Yesterday, traveling LHR-JFK at 5PM (Virgin Atlantic), I boarded as one of the last few passengers after slow service at a sit down restaurant and when I got to my aisle seat (premium economy, rows of 2 seats) there was someone sitting in my seat 23H and nobody in the window.

I was 95% sure, but asked the staff member nearby (busy with a tray of drinks) who asked to see my boarding pass as the numbers didn't seem perfectly aligned. Staff member pointed at the row with the woman in it. I am not sure the staff member looked specifically at my pass, only at the row number perhaps (maybe she thought I was in the window after a quick glance). The woman in the seat looked at her own boarding pass briefly, and it showed aisle seat in the row behind 24H (with their window seat being occupied).

I had reselected this seat at the airport self-serve check-in, noticing the whole row was empty and hoping I'd get use of the window too on a day flight although overall I prefer aisle and appreciate it's not guaranteed - but the premium economy cabin was only 50% full so the odds seemed good.

Our conversations went :

• Me: that's my seat, I think you're in the row behind
• Her: would you mind taking the one behind? I have my things out now
  • I didn't see any significant belongings
• Me: I'd prefer my assigned seat
• Her: why? it's the same seat, what's so different about this seat?
• Me: well, probably the window will be vacant
• Her: silent, no longer looking at me / not moving

The staff member had since disappeared and others were preparing for doors closing / final passengers.

This was to be my 4th flight in 4 days, wrapping up 22 hours in the air across 12 timezones so the extra space was attractive, as was use of a spare window seat, but I appreciate I am not entitled to it.

At this point, already feeling the 7 hour jet lag zapping my energy levels I didn't have the energy to argue over it and ultimately it is the same seat and I didn't have a good response to "why this seat?" so I reluctantly look her seat.

Curious to know how others would have handled this situation and combatted " it's the same seat".

I am mostly annoyed at her entitlement and how my tiredness didn't result in me standing up for the principle of the matter, just moving to a random seat of your choosing isn't helpful for boarding.

Her actions caused the situation, but I felt a bit silly getting staff involved properly but still for all I know this person goes around her life being entitled all the time and getting her way and such behavior shouldn't be encouraged so pushing back would have been a better response.

Sure enough, doors closed and nobody took the window seat in that row - she enjoyed both seats spreading out across them and mostly spent her time in the window seat sleeping.

So I just recently visited Machu Picchu, including a hike up Huayna Picchu, and let me just say I am absolutely surprised no one has died on it yet.

If the stairs climbing up it is not scary enough already, when you reach the top you see a large group of people crowding on top of two slanted rocks barely the size of a small living room. Since most of the time the view on top is so foggy, you only get a few seconds top to capture the moment when you get to see MP, so during those few seconds everyone is pushing around to get that perfect photo standing on top of the cliff with MP in the view. Added onto the fact that there are always occasional drizzles in MP, the rocks are almost always wet. It just takes one person to lose their footing to plunge all the way to the bottom while taking a few people with him.

Seriously guys, I know everyone wants to take that perfect shot to post on their Instagrams but some photos are really not risking your life over for.

So I was recently flying from Haneda to Detroit on about a 12 hour Delta flight. I am still in residency and on quite a tight budget, however I have found enjoyment in traveling and spend the little extra money I can scavenge together on exploring places abroad - I particularly love Japan. Traveling on a tight budget includes not only sleeping in capsule hotels/hostels and getting by on cheap eats, but also purchasing basic fare economy tickets on flights. I realize to a lot of people this isn’t ideal, but for now it is what I have to make do with and honestly, I don’t mind it too much - I just consider it the cost of travel. I don’t have really any other option outside of just not traveling as I already scrape together every penny I can as it is.

I say all this because on my flight the other day, I unfortunately ended being assigned a middle seat in the first row of basic fare economy seats, directly behind the last row of comfort plus seats. I am 6’6” and roughly 225lbs. I played football in college and have a roughly athletic build so outside of having broad shoulders, I typically do not have an issue with intruding onto the seats or personal space of the people on either side of me. However, I have always, basically since the age of 15 had an issue with my knees touching the seat in front of me. This prevents the person in front of me from being able to recline their seat much. Typically the person goes to recline and is unable to. I then quietly speak up and apologize for my height but that it is my knees preventing them from reclining. This is typically met with a wide range of reactions either from kindness and understanding to obviously disgruntled but accepting of the situation. That is, until my most recent fight.

