Got this one from PP, and it’s worth passing along…
Years ago I got in the habit of getting paper cups from the front desk, because they are usually sealed in plastic, so less chance of their being ‘pre-used’…
Also I never make coffee in the room, because I know that flight attendants have been known to ‘rinse’ their G-strings in the coffee pot…
Honestly I’m surprised this has come around again, there was a big hooraw over this probably 15 years ago.
Another option is to carry your OWN water bottle and use it exclusively…
Just sayin…
h/t PP
Hey Old NFO;
Very good advice…..I have another…..Never…I say again….NEVER drink the coffee from an airplane….unless they bring it in in thermoses. I do a lot of repair to the galleys and stuff from the damage coffee does to the interior of airplanes. We disinfect the system every time an airplane comes in for a C check or an L check or a PSV. It don’t matter, I don’t trust the water on an airplane. Some of the places an airplane gets it potable water filled I don’t trust the people that say it is “good” That is why my employer uses bottled water for the passengers to drink. But the coffee comes from the galley.
I will drink the water…provided it comes from a bottle…. Not from the tap. A bit of advice.
Probably if people knew the practices of hotels, restaurants and other service industries they’d be totally grossed out. Best sanitary practices cost time and money, money that people typically aren’t willing to spend, any more than they are willing to spend extra for larger seats on an airplane. If your sole criterion for value is the lowest possible price, then you’re better off not knowing how the sausage is made.
X2 on what Bob and Evans said above.
I’m ok with water from a sealed bottle (served in first class/business class) on an airplane, but not ok with anything else in a cup. My hope is that coffee is hot enough that it kills off things that can make you sick — but maybe not.
Which is why at the hotels I can normally afford I always bring in a case of water bottles or 2 or 3 gallons in 1 gallon jugs. Plus I always have my own stainless steel canteen cup in my gear and my own hot pot/coffee maker.
And never gt ice out of the machine in the cheap hotels/motels. You have no idea when the last time it was serviced or cleaned.
That’s a new one on me about the flight attendants. But I’m just now progressing from staying at the Transient BEQ to getting off base accomodations now and then.
Huh, I always wondered what was responsible for that odd flavor in my coffee. lol
When you check into your room, one of the first things you should do is take the comforter off the bed. While hotels routinely wash the sheets after each guest, they do NOT wash the comforter. * cringe *
My wife tends to pull the hotel comforter back when we check in, and spray it with Lysol. Now I’ll pick up a case of bottled water while she’s doing that.
Thanks for the heads-up.
Bob- Yep, however I ‘do’ drink the coffee… sigh… But I bring my own water.
Robert- Excellent point!
LL- Yep!
Mark- Another good point, I don’t do that ever! Even in the ‘better’ hotels I now get to stay in…
SPE- LOL
Mrs C- GREAT point! I didn’t think about that one, although I do see them being changed in the hotels I use.
Rev- Yep, good idea! I usually buy water at the hotel, so I could probably save $$ if I did what you suggest.
Years ago, I worked in a convenience store. An older woman worked there, too. She had previously been a maid supervisor at a major hotel chain, and caught (and fired) numerous maids washing the water glasses in the toilet, then banding them ‘sanitized for your protection’!
BYOG!
gfa
Some good advice in these comments.
gfa- Yech…
WSF- Yep!!!
I was a road warrior back in the day… both in the US and abroad… and never took any of these precautions, none. I suppose it’s a wonder I’m alive, which is NOT to say the thoughts here aren’t good ones, it’s more that I was about as oblivious as could be. I’m a lil more aware nowadays. Pickier, too.
Ew. I don’t stay in hotels very often but I’ll be doing some scrubbing with soap before using things from now on.
Buck- I didn’t either back in the day, and we stayed in some REALLY lousy places… I wonder how we made it…LOL Of course ‘most’ of what we could catch got fixed with a shot too… ;-D
PH- Understood…
Good stuff, OldNFO. While I wasn’t always fastidious, I made it a policy to wash my hands obsessively when I travel, and I think it kept my health intact on several occasions. I always used disposable glasses as I never saw any dirty glasses on the maid’s supply cart. The coffeepot is a new one on me, but at least now I know.
I reduce infection risk by applying generous doses of disinfectant. Preferably 10-12 year old clear amber disinfectant.
I saw this on the news here. I am not surprised either. I also saw a new story when the went into the rooms with a black light and showed all the semen stains on the bed spreads, headboards, dressers, curtains, etc. I guess to be same you have to enjoy your stay in a hazmat suit.
Mad Jack- Yeah, found that one out from a pilot friend…
Stretch- Figures…LOL
CP- Yeah, pretty much unless you move up a class or two in hotels, and even then it ‘can’ get interesting…
I’ll be sleeping in the car….
I am glad I do not have to travel
Ed- Heard that…
Rick- Be VERY glad!!!
Am I the only person who read this post and rushed over to my hotel room coffee pot and sniffed it?
MSgt- Probably… LOL
Some very good points made above, thanks ! I’ll also throw one in – my wife used to take her pillow to hotels (because the ones supplied are wafer thin) but she quickly realized that she could transfer bed bugs BACK to our home if the room was infested. Just saying.
Man, that coffee pot / G-String is 1st time I read that – gross! I rarely make my coffee in the room though – glad I do that.
j.r.- And if that isn’t bad enough, what about the people that carry pillows on airplanes… Good point though!