Plane etiquette

[SJane48S]

Not a big deal at all and could very well be just middle aged annoyance (where really really small things just seem to getting on my wick pretty much all the time, I'm even annoying myself!) but are people ruder & less considerate on planes than they used to be? We flew to New York 2 weeks ago, just before half term and our flight was full of loved up milennials on splurged 'you're taking me to New York, you must really be into me' mini breaks taking selfies snogging and then putting their seats on full recline from take off to touch down.It was a day flight and 3/4 of the seats were on full bloody recline. As an ex pat brat, I spent a lot of my childhood on longhaul flights and was taught it was ok to recline when you wanted to sleep but seat up otherwise, especially when people are eating. We spent the entire flight with seats in our faces and didn't recline ours as there was a young family with small children behind us. Is this standard practice for this generation?! And while I'm in full whinge mode, what is this new trend for having the shutters down the entire flight, even in daytime? Do other people like this?!

I know the answer is if I don't like it, upgrade, before anyone else says it but as well as being an increasingly grumpy old bag I seem to be becoming increasingly tight grumpy old bag!

I'm sorry but I agree with you I think it's so rude to recline seats and I am a nightmare as I'll put my knee on chair to stop them reclining!

I see nothing wrong with that🙂

It's one of my bugbears too. So many people recline the minute they get on the plane! Last guy did this then leant forward to watch his tv so didn't even make use of the reclined seat!
I just find it really selfish especially when you haven't even eaten. In fact the air host agreed with me on a recent flight and asked the lady to put her seat up again. I think they should be fixed upright.

When that happens to me I suddenly have the need to get up and down quite a lot and as I’m a little clumsy, always grabbing the headrest each time as I bang my way out.

Other people are awful.
I flew to the US for work when I was about a million months pregnant and had the man in front of me's chair resting on my bump for hours. (He did get up pretty sharpish when I started throwing up though)

And don't even get me started on the groups of drunk guys on the plane at 6am!! Swearing, talking shite at 2000 decibels, abusing the air hostesses and thinking they are hilarious.

I had a bloke pull the blind up on a night flight letting in brilliant sunshine into my face, I half woke up and in my pissed off state properly slammed it back down and the cabin crew were laughing at me

I'm cabin crew. It's perfectly acceptable to recline your seat on a daylight, particularly long haul. The people deliberately sticking knees in chair backs or grabbing headsets are the rude ones. Everyone has the prerogative to recline. Id ask people to put their chairs forward during a daytime meal service, but not at night. People may well have come in from other countries and done a long haul flight to get on this plane, they might not even be on the same time zone.

It's not a millennial thing, it's a rude people thing.

I've had times when I've travelled long haul for work and everyone else on the plane seems to be going on holiday. I've been the one wrapped in a blanket with an eye mask and the seat reclined - desperately trying to get some sleep because I'm already in a different time zone and I know I have a full day (and evening) of work at the other end. I certainly don't meant to be rude or obnoxious, I just need to sleep.

However, I do think flying brings out the worst in people. Holiday flights are the worst,

If the seats can recline, then why is it rude? They recline for a reason.

It's fine to recline your seat but it's polite to warn the person behind you before doing it.
Ideally you would bring your seat back up for the meal.

Snogging and selfies - if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.... Or photobomb theirs.

This is why I don't think I can fly long haul ever again, because of Other People. I'm against reclining seats on planes full stop and never do it myself because I can't sleep anyway so what's the point. I also think it would be better if seats couldn't be reclined.
I also get irrationally irritated by couples snogging in public so would have absolutely hated to be on your flight, OP!

Put the air blowers on cold towards their head-they’ll soon move forward.

I will always move my seat up for the dinner service, but I am reclining as soon as that fasten seatbelt sign goes off.

I have had rude people sat behind me knocking my seat or complaining & cabin crew will always side the way of the recliner.

