Decoding the Hidden Language of Flight: Air Travel Secrets and Comfort Tips Revealed

Unlock the mysteries of air travel as we illuminate the cabin's secret language – those pings and chimes at 10,000 feet aren't just noises, they're a symphony with each note having a special meaning. We're turning down the lights on all the cabin rituals, from the reason why your flight might be cooler than your living room to the logic behind dimmed lights during takeoff and landing. You'll also learn that the air you're breathing is as clean as an OR, thanks to HEPA filters keeping it pure, and discover how the flight crew can ensure safety even from the outside of a locked lavatory door. 

Prepare for takeoff into a world of travel insights as we share nuggets of knowledge that can transform even the most arduous long-haul flight into a breezy journey. With tips on dodging deep vein thrombosis through simple seat exercises and the unexpected comfort afforded by compression socks, we're here to make sure you touch down feeling fresh. You'll get the inside scoop on a pilot's nod to Chuck Yeager and find out why flight attendants don't stumble during turbulence – hint: it's all about the secret handrails. Dream big and cast your travel aspirations sky-high, as we explore the beauty of different cultures, the bonding over food, and the notion that every journey, even to the moon, is well worth it.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:02

Welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast. This podcast is devoted to the travel industry. Z says let your imagination run wild and start dreaming about where you want to go. And dream big, reach for the stars, and if you only get to the moon, at least you enjoyed the trip. Your guide to travel is Z Michelson, a travel advisor, and sitting at the controls is Jay Lawrence, your concierge of podcast travel. Now here's Z.

Speaker 2 0:27

What are you doing over there, Jay? My mic goes on, my mic goes off, my headset goes on, my headset goes off.

Speaker 3 0:33

One day, I will learn how to use this equipment.

Speaker 2 0:36

You keep pressing all these buttons. Stop pressing buttons.

Speaker 3 0:40

That's what we're here for. We're here for the button show.

Speaker 2 0:42

That red light gets me nervous. Don't press the red button. Well, of course I am Z Michelson and Jay is there at the control. The concierge of podcast travel.

Speaker 3 0:54

Yes, and we are brought to you by collage travel media network home of Z max radio and collage travel radio, and it's Z max radio, dot live. I love that. I love the fact that it's dot live, dot live, yeah.

Speaker 2 1:07

I love it. They have to ZMAX it, right. Well, hopefully everybody was listening last week because I was talking about the secrets of airline cabin sounds and what they do in the cabin.

Speaker 3 1:19

Well, if they weren't, could you review for me? Yeah, I'm going to do a little recap.

Speaker 2 1:23

We talked about four last week. One was what goes on with the pings.

Speaker 2 1:28

You know, when you hear certain pings, it means certain things, like you know. When you have the two pings, it's letting us know that they're getting ready to take off. And then you have another two pings, which means they're over 10,000 feet. So you have that. Also. The lighting. People wonder why they always lower the lights. You know, on ascent and descent, and it's basically for safety, because your eyes need to be adjusted very quickly in case of an emergency. Or it's also for mood as well. The dim lights help you relax.

Speaker 2 2:02

dim lights help you relax. But then we also talked about specific things like catching pneumonia on the airline because you don't really think you're going to catch pneumonia, but you are freezing your popo off, right, but what they've got?

Speaker 3 2:17

this new air filtration system.

Speaker 2 2:19

And the air filtration system. So we talked about why they keep the cabin so cold. And that is, you know, for your safety, because a lot of people have a tendency, with the pressurized environment on an airplane, because the cabin pressure, they can get hypoxia, which causes less oxygen within the system and some people have a tendency to pass out. Oh yeah, so they keep it nice and cold. And if you're chilly, you know, you can keep your engine running, so to speak, and if you're chilly that much, just ask your flight attendant for a blanket. And then, of course, the HEPA filter that is now involved in the planes. They use the same HEPA filters on the modern planes as they do in operating rooms, and isn't that also on cruise ships now as well?

Speaker 2 3:03

Well, cruise ships is a whole different beast. A whole different beast.

Speaker 3 3:06

But it's sort of the same idea, right To give us clean air.

Speaker 2 3:09

Clean air in the confined areas.

Speaker 3 3:12

Yeah, in the confined areas.

Speaker 2 3:13

So they have a nice big HEPA filter going through.

