rude airplane couples?

[inkkognito]

So what do you do when you speak to the child and/or parent, and they pull an "I don't speak English" routine? I had that on a SW flight, and I swear there was something wrong with the kid. She was 9 or 10, and not only did she kick, but she routinely smacked her head into my seatback for the entire flight! I swear I'm not exaggerating! I was in the exit row, with a stranger next to me; I was in front of psycho kid, and he kept looking over at me like, "What demon is possessing the little monster?" It was a full flight, so moving wasn't an option. Mom was speaking Spanish to her, and when I tried to speak to them, they gave me a blank look. I know some choice curse words in Spanish, but I chose not to use them; I just kept reminding myself, "It's only a two hour flight." But I sure did wish the kid would knock herself unconscious.

All in all, since I fly to/from Orlando a lot, I take the seat kickers in stride. This was the only one I've ever had who was REALLY bad. Most of the others take a hint if I pop my seat back every time the kicking gets too obnoxious.

Barb

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Seems to me some junky wet sneezes, nose blowing or a "nagging cough" might go a long way toward eliminating this problem altogether!

 

[donmil723]

I'm another that doesn't mind if the person in front of me reclines their seat. They don't go back that far anyway. I also will recline my seat if I want to rest. I try to do it slowly so the person behind me has time to adjust things if need be. I have also sat in front of some very tall people and have only reclined the seat about halfway. I don't feel that I am being discourteous by reclining any more than I think the person in front of me is rude when they recline. Being courteous and having manners works both ways here!

Donna

 

[JimFitz]

If you don't fit in the seats by first class or drive.

 

[BigTigger]

The ultimate answer to stop unnatural seat recline:

http://www.kneedefender.com/


Seriously though, as someone who is 6'5" and travels a lot, a little human kindness goes a long way in travel whether it's not reclining your seat all the way or swapping seats so a family can sit together.

Thanks to regional jets and all coach class service, you can't always get first class. It's also very hard to get an exit row if your flight is on short notice and the plane is full or if travel delays have changed your flights. Bulkhead seats don't work as they usually don't have foot room (and most tall people have big feet too) so you end up with your legs bent back under you at an uncomfortable angle. I got crammed on a Delta flight out of Altanta last week due to weather delays and was way back in coach behind an exit row on a very large 767. The gentleman in front of me was most likely equally frazzled by the travel delays and got on and went into immediate recline mode. When he felt his seat bounce on recline and saw it hit my knees as the reason, he stopped and didn't take "the let's just do it harder" approach that some people do thinking you could move your knees somewhere else. A few minutes later he asked if i wanted the exit row to have more space. I declined as it was a short flight. He could still recline about 2/3 of the normal travel and that was enough for him to be asleep once we reached cruising level. When we landed his luggage was in the bin a few rows back from his seat and of course no one lets you go back an inch to get your luggage. That's when having a tall friend with long arms in the row behind pays dividends as i could reach it for him and allow him to exit with the flow and not wait to get to his luggage.

On a final note, I'll take exception to the posters on here that think it's their right to put the seat back all six inches for their comfort. Do it if you don't interfere with other's space, but be happy with 2 or 4 inch reclines if the full recline would make the person behind you uncomfortable. You didn't pay for first class either and you have to live with the coach class too even if it means your seat can't recline all the way for your short flight. Just my $.02 of course.

 

[tlbwriter]

TE=seashoreCM]Please, never touch the child.
Where you could end up, limited space will be the least of your problems.

But you *could* tell the child "Hey, make sure your mom buys you a candy bar before you leave the airport. It's the rule, she's supposed to do it. Don't let her forget!"

 

[JimFitz]

The ultimate answer to stop unnatural seat recline:

http://www.kneedefender.com/

On a final note, I'll take exception to the posters on here that think it's their right to put the seat back all six inches for their comfort. Do it if you don't interfere with other's space, but be happy with 2 or 4 inch reclines if the full recline would make the person behind you uncomfortable. You didn't pay for first class either and you have to live with the coach class too even if it means your seat can't recline all the way for your short flight. Just my $.02 of course.

We may not have paid for first class, but if the seat reclines I am entitled to recline all the way.

I am not as tall as you, but I am WIDE!! I always try to fly first class for the extra comfort. I know that we should not be forced to fly first class just to be comfortable, but that's another thread about the airlines not giving us room.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

It's time for a reality check here...

Reading some of the posts in the thread, you would think that aircraft seat backs recline into the lap of the person behind, or that a "fully reclined" seat means that the person behind has no room instead of plenty of room.

In reality, a fully reclined seat means that the person behind loses no more than an inch of knee room -- actually more like half an inch -- because the seat back is hinged not far below knee level. Yes, the headrest goes back around six inches, but it's not reclining into space that's useful to the person sitting behind.

I'm tall. In most economy seats, my knees barely fit. In some cases, I have to turn my legs sideways to fit. I can't get comfortable by slouching, because the limited knee room won't allow me to slouch.

If I'm working on my laptop, I don't recline my seat. If I'm reading or sleeping, I recline my seat.

I don't expect the person in front of me to keep his or her seat in the takeoff/landing position for the entire flight. Some people don't recline their seats, but most people do.