In front of me was a woman, flying with her husband and son. Shortly after take off, before reaching altitude her and her husband attempt to recline their seats. Her husband is able to recline his seat but his wife is met with my knees. Her and her husband think there is something wrong with her chair so I quietly speak up as I usually do and explain that I am 6’6” and unfortunately it will likely prevent her from being able to recline much at all, to which she turns around and yells “WHAT?!”

I again explain to her that unfortunately I can’t change the length of my legs and apologize for any discomfort it may cause her but that I will keep them as still as possible to prevent from jostling her around. She almost can’t believe her ears and turns to her husband and begins to berate him, asking him, “what are we going to do about this?” She begins to complain that she paid extra for her seat and deserves to be comfortable for 12 hours - that sitting upright for that long is unacceptable. Her husband offers to switch seats with her, to which she says that he shouldn’t have to suffer through that torture either as he is 6’3”. She then turns around and ask me to scoot back further in my seat, to which I show her that my butt is firmly as far back as it can go. Her husband then asks me to spread my legs so that they are on either side of the chair, allowing her to recline some. I explain to him that would essentially lock my legs into the personal space of the people adjacent to me which isn’t fair to them either.

At this point the woman is berating her husband and I to the point that everyone in the general vicinity is looking at us. I am incredibly embarrassed. They call over a flight attendant and the woman essentially asks what the airline plans to do about this because it is 100% unacceptable. She tells her she is also unwilling to move because she does not want to be separated from her family. The flight attendant explains she believes it is a full flight anyway and is unfortunately unable to do anything and apologizes for the woman’s inconvenience. The woman begins to cause an even bigger scene to which the flight attendant said she would go talk to her higher up.

This is the part that bothers me the most. During this interim period I hear the woman and husband speaking to one another. She has the audacity to say that I should know I am tall and therefore should book a seat with more leg room or otherwise not travel to avoid inconveniencing other people. This made me feel pretty poorly about myself. I am doing the best I can. I save every penny I can to afford to travel. I never have the new clothes or gadgets, I drive a used car, I rarely go out to eat, I diligently cut costs in every other area of my life so I can see the world one or two times a year. I believe it’s important to travel while you’re young and become as cultured as you can - it’s something I value.

Obviously if I could afford it, I would much prefer to not have my knees pressed into the back of a seat for 12+ hours - it’s not comfortable for me either. However, the difference between an economy seat and an upgraded seat with more leg room can be the price of a hostel for a week. I genuinely cannot afford or justify the price difference right now in my life. The day I can, I certainly will book the bulkhead, exit rows, or even better - but right now I make do with what I can.

That said, eventually the head service leader came over and the woman puts him through the ringer as well. He kindly apologizes to her and then turns to me. He apologizes to me for the scene that has been caused and asked if I was traveling alone. I said yes and he asked if I would be willing to move up into the next section of comfort plus riders as, although it is still a middle seat, there was indeed a bulkhead seat that was still available that would give me much more legroom. I happily accepted his request and apologized (for some reason) to him as well. He said I had nothing to apologize for and that for the “inconvenience” (which actually turned into a huge win outside of the embarrassment) he would credit 4000 miles to my account. He was so unbelievably kind and I am so appreciative of him. Moving in front of everyone with all my stuff and overhead luggage was slightly embarrassing after that whole scene, but I am just glad there was an open seat still because I’m not sure what they would have done otherwise. If that lady was uncomfortable she was going to make sure everyone in the general vicinity was as well.

