Fear of Flying

[japinder81]

My son is getting married in Las Vegas and I find it difficult to cope with flights of longer than 4 hours. Can anyone suggest a cheapish way of breaking up this journey, using flights, trains and Greyhound buses please. Thanks in anticipation

[slinkycat]

Well the flight to USA is 7 hours, assuming you are flying from UK, so that part of the journey can't be done any other way. would it be worth investing in one of those courses that help nervous flyers? sympathise because I'm not keen on flying myself

[japinder81]

I was thinking what the shortest time would be to fly over the Pond and land at eg. Halifax Nova Scotia.

i don't think the FOF courses would help- nothing seems to not even prescribed tranquillisers.

[Buenchico]

The flight to Las Vegas is rather longer than that, Slinkycat. Virgin Atlantic quote 10 hours 45 minutes outbound from Gatwick to McCarran International, with 9 hours 50 minutes for the return flight.

As Slinkycat states though, any flight to the USA is going to take well over 4 hours. The shortest flight would probably be to New York. Virgin Atlantic quote Heathrow to JFK as 7 hours 40 minutes outbound and 7 hours back. However you'd still be over 2500 miles (by road or rail) from Las Vegas. That's the same distance as London is from Baku in Azerbaijan!

There's no real way of breaking the journey up. It would take many days by bus. US inter-city rail services are almost non-existent. (Where we'd expect to see a service between two particular cities every half hour, the USA often has only 2 or 3 trains per week. Further, the nearest stations to Las Vegas, in Needles and Kingman, are both around 100 miles away)

Las Vegas is in the middle of thousands of square miles of desert. There is no easy way of getting there other than by air. Your only sensible option (other than getting completely boozed up on the flight) is to invest in a 'Fear of Flying' course, such as the one run by Virgin Atlantic:
http://www.flyingwithoutfear.info/

Chris

[japinder81]

Many thanks Chris & Slinkycat-that's a great pity because I love travelling by train, coach or car and I thought it would be great adventure as well. Perhaps I'll have a look at the FOF courses but booze just makes me ill and throw up-not a good thing to do on a plane.

[Buenchico]

I've just checked out your travel plan. Air Canada quotes 6 hours 40 minutes outbound from Heathrow to Halifax and 5 hours 50 minutes for the return flight.

You'd then be 2750 miles (in a straight line) from your destination.

Sorry, it just doesn't make sense.

Chris

[Buenchico]

Thanks for your post (which wasn't there when I started typing)

[bizzylizzy]

How about a course of hynotherapy. My husband's afraid of flying as well. He's about to do a v long flight to San Francisco with me. It's our 25th wedding anniversary and he knows I've always wanted to go there. He's insistent he'll do it. He went to a hypnotherapist years ago, it may help. Mind you, they tend to tell you to relax and think of yourself in a safe and peaceful place, like a garden. A bit difficult to do when you're scared at umpteen thousand feet. Just keep yourself occupied, read, do puzzles. I don't know if you can visit the cockpit these days. My hubby was taken to see what went on there, the pilot had his feet up on the 'dashboard' the co-pilot was reading golf monthly. I think they might have been pulling hubby's leg a bit. But they were definitely relaxed :-) I hope all goes well for you and your son.

[Cathyhuns]

Or consider a Transatlantic Cruise with Cunard or others to get yourself to USA and then train to West Coast and drive to Vegas

[jno]

you could break a flight up into doable chunks by going via Iceland and take a day or three in Reykjavik

http://www.icelandexp...hedule_and_route_map/

[Aldrich]

Have you ever thought about a cruise. There are loads of cruise lines that go from UK, Spain to America and although you wont be seeing that many destinations most modern ships have fantastic onboard facilities that you will never get the chance to be bored. Also cruises are not as expensive as you first may think especially if you decide not to add flights i have seen loads of cheap deals at http://www.cruise.co.uk.

[RainbowPrism]

Hi Japinder81, I am the worlds worst flyer, I hate flying, but find it is a necessary evil, plus Im scared of heights, but I have flown lots and long haul, longest being 19 hours....and I find the only 'drug' that works for me is called 'Loprazolam' (1mg) a nurse friend of mine told me about these a couple of years ago now, and before i was just using ordinary diazepam which had no effect and didnt quell my anxious state, just one of these little pills should see your flight pass fine....Im afraid no amount of 'fear of flying' courses could help me...I cant fly anywhere without these tablets.

[RainbowPrism]

Oh and if your GP does prescribe these tablets for you, make sure you check your prescription as my GP sometimes gets 'Lorazepam' and 'Loprazolam' mixed up ! Easily done as they are spelt similar....but you definitely DO NOT WANT LORAZEPAM.

[237SJ]

Is it a fear of flying or claustrophobia? The reason I ask is because nervous passengers are usually scared on take off and landing but the bit in between doesn`t bother them regardless of how long it is(apart from during turbulance) My friend was terrified of flying then realised it was claustrophobia. She flies a couple of times a year now with no problems. If you scared of flying, sit as far forward in the aircraft as possible and as central as possible. If it`s claustrophobia, sit on an aisle or overwing where you have more space, or buy a more expensive seat with more room

[japinder81]

Thank you for all your replies-I think a lot of my fear is to do with being claustrophobic but I find myself constantly listening out for changes in the engine noise etc etc etc and absolutely nothing will take my mind off that. I'll check out the Laprazolam though and even the transatlantic cruises and also it's nice to know that there are lots of other people who have similar fears. Once again, many thanks for taking the time to reply.