I was on a flight today - was only 2 hours - but it was not comfortable because the guy sitting in the seat in front of me had absolutely foul body odor. He was in his 60's (I think) - I believe he was travelling alone - and from the little bit of conversation I overheard, it might have been his first plane trip.
I could tell from others around me that I was not alone in detecting and not enjoying his odor. If the flight was more than 2 hours, I am not sure if I would have done something or not - but it got me thinking what others have done (or would do) in the same situation.
I travel often - and take a very easy going approach - hardly anything bothers me - but this situation (100% full plane mind you) was getting under my skin (and nose...)
I've faced it before on a plane - but not as strong a stink and not as close to me as he was. As a ticket purchasing customer, what rights should you have when it comes to something like this? If I (or someone) told the flight crew, would they do anything? Could they?
Could someone have sprayed him with something to at least make it less repugnant? Could the crew ask him to leave and explain he can't come back until he has bathed?
On some level this sounds harsh I know... but if you are paying pretty good money for a ticket... should you be forced to sit near someone who stinks?
What do you think?
I don't know of anything the crew can do, unless it is so found they have to ask the passenger to leave the plane. I've been on planes with stinky passengers before and just had to endure it. One time a passenger in front of me had the farts and that went on for the entire trip. It smelled so bad my eyes watered like I was crying and I almost vomited once.
As I travel now and then I have found myself in this situation ... of course the worst is that flight right after some big road race. The best idea if you travel often to add to your carry on bag besides the noise canceling headphones (or less expensive but equally effective ear plugs), blindfolds (and no not for your date that night) is a face mask and a little bottle of a really nice fragrance you spray the inside of the mask (as much as is needed) and put it on. It will accomplish two things:
1) keep you from smelling anything else
2) Stop people from talking to you ...
Cinnamon Altoids or similar mints work wonders...your olfactory sensors can't process both the foul odor and the cinnamon odor at once, so you end up not smelling the offending passenger. There really isn't anything else to do but endure it. The other passenger may well have had some sort of disorder (hyperhidrosis springs to mind, but there is a laundry list of disorders that can cause foul body order) that caused him to smell so foul.
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I was on an 18 hr flight once, when a sweet old lady in pastels, seated beside me, decided to kick it up and get completely hammered. When the flight attendant finally cut her off later that night, she grumbled about it for about an hour and then promptly vomited on herself. Twice. The flight attendant suggested that she go clean herself up, to which she said, no, she was just fine using napkins, no need to go to an actual bathroom. This forced the attendant to go to Plan B - namely handing her hot washcloths with tongs and providing a waste bag. I'm sure you can imagine the stank coming off this woman hours later. She didn't seem to mind though, because she tried to order herself a Vodka breakfast (denied).
The attendant apologized to us profusely and said he would move us (or her) if possible but the flight was completely full. So... yeah, it was a matter of endurance. I sprayed perfume in the sleeve of my sweater and continued to inhale into it when I needed a smell-break.
If it's a matter of BO (and I've dealt with that too on flights), you can ask to change seats, however if it's a packed flight, you might be SOL. Breathe through your mouth and count down those minutes.
I have never had to deal with anyone with really bad BO, well at least not to the extent of some of the other posts. But once I sat next to this guy who had the worst breath I ever encountered. Every time he spoke I felt like I was going to get sick. I asked a flight attendant if I could change seats but it was a full flight so that was not an option. When talking to the flight attendant, I could see she smelled it too. It was a flight from NY to SF so I was going to have to deal with this for 6hrs. Finally I politely asked the man if he would not speak to me again and that I found his breath offensive. I felt bad but I really didn't know what else to do. It was that bad!!
Edit: I like DD idea about spraying perfume on her wrist to use when needed, wish I thought of that! LOL
for some reason ppl think it is ok to stink like a toilet, I grew up learning to use soap but today we cant judge, I just lean over to my wife and say it load enough that the person next to me stinks
I've had the misfortune to be seated next to a stinker a very unpleasant hour and 35 minutes you're a captive audience on a plane!
I used to fly a lot, virtually every weekend for the first 3 months of the year, and once a month for the rest of the year. I had the bad breath and the stinky passengers, and also the ones over-scented. those were almost worse for me as I am very sensitive to certain perfumes and colognes and they can produce allergic reactions like sneezing and runny nose and eyes, as well as headaches. If possible, I asked to change seats, even if it meant taking a middle seat. I always carried gum or breath mints which I would offer to a seatmate with bad breath. I generally tried to book myself an aisle seat, as I could turn away from a bad smelling person, or get up and walk away as much as possible.
Fortunately, that did not occur all that often. I found there was far more often, the screaming, unruly child or crying baby that was much more disconcerting, especially if I was trying to get some sleep.
