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 hate flying.

Not because I am afraid of landing/take off/crashing - but because of all the other passengers.

I fly long haul at least once per year to visit family, plus take short European trips. So I just have to resign myself to getting on the plane, reading my book and trying to sleep. Can't afford business class.

I don't recline though - I guess I must be lucky in that I can sleep perfectly well in a sitting position.

I used to be in the no reclining camp however since I slipped a disc a few years ago, so I do it to relieve the pressure on my lower back (never bloody work). Also bigger seat pitch it's not really an issue on long-haul flights.

Also once on a night flight back from Bangkok my chair was broken and wouldn't recline. It took several visits to the chiropractor to sort me out.

The window blind thing is often because of glare on screens - it's a non-issue

It’s not a huge ‘I can’t believe it’s happening!’ issue no, it is annoying though if you have a paperback (my preference over kindle) and poor eyesight. I also find the darkness a bit depressing. The screen thingy well yes, I imagine now you say it, it’s pretty obvious.

As for the bigger seat pitch not being an issue on long haul, this was longhaul and there was no perceivable difference between this charter aircraft and a short haul plane. I can’t say on any other long haul flight we’ve been on in the last couple of years that the pitch has been particularly noticeably different either and a lot more generous either. Sympathise with the back issue though (I’ve got ankylosing spondylitis) - the reality is though isn’t it that if you suffer back pain it doesn’t make a great deal of difference whether you are on recline or not, it’s always uncomfortable!

@noodlezoodle and anyone else saying that they ‘judge’ people reclining on short, ‘3 hour’ flights.

Again, you are just demonstrating your ignorance for all to see. You have no idea if that ‘short’ flight is the final three hours of someone’s 20 hour journey. You have no idea if someone has had only a few hours’ sleep in order to get up and travel to the airport.

You simply have no idea full stop 😂

Long haul economy is around 32" and short haul around 28". That includes the thickness of the seat back (which varies) so the space you actually occupy will be a few inches less.

www.airlinequality.com/info/seat-pitch-guide/

It’s not a millennial thing. I’ve seen lots of people who aren’t millennials doing it and I don’t do it myself unless sleeping at sleeping time (I am a millennial). There are a lot of obnoxious people of flights. People who block the isle sorting themselves out instead of waiting until everyone has boarded, people who get pissed off over the audacity of parents travelling with young children, people who put their screen on fill brightness or leave their shutters when the lights have been dimmed and it goes on.

You’re quite right @Velveteenfruitbowl, it was a crap stereotype (as I’m sure my 25 year old would have told me!). Apologies!

I find it hilarious that people on here think that if you are on a day flight for 3hrs, you don’t need sleep!! How short sighted!! Not everyone travels for the same reasons either, a person could be travelling for a funeral, leaving their family for months, or something equally as emotionally draining. Not every plane journey is the result of a holiday

I am often fast asleep on the one hour flight from Ireland to Scotland (despite the fact that the seats don’t recline on Stobart Air). That’s because it’s the last leg of a transatlantic journey. It feels like the middle of a very long night.

Struggling to see your point @Lipperfromchipper - not everyone travels for holidays, well yes. How is that relevant? And generally on short haul day flights, a lot of people won’t sleep (but if they need to for whatever reason & want to recline their seats they should crack on!).

I have nerve damage from a lumbar puncture and neck and upper spinal damage from a serious fall. I can't sit up right for hours and hours on end on a long haul Flight otherwise I end up with spasms in my back and I complete agony. I do however sit my seat upright during meals and rarely recline it all the way back unless I'm in considerable pain and then I will. Oh and I will definitely recline it all the way back, if the person behind me knees the back of the chair constantly or uses it to pull themselves up cos I'm spiteful like that

@SJane48S I’m referring to the pp’s who are assuming that it’s ok to recline on an overnight flight but not on a day flight! As if there’s some sort of exemptions in their head. It’s got nothing to do with time of day.. it’s to do with if a person is tired!

Lozz
If you were sitting in front of dh his knees would be in your back as he would not be able to move them.

If you were sitting in front of dh his knees would be in your back as he would not be able to move them.

Same here. If DH was sitting in a normal short haul economy seat, his knees would be in the back of the person in front. There is absolutely nothing he can do about it, short of surgery.

It isn't rude to recline a reclining seat. The only ones I have ever come across certainly don't recline far anyway.

Obviously some consideration is needed when food and drink is being served, and I wouldn't recline then. Otherwise, I will if I want to and it doesn't bother me if others do or don't.

I’m not hugely bothered about reclining as that’s why there’s a decline button, although I do think that short haul budget airlines would be better with none reclining seats, but the entities led attitudes on our recent flight to Italy were shocking!

When we arrived at our seats, the person behind had hung her coat over the back of DS’s chair, with the material popping through the gaps either side. Who on earth would do that?? DH did ask her to move it and she did to be fair but that’s pure selfishness. Her around 3 year old daughter spent the entire time kicking DH’s chair and pulling on/ rattling the tray. When DH asked the lady for the third time to get her to stop, she just switched seats so that the kid could kick DS’s chair instead. The person in front of DS had kind of stuffed a coat in the gap between seats, which popped out half way through the flight straight onto DS. He was being attacked by coats from all angles 😂. Someone 2 rows infront had 2 children who had their IPads on full volume for the whole flights there and back. Oh and when we got there an entire half the flight decided to go into the disabled/ pushchair queue at customs and go round us!

On the way back we had 2 delightful children who argued and kicked the chairs all the way home while their parents ignored them and read books. The older boy was at least DS’s age (10) so old enough to know better.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/plane-sit-next-annoying-passenger-travel-advice-what-to-do-a9203166.html%3famp

The person in front of me reclined their seat fully back as soon as we got on the plane for a 13 hour flight and refused when asked (by cabin crew) to put it back up. Unfortunately this meant that every time I stretched my legs I kicked their seat and getting out involved grabbing the back of their seat each time. It was so bad that I couldn't even use my tray for meals as the angle meant it would slide off.

When I flew recently with my partner we sat one behind the other on aisle seats which was ideal as I could recline if I wanted to. We’re at the stage in our relationship where we can happily be separated by that distance for a couple of hours and I was turned round when I wanted to chat to him.

That must have been really annoying for the people next to you both.

That must have been really annoying for the people next to you both.

I can't imagine why

Somebody next to you keeping on turning round and talking through the seats when you are trying to relax/sleep/enjoy a film?

A lot of people don't realise that tray tables slide out a little if need be, so they can be used when a seat is reclined. Also a lot of aircraft armrests have a little catch underneath so they can be raised, making getting in and out easier.

Unfolding the tray half way means it's not wide enough for a meal tray though.