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<p>Yep, to be clear, I was talking about FedEx ground and not overnight. The rates are not fixed and depend on dimensions and weight. Again, I can ship 30 lbs boxes between Texas and San Francisco for less than 20 dollars and they arrive in 2 to 3 days. If planned correctly, this might be easier than hauling a suitcase via public transportation to SFO or Oakland. And cheaper unless the tickets are with Southwest. </p>
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<p>The Yoffe answer was not bad, but the person posing the question already mentioned the correct attitude to deal with jerks who attempt to block the recliners. No need to engage in a conversation with them about who is right or wrong. Simply call the flight attendant and ask them to deal with the device or the attitude. They have name tags and you might have a few of those coupons to hand out for great service. </p>
<p>Reclining the seat is not only a priviledge but also the right of the person who happens to have the little button to push and the strength to push it as far as the seat permits and when the airlines permits it. </p>
<p>Yes, definitely talk to a flight attendant before you throw water on someone. I agree, maybe you will get those free drinks, or better yet, relocated in first class.</p>
<p>I do think it’s a little unnecessary to have all these diversions for something a flight attendant should be able to handle. Then again , I wouldn’t question the PIC for that decision.</p>
<p>In the case of the water-thrower, the flight attendant didn’t deal with the problem, though.</p>
<p>This clown, in the NY Times, disingenously says that he uses the Knee Defender to “reallocate property rights.” Yeah, sure, in the same sense that when he squeezes past me on the plane and I reallocate his wallet into my pocket, I’m “reallocating property rights.” It’s not so much reallocating the right, which still inheres to the original owner, but reallocating the property itself. Most people call that “stealing.”</p>
<p><a href=“In Defense of the Knee Defender - The New York Times”>In Defense of the Knee Defender - The New York Times;
<p>Reclining seats wouldn’t be rude and wouldn’t be a problem if there was a decent amount of space to begin with. We’re just too many rats in a too small maze and we’re biting each other instead of the maze masters.</p>
<p>DH is on a flight to Europe as I type. He generally does Economy Plus, but uses his FF upgrades for business/first class when possible. Employer doesn’t pay for upgrades unless it’s at 14+ hr flight. He will be working on his laptop most of the flight–he generally gets off the plane and heads straight to meetings. He finds this is productive time because he’s not dealing with email or phone calls. While in Europe he double shifts – full day of meetings, etc. with European colleagues, and then spends the evening dealing with folks back in the US, where it’s still afternoon.</p>
<p>Sorry to those whose seats I’ve had to grab in order to stand – I am too tall to stand up underneath the overhead bins and have to grab something to keep from falling over. </p>
<p>When we travel, DH does the window (he is a big guy and can “spread” towards the exterior, and I do the aisle (due to clotting disorder, diuretics, etc.) S2 is 6’4" and has a miserable time on planes.</p>
<p>My carryon bag is a big Kipling shoulder bag-- I have to take all my meds, netbook, cameras, travel folder and spare shirt/underwear. DH has suggested I get a tablet, but I need to investigate if any have word processing capabilities. </p>
<p>Am trying to figure out how I’ll pack for AUS/NZ – we will need three seasons’ worth of clothing. Layering is the way to go, but that means more items to pack. Have already located laundromats along the way. I think I will be taking the 27" spinner.</p>
<p>No way I could wear the shoes y’all are posting – I need socks. Trouser socks aren’t sturdy enough. I think I will be taking my Keen mid hikers and a pair of Teva sandals. Comfort, baby!</p>
<p>Flight attendants ought to be able to deal with these issues instead of having to divert. And if they don’t have the confidence to deal with it, they should have the #1 flight attendant deal with it. Airlines should train people accordingly, no wimps hired.</p>
<p><a href=“http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2014/09/02/delta-flight-diverted-due-to-dispute-between-passengers-over-reclining-seat/”>http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2014/09/02/delta-flight-diverted-due-to-dispute-between-passengers-over-reclining-seat/</a>
Another seat recline, air rage ncident: woman having a meltdown when forward pax reclined seat on her head which she rested on tray table </p>
<p>We all just got global entry and D1 used it for the first time coming back from Europe. She breezed through passport control, but had to wait for 15 minutes for her luggage. I will be taking D2 to London in few weeks for study abroad. Going there we will have few suitcases, but I will come back with carryon. My credit card reimbursed us for our application fees.</p>
<p>Lets just look at it logically. The seats CAN recline, but they are not reclined to begin with. If you are reclining, you are entering space already occupied by someone else. Be considerate of them. You are the one altering the seating arrangement. If you are reclining because you paid for a reclining seat, you are just another name for a donkey. You don’t pay more for the reclining seats and just because they are capable of reclining does not mean it is always appropriate to do so. At least if someone is using your headrest to stand up, it only happens a few times during the flight. In my experience, the obliviots who recline indiscriminately do so for the entire flight unless directed by a crew member. Thank you to the vast majority of the flying public who are reasonable and rational. I fly for work 10-12 times a year. Not a lot, but frequently. The rude people are the tiny minority, but they sure make an impression.</p>
