Cheap, short flights - re Fear of flying

[airbolt]

I was considering trying a short flight to try and overcome my fear of flying. I want to try a flight of 60 - 90 minutes and see how that feels. I haven't a lot of cash tho.

As I live ten minutes by car from East Midlands Airport I wondered if the airlines "sold off" seats if they had spaces that weren't taken. I'm not really up on these things as i've not had any reason to book a flight.

If anyone had any ideas I would appreciate hearing them.

[slinkycat]

Hi airbolt, you won't get very far in 90mins, eg from east mids its 75mins to Newquay, then you have to think how you are going to get back. The return flight is only 25mins after the outbound one lands, or a couple of days later!
Didn't get as far as looking at prices.
Believe some airlines offer help for flight phobics, maybe someone else can come up with a better answer.
I do feel for you,I went on my first flight for 20 years about 5 years ago and I was terrified:-( I've since flown several times, and it does get easier, I was determined that my fear was not going to stop me visiting places I wanted to see, good luck:-)

[Clanad]

I've been a commercial, long haul pilot all my adult life (here in the U.S.)... but having said that I realize that no amount of explanation, discussion or teaching from afar will help. I have no knowledge of what we call general aviation airports and activities that exist in the U.K. But, if you'd search out one and go to one of the businesses that advertise flight instruction any flight instructor worth his salt would be happy to show you (while on the ground) the controls of a small aircraft, how they work, what the engine looks like and the basics of aerodynamics. You might find the experience enjoyable.
If you're up for it, most such businesses, at least here, have an "introductory flight" program that lasts about half an hour in the local area and doesn't cost a whole lot. You might actually be surprised by it.
At the very least it will provide a better venue to allay your fears than riding in the back of an airliner with other "white knucklers"... Best of luck!

[mike11111]

The way to think of it is this: The guy who flies the plane is like the guy who drives the bus. He don't wanna hurt you 'coz chances are he'll hurt himself. As long as the pilot or the bus driver are in the business of self preservation you have nothing to fear.

[slinkycat]

Mike, a person with an irrational fear of flying, and yes most people with that fear realise its irrational, can't think straight when faced with boarding that plane! All you can think of is that you are going to be 30,000 feet up, and that is a hell of a long way down!

[mike11111]

I still think that it is good sense to rely on the operator to depend upon his instincts for survival. That is why, whenever I go to the dentist, as he leans forward with his drill I grab his testicles and say, "Now we're not going to hurt each other, are we?"

[mrsmaveric]

why not a quick 1 hour flight to guernsey it takes 55 minutes and the plane only flies at 20-25,000 ft..look at aurigny airlines..and they fly from east midlands..the only thing is that they are propeller planes but i fly often with them and have never,ever had any problems in fact they were the first planes i flew on and they are great...

[Buenchico]

The days when airlines offered 'bucket' fares to last-minute travellers are long gone. The budget airlines require you to book well in advance to get the cheapest fares.

The cheapest flights from East Midlands Airport might well be with Ryanair, to Dublin. That's nominally a 1 hour flight but you'd actually be in the air for no more than 45 minutes.

As an example, you could take a day trip on Monday 19th September for a total of £33.98 (return, including taxes & charges) plus their debit/credit card booking fees of 2 x £6, making £45.98 in total. (You'd need to add the bus fare into the city centre on top of that, but it's still a cheap, and interesting, day out). You'd need to get up early to catch the 0635 flight outbound. The return flight takes off at 2215.

I would have investigated some alternative dates but Ryanair's booking system has just gone down. Instead, here's a list of the closest destinations served from East Midlands:
Belfast (1hour flight, served by BmiBaby and FlyBe. Day trips are possible with both airlines but BmiBaby has better-timed flights if you're only going for a day).
Glasgow (1 hour 5 mins. BmiBaby. Day trips possible)
Edinburgh (1 hour 10 mins. BmiBaby. Day trips possible)
Amsterdam (1 hour 25 mins. BmiBaby. Day trips possible)
Brussels (1 hour 30 mins. Bmi. Day trips possible)

Jersey is 1 hour 20 mins from East Midlands, Guernsey is 1 hour 30 mins but you're unlikely to get cheap flights. Newquay is 1 hour 15 mins away but the flight times wouldn't permit a day trip. Dinard (France) is only 1 hour 10 mins away but you couldn't do a day trip. Paris Charles de Gaulle is 1 hour 30 mins away (with day trips possible through BmiBaby) but you might find tickets are expensive.

http://www.eastmidlan.../content/Destinations

Chris

[boxtops]

Good luck, airbolt - let us know how you get on, we're rooting for you!

[grasscarp]

I used to work in flying simulators and there were some people there to try and overcome a fear of flying. Usually once at the controls they often really enjoyed the experience. Some who offer these simulator sessions are overpriced though and an actual flight like some of those Chris mentions are much cheaper. As ever Chris has given a great answer.

[TWR]

Airbolt, the planes are flown by a person / persons that have been highly trained, they are not Idiots neither are they people that take chances with a aircraft that is valued at Millions, before that plane leaves the ground there are checks after checks after checks, if the pilot has any incline that there is a fault that plane stops on the ground, we where are Man Airport earlier this year, the plane had been in for an electrical problem overnight we boarded the plane for Cyprus, it went to the area for take off, the pilot was not happy with the plane or the repair so we returned to the stand, read up on the aircraft & the training pilots have to go through, they are not clowns, not like the ones that you see driving down the M1 in your area, Good luck, & go for it.