“I think it’s an interesting concept, though I have trouble understanding what kind of demographics they are hoping to appeal to, and if they are filling a specific niche. If you are looking for an actual in-flight hookup, do you just find somebody through the app, get up from your seat, and then say hi in the aisle? If you are actually looking for a date, is anyone really that impatient that they can’t wait until they have landed to go on Tinder?”
The concept may be interesting, according to this article written by Enoch at Point Me to the Plane; but it is hardly new, as AirDates is a new mobile software application program which is currently in public beta and joins an increasingly crowded space of ways to meet fellow air passengers — despite its claim that it is “the only inflight dating app.”
AirDates Details
AirDates — which is “absolutely free” of charge to use — allows you to “transform your Airline in to the best spot for Offline Dating, regardless of your internet connection.”
You can chat in the airport terminal using an Internet connection — as well as by using “multipeer offline connectivity during your flight to communicate with fellow passengers” aboard the airplane.
If you decide to “become an ambassador” of AirDates by sharing it with your friends, you will supposedly receive “exclusive advantages” — although what exactly are those exclusive advantages are not clear.
Set your privacy preferences depending on your mood. You can be visible for your surroundings; or you can remain hidden while still being able to chat.
Instructions to use AirDates — which purportedly is “simple to use” and employs “precise geolocation” with which you can enter details of your flight prior to arriving at the airport terminal — are to:
- Activate Airplane mode on your portable electronic device
- Turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
- Scan your fellow passengers for their preferences
- Connect your devices
- Enjoy your conversation
Other Available Technology Options
There are actually Internet web sites and other software application programs for portable electronic devices for travel dating where you can possibly meet that special someone — and they even have niches which differentiate themselves from one another. One connects travelers with locals for advice and activities. Another allows you to post a trip which you are planning and invite complete strangers to join you. Another matches you with fellow airline passengers, allowing you to connect with them on the Web before you connect in the air. Yet another is designed for you if you are searching for love.
The following list of available technology options has been updated since it first appeared in this article I wrote back on Saturday, June 25, 2016.
Meet & Seat by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is at least one airline which offers a social check-in feature called Meet & Seat, where you can find out who will be on your flight — as well as view the Facebook or LinkedIn profile details of other passengers and see where they will be sitting — long before your flight leaves the ground.
btrfly
You are at the airport — perhaps either to catch a flight which does not depart for at least an hour; or your flight just finished and you need ground transportation.
A software application program called btrfly can be loaded on to your Apple iOS portable electronic device — sorry, Android and Windows devices do not appear to be supported at the present time — and you can then use it to see who else is on your flight. Perhaps you want someone with whom to talk to while away the time either before or during your flight. Maybe you want to share a ride to save money once the flight has concluded…
…or perhaps you are searching for companionship or love. If so, you may want to prepare yourself with this 12 pick-up lines to use aboard an airplane to possibly increase your odds of finding that special someone.
According to the tagline of btrfly, “Travel is about more than the destination. It’s about the journey. Make more of yours.” Okay. Sure.
Meetattheairport.com
Similar to btrfly but more of an Internet web site rather than a software application program for a portable electronic device, Meetattheairport.com enables travelers to find and message one another if they are passing through an airport at the same time — for anything from a casual acquaintance to a serious relationship — but if you do decide to use this service, do not share your flight information or itinerary with your “date” for obvious reasons.
Planely.com
You can connect with fellow passengers using Planely.com, which matches you with them via the Internet before you meet during your flight. Simply log on to Planely.com and enter your destination and when you are traveling. Planely.com then uses the Facebook and LinkedIn accounts of its members to not only show you other travelers you might know on your flight; but also what you might have in common with them so that you can chat about topics of which both of you share an interest — or you can share a ride using ground transportation with someone staying at the same hotel at which you are staying.
Globetrooper.com
You can use Globetrooper.com to post a trip which you are planning and invite strangers to join you; and other users can see the details of the trip. If they are interested in participating, they “follow” the trip by clicking a button, which allows them to post comments and ask questions about it to see whether it is something they actually want to do — and if the decision is yes, they then can confirm their participation and agree on a starting point.
Inviteforabite.com
Solely for the purposes of safety, Inviteforabite.com can be used only by women for public invitations from other female travelers. This may be a smart concept; but I have no idea how this option filters out men who pretend to be women. Use with caution and skepticism…
Miss Travel
…and — believe it or not — there is even one where attractive people use their looks to be matched with generous people in garnering free travel. Can you say “sugar daddy”?
That last one sounds rather sleazy — not that the others might not cause you to pause for a second. But hey — whatever floats your boat…
…or, in this case, fly your airplane.
FlyerTalk and InsideFlyer
Although FlyerTalk is not an Internet web site for dating by any means, several marriages of FlyerTalk members have occurred over the years. I will not say who to protect their privacy — although you can easily search for who they are on FlyerTalk in the CommunityBuzz! forum. They simply met at gatherings of FlyerTalk members somewhere around the world and eventually fell in love.
