Dear TripAdvisor: Rudeness on a plane ... No special meal on flight

Q: Last week, my friend and I took the same flight home from a wedding we both attended. We sat beside each other and were talking relatively quietly. Or so we thought. A man sitting in the row in front of us stood up, glared at us, put his finger to his lips and and shushed us quite loudly! We were embarrassed, and we immediately shut our mouths, but after a few minutes, I started to get angry. We were only talking at a normal conversational level. I even asked the person seated next to me what she thought, and she said our conversation hadn't bothered her at all. Did that guy have any right to do that?

A: No. Even if other passengers are bothering you, it's rude to treat them like children. I don't know why this gentleman was so upset if you were speaking at a normal level, but if you were bothering him, he should have simply said something like, "Excuse me, but I'm trying to sleep -- would you mind speaking more quietly?" Leave the dramatic shushing to librarians.

Q: Recently, I had to go to Europe for work. I was planning to fly from my local airport to a big airport on the East Coast, then take a trans-Atlantic flight.

However, my first flight was delayed, and it was clear I would miss my connection. My airline was able to get me there in time for my meeting by booking me on a different carrier. I thought this was great until I got on the trans-Atlantic flight and found my original airline hadn't passed along my special meal request. When we arrived, I was starving. Is this something I have a right to complain about? And if so, should I complain to my original airline or the one I actually flew?

A: A long flight sans food would indeed be miserable. However, I don't think you have grounds to complain to either airline.

Special meals generally have to be requested a few days in advance. If you get an insatiable craving for gelato and decide, "That's it, I'm flying to Italy tonight!," you might be able to get a flight, but you can't order a special meal on a few hours' notice. And that's essentially what your original airline did -- book you a last-minute ticket on a different carrier. The meals for your new flight were probably already prepared, if not already loaded onto the plane. There's nothing either airline could have done.

So focus on the positive -- you did get to Europe in time for your meeting. And on future trips, bring food. It's a good idea for everyone (you never know when you'll get stuck sitting on a runway for a couple of hours), but if you have dietary restrictions, it's absolutely essential.

(Email travel-etiquette questions to Lesley Carlin at deartripadvisor(at)tripadvisor.com.)

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