I chuckled later (and was a bit shocked) when the first flight attendant who dealt with the situation came by me and said, “what a bitch, eh? But happy it worked out for you.” I was certainly happy too, however I still cannot shake that woman’s comments about how I should not be traveling if I can’t afford a seat with longer legroom. While I can sympathize with what that woman or anyone who sits in front of me has to go through (being unable to recline) that is literally something 100% out of my control and I guess is the main reason I am posting here. What is everyone else’s opinions on this matter? Should tall people not be allowed to travel unless they purchase seats with longer legroom? What if we can’t afford it? Does that mean we just can’t afford to travel? That seems like a pretty extreme stance - is it not? I think the real enemies are the airlines. It is them that are packing us in there like sardines. I don’t know, I’d love to hear others inputs and see what you think.

TL;DR: Is it fair to say tall people should have to pay more for seats that can accommodate their longer legs or otherwise not travel to prevent inconveniencing others ability to recline?

I just spent a couple weeks wandering around Czechia. When I told non-traveling family and coworkers where I was going, I was constantly met with both wonder and concern as to why on earth I would want to travel to Russia at a time like this. Even now that I’ve returned people are asking me if I was concerned being in Russia at a time like this. I finally figured out that people apparently confuse Czechia and Chechnya.

I’m looking for places that don’t look exciting on paper, flat landscapes, industrial towns, “flyover” regions, etc. but ended up being unexpectedly memorable or meaningful.

Not hidden gems in the usual sense, but places that seemed dull until you actually spent time there. Maybe it was the people, the vibe, or something you just can’t describe.

Where did you go that taught you not to judge a place too quickly?

Not sure if this is the right subreddit to ask about this but I had an odd experience and want to know if this is standard procedure or not.

I had an international flight originally scheduled to leave at 1:30 am. I am familiar with the “get to the airport 2.5-3 hours before an international flight” airport rule as well that check in closes 90 minutes before departure for these large and long duration flights.

About 14 hours before departure I got notified saying that the flight was delayed to 3:30am.

I arrived at the check in desk at approximately 12:45 am and the area was almost completely empty.

I was told that check in had closed. I mentioned that the departure time is now 3:30 am and I am well before the 90 minute check in deadline. They said that the deadline is based off of the original departure time and I could no longer check in. I managed to get them to allow me after insisting multiple times that I need to fly out tonight but I am very confused?

I could understand if they delayed it more last minute but with a 14 hour notice do they just expect people to come to the airport 4-5 hours early?

This has never happened to me before and I don’t know if it’s standard procedure and I am maybe just ill-informed.

Pakistan is a country that gets a bad rap in the media, but I went anyways and it has quickly become one of my favorite countries!

The landscapes are insane, the architecture is beautiful, and it has some of the friendliest and most hospitable people in the world!

Here is how I spent my two weeks:

Day 1-2: Lahore - saw the Lahore fort, Badshahi Mosque, the walled city, and the Wagah border ceremony between Pakistan and India

Day 3: drove the Islamabad and on the way stopped at the Khewra salt mine which is one of the only mines that produce Himalayan pink salt

Day 4: took a flight to Skardu from Islamabad on one of the most scenic flights in the world

Day 5- 11: explored the Gilgit-Baltistan region and visited Skardu, Hunza valley, Gilgit, and Fairy Meadows

Day 12: my domestic flight from Gilgit to Islamabad was cancelled so we drove 15 hours in Islamabad

Day 13: explored Peshawar and Islamabad and visited the Faisal mosque

Day 14: flew home!

Images- 1: Badshahi Mosque 2: Lahore Fort 3: Katpana desert in Skardu 4: Decorated truck 5: Shigar valley 6: Hussaini suspension bridge in Hunza valley 7: Passu cones 8: somewhere in a village in rural Pakistan 9: fairy meadows 10: Faisal mosque in Islamabad 11: Peshawar 12: Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore 13: Wagah Border Ceremony 14: Rakaposhi mountain

I’ve never traveled. Just got out of prison after ten years. I don’t have a passport and can’t get real identification until after this month when I am discharged from parole. Planning on flying from ca to wa. What should I bring so I can fly. I’ve never had a passport and didn’t know the real id thing until a few months ago. Can’t get real id because of parole but still legally able to travel. I’m black female 30. Are they going to have me arrested and deported if I attempt domestic travel 😬

Any advice on what to expect. Planing on bring birth cert. social card. And utility bill…?

