More than 8 million people fly every day, on average, and 78% of those flights are for leisure purposes. Individuals flying for business reasons often have work to do on a flight, but for those heading to the airport on vacation, or those business flyers not planning to use the hours for business activity, the question arises of what exactly to do with those long hours sitting in one seat. There are things to bring and things provided by in flight entertainment companies that will make the time go much faster. If you are struggling for ideas, here are five ways to keep yourself busy in the air.
- Watch A Movie: While this might be the obvious choice, it’s often overlooked as a result. If you happen to fall asleep or engaged in some other activity on this list, the first 10 or 20 of the movie could be done before you even know it has started. At that point, few people will be interested in watching at all. Watching a movie is much easier when in flight entertainment systems, or ife systems, include individual monitors. Passengers now find individual monitors at their seats with increasing frequency, meaning if a movie does not fit your taste you can simply click the stop button. The personal monitor is the ideal, but even watching an overhead screen makes the time go much faster.
- Online Entertainment: When TripAdvisor conducted a survey in 2013, they found that 25% of participants would choose one airline over another if it offered wifi during their flight. Likely, if that poll was conducted again, the number of those willing to use wifi as a determining factor in airline selection would be higher, and with good reason. On a plane with wifi, a passenger has nearly identical options as they would lounging on their bed with a laptop. If you bring your tablet or laptop, you will likely have a wider selection than the airline offers, as well as your music, games and apps to occupy your time. Looking to fill the hours of a long flight abroad? Check out the open courses offered by Harvard or the Massachusett’s Institute of Technology, or MIT, and many other respected schools.
- Read: Even the most technologically advanced inflight entertainment system can lose the ability to hold your attention after a while. For this reason, it is an excellent precaution to have an alternative method of entertainment on hand for a break. Be certain whatever books you read are capable of holding your attention, especially if you are not a regular reader.
- IFE Monitors: In flight entertainment companies have developed quite a few features beyond a movie or two. These include features one might expect, like music and games, and some options that would not be included in the first three guesses, like watching the progress of your plane on the screen in real time.
- Sleep: Many people believe they are incapable of sleeping on a plane. This can be attributed to a variety of reasons, such as too much activity or the presense of so many strangers. Even those fears become meaningless when the previous night was filled with all of the packing left until the last minute. Add an over the counter cure for motion sickness or allergies and sleep will come quickly to most.
Few people look forward to long hours of forced idleness, making flights potentially unpleasant. Luckily, with the contributions of in flight entertainment companies and some advanced planning on your part, those hours will slip by in no time.
