There is something about airports and the thrill of airport travel that set my heart aflutter. I’m sure this is true for many like-spirited men and women. The thought of airport romance is enough to send butterflies into anyone’s stomach.
Perhaps it’s flying off into the unknown. Or the essential romance of flying to exotic locales. Or maybe even the prospect of meeting quite randomly a stranger who may be “The One.”
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Here are some of the best places to meet, flirt, and discover your airport romance.
Chat them up in the pre-boarding/security lines
Pre-boarding/security lines are often long, aggravating, and soul-annihilating experiences. But counter-intuitively, these very such lines are ideal for approaching someone. These long winding lines provide an excellent opportunity to converse and bond with that attractive fellow traveler. You’ll likely possess a shared sense of boredom and apathy.
First, there isn’t much to do while waiting in line to check baggage. It’s tough to read standing up or even tune out listening to tunes on your iPod. So what better way to spend this time than engaging in a conversation? Talk to the passenger who sparks your interest. Look ahead or behind you while you’re in line, and you may find the airport romance you seek.
About the security lines, nothing bonds two attractive strangers in flight more than the TSA. There is just something about standing barefoot (or in socks) and being patted down for a mini bomb that may or may not be lodged in your butt cleavage.
In this situation, it seems that misery, absurdity, and boredom love the company.
Bonding at the bookstore
I’ve always had great success striking up a conversation with fellow travelers at airport bookstores.
You can tell a lot about a person by his or her choice of reading material.
Or not.
One woman engaged me in conversation at New York’s La Guardia. She was holding a copy of a Harlequin romance novel to her heaving bosom. She introduced herself as a hopeless and hopeful romantic. I was immediately smitten.
Another woman defiantly read in front of me while in line. Her book of choice: the steamy novel, “Fifty Shades of Grey.” It follows that she dominated the conversation and reveled in her newfound power.
Claim your airport romance with your luggage
The baggage claim area is perhaps one of the best places to meet your potential Mr./Ms. Right or even Mr./Ms. Right Now.
You’ve flown together in the same enclosed plane for hours. You both have inhaled the same stale cabin air.
You have shared the same mediocre airplane food. You both have watched the same lame family-friendly Disney film. Together you’ve shared an air traveling experience.
I’ve known marriages that initially lacked such a solid foundation. If there’s an immediate physical connection, the dude seems single or “Singlish,” go for it. Don’t forget. You only have a few minutes to secure a cell number. Then, the luggage magically appears on the conveyor belt, and your chance is gone.
So, ladies and gentlemen, go in for the kill. If you never ask, you never get.
Secure that number for future reference. Better yet, prolong your nascent relationship by sharing a cab or Uber downtown. If you’re each others’ “The One,” nature should take its course.
In any event, you’ll have a pleasant cab ride in close quarters to ascertain if that person is the one.
And you’ll discover whether this is the beginning or end of an exciting journey together.
This story was originally published on March 28, 2017, updated on January 6, 2020.