Speaker 3 3:16

So you could do an operation on an airplane.

Speaker 2 3:19

As long as the lights aren't dim. So that's what I was talking about last week.

Speaker 3 3:26

We'd have to wait until after they take off to up to 10,000 feet, because that's when they can turn the lights back up.

Speaker 2 3:32

Right, but people like to keep sometimes their mood lighting go yeah, right yeah.

Speaker 3 3:38

Or reach up for that fan I love to. Can you reach that fan, could you?

Speaker 2 3:41

get that button for me please, Knowing which one is yours.

Speaker 3 3:48

So what do you got for me today? The?

Speaker 2 3:49

four. I have three more today oh wow. So now, certain things set off people's nerves when flying, yeah, and part of it is not knowing what's going on with everything that's going on board.

Speaker 3 4:00

Right.

Speaker 2 4:01

And that kind of bothers me a lot. Like I said, it's a matter of trust.

Speaker 3 4:05

Uh-huh.

Speaker 2 4:05

And I got this information from one of my trade magazines called the Daily Passport. So number five is did you know the bathrooms can be unlocked from the outside?

Speaker 3 4:19

Oh, no, yes.

Speaker 2 4:22

And it does make sense.

Speaker 3 4:23

What you mean I'm not in privacy. Well, you are in privacy because you can lock it, and it does make sense. What you mean I'm not in privacy.

Speaker 2 4:25

Well, you are in privacy because you can lock it, and it does say locked, but while the lock is on the inside bathrooms for passengers to use, flight attendants also have to have the ability to quickly unlock the door from the outside. Well, yeah, it's hidden under the laboratory sign so you really can't see it and it can be flipped up. So, therefore, if a passenger has an emergency in the bathroom, in the restroom, the flight attendant can get at them.

Speaker 2 4:53

Flight attendants also need to be able to get in there, just in case there might be an incident where they have to get in there quickly because of an emergency. Or how many times do your kids go to the bathroom and they get locked in right, so they also can get the kids out in case of? So that's a couple of things there, but I also found something out the other night when I was watching jeopardy what was that?

Speaker 2 5:18

there's also a law on the plane about no smoking in the bathroom. Yeah, it's on the books, actual, and if you found smoking, you can get into big duty, big, big, big duty, and that was one of the questions on jeopardy well, how did? Like a number, like st 112.6 what was that?

Speaker 3 5:38

the jeopardy question right. What did that mean? That? What did?

Speaker 2 5:41

that number. What was it for for? And it was for that. Wow yeah, so even Jeopardy is getting in on the act of traveling on the airplanes.

Speaker 3 5:50

Okay. So just know that when you're in the restroom on the bath in an airplane you will be, you can be safe. I mean, cause your door's locked Right, but just in case of an emergency they can get you know like oh my gosh, my two year old just got locked in the bathroom.

Speaker 2 6:08

Yeah, yeah, Now you know those. That's the bathroom. Now, this one always gets to me because I've been on planes that require different rules on each. So what is it? What is it? Window blinds. Oh yeah, Window blinds must remain open at certain times.

Speaker 3 6:29

Why is that?

Speaker 2 6:31

Well, during takeoff and landing, flight attendants on many of the airlines will ask the passengers to lift their window blinds. Now I've been on planes where they have asked me to lower the blind, but like other rules and on the planes, there are important reasons for this.

Speaker 3 6:48

Okay, can you give me some reasons?

Speaker 2 6:51

Open the blinds, allow the flight staff to see any issues on the ground or on the plane itself. So the flight attendants are actually looking out for the safety as well. Not only the pilots, the flight attendants are working on behalf of them. Passengers might also report unusual circumstances. They're observing from their windows. And no, I don't mean like the Twilight Zone, there's a man on my window, on my way.

Speaker 3 7:14

Oh yeah, oh no.

Speaker 2 7:20

So they ask you to open the blinds. Lifting the blinds also allows our eyes to adjust to the conditions outside quickly, just in case of an emergency.

Speaker 3 7:28

But they'll lower the lights. Right, the lights will be lowered.

Speaker 2 7:33

You're always getting your eyes adjusted. However, while the practice is broadly recommended by international aviation safety organizations like ICAO, there's no blanket rule in place, so not all airlines will require it.

Speaker 3 7:48

Like you said, some are up, some are down.