I would advise those people who think that coach passengers should not recline their seats never to fly from Chicago to Paris or Honolulu. Those flights are around 9 hours each. The eastbound portions are overnight flights. Just about everyone reclines their seats as far as possible and tries to sleep.

I think the objection to reclined seats has more to do with the perception of being closed in upon, rather than with a genuine loss of useful space.

 

[OzFan]

Seems to me some junky wet sneezes, nose blowing or a "nagging cough" might go a long way toward eliminating this problem altogether!

Ditto! You took the words right off of my finger tips!

 

[paulmc80]

I must be a tiny person. Never had a problem with someone's reclined seat in front of me on an airplane. And, I generally fly a lot of 5 to 10 hour flights.

 

[AllyBri]

The ultimate answer to stop unnatural seat recline:

http://www.kneedefender.com/


Can't speak for other airlines, but don't try using these on Delta-Song.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I have to disagree with some here. I really don't see why some think people don't have a right to recline their seats. They purchased the seat and if they want to recline, it's their right to do so. Just like it's my right to not recline if I don't want to. I'm not saying that it's o.k. to fling your seat back with great force. But I don't see why someone would have to ask permission to bring their seat back.

 

[CherCrazy]

We are a really tall family. Please think of our legs and how it hurts them when you recline onto our laps. You can see we are tall when we are waiting to board. You could turn around and ask if we mind if you lay on our laps. A little human courtesy would be greatly appreciated.

 

[brunette8706]

I'm sorry. But in my opinion you are wrong. Whatever happened to common courtesy? I never recline my SEAT ALL THE WAY BACK. What if people have long legs like I do. I had one rude person have her seat reclined for 5 freakin hours on an LA trip. My knees were literally touching the back of her seat. No thanks! It's rude. People simply dont care. When you impede on my space I get angry.

Brunette

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Please think of our legs and how it hurts them when you recline onto our laps.

Please tell me which airlines have seats that recline onto the laps of the person sitting behind.

I've flown on dozens of different airlines, but I must have missed that airline.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

When you impede on my space I get angry.

Please don't get angry when the person in front of you uses his or her seat as designed.

Economy airline seating is cramped and uncomfortable. Fortunately, most airline seats can recline slightly, making them slightly more comfortable.

I don't understand why the six inches behind someone's headrest should be of such concern. How is that space useful to the person sitting behind the seat? How is using a seat as designed impeding into someone's space?

As someone who is tall, I admit that the 1/2 inch reduction in kneeroom when a seat is reclined is bad news, given the already tight space. But my complaint is with the airlines, not with the passenger who chooses not to keep his or her seat back in the uncomfortable takeoff/landing position.

 

[monty]

To those who "ask permission" to recline their seats....what happens if the person behind you says no?

 

[DiscussDisney]

The ultimate answer to stop unnatural seat recline:

http://www.kneedefender.com/


Can't speak for other airlines, but don't try using these on Delta-Song.

Thanks for sharing that link. I would have never thought that something like that existed.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Well, I think we've discovered the Transportation Board's equivalent of the "refillable mug" debate. Everyone seems to have pretty strong opinions one way or another, and I doubt anyone is going to budge from their opinion.

When I used to fly frequently for business (as in, at least once a week for over 3 years), I would recline my seat often. If I noticed the person behind me was tall, I wouldn't recline it all the way. Heck, most times if there was someone behind me, I would only recline it partway. Usually, though, I did not ask if they minded if I reclined the seat.

I posted about my wife earlier in this thread so I'm not going to repeat all of what I wrote. I will add this -- looking at my wife, one would not think she is ill. On rare occasions she uses a cane, but most of the time she does not. When someone leans their seatback into my knees, it's a minor inconvenience. When someone leans their seatback into her knees (and most of her height is in her legs, so the leg room on planes is tighter on her anyway), it's PAIN on top of the pain she already feels. After flying a few times with my wife and seeing her wince in pain and do her best not to cry or cry out after her knees being hit by someone reclining their seatback, I do think it's only common courtesy to ask.

"Common courtesy" is a term I've seen mentioned more than once in this thread. "Entitled" is another term I've seen. For those who feel they are "entitled" to lean their seat back, a couple of questions --
1) Do you think you are entitled to do so even if it causes the person behind you to be in pain?
2) If the person behind you said to you "excuse me, but would you please pull your seat back up? I'm in a considerable amount of pain," would you do so?

 

[littlelaura]

last time we went to WDW we had a nightmare time on the plane. we were flying from the UK (9hr flight). we had the last set of seats before the toilets, and there was a wall behind the seats so the seats could not recline. the people in front put their seats back all the way, so we felt really squashed. to make things worse, when people were queing for the toilet, they had a habit of leaning on the top of the headrest which pushed the seat forward slightly, i gave up asking people not to after a while. to make things even worse we were sat next to a nine year old who had been sat seperatley from her parents, she had verbal dihorrea the whole flight. and wait for it, we couldn't even put our headphones on and listen to the inflight entertainment because there was a fault with it and several rows weren't working. i'm not usually one to complain.... but come on. an experience i hope we wont be going through again.