Flight anxiety can include the stress involved in booking travel (so many flight booking apps!), commuting to and from the airport, managing flight restrictions, and more. As with anything in life, there are never any guarantees, but you can take steps toward a more positive travel experience. Before you head out on your next adventure for work, pleasure, or the holidays, try these tips from frequent fliers who have found effective coping tactics for fear of flying or flight anxiety—you might just find your next taxi and takeoff to be your best yet. Part of this is ensuring you drink plenty of water and limit your alcohol intake. As Briggs explains, every drink you have on a plane is two on the ground, thanks to the pressure on the plane. This dulls your senses and causes dehydration, leading to headaches and fatigue. When you’re not feeling your best, you’re more likely to experience anxiety. If you start to feel the angst, Briggs says talk to one of his teammates (a flight attendant), who are trained to keep it cool. “When I work a flight, I must maintain an air of confidence and approachability. People are relaxed when the crew are relaxed and friendly and can be assured everything is under control,” he says. She’s found repetition gives her a sense of control and confidence, especially when she’s away from home so frequently. “This includes what I wear and showing up 90 minutes early to the airport to what I will drink in the lounge,” she says. “I even try to sit in the same seats in the lounge. I figured, if everything went smoothly the last time I did this routine and flew, then everything will again.” When she’s waiting at the gate, she looks at Flight Radar 24 on her phone or laptop to see the map. Every time she checks, there are around 15,000 planes in the air, reminding her of how insignificant her trip actually is in the grand scheme of aviation. “There are so many planes in the sky at any one time and so few plane crashes—being able to visualize that is a useful reminder that flying is normal and safe, and experienced by millions of people every day,” she says. During takeoff, she opens her Headspace app and meditates, since takeoff is the scariest part for her. “Headspace has a fear of flying meditation program for anxious fliers, and I always make sure to listen to it daily in the week leading up to my trip, then during the flight itself,” she says. This one-stop shop for flights, hotel accommodations, and itineraries ensures you have everything you need. “You just forward your confirmation to the TripIt email and it automatically populates times, dates, confirmation numbers, and other important details in one convenient location,” Cale says. “Having all your details in a convenient spot eases the check-in counter panic. I hate it when I have to scroll through a million emails to find the information I need when I’m a bit anxious—it’s never pretty.” “Yes, airfares are cheaper when you have a tight connection, but if you’re really trying to get somewhere on time, shell out a few extra bucks to have a good cushion between flights, especially if you are going to have to navigate customs at your connecting airport,” she says. “There is nothing worse than the anxiety of running to make a connection, only to miss it by a few seconds or minutes—and nothing better than a bunch of stuff going wrong but not having to worry because you have plenty of time to catch your connecting flight.” Cale says it’s good to be self-aware of your own mood throughout the day when you’re choosing a flight, too. Early morning flights are inexpensive, but if you’re an anxious flyer, you’re probably not happy to arrive last-minute like some business travelers. After all, if you’re taking off at 6 a.m., you need to arrive between 3 or 4 a.m., depending on whether you’re taking a domestic or international trip. “When you add in the time to wake up, shower, and commute to the airport, it can be a very early morning. If you’re already nervous to fly, make sure you get your good night’s sleep and avoid the additional stress of being anxious and tired,” she says. RELATED: 9 Frequent Flyer Secrets to Sleeping on a Plane When her mind starts to spin, she thinks about how she is more likely to be in a car or bus crash or experience a freak lightning strike than to be in a plane crash. “Then I start to think about how I’m nowhere near as anxious as I should be about hopping in a car or bus or strolling through a garden, which is when my secondary list comes into play: I’m also more likely to become the President of the United States or win an Oscar than I am to die in a plane crash,” she says. “That makes me feel better.”
