural damage. There is nothing that turbulence can do to a plane to make it crash - it is uncomfortable, thats it. Also all aircraft operated by major airlines can also fly on one engine - if one fails (or three in the case of a 747), it is still perfectly safe to fly - just might take a bit longer to get there!

Just think how many flights a day all around the world are completed without a hitch. And as the stats say, you are far safer travelling by plane than by car.

got told by another guest at our hotel that flying over the atlantic at night can be some of the worse conditions and turbulence can be dreadful

First of all, discount this comment in your mind. It's complete BS.

Secondly, I would call VS Special Assistance and tell them your concerns, how you are worried etc. They can put notes on to your booking and I believe those appear in the manifest given to the FSM, and the CC may then proactively support/reassure you etc.

Welcome to v-flyer. I agree with what everyone else has said here. When i am nervous about anything I listen to music it helps me as I then concentrate on that alone and forget about anything around me. I know it's not the same thing but I helped me when taking exams. I listened to one particular track before going in and it really steadied me nerves. It must have worked as I passed all of them. Hope that is helpful.

Try and get a seat as far forward as possible as well as any turbulence will feel worse right at the back of the aircraft and as everyone has said let the crew know and they will look after you. Just imagine it as if you are going over road bumps that's all it is.

Pilots and cabin crew get up and go to work...they probably spend 20% of there working lives in the air.

Now then, thinking rationally for a moment (and I do know that is difficult when it comes to fears like this), would they really do that if it was dangerous?

In terms of trying to overcome your fear (which is not a logical thing and therefore cannot be resolved by reasoned argument - I should know, I didn't go to the dentist for 17 years!!!)...

Try and turn it round so you see your fear as something to be defeated - a challenge that someone else has set you and that you are determined to overcome.

Think of the fear as outside of your own conciousness and see it as the enemy...

I'm guessing, but in your mind you know it is safe, so hang on to that and laugh at the fear.

Otheres have suggested ways of handling it, but the overall message there is to find something to anchor onto that you enjoy and can assist you in ignoring the fear.

I really hope this helps in some way, I really feel for you if it is spoiling your holiday...

Really good luck, and keep in touch with us all.

I've always felt that getting a seat over the wings is best for turbulence as that's the aircraft centre of gravity.

I've always felt that getting a seat over the wings is best for turbulence as that's the aircraft centre of gravity.

Correct - that is the best place in terms of reducing the movement due to turbulance.

Don't let it ruin your holiday. The biggest fear is fear itself.

You should be far too busy writing a detailed Trip Report ready for us dedicated supporters of nervous flyers on this site to be concerned about a bit of wind

We'll be waiting avidly for your report, so do make sure you've given us lots of detail.

If you do get bored, you could always plan your next holiday, you won't let this fear win & just think of all the places you want to visit, especially if there's a VS flight sale on

R-P

Welcome to v-flyer loocyevans. Speaking as a therapist with lots of experience helping people with your kind of anxiety, I am chuffed with the sensible advice everyone here has given you, and I say "ditto".

The key is being as relaxed as you can be, and that means spending what's left of your holiday being focused on having fun, because I'm pretty sure you'll kick yourself up the a**e when you get home if you have let the fear dominate your holiday. So now is the time to have as much fun as you can with the time that's left.

And here's a trick that I use with poeple that I know works. You can have 15 minutes in a morning to worry all you like about it, and after that 15 minutes is up you can get on with your day, and set yourself an appointment for later in the day if you want to worry some more. Say perhaps you'll have 15 minutes before breakfast, then set a time later in the day, maybe 6pm or whatever to worry for another 15 minutes. That's all the time you're allowed, the rest of the time is fun time, enjoying things as you normally would. If it pops into your mind on between, be disciplined and tell yourself, "I have 15 minutes at whatever time to worry about this, so I'm not going to let it bother me now" v(

On Monday, do the same, 15 minutes before breakfast and then set yourself an appointment (use your phone to set a reminder) for later in the day, some time BEFORE the flight to have another 15 minutes. Then do some relaxing - breathing exercises are perfect as deep breathing oxygenates the brain and gives a natural high that is both relaxing and kinda like beng drunk! Music is also good. If you can listen to music, do some deep breathing and some progressive muscle relaxation at the same time, that would be really helpful. Just relax the muscle groups in your body systematically starting with your feet and working up to your head. And remember - 15 minutes twice a day to worry, the rest of the time just get on with things. It may sound totally stupid, but it works - you have to be disciplined - but it works.

Enjoy what's left of your holiday and I know the flight home will be just fine. And yes, we want a trip report please y) y)

Well there seems to be no sight of the OP on this thread, no reply or acknowledgment from her since her first post. I do hope she's okay.

Loocyevans are you there? Come in loocyevans...

Beta blockers help my anxiety.

Hope you got back okay Loocyevans, I too have been wondering how you got on.