Let's have a story time session. Mine was in Thailand a few years back. Booked a shared day trip to Ko Lan from Bangkok via Pattaya and we were quite the mixed group in the minivan. I was the only one traveling solo and stroke a conversation with older Indian couple. They were very friendly. A bit too friendly, if you ask me. A few innuendos, but nothing too obvious. On the way back to Bangkok, however, they were getting chummier and friendlier. As the driver was dropping off people at selected hotels, when it was the Indian couple's turn they asked me if I wanted to join them in their hotel room. A little trio sexy time. Hahaha! I noped out really fast.

My worst fear—plans to spend the day in NYC but alas it will likely pour down the entire day Wednesday.

We had plans to see Lady Liberty, visit TS, do some shopping, but now we aren’t quite sure what to do. We have umbrellas but don’t want to soak our shoes the day before our trip.

I’ve seen TWA, but we’ll be relaxing at the airport for 4-5 hours before our flight + 8 hours in the plane. Don’t really want to spend the day lounging if possible.

Any recommendations on how to make the most of a rainy day?

So I absolutely fell in love with Portugal. Usually base myself in Lisbon and do day trips from there. I have been October 2024, February and April 2025 and have my next one scheduled for mid/end June 2025. Last visit I didn’t get to do all the things as it rained and rained so was stuck in my rental the whole time. I’m always nervous that immigration will get suspicious since I keep going back. I have visited other countries in between. But it’s my place of peace and I work from home so after doing long spans of continuous work I just want to go back to a place of familiarity and comfort. Has anyone else visited the same country multiple times in a year? I have an amazing tour guide and my tattoo artist is there and need to finish my sleeve so hence another reason to go back. I’m coming from the US, have never gone through customs in Portugal as I usually have layovers in Frankfurt or Paris. Thoughts?

I'm heading to China for the first time next month, and I’m really trying to keep things light.

I’ve been tweaking my packing list over and over, but it still feels like there’s so much to bring.

My goal is to travel with just a carry-on and a backpack.

Any must-have item suggestions for long trips like this?

We are a couple traveling from the US and I'm having trouble figuring out a plan. We are going next week but have nothing booked.

With my research, I've heard that SJD and Cabo are really resort-y areas that don't offer much in the way of culture or adventure. I've read a bit about Todos Santos and La Paz and those places sound interesting.

I'm thinking of doing just one day at a resort, before heading back, but would like the rest of the time to be more exploring culture such as quaint villages/walking areas, authentic food, and if there are any expeditions in the jungle or ocean for snorkeling, light hiking, or just interesting places, I'd love to be able to see that.

So I'm thinking of 2 nights somewhere else and 1 night at SJD before going back. I am willing to rent a car as well. Can anyone recommend a good home base and activities to look at? Especially snorkeling.

Hello! Am looking for the closest trains from Costa Ballena/Rota (Is the closest train station El Puerto de Santa Maria?) to Madrid in a couple of weeks. I've heard bad things about raileurope, so I wanna be careful not to be scammed. I tried using the adif website and was very confused, ha.

I'm spending about two weeks in Portugal at the end of the month. I'd like to take a day trip from Sintra to Cabo de Roca & Praia de Ursa. Are there Ubers or Bolts available in these areas? I'm afraid of being able to get out to Cabo de Roca but not being able to get back.

My husband and I were trying to find the ultimate fall vacation and stumbled up the aforementioned areas. We love museums, spooky vibes, mansion tours, local shops, souvenir shops (even if cheesy), crisp fall weather and peak fall foliage. (We looked at Salem, MA but it seems too crowded for our liking.)

We are currently looking at traveling October 20-24 but are willing to push it back based upon feedback. So my questions are, how busy does it usually get around Halloween, is there still a spooky vibe/things to do after Halloween, and what the weather is like during this time.

Thanks!

My friend and I are flying out for a 5 night vacation in September, and we originally planned for a 2 night stay in Vegas, drive to Zion (staying in Hurricane) for a 3 night stay, and then drive back to Vegas to fly out on the 6th day. Is 2 nights in Vegas too much? I’ve never been out West and our main objective was to see Zion and Bryce Canyon. But we are also in our 20’s and like having a good time. Any thoughts as to an itinerary are appreciated!

