Funny travel myths...

[twinklebug]

YEARS ago, when I was about 3 and we were flying from Chicago to Boston, my big brother who knew EVERYTHING told me the airplane bathroom toilets open up to the outside when you flush them & if you were in the room you'd be sucked out.

Thankfully, I've taken his wisdom to heart and managed to stay out of them for the most part. No incidences yet (although I did avoid flushing most any toilet until I was 8). I do still duck under cover when a big plane goes overhead though.

What other travel myths have you heard? I'd love to pass some along to the kiddos... make them ponder the world we live in

 

[Mortlives]

Great idea for a thread.

My favourite one from Snopes is the ridiculous claim that the positions air passengers are supposed to take in the event of an emergency are intended to kill the passengers quickly and cleanly, as opposed to the advertised (and actual intention) of minimizing harm.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

How about the myth that so many appear to believe who post here, that buying an airline ticket and getting an assigned seat guarantees you not only that seat, but that your flight will leave on time?

 

[Tara]

How about the myth that so many appear to believe who post here, that buying an airline ticket and getting an assigned seat guarantees you not only that seat, but that your flight will leave on time?

 

[twinklebug]

How about the myth that so many appear to believe who post here, that buying an airline ticket and getting an assigned seat guarantees you not only that seat, but that your flight will leave on time?

But... but... but... you mean? ... Oh No! It's NOT true?

That reminds me of our trip to WDW two years back... apparently the airline didn't believe the shortest distance between two points is a straight line as they diverted our plane from Boston up ~OVER~ the great lakes (BTW, the pilot got a real kick out of showing us the country) and back down to Baltimore. I know it was weather related... but geesh... if fuel costs were as high as they are today they wouldn't have bothered having the plane take off.

Which brings us to another travel myth... or is it fact? :
The shortest distance between two points is NOT a straight line.

 

[Mortlives]

Which brings us to another travel myth... or is it fact? :
The shortest distance between two points is NOT a straight line.

When it comes to travel, it's a fact, but only because the earth isn't flat. If you were digging tunnels between places, you'd want a straight line, but if you're travelling above the earth's surface, which is curved, you want a curved line.

 

[twinklebug]

When it comes to travel, it's a fact, but only because the earth isn't flat. If you were digging tunnels between places, you'd want a straight line, but if you're travelling above the earth's surface, which is curved, you want a curved line.

I knew somebody would bring this up...
You are correct when talking about drawing a straight line on a flat map, effectively you're drawing a tangent to the earth. Not the best way to travel esp. for long distances.

What I'm talking about is the straight line (created as the shortest distance between two points on the Earth's surface being the shorter arc of a great circle passing through those two points) verses the airline's looping north, west and then back south east just to avoid storms. But that was too complicated to get into and diverts from the original intent of the thread. What I *should* have said was "most direct route" instead of "straight line", but it would have sounded odd and my brain wasn't turned on when I was typing... I blame it on the lack of coffee. All set now

 

[Mortlives]

Perhaps we should just say that the shortest distance between 2 points is not by airline.

Which brings me to what may be the biggest myth: that air travel is somehow faster. By the time you've gotten to the airport, gone through security, etc.etc. been routed through Denver, etc. etc. recovered your lost luggage, have you really saved any time at all?

 

[dudspizza]

My dad always told me that the grass in Wisconsin was purple.........

My dad always said, "that bug won't have the guts to do that gain", right after is splattered into the windshield!

My dad always said, "pull my finger" Oh wait, never mind on that one......

Duds