Who was unreasonable regarding plane seat ?

[planerider]

Inspired by another thread.

This happened a few years ago, but it annoyed me.

The flight was around 7 hours long. I had paid extra to have the exit seat in economy, as I was suffering from a bad back. I paid quite a lot extra for the seat, it's something I try to do, as I have back problems and it helps.

The woman behind me had quite a big child on her lap during the flight and was sat next to the child's father.

Because of this, I was unable to recline my seat for the entire flight. I tried very gently reclining it a little at some stage ( before I had seen the child ) but she was angry and swore, so I put it upright.

Who was unreasonable here ? Or do we generally think anyone reclining their seat is unreasonable ? I tend to recline my seat on very long flights, when the lights are dimmed for sleeping, as do most others on those flights. I don't recline on short hall.

There is no law that says you can’t recline your seat if an infant is behind you!

I would have reclined my seat, given no fucks at her swearing, and asked the air stewards to explain to her that if she chose to restrict her own space by not paying for a separate seat for her child then that was her lookout. I don’t trade my own comfort for somebody else’s penny pinching.

But, I’m good at speaking up for myself and appreciate not everyone is.

@Divebar2021 i have really long legs and it does mean the person in front xantbrecline as pretty much my knees are against their seat. Didn’t stop a woman ramming her seat back to try and recline. Aye thanks for that, sorry I can’t remove my thigh bones.

The risk is on the person sat behind the recliner!
OP, on flights of that length, I’d be reclining my seat regardless of who was behind me.

The joy of being able to select your own seat is that you can generally avoid such a scenario. DH is 6’ 3. We always select seats beforehand.

But the length of your legs isn’t the fault of the completely unrelated person in front of you, who has paid for their seat with all its functions and has an expectation of using it fully. If you know you have long legs which don’t easily fit into small spaces, the onus is on you to book a seat where you have more room. Saying “I didn’t want to pay extra for a seat with more leg room, so because I want to be comfortable that means you have to be uncomfortable” is completely unacceptable on public transport.

I would have reclined my seat, given no fucks at her swearing, and asked the air stewards to explain to her that if she chose to restrict her own space by not paying for a separate seat for her child then that was her lookout. I don’t trade my own comfort for somebody else’s penny pinching. But, I’m good at speaking up for myself and appreciate not everyone is.

I agree with this. I don't understand why you didn't recline if that's what you wanted to do.

Utter rubbish! How far back do you think the seats recline in Economy? Why didn’t the person sitting only cms away from you not do anything???

Obviously anyone that has a small child on mn trumps any one else needs period.

It's law in here

But In real life your nbu.

@ComtesseDeSpair the length is my legs isn’t my fault either. I have a gap of millimetres between my knees and the seat in front, therefore I fit in a standard seat. Sorry but I can’t just change my body because the person in front wants to lie in my lap.

You don’t have to change your body: you change your seat and pay for one with extra leg room. Otherwise, you accept that the person in front of you had the right to use their seat fully, which may cause you discomfort.

It's only socially acceptable to recline your seat on an overnight flight when the person behind you has also reclined theirs. Any other time means you'll burn in the fiery pits of hell.

It's like cooking fish in the office microwave - just because you technically can, doesn't mean you should.

YANBU to recline your seat the option is there and as such you can use it. However, I think that should be removed from all seats. I am not tall but I hate when the person in front reclines their seat. I wouldn't say anything thought because I know they are allowed recline the seat.

MN is famously unsympathetic to mothers of small children.

Recline is better for spine health and you have a right to use it. That mother was a walker, she could have booked an extra seat if necessary. You should have called flight attendants to assist you in reclining the seat, same as you would with assholes using those "knee defender" gadgets that are actually illegal on most airlines.

I just felt mean

Reclining seats in standard planes shouldn’t be a thing. They are far too cramped anyway. Just causes issues.

@ComtesseDeSpair they can’t recline the seat as my knees are a barrier due to the thigh bone they are attached to not bending. It only makes me uncomfortable when they try and ram the seat backwards as they don’t understand that my legs are there stopping them. I fit in a regular seat so why would I buy extra legroom. Like someone said further up that’s the chance you take on a normal flight. Their comfort is not my concern.

This made me lol. But in reality, it must have been horrific.

I had this on a long flight once, OP. The man behind complained loudly when I reclined my seat to sleep. He said there was no room for his knees, but that was because he insisted on sitting so that his legs made a right angle at the knee. He had plenty of foot room and could just have stretched out his legs to have total comfort, but he moaned and moaned as though that was not an option. His attitude was that his comfort was everything and mine did not count. But why do airlines provide reclining seats if they are not be used at appropriate stages of the flight?

Agree ^

I do think that everyone should be free to recline their seats or no one. It shouldn’t be luck of the draw who is behind you/ in front of you (reclining throughout) etc.

The Mum should have passed the child to her partner for half of the flight, ideally. I’m assuming you explained politely that you needed to recline?

I once paid for front row seats hoping to be able to snatch some sleep on the plane as I was working the next day after an evening flight. Woman behind holding a toddler who was kicking the seat throughout, partner sitting beside her. I turned around to politely ask if they could try to stop the kicking, and the man beside me (in front of the partner) chipped in to the woman “no, it’s fine, don’t worry about it”, ie it’s fine for me to be kicked throughout! Well if that’s ok, you won’t mind if the toddler is kicking you mate?

This was sorted by the air crew finding me a similar seat by the emergency exit doors half way back, so I got some kip in the end!

i also have a bad back so feel your pain.

Completely agree, it makes the person behind extremely uncomfortable. If the seat in front is reclined you can’t see the entertainment screen properly or use the tray table. This is one of those mumsnet opinions that I don’t think translates to real life as on the many long haul flights I’ve been on I’ve seen very few people actually recline their seats in economy. There’s also very few extra leg room seats on planes, particularly if you are travelling with a child so just booking one to avoid this isn’t often an option.

For shorthaul it's not an issue - don't recline.

For longhaul: they recline for a reason, and on most of the flights I've been on they dim the lights and close the blinds for a reason (plus blankets and pillows are a clue) so recline away.

They usually don't bother to put their seat upright whilst eating.

I've never had a problem because the stewards usually insist during mealtimes. But fellow travellers have strategically employed knees and other hard objects.

Agreed.

This is why I speak up, because I don't want to be kicking myself years down the line.