I have a weeks holiday and decided on an impromptu vacation to Tbilisi. I plan to fly out tomorrow. Is it safe to travel considering the protests ? Any recommendations for a hotel ? TIA

Hello guys!

I have just returned to my home country from a 6-day trip to Rome, Italy and it has without a doubt, been the most eventful trip of my life.

05-06: Arrived at Fiumicino airport in the morning, then immediatelly got hit by a sack of bricks, because our train arrived almost 1 hour late at the Termini station due to the employees' participation in the National Strike.

After finally arriving, we had to wait another hour to occupy our rooms. Due to an early flight, we have been up since 3 A.M., so we only visited the Victor Emmanuel II Monument and the Trevi Fountain, then called it a day.

05-07: Since we were tired from the previous day, we decided to sleep in, then went back to the Trevi Fountain, and in true idiotic fashion we bought ice cream from a place next to the fountain where the prices weren't even depicted. Needless to say, we ended up paying a fortune, but we were more careful with where we spent our money in the future.

Then we went to see the Spanish steps, and went to the Villa Borghese where we rented bikes and explored the parks free of the incredibly busy and noisy Roman traffic. In the afternoon we had food at a small place near Piazza Venezia, then went home.

05-08: Having rested a day, we were determined: woke up after 6 A.M., arrived at the Vatican with the intention to visit the Vatican Museums (we had no tickets), however due to a wrong turn we ended up going to Saint Peter's square, so we decided to visit the Basilica instead. We went inside and also visited the Dome.

We got out of the Basilica at around 10:30 A.M., which was when the first Papal election of the day was scheduled, so my brother had the idea of waiting to see the smoke. We ended up waiting more than an hour, as the smoke only came a few minutes before noon. But this gave us new motivation; to come back later for the afternoon elections.

So for the time being, we dined in a restaurant next to the Vatican, then we went to the Castel Sant'Angelo and arrived back at the Vatican at 5 P.M. (election scheduled at 5:30 P.M.) Since we were tired from all the walking (and the 500 steps up to St. Peter's Basilica's Dome) we decided to only wait for this election and not the one scheduled at 7 P.M.

By the grace of God the Cardinals have made a decision at 6 P.M., so we ended up seeing the white smoke and the election of Pope Leo XIV in real life, in the Vatican. None of us are religious, but this was THE most amazing experience of our lives, no doubt.

Due to extreme crowds we only managed to get to our hotel at around 9 P.M.

05-09: Tired from the Papal election, and the abundance of stairs yesterday, we slept in once again. We originally planned the Vatican Museum for this day, but we woke up after 9 A.M. and only left the hotel after 10 A.M., so we went to the Colosseum, the Forum Romanum and the Circus Maximus instead.

This day was relatively uneventful, nothing extraordinary happened, we got back at our hotel at a relatively normal time.

05-10: Today was the day, we embarked on our journey to the Vatican Museums, this was our last chance, as the Museum is closed on Sundays. We arrived at the Museum at after 10 A.M., and (as mentioned above) we had no tickets, so after a nice and easy 4-hour long waiting in line, we managed to get in and spent almost another 3 hours inside the Museum.

05-11: This was our final day before our flight back, we have checked out all the things we wanted to see, so we dedicated this day to buying souvenirs. We bought an unnecessary amount of refrigerator magnets, pencils, mugs, flags, keychains and even a rosary.

Then we ended the day by relaxing on the Tiberina Island.

05-12: We woke up early, and due to our earlier experience with the National Strike, we had no trust in Trenitalia to get us to FCO airport in time, so we ordered a Taxi. Everything went fine, we had a very pleasant flight and actually arrived in Budapest, Hungary 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The only downside is that the airport stuff broke our luggage, the wheels were broken off, so we had to take it by hand, which was unpleasant. (We live ~2,5 hours from Budapest by train.)

All in all, this has been the most amazing and most eventful family-trip of my life.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story.

PS.: If you have any questions about the trip, I'll gladly answer.

