To wake someone up on a day flight?

Yeah, I prefer a window seat and I accept that if I'm in the window seat, I only get up if I need the loo.

However, the OP says "I got allocated this seat and couldn’t change it" so my guess is that nobody in this scenario actually got to choose their seat.

I agree getting up frequently just to have a wander about and chat to a friend is selfish though. On a nine-hour flight, most people are going to need to get up once or twice to use the toilet, so stretch your legs then, rather than getting up and down all the time.

I also think that the fact that it was a 'day flight' is irrelevant, because when you're flying long haul all bets are off. There will be passengers on connecting flights, there are time differences and jet lag to factor in etc. What's 'day' for one passenger is 'night' for another in terms of sleep schedules.

Or if you want to sleep the entire time. Pay for a window seat.

I don’t think your behaviour was reasonable .
It’s fine to wake someone if you need the loo.
It’s fine to get up to use the loo a couple of times during a 9 hour flight - ideally at considerate times .
You can do exercises in your seat . If you are the sort of person who wants to keep getting up you need to pay for an aisle seat.

I always choose the aisle seat so I can get up. I would never wake a sleeping passenger because "I wanted to talk to my friend". A 9 hour flight is tedious. You can bet someone wants to sleep and it helps with jet lag when changing time zones.

Airliners aren’t designed for hundreds of people all getting up to stretch their legs once an hour! Have you been on one? The space for walking is tiny compared to the numbers on the plane, and then there are the trollies blocking the aisles.

This is why we have flight socks and exercises we can do in our seats.

You really think trying to avoid a DVT is selfish??

I’m amazed that so many posters think it’s unreasonable to get up and down on a long flight. Do none of you pay attention to the recommendations to avoid blood clots?

This pretty much nails it! If you want to get up every hour or so to stretch legs .. book an aisle seat. I'd find it irritating being next to you even if I wasn't asleep !
Middle seat guy had to accept he'd be disturbed if he wanted to skeep

I sleep a lot due to grief, day or night. I’ve just flown Dubai to India to Bangkok to Australia. Slept on all flights , a lot. I would definitely be annoyed if you woke me up too much.

I fall asleep as soon as a plane takes off - just can’t stay awake! If I get allocated an aisle seat I always tell the people the in the middle/window seat that I can’t stay awake and to just wake me up when they need to get past. I feel like consideration for others’ needs has gone out the window for many people. Yup, I’d love to stay asleep but equally I’m sure they’d like to be able to pop
gp the toilet or have a walkabout

I always try to sleep in flights, it passes the time. I always have an aisle seat as I get claustrophobic if I am blocked in. However I am always happy to let the others in the row out and will even mention to them that they can ask me.

I wouldn't get up to stretch my legs after only a couple of hours. If I needed the loo then I'd have to get up, but otherwise I would try and wait until they were awake. It's normal for someone to act grumpy if they're woken up. But ultimately that's what happens if you're not in the aisle seat.

Not unreasonable to want to get up. I always book an aisle seat as I have travelled alone a lot and like to be able to get up without disturbing people but I am perfectly aware that the two people beside me will need to get in and out at some point even if I'm sleeping (not that I can do more than doze most of the time anyway!)

They can do leg exercises in the seat it’s not necessary (and often inappropriate) to keep getting up.

Edited to say sorry about your family member but OP just wanted to chat to their friend. Sleep is also important for health.

The fact it was a day time flight is irrelevant, you don't know how long they had been awake before boarding. How many time did you wake them? Most people expect to get woken if someone needs to use the toilet but it sounds a though it might have been more often than that.

I wouldn’t have woken them up then unless desperate for loo (ie no choice).

It was a bit unnecessary and selfish after an hour just because u were a bit bored and wanted to go off and chat to your friend.

You justified waking someone by it being a day flight but you have no idea why they needed to sleep.

I think you're fine to do that.

Very selfish to book a window seat when you know you want to get up every 2 hours to stretch, book the aisle if thats what you do. And just because its a day flight and 10am for you, doesnt mean the person next to you hasnt already been on a flight for 9 hours. They may be on their second leg of a much longer journey and its actually the middle of the night for them.

It might be a day flight but doesn’t mean to say that person doesn’t need sleep. I’m about to get on a day flight but with connecting flights and cancellations I’ve now been awake 36 hours.

He should have booked a window seat if he didn't want to be disturbed. Does he expect his fellow passengers to pee on his schedule?
Saying that I find passengers who sit separately from their friends and family and spend the whole flight leaning over your seat chatting are equally annoying 🤷

Sleeping in a public place is not a right . Tough . And some random telling me I was selfish for arising from my seat - which is a right - would be told to go fuck himself . How dare he entitled shit .

Did you offer to swap seats to stop inconveniencing him?

Having known a family member collapse from DVT after a long flight, I'm on OP's side. Yes the man was slightly annoyed being woken up, but would you rather the dreaded thing happened?

It's annoying to be woken if you've managed to sleep (I never can!), but travelling by plane is full of annoyances. As others have said, I wouldn't have volunteered why I needed to get past him, but it doesn't really matter. There are people with conditions that require them to move every so often, and you could just as easily have needed the toilet. On such a long flight, it's not surprising that some people will need to get up once or twice.

That said, if I knew I'd be getting up and down a lot and was seated next to someone trying to sleep, I might offer to swap seats with him so you won't disturb him every time.

hmm I think on balance a flight isn't a bedroom and if you want to get up you can.

but yeh maybe if it was just a leg stretch i'd wait while they slept.

You have every right to get up but since it wasn’t an emergency and you knew you’d be getting up sooner or later, it would have been more considerate to get up right after lunch service, when the other passengers were definitely awake. Alternatively, I think the bathroom excuse would have gone down better than saying you needed to stretch your legs 😬