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Dealing with rowdy passengers and uncomfortable, tight seats on a flight can be tiring – especially if you're a light sleeper
Travel journalist Scott McCartney of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently researched tips on how to find peace and quiet on your next flight.
With a decibel meter, McCartney measured the noise levels on various types of planes and discovered that it is loudest during a plane's takeoff and at times during the landing period.
According to WSJ, here are some things to consider when deciding which seat to book:
1. Newer planes have quieter engines
Like most old vehicles, older plane engines tend to be noisier as opposed to new ones.
Newer airplanes like Boeing 747 and Airbus A350 generally have quieter engines. In addition, wide-body airplanes tend to be noisier than narrow-body airplanes such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.
2. Aisle seats are quieter than window seats
Though the view is great, window seats on airplanes have higher decibels compared to aisle seats.
Of course, the downside to picking an aisle seat may be needing to deal with passengers from the inner seats going back and forth to the bathroom.
Soya Cincau revealed that you can check where seats are on websites like SeatGuru.
3. The front section of the plane is the quietest area to sit
Business and first class seats are often located at the front section of a plane because it is understood that the front area or any section located before the engine tends to be quieter than the back of a plane.
Also, take into consideration that areas nearest to the bathroom are often noisier with passengers going in and out or flushing the toilet bowl.
Image via Girltweetsworld
4. If all else fails, wear noise-cancelling headphones or earplugs
"No matter how careful you are when you book, you can't control the noises around you. They are often the loudest things of the flight," McCartney added.
Whether it's the flushing of a toilet bowl or in-flight announcements, you can't always control the environment. But what you can do is to wear headphones or use earplugs to minimise noise pollution as much as possible.
