<p>Er, ah…Dietz. Would you use a different expression other than the phrase “wishes to pass” when talking about flight etiquette? We’ve already had a thread on CC about our fellow passengers ‘passing’ while in flight. LOL.</p>
<p>When I am in the middle seat, I usually avoid using the armrests. I just fold my arms and try to be small. But if the aisle guy (it’s never a woman) starts hogging the armrest and starts egregiously pushing into me with his shoulder or arm, then it’s an act of war. I start pressing back aggressively. I’ve had a few flights where this tense push-of-war went on for some time-- take no prisoners! </p>
<p>flymetothemoon,
Thats awful that you had no armrest. You should have had at least 1. If either of your row-mates moved at all (to put their tray table sown, get up, whatever) and momentarily freed up an armrest, you could have gone in for the quick grab :)</p>
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<p>Vueling is indeed a pack 'em airline. On a flight from Malaga to Paris, I switched seats to help a family and ended up in the middle seat. It was not great but doable, until the flight attendant also decided to move my backpack out o fthe bin by asking “Who owns zis bag?” After answering, she said “Put it on your feet” and that made for a miserable flight. Lesson learned? Never admit your back is safely in the bin. The attendants do NOT ask to help YOU. Fwiw, you might not always be able to avoid a Vueling, as the codeshare system might not be clear that your Iberia was actually operated by Vueling. This said, less than 100 dollars from Spain to Paris is hard to beat. </p>
<p>Since the experience of flying is rarely pleasurable, I try to do the best to be nice" I have routinely given up my seat, including a first class seat to an injured passenger. It was not a long flight from Denver to DFW. Fwiw, I would not have done it on my DFW to Madrid flight! </p>
<p>For the reclining part, I do believe that the reclining is MY choice – just as the space under the seat of the seat in front of me. If needed, I will change the angle a bit, but I will not accept if the guy behind me makes a scene or did hit with his knees on purpose. If that happens, I will call the attendant, and propose to SWITCH seats and have HIM not reclining his seat.<br>
g;
For the Chinese airlines ban on reclining, I am pretty sure that they look at this patent with gleeful anticipation:
<a href=“'Standing Seats' Could Make Your Travels Even More Miserable | HuffPost Life”>HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost; Them, and Southwest, of course! Heehaw! </p>
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<p>Those people are the WORST jerks by far. Then the people who are sitting there have no place to put their stuff, so they have to go towards the back of the plane to find a place. Then when we arrive, they are “excuse me, excuse me”-ing themselves to the back of the plane, disrupting all the forward motion. I don’t know why flight attendants can’t watch out for this and tell people in the back to take their crap with them and use the bins by their seats.</p>
<p>I have never had a problem with someone reclining their seat in front of me. I recline slightly because sitting up straight for very long is torture for my lower back disc problem. </p>
<p>I don’t understand the folks who feel people have no right to recline their seats. If they weren’t within their rights, there would be no handy little reclining button on the seats!</p>
<p>I would cede the armrest to the middle seat person simply because it sucks to be in the middle. </p>
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<p>It seems obvious to me: the middle person has strangers on both sides of them. The aisle and window people each have more privacy and a direction they can lean to get away. If it’s a family, there’s no need for the center person to use both, but otherwise…makes sense to me.</p>
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Did some folks say this? I’m pretty sure I made it clear that I wasn’t talking about rights.</p>
<p>^^^Okay, I don’t understand folks who feel people shouldn’t avail themselves of the technology which has been provided to them. Stated in general and acknowledging that if the person behind you is really really tall or some other unusual circumstance is in place, that the recliner might want to reconsider using the button.</p>
<p>“Has anyone researched whether the smaller and closer seats are contributing to more blood clots?”</p>
<p>I can’t tell you this, but I’m thinking of using those compression socks when flying. My company actually pays for them for us, but I’ve never used them. Seems like it could be a really good idea to get the blood flow going.</p>
