to think its rude to recline seat on long-haul flight

[needabreak5]

....for the entire flight (except during meals), unless its a night flight and everyone is reclined? I had a 9 hour (day-time) flight yesterday and the family in front of us were fully reclined for the majority of the flight. Most others (including those behind us) remained upright so we also remained upright for the entire flight with less room due to the seats in front being reclined. DS (3) was asleep across our laps which didn't help with space, but i did feel it was 'unfair' that they were able to recline, whilst I felt it would have been rude for us to do the same to those behind - 3 tallish men. AIBU?

Even though I would be furious if the person behind me on a long haul flight did this, your post really made me laugh!!

I've been on hundreds of flights in all classes of service and honestly, seats just don't recline all that much

I don't think they recline much at all, making it pointless as it's no more comfortable to have my seat reclined compared to the normal position.

Absolutely fine to recline. A long haul flight is when I’m most likely to, day or night, need to get comfy on the long flight, and it is comfy when everyone reclines.
I would wait until food trays have been cleared though.

I've wondered this too.

Even if you do have exceptionally long legs and have to hold the seat in front of you between your knees, that'll be the case no matter what the gradient of the seat back. They don't recline into your lap.

You'd have to be utterly enormous for the few inches in the air in front of you to make a difference. The TV screens flip out so you can still watch them at the right angle.

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing

Had I been the woman in front I’d have caused merry hell. No way would I put up with being kicked. You don’t know the circumstances of the person in front - they may have come from another flight that made this nighttime for them

Exactly....quite bizarre that many of those claiming that reclining of seats is an almost automatically an inconsiderate act are themselves not considering the potential circumstances of other passengers.

....And since anti-recline devices have now been mentioned upthread (I guess it was inevitable) maybe I should mention that interfering with aircraft equipment is frowned upon by some authorities....and use of such devices has sometimes led to warnings of potential sanctions being issued by the crew...🤐

reclining 2 inches really doesn't make much difference to comfort in my experience, so I don't usually bother.

I think it's selfish, twattish behaviour

Exactly this!

I totally agree, people should only recline at night for sleeping not just in the middle of the day when they are awake watching a screen. I’m the same as you, I don’t want to pass on the rudeness so just sit there with less room

You have to be kidding.

If I've just done a week or more working in various cities across the US, I'm exhausted by the time I get on the flight. I have a reclining seat so I can get some sleep and be safe to drive home from the airport.

I always wait until meal service is over but then it's time to sleep.

It’s totally fine to recline on a long haul flight (except while meals are being served). Reclining seats are designed to recline. No idea why you would consider it ‘rude’. Bizarre.

Hundreds of flights in all classes?

That’s strange. Nearly every long-haul flight I’ve made in Club or First class has had a seat that turns into a flat bed. Have you never flown long-haul club or higher on BA, Emirates or the like, or Upper on Virgin?

If my seat reclines better believe I’ll recline it , and a poster who said they put there knees up to prevent it better believe I’d bash your knees out the way or make a complaint about you, they shouldn’t be on a seat I paid for regardless whether my seats up or down.

Agree the idea you can’t do it for is very odd

So you'd be OK with them reclining in the day time to sleep?

Your middle of the day could well be the middle of another passengers night...

It's really not. On multiple occasions I've boarded a 12 hour connecting flight following a 12 hour flight. One person's day flight is another's overnight.

I fly long haul regularly, often to the US, on US airlines, even on daytime flights after meal service the cabin is dimmed and people relax and recline, after all 7am in London is 2am in New York.
I have never when flying long haul in economy not reclined my seat and frankly your attitude is bizarre and contrary to my experience over the past 20 plus years.
Fortunately I now fly business class generally.

If we fly economy then I always recline. It is only a couple of inches and makes no difference to the person behind. And if anyone were to try the knees on the back of my chair trick they would be in for a surprise because I would assume the chair was stuck and slam my back into it until it moved.

Much as it makes a good story, I really don't think that poster actually does it. They'd be in full view of everyone around them.

I have no problem at all with reclining on long haul flights, it should be expected. The plane will have people on all sorts of different schedules, some will be on daytime hours, for others it will be the middle of the night.

if I want to sit up and the person in front of me reclines I might wish I had more space, but that is down to the design of the aircraft, it’s not the other person’s fault so I’m not going to get angry with them!

Long haul in economy is a grim experience though - as soon as we’re no longer travelling with the kids I’m sticking to Premium or Business.

They must look very weird with their knees up that high trying to block a seat reclining

I’d laugh at that if I saw it

Much like the poster who so cleverly waits until the person in front is juuuuust dropping off before kicking the seat. Excellent vision, not only X rays through the seat but somehow winds around to view the person's eyes as well. And watches intently all the time, foregoing sleep, reading and the in-flight entertainment system to act at the opportune moment.

With superpowers like that, she could just fly to her destination by herself.

For me it is, because of some back issues and because I'm short and that headrest thing forces my skull forward. When reclined I can slide down a bit and avoid it.

Everyone knows that aircraft seats are designed to recline; it's an immutable fact of air travel.

😂

I've had people try that, and I just summon the flight attendant and ask if my seat has a mechanical issue. They pretty sharply figure out it's the passenger to the rear and tell them to move their knees.