Jesus Christ!! I actually end up with a very sore back if I DONT recline! I have no idea why!! Also everyone has paid to be on the flight they do NOT need to announce as and when they are reclining their seats!! They recline for a reason and let’s be honest the recline is bloody minuscule!! I tend to sleep for the duration of flights so I suppose you “ “rule” doesn’t apply to me!! And I suppose that’s my point OP it’s YOUR rule. Unless there’s some bloody secret book I haven’t seen, then you (and a few others) need to relax and get over it! 🙄

People are so fucking rude EVERYWHERE. That's why I stay home.

I have never been on a plane where the seat reclined more than a cm anyway, so I fail to see the big deal over the person in front reclining. It makes literally no difference to me if the person in front reclines or not, and I'm no pixie at 5"9 and pretty hefty to boot.

As for window blinds- who wants bright sun in their face? Keep them down unless you're taking off or landing, which are the only decent bits too see unless you like clouds.

God forbid people recline their reclining seats on a plane!!! If everyone reclines you end up with the same amount of space anyway. I honestly cannot get my knickers in a twist over people trying to get a little more comfort on a long haul flight.

Curiously, I was on a long haul Virgin flight recently overnight and no one was reclining. It was really odd. Not one in our section of the plane.

I was on a night flight from Chicago last month (having ran the marathon with a hip injury) and reclined my seat to ease my crippling lower back, glute and hip pain - all of 4 cm it reclined.

The person behind me and his wife who wasn’t even sitting behind me spent the entirety of the flight pushing my seat up - I even caught her doing it as I turned around. How could I ever be considered the rude one in this scenario?!

I spent the whole flight feeling under attack, anxious and upset. I was too scared to say anything. Human beings can be so mean.

I only recline on night flights when attempting to sleep but I cannot understand the argument that it is rude to recline. As pps have pointed out other passengers may be on a different time zone, in chronic pain or ill. As long as it's not during the meal service, it's not inherently wrong to recline.

In fact it's other posters who nitpick at other travellers reclining or God forbid being young and in love that come across as rude, entitled and selfish.

I cannot abide people who kick other travellers in the back to prevent reclining or blast cold air on people. Horrendous that people think it's ok to intentionally cause people pain or discomfort because they don't like the fact the seats recline.

My elderly mother was flying home long haul following a stroke. She also has a crumbling cervical spine which causes a great deal of pain. At 2am on a night flight she slowly reclined her seat, with the woman behind having her eyes closed seemingly asleep. The next thing the woman screamed, shouted "for fucks sake". And repeated rattled the back of Mum's seat with alot of force and started knee butting her seat. She was extremely overweight and put alot of strength into it, my Mum's head literally bounced off the seat. The stroke had affected her cognitive function and emotions and she instantly burst out crying and her back was also hurt. I don't know how I remained composed but I put her chair up to stop the assault and politely said, "I'm sorry if you were upset my mother reclined her seat but she is in her seventies and recovering from a stroke and she was feeling uncomfortable and hoping to sleep. I was going to check it was ok with you but you appeared to be sleeping and I didn't want to wake you." The woman appeared to be mortified and said "oh I didn't know sorry, is she ok?" and I calmly replied that she had hurt my mother and she was actually crying from the shock of what the woman had done to her. The woman kept apologising and over several hours of the flight kept telling my Mum to put her seat back and my Mum declined and said she didn't want to upset the woman again. She felt really vulnerable and it was horrible to witness. The woman said to me a few times "oh I feel really bad now." Well good. You were a nasty piece of work.

If you are so horrified and inconvenienced by people reclining then you need to book seats like the bulkhead or exit row seats so you can ensure no one can recline in front of you. Better that than deliberately jam peoples seats or blow cold air on them.

When I do have to recline on an overnight flight now I make sure to book the seats at the back of the cabin. On the planes I use, they still recline but I can avoid being shoved, kicked or other passive aggressive behaviour from passengers who don't like the way the plane seats function.

@ SunshineAllTheWhile maybe it was @Zelda93

If it wasn't ok to recline, then you wouldn't be able to. It hurts my back to not recline.

@NameChange84 how horrid!! I hope your dm is doing well, that was an awful thing to happen!