<p>I am a big guy. Even when I was young and in shape my shoulders are in the aisle and I get bumped by everyone walking by. I only recline if there is an empty seat or I recline very little. If I can handle it on a 4 hour or less flight so can you.</p>
<p>Not defending the guy with the seat blocker thing either. Any big person should be aware enough to get an aisle or window seat. It takes planning, but it has been years since I was stuck in a middle seat. (that is just mean to all people involved). He also could have simply asked the attendant to see if he or the other person could be moved.</p>
<p>My personal horror story was taking a red-eye from Vegas to Milwaukee for work. I did not plan my trip so I was stuck in a middle seat. The other two seats were occupied by a couple who were each larger than me. Rather that one of them switching places so they could sit next to each other and share space/talk, they left me in the middle and spent the whole flight talking and interacting across me. Imagine being squished between two people for a 3+ hour flight…I was so sore. Miserable. </p>
<p>Flying home from Europe this summer I was in the middle seat with H ( a big guy) on the aisle and S at the window. The young woman in front of me had the seat reclined the entire flight. I did not say anything because while boarding I noticed that she was wearing a large neck brace. Not comfortable, but I dealt.</p>
<p>Torveaux, I was in a similar situation, being stuck between two people who knew each other and were talking. When it started while we were still on the ground, I looked back and forth at them (like watching a tennis match) and offered to switch seats so they could talk more easily. They both declined but at least they stopped talking across me. Maybe they were more easily intimidated.</p>
<p>I’ve also seen people talking to someone across the aisle. Annoying, but if they clear the aisle when someone walks by then it’s not too bad. The worst was seeing a Dad playing a video game on a laptop with his young son across the aisle. They couldn’t sit together? They had the laptop propped on an armrest the whole time and the game was loud too. The flight attendants told them to move it several times but weren’t persistent enough for that joker (I’ll give the son a pass but I’m worried he’ll grow up to be just like Dad). </p>
<p>msn.com is taking an informal poll on the issue. Of about 200,000 respondents, 45% say to keep the seat upright all the time. </p>
<p>How should the seat issue be settled?</p>
<p>45 %
Upright on all flights
87,818 votes
22 %
Upright on short flights only
42,565 votes
28 %
No change
55,069 votes
5 %
Not sure
9,466 votes</p>
<p>“Another seat recline, air rage incident: woman having a meltdown when forward pax reclined seat on her head which she rested on tray table”</p>
<p>Ha - that’s how I sleep on flights too (put my arms on the tray table and rest my head in my arms) but if someone chooses to recline in front of me – that’s my problem, not theirs. They have the right to recline and it’s just too darn bad for me.</p>
<p>It seems to me that the “etiquette” of the situation is that you look back (in between the arm rests) to a) assess who’s back there (is it a huge person? a person on a laptop? a small child?), which gives them a bit of warning that you’re going to recline, and then you recline slowly instead of wrenching it back. </p>
<p>But Torveaux, if I’ve done all of those things and it’s appropriate for me to recline, I don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to do so for the whole flight. I don’t know, I can sleep pretty much any way / anywhere so I don’t really need the recline and often forego it, and as I said I’m typically in Econ Plus where it’s not really an issue, but the person who is reclining does have the right to recline. </p>
<p>pizzagirl - two of the three recent recline incidents where a plane had to be diverted happened in Econ Plus. Both the knee defender incident and the tray table one you were describing. </p>
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<p>That doesn’t make any sense to me. How did the chair “recline on her head” if her head was resting on the tray table? If her head is resting on the tray table and the passenger in front her reclined, her head would simply just be lowered along with the tray table. Nothing would be “on” her head.</p>
<p>Probably her haed didn’t move with the tray.</p>
<p>Not all the tray tables are the same–she might have had her head squeezed between the seat and the table on some of the arrangements I’ve seen.</p>
<p>Sometimes, related people sitting across the isle have no other choice. When Mr B and baby kiddo were flying home with her cats, JetBlue would sell only window or isle seats to them (due to no space for the cat carrier under middle seats where some part of the entertainment system is housed). So I booked isle seats for them, reasoning that it would be unfair to someone to be stuck in the middle seat between two cats!! :)</p>
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<p>Torveaux, I fully agree about being considerate, but you GOT it all wrong! The reclining is part of YOUR seat and it is YOUR space. The seats just happened to be in upright positions to facilitate boarding and eating. The natural position is the comfortable one with a reclined angle. </p>
<p>The donkeys are the passive aggressive passengers who FORCE a block with a device or an attitude. For the record, I would GLADLY keep my seat upright if POLITELY asked or offer to switch seat with the person behind me to let him push his luck with another passenger. </p>
<p>How do you feel if the person who blocks the seat does it to get more space and DOES recline his or her