Speaker 2 7:53

Some are up, some are down. Yeah, cabin windows also sometimes have triangle stickers on them. What does that mean? I'm going to have to look next time to see if I can see that sticker, and it marks certain seats. According to Captain Joe, an airline pilot with all his YouTube channel goings on, this sticker indicates which windows provide the best view of the wings. Oh Right, so flight attendants can easily scan. See the triangle they need to see and look out the window at the wing for safety reasons.

Speaker 3 8:24

Oh, see the triangle they need to see and look out the window at the wing, for safety reasons. Oh, and since you've went through some training for being a flight attendant, what was I looking for if I'm looking out there for that wing?

Speaker 2 8:34

Right, basically, if there's something going on, you know lately you see duct tape, but you know you're looking for things that might cause because you can see the flow of the air. You can see if the wing is broken. You can see if there's a panel missing, they can see. You see fuel if there's fire. You know they can see things. Also, if you're still on the ground, they can actually see below what's going on. You know like in case the wing clips, one of those carriers or something like that?

Speaker 3 9:04

Oh yeah, they can see that. So we need to look at the window to see if there's a triangle on the window.

Speaker 2 9:10

And, according to Captain Joe, these aisles may also be great for passengers prone to motion sickness due to extra stability provided by the wing. Oh yeah, so you know if you.

Speaker 3 9:21

So if you're on Southwest and you need to choose your seat, choose a seat over the wing.

Speaker 2 9:25

Over the wing with a sticker triangle sticker on it.

Speaker 3 9:27

Look for that sticker.

Speaker 2 9:28

Now one of the things I learned years and years and years ago is that every pilot from every country must speak English. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I learned that years and years ago.

Speaker 3 9:38

That is amazing.

Speaker 2 9:40

Yeah, that has to speak English.

Speaker 3 9:42

At least we still have something.

Speaker 2 9:44

But that's all over the world, right? Yeah, all over the world. They have to speak English.

Speaker 3 9:51

And I would assume the flight controllers or the guys on the ground.

Speaker 2 9:55

The air traffic controllers. The air traffic controllers they're speaking English too. Right. We invented something at least that the whole world is still using. Yeah, wow, yeah, amazing world is still using.

Speaker 3 10:06

Yeah, wow.

Speaker 2 10:07

Yeah, amazing isn't it?

Speaker 3 10:08

Yeah.

Speaker 2 10:09

So now let's get into a travel tip Is it time for the travel tip.

Tips for Long-Haul Flight Comfort

Speaker 2 10:13

Travel tip. Travel tip Flexing and stretching. Flex your calves. Immobility can increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis DVT as people call it sometimes and when you're traveling in the economy class you're kind of squashed. It's unclear whether flying scientifically raises that risk, but if you're kind of sitting immobile for four or five hours you need to really stretch those calf muscles. You can do it by tapping your feet, which also moves your shins and your thighs and your hips. Get the blood flowing. Walking to the back of the plane, if you can, using the restroom these are easy ways to do it and it's inconspicuous.

Speaker 3 10:54

If the bathroom's back there.

Speaker 2 10:55

If the bathroom's back there. Yes, I was so upset on that one flight. How's that Well, I was on one flight. I was like four aisles off the front cabin bathroom oh, yeah, yeah and they made me schlep all the way to the back because I wasn't in first class yeah and it's like really the bathroom is right here. I have to go 90 rows back. I was very upset. I since then I haven't flown on that plane you'll show them.

Speaker 2 11:22

I know they're losing money just because I'm not going on that plane. But stretch everything. While it's less crucial than leg stretches, if your body is going to be in one position for a long time, you know, bring your chest down to meet your thighs. If you can bend over, stretch out your back, reach front to back. You know, kind of do little twists, you know, for almost like yoga moves, for more involved airplane moves, you can, you know, get the need to stand up from your seat and move around. Probably near the back of the plane you'll be able to stretch, you know, and the flight attendants are kind of expecting that. So if they're standing back there, you know, just tell them I need to stretch my legs and they're not going to have an issue with it, unless, of course, you were told to stay seat belted in.

Speaker 2 12:14

Right, Sir I told you to stay in your seat Right, so remember that. Do your little stretches. I also wear compression socks too. Oh really yeah, do they really help? They do they really do All right. All right, so I have one more of the seven secrets, but I think we're going to do another trivia question for you, jay, oh, no, okay, so you ready for this one?