<p>GMT, what?? The armrests are all you get when you are in the middle. No one is taking away the window person’s armrest or the aisle person’s one. No way do they get both.</p>
<p>“By the way, this week I had to de-board a flight because the arm-rest broke. It just snapped off when I sat down. No spare part available at the airport and no empty seats on my flight. When the airport mechanic arrived with a roll of duct tape, the passengers laughed their heads off. The duct tape was just for “barricading” the empty seat. The mechanic said that they would have the part and fix the seat at the destination airport. Wonderful. NOT. Well, at least my airline compensated me and profusely apologized. Getting home 3 hours later wasn’t the end of the world. Also, the mechanic told me that broken arm-rests happen all of the time on the regional jets.”</p>
<p>If you have a broken seat or armrest, and you don’t see spare seats around, I’d try really hard to hide it. They don’t have time to fix it, and you’re off the plane. </p>
<p>People think duct tape on the seat is odd? We have this shiny silver tape they call “speed tape” and they actually put that speed tape over places on the wings. Every time I see that, I give the mechanics a hard time for “duct taping the wings on.” They say it’s safe and legal.</p>
<p>Whenever possible, H & I try to get seats that are for just two people, so we don’t have to deal with all of these issues. It sure is much nicer than possibly being seated next to anyone overflowing their seats. Haven’t been assigned a middle seat in ages. Our D has had the misfortune to be seated beside immense people (she flies infrequently and has no status). Fortunately, she is petite so she usually just toughs it out. She tends to be exhausted (especially from last minute packing) and can often at least doze on most flights.</p>
<p>I think it is a kindness to allow the middle person in a 3 seat row to have two armrests, but sometimes it is a 5 seat row and I guess the folks negotiate who gets which armrest. </p>
<p>Lately, most airlines hae had me seated next to the window, which works fine for me and H on the aisle beside me. This way, folks are least likely to trip over my medical equipment. For awhile, United was the sole airline that insisted on seating me on the aisle (but H & I would just work out what was best for us between us), but they have now reversed their policy and seat those of us with medical devices in window seats.</p>
<p>“I would cede the armrest to the middle seat person simply because it sucks to be in the middle”</p>
<p>Agreed. I cede the armrest to anybody who wants it, anyways, they’re usually bigger than me and I don’t need it. I don’t even mind if they hang over my side of the seat. But if they hang over far enough to touch me, that’s when I start elbowing a bit, and sometimes will shove a newspaper to the side of my seat so they can’t elbow in on my side. When they’re hanging over so far they are touching you, that is unacceptable.</p>
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There is no agreement on what “unusual circumstance” may be. For me, it’s pretty simple. All I need in order to decide not to recline all the way (unless everybody is sleeping) is the Golden Rule.</p>
<p>^^^^That works for me, because I’ve never had an issue if someone in front of me reclined all the way. Most times I wouldn’t even notice. If someone asked me to not recline all the way, I probably would say, “okay, sure.” If they demanded it, were otherwise rude, or used physical means to make their point, we’d have a problem.</p>
<p>@sally, I absolutely do believe the middle seat gets dibs on the armrest. But usually I just cross my arms, RECLINE my seat, and try to sleep.</p>
<p>@busdriver, DTW has a Spanx store directly across from the main Delta Sky Club lounge. Since u are a gazillion miler, u probably already knew this. </p>
<p>Yea, I keep the armrests down unless it’s a family member or friend on the side of me, then we may agree to raise it. I don’t really want physical contact with people I don’t know and with these ever tinier airline seats, there is more contact than there used to be.</p>
<p>“I’m noticing the gate checking a lot these days, whenever the flight is full (which is most times). Plenty of people jump up when gate checking is requested, so I think some people use it to avoid checked bag fees.”</p>
<p>On Flyertalk there are complaints that once x% of people have boarded, they start telling people they need to gate-check their bags - they do, then they board and there is still empty overhead space. That would bug me, which is why I’m a card-carrying member of the “get on board as early as status allows” crowd. </p>
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<p>I honestly never thought about the “why” before…hilarious.</p>