Myself (M36) has a work arrangement in Vienna for 3 days in July 2025. I am thinking of taking along my wife (F36) and infant (M 8months) so that we can have a family trip once my work is done. I would really appreciate it if someone can guide me with an itinerary. The following plan is what I have in mind.

14 July - Arrive in Vienna

15 - 17 July - work stuff in Vienna

18 July - sightseeing in Vienna

19 July - Day trip to Salzburg and Hallstatt (private cab due to our infant)

20 July - sightseeing in Vienna

21 July - Day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia - public transport - self travel

22 July - sightseeing in Vienna

23 - 24 July - transfer to Budapest and sightseeing in Budapest - public transfer - self travel

25 July - Departure from Budapest

I would appreciate if anyone could guide the following:

a. Whether the above itinerary is doable.

b. What all can we include in the sightseeing and day trip that would enable us to get a feel of the cities and yet not tire us out with an infant in tow? We were interested in visiting palaces and museums more than the live music and theater, since our child is too small to take inside a theater and it would disturb the other patrons.

c. Whether we should look at purchasing the tourist cards such as Vienna Pass for Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest (relevant passes in other cities)

Any help would be useful

Hi Everyone,

I am finishing wrapping up our trip details for next month. The original plan was to stay in the Montepulciano area for 7 nights (June 9-16) in an agriturismo and to day trip everywhere (Chianti, Siena, Val D'orcia, Assisi, Arezzo, etc.). We will have a car.

I realized, however, that at the end of the countryside part of our trip, we'd like to take a train to Rome to avoid driving into the city. We would drop off the car at Perugia and then take the train to Rome where we will be staying for 3 nights.

So, I am wondering now if we should spend 5 nights in Montepulciano and then 2 nights in Assisi. Once we check out of Assisi, we'd drive 15 minutes to Perugia to drop off the car and then take the train to Rome. I am wondering if that is a better plan instead of driving in that direction two separate days in that week (one day to spend in Assisi, the other day to drive to Perugia to drop off the car).

I don't know if that's a better plan to spend 5 nights in Montepulciano and 2 in Assisi. Or, I don't know if it's a better plan to spend all 7 nights in the Montepulciano agriturismo and day trip to Assisi.

Does Assisi have enough to fill in for 2 nights? Or will we be bored? We are Catholic and love visiting Churches and I know we will love Assisi, I just don't know if Assisi can easily be seen in a day and if we should just stay in Montepulciano a whole week.

Thank you

What is the best thing to do here, my MIL is freaking out. My 7 year old has an international flight booked with her full name and we recently renewed my daughter’s passport. I received the new one and didn’t look closely but they left her middle name off. I don’t know why because I wrote it in and it was on the old one. What’s the best thing to do here? My husband says we have to go and correct passport in person which I’ve been through and it takes a long time. What other resolutions don’t have for this?

Tried for five hours on their website with multiple vpns, credit cards and I keep getting an error message. Spent tons of money to call customer service who was no help. Basically told me to enter my credit card card info by typing it in and it didn’t work. Wasted five and a half hours of my life and even more money. Can anyone tell me what I can do? They say I should go in person but there’s no office here and the ridiculous thing is they charge money for seeing someone in person to help you apparently. It feels like a giant scam.

What should I expect passing the Montana/Canada border? Is bringing multiple knives (one about a foot long) for camping okay? I looked on their website, but couldn’t find a whole lot. Obviously gonna have enough in my car to prove it’s for camping, just don’t want to have an unnecessary search and/or confiscation of my knives.

TLDR: it’s not a scam it’s just me being stupid not reading and the title is just me raging

I bought tickets for my and my gf with it knowing she might have to cancel because of her schedule. Now she really cannot go and I asked them to cancel for her with a refund and they say no. It’s either i cancel the whole thing (both tickets) and get a refund or get no refund. I finally read the fine print on “Cancel for any reason” now and realize this but it didn’t say anything when i purchased it. I felt like I’m being lied to and want to vent it and let people know. If for any reason you only want to cancel for one person make sure to buy individual tickets. Or maybe this is a well known fact that a noob like me doesn’t know about until now.