Speaker 3 12:30

No.

Speaker 2 12:33

In which country would you find the currency baht? B-a-h-t? Baht Could be pronounced bat, but I'm going to say baht.

Speaker 3 12:44

Let's see Last week I was thinking it was Switzerland, but it's not Switzerland. But that was because of a waterfall.

Speaker 2 12:53

Right, we were looking at the highest waterfall in the world. But now we're looking for money. They call it bot. You know like we call our money dollars. They call it bot.

Speaker 3 13:08

To me it's an Indian word.

Speaker 2 13:10

Well, we're close. What do you got? You're saying India itself.

Speaker 3 13:14

India I-N-D-I-A and you would be wrong, but you were close.

Speaker 2 13:20

It's Thailand.

Speaker 1 13:22

It's.

Speaker 2 13:22

Thailand. So you were close, you were close. So that's Thailand. So you were close, you were close. So that's good. So Thailand, they use baht.

Speaker 3 13:29

How many bahts do you need?

Speaker 2 13:31

Right, how many bahts do you need? I need a lot of bahts.

Speaker 3 13:34

It's B-A-H-T Wow.

Speaker 2 13:38

Yep. So Thailand uses a currency called baht.

Speaker 3 13:42

Oh, that's very interesting. So you got all these seven secrets of an airline. I have one more left for you.

Speaker 2 13:50

I think these secrets can help passengers that might be a little bit more nervous, so they know what's going on. Right, yeah, it helps. You know, I used to love it when the pilots would get on and talk to you. Now you can hardly. They don't really comment over the thing and say anything to you and I hated that. I always hated that they talk less to to their passengers. Oh yeah, yeah, I love when they chat like you know if the plane is turning or you know making a turn, you're wondering what's going on. You know they could say well, we're turning, you can see on your right side we're, you know, approaching the himalayas or whatever.

Speaker 3 14:22

We're near yeah so it's nice to hear you know, approaching the Himalayas or whatever. We're near, yeah, so it's nice to hear that you know who started all that, don't you who? Chuck Yeager?

Speaker 2 14:28

Chuck Yeager started the talking.

Speaker 3 14:29

Chuck Yeager. Yeah, and he created the monotone type, the way the pilots always talk, you know? Oh, you know, it was like you know who Chuck Yeager was.

Speaker 2 14:42

He was an astronaut.

Speaker 3 14:43

Well no, he never made it. He was a test pilot, he was a test pilot that flew the first out of the atmosphere, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and you see him in the. What was the name of that book? It was a book about the first astronauts. I don't know. Yeah, okay.

Speaker 2 15:01

I'll bring that, at least I remember his name Chuck Yeager. Chuck Yeager, look that up, chuck Yeager.

Speaker 3 15:07

Okay.

Speaker 2 15:08

But now here's a little well-known secret, yes, that nobody realizes.

Speaker 3 15:13

Secret number seven.

Speaker 2 15:16

Did you know that there is a secret handrail? No, yeah, I know, right. I was surprised myself, and I've been on so many flights.

Speaker 3 15:25

Okay, and.

Speaker 2 15:25

I always wondered why the flight attendants were always so steady as they're walking down the middle of the plane, because it does kind of bounce around even when you're not having turbulence.

Speaker 3 15:33

Is it because they're holding on to the up above?

Speaker 2 15:37

They are holding on to it. To what? They're holding on to a handrail.

Speaker 3 15:41

And where's that handrail?

Speaker 2 15:42

Well, as they're walking down the aisle in a moving plane. It's very wobbly, yeah, especially if there's turbulence, and a lot of times the flight attendants do have to tend to the passengers.

Speaker 3 15:52

Right.

Speaker 2 15:52

Most passengers end up grabbing the seats as they're walking down the aisle or up the aisle to get to the restroom.

Speaker 3 15:58

Right.

Speaker 2 15:58

Which kind of disturbs the people in the seats that they're hanging on?

Speaker 3 16:01

to yeah.

Speaker 2 16:03

But if you watch the flight attendants, you'll notice that they repeatedly reach up to the ceiling when they're walking down the aisle. That's because there's a built-in handle rail along the bottom edge of the storage compartment.

Speaker 3 16:18

It's under oh.

Speaker 2 16:21

Yeah, which can be used to steady yourself. So it's a little flight attendant trick.

Speaker 3 16:27

Did you know about that?

Speaker 2 16:28

No, I did not. With all your experience With all my time on the planes and I've never actually looked up other than to put my luggage in there. And I'm not looking for a handrail.

Speaker 3 16:39

Well, no.

Speaker 2 16:40

And apparently it's there. So follow the lead of the flight attendants and avoid aggravating fellow passengers and use this little secret rail instead.

Speaker 3 16:49

So the bottom edge of the storage compartment.

Speaker 2 16:52

Right, the bottom edge of the storage compartment has that little rail and you can hold on to it as you're walking down. I mean, unless, of course, you're too tiny, you know, like little kids not going to be able to do that.

Speaker 3 17:03

Right.

Speaker 2 17:04

But you know, an adult should be easily, should easily grab it.

Speaker 3 17:07

Right.

Speaker 2 17:07

Yeah, can you? Can you imagine? So next time we can actually say oh, we know where the handrails are now.

Speaker 3 17:14

Yeah, we know, I can't. I can't wait to get back on an airplane, so you?

Speaker 2 17:19

can look Now. You're going to be going on an airplane soon. You're going to be going to visit your son in Colorado.

Speaker 3 17:25

You're flying right. Yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 2 17:26

Yes, yes, and I'm hoping to get to Europe soon this year.

Speaker 3 17:31

Yes, yes, we hope you get to the Olympics.

Speaker 2 17:33

Yes, that's where I'm trying to get to, so this should be a fun year. You know, we are traveling.

Speaker 3 17:38

Yes.

Speaker 2 17:38

And we love to travel.

Speaker 3 17:40

And I've got an Alaska trip coming up, you do.

Speaker 2 17:43

So you're going to be flying from here to where.

Speaker 3 17:45

I have no clue yet.

Speaker 2 17:50

Well, I'm sure you're going to fly from here, maybe to Seattle.

Speaker 3 17:54

I'm thinking.

Speaker 2 17:55

Yeah, Seattle. And then from where do you get on the ship? You don't know yet. Oh, you get on in Juneau.

Speaker 3 18:00

Yeah.

Speaker 2 18:00

So then you're going to be flying up, we're coming down.

Speaker 3 18:02

We're not going up, we're coming down. Okay, so you'll be going to be flying up, we're coming down.

Speaker 2 18:05

We're not going up, we're coming down. Okay, so you'll either be in Seattle or Vancouver, or you might do both. You might get Seattle bump, and then you'll fly into Vancouver.

Travel Insights and Tips

Speaker 3 18:13

Yeah. I love Vancouver, vancouver is a very beautiful city. It's what I've heard.

Speaker 2 18:17

Oh, you haven't been there. No, oh my. No, is an extra day well, this is a long trip you're going to be on. I think it's like a 14 day, or isn't it? Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, it's gonna be nice, it's gonna be very nice wow so now you know all the little trips and ticks on those airlines and you know what they're doing yeah so you can even say the say to the, the pilot or to the flight attendant. I know where those rails are.

Speaker 3 18:46

And I know what those dings are. Right.

Speaker 2 18:47

And I know what the dings are doing.

Speaker 3 18:49

I'm going to be listening for your dings.

Speaker 2 18:51

Right, all righty. Well, you know there's so much traveling to do and so little time to do it in, and we are going to be traveling a lot this year, yeah, so tune in every week for more travel information and insights and just plain old fun travel information and insights, and just plain old fun. Follow me and like me on Facebook. I'd really appreciate that. Do you have a favorite location or perhaps an interesting travel tip? Let me know at ZMichelson at gmailcom, and Z is spelled Z-E-E. I am very excited to let everybody know that my podcast can be heard on any of your favorite podcast players. Feel free to give me a review. I'd love to hear what you have to say. Thanks for listening today. Traveling truly opens up the world to you. You learn all about the different cultures, the lifestyles. Jay and mine's favorite thing is food food, food, food food then you realize we truly are really all the same.

Speaker 2 19:42

so dream, dream big, reach for those stars, and if you only get to the moon, at least you made the trip. If you're looking for great places to travel to, feel free to visit my website. That's ZMichelsonTravelcom, and remember Z is spelled Z-E-E. This is Z Michelson, making your travel dreams come true, you.