just readng this topic...has made me remember something that happened on my flight to sharm el sheikh in november, We had been delayed for 7 hours at manchester..plenty of time for people to go to the toilet you would think?? after take off the seatbelt sign was kept on for quite along time..not sure why, but about 5 people decided to get up and go to the toilet..even though the seatbelt sign was still on! then the cabin crew annouced over the microphone that everyone was to stay in their seats as the seatbelt sign was still on..and still people continued to get up!! think about ten people must have gone to the toliet..then you had the people that just had to get things from the overhead lockers!! i couldnt believe it..they just totally ignored what the cabin crew was saying!!

p.s i also wait in my seat at the end of the flight until the people that stand in the ailes have got off!!

Meant to say when hubby and I have children.

I've seen this happen on every flight I've ever been on! Whenever we land, as soon as the plane touches the ground, you hear clicks all round the plane, had to laugh once, this girl decided to take hers off before the sign went off, she took off her seatbelt when the plane was just landing, but it was in for a rough one! She was sliding all over her seat, that kept me amused!

But it's the same people who rush off the plane, fight at the luggage carousel, then moan because they have to wait on the coach for the so many hundred people they pushed and knocked over during the process!

We always check in first, meaning we get good seats, but our luggage comes off last, this works out well. My mum is in her 60s and I have difficulty standing up from a seat due to a knee injury, I have to check my kneecap is straight before standing, or it will lock! So we're not in the mad dash to get up, people generally let us go, but I really hate people falling on top of me because they can't get into their own seats! As for the luggage, with ours comming off last, generally people take pitty on a young girl with her mum, and they normally help me with the cases! As they're already sorted! We all get to the hotel at the same time as everyone else! But a lot less stressed!

We always check in first, meaning we get good seats, but our luggage comes off last

Without trying to deviate from the topic in hand, this is actually avery good piece of advice. I have noticed that its always the same. if you get to the Check In Desks as soon as they are open, you can guarantee the 90% of the time your luggage will be the last to go on the carousel at baggage reclaim. Therefore, you can remain in your seat while all the others rush to go nowhere.

Yes, this means that you will probably get some glaring looks as you board your transfer coach (assuming thats your choice of transfer), but just take no notice. You know that you have acted in an orderly and civilised, and most importantley, safe manner.

I have to agree with you all here, regarding the stupidity of people on planes.
But i have to admit,although it's not as dangerous as blocking aisles etc & taking off seatbelts while the aircraft is still moving,I find the most stressful part of travelling by air is the baggage reclaim.

It suddenly turns people into complete monsters!
Everyone stands as close as possible to the carousel(any closer and they'd be on it!)So no-else can see anything,Pushing and Shoving like their life depended on it!
Many times i've seen arguments break out over this and at the end of the day,like others have said,you aren't getting to your destination any quicker than anyone else!
You still have to find transfers/taxi's etc.
Why can't there be some sort of line drawn around it where everyone must stand until you see your bag come off!
We are a family of 5.I stand well back with the trolley while my husband gets our bags.
Its all crazy to me!

This is suppose to be a stress free break!
Why do we do it to ourselves??

Everyone stands as close as possible to the carousel(any closer and they'd be on it!)So no-else can see anything,Pushing and Shoving like their life depended on it!

I totally agree with you. Last March '05, on my first visit to Benidorm last year, ( I went back in October) I had the misfortune to loose my luggage, well I personally never lost it myself, but it never arrived on the carousel. When I approched the carousel as it was clearing of the passengers, I stood there and waited, my family's luggage had already been reclaimed, and I stood there waiting and waiting, and waiting, until eventually no further cases came through that little opening and the carousel stopped.

Naturally I was concerned and became very distressed when it was apparant that there was no on around who could help me. There was no Rep, no Airport staff, no nothing. Filling out a claim at the Lost and Damaged Luggage desk was a nightmare . My limited spanish was not enough to make myself understood and although I kept calm, I was made to feel llike a criminal.

It turned out that another holidaymaker on my flight had picked up my case (despite it being covered in brightly coloured belts (one with my full name stitched on it!) and numerous labels, and my surname stitched out in bright luminous yellow letters on both sides), thinking it was hers. I was gobsmaked. There is no way my case can be mistaken as someone else's as it is so clearly identified.

Later that evening, after about an hour arriving in resort, I got a phone call at the hotel from the Thomson Rep who advised me that my suitcase had ben picked up in error and taken to another hotel in resort. She siad she woould arrnage to have it delievered to me the following afternoon. I said I needed a change of clothing now and not later, all my wash gear was in my suitcase. I asked her which Hotel, and as I knew it I decided to go and retrieve it myself.

Upon arrival at the other Hotel, when I went to collect my case the person who had picked it up was there in reception, holding onto my case and she said that she always makes for the baggage reclaim as quikly as she can and, these were her words, "I always push my way to the front so I can be certain of getting a good seat on the coach". She then had the audacity to ask me to hand over HER suitcase!! I told her I never had her case, I'm not that stupid, I know what my own case looks like.

Needless to say, she got a bit of a mouthful from me that evening, it was late, I wanted a change of clothing and some idiot picks my case up in her rush to get "a good seat" on the coach and then she has the cheek to accuse me of taking her own suitcase This stupid impatient woman caused me and my family a great deal of distress that evening and she made no offer of an apology to me. Does it really matter where you sit on your transfer coach? Wherever you sit it will still take you to your chosen destination.

Mistakes can clearly occur as you can see if you join the scrum at the edge of the carousel.
Myself and my family, we always wait back until most of the luggage has been reclaimed, and then I walk forward and find a vcacant area and await our luggage, which is often off loaded last anyway, because we usually check in early. And as I have previoulsy stated, if you are one of the first to check in , you can pretty much guarantee your luggage will be off loaded last and therefore last to go on to the belts.

Heaven only knows whats its going to be like in May when those 30,000 odd Rugby Fans arrive for their Convention Now that WILL be a 'scrum' worth watching

I dont know why but for a lot of people as soon as they board an aircraft their IQ resets to zero