You can also use both the Flight Connect and Lounge Connect features of FlyerTalk to meet up with fellow members of FlyerTalk.
The Community Center forum of InsideFlyer can also be a place where you can potentially meet fellow frequent fliers and travelers; but InsideFlyer is also not an Internet web site for dating.
There is also a calendar feature — which you can view either by a monthly or weekly view — where you can potentially meet up with fellow members of InsideFlyer.
Then again, if you are a member of either of those Internet bulletin boards for frequent fliers and travelers — well…you never know what might happen.
Summary
I wonder if being able to chat with other passengers aboard the airplane during a flight using portable electronic devices equipped with AirDates — or some other mobile software application program — is part of from what the Department of Transportation of the United States is attempting to protect you.
Anyway, getting there is half the fun — sometimes even more of the fun — but the concept of using technology to meet someone is not exactly what I had in mind.
Some people might find the concept of meeting fellow travelers cold at airports, in hotels and aboard airplanes as rather creepy and unnatural. I personally prefer to keep to myself most of the time while traveling — unless I happen to be traveling with someone I already know…
…but then again, it could be a relatively harmless way to meet people while doing something in which you are already engaged — no pun intended — which is traveling.
Hey — I will keep an open mind on this one. I must admit that not only have I not used any of the options listed in this article to meet other people; but I do not know of anyone else who used them either. If you have used any of the aforementioned technology options — or if you know of any similar technology which should be added to this list — please let me know in the Comments section below.
If you are seeking to meet someone who will potentially be more than a friend to you, it is never too early to work on Valentine’s Day for next year — especially as it is only slightly greater than two months away…
Photographs ©2016 by Brian Cohen.
As a bonus for literally “crossing the line” shown above at the end of the article, please indulge me in presenting to you the following novel fictional scenario — you know — to get you in the mood…
Love at 35,000 Feet? Is It Possible?!?
SM, 35, looking for SF, 30-40 for travel and dining all over the world. Must be FF on DL and AA, likes staying in Marriotts and Hyatts, and prefers Avis over Hertz.
Intrigued, she responds to his personal advertisement. They meet at the ticketing counter at the airport. Both are excited to be going through the airport security checkpoint together. “Hey — I might get to see a photograph of you naked, and we have only been together for 30 minutes!”
“In your dreams”, she replies. “However, you might get to see how radiant I am as we collect our belongings.”
Suddenly — without even stopping — they hastily start to undress. They first remove their shoes. He takes off his belt. She removes her jewelry. They place their items in the same bin.
He cannot help but stare at her in disbelief as she suddenly spreads her legs wide apart. He anxiously wants to go in after her.
This relationship is already off to a wild start.
She is also ordered to raise her hands above her head and outward, as the body scanner — well — scans her body. Hey, I am no Jackie Collins, you know.
After they finish, he holds her hand as they get dressed together: her feet slip into her high-heeled shoes; he puts his belt back on. “Wow — that was incredible!” he exclaimed. “It usually takes me longer — but this time it was effortless!”
“It was my first time”, she replied.
“Seriously?!?”
“No — I was just kidding. My first time was when I traveled on a Virgin.”
“To London?”
“Yes!!! How did you know?!?”
They listened to the music from his smartphone together. “That is one of my favorite songs!” she said.
“Really? Mine too!” he said, astonished.
At the gate — no, not this weblog — she hears her name called over the public address system. The gate agent informs her that she has been upgraded. She turns it down and requests a seat next to her new companion instead.
Okay, stop with the “yeah, right”s. It could happen, you know. Unlikely — but possible.
Once aboard the aircraft, she leans in to him. He puts his arm around her — but only after he finishes his game of Bejeweled on the in-flight entertainment system.
“You are just soooo romantic,” she says sarcastically to him. He smiles.
The meals arrive — I guess that is a clue that they are not traveling on a domestic flight in the United States in the economy class cabin. Together, they remove the foils which covered their meals, intertwine their arms and lick the residue from the foil to taste each other’s meals. “Mmmm….delicious”, she says.
He cuts a piece of his burnt unidentifiable meat from some unknown animal and feeds her a piece. She in turn scoops a portion of the yellow gelatinous glop and plops it into his tin. They laugh as the immediate area is splattered with yellow…er…stuff.
“I love you” blurts from his mouth unexpectedly.
“I love you too”, she responds while glowing inside — purportedly more so from ingesting that yellow gelatinous glop with the unidentifiable meat from some unknown animal, rather than in reaction to what he said.
“Let’s get married at the non-denominational chapel at the airport when we land”, he burped.
“How romantic!!!”
“We will never be alone again when we travel and stay at the most romantic hostel!”
Now you know why I do not write romantic novels.
In fact, I invite you to get creative. Add to this fictitious story by posting in the Comments section below. I am really looking forward to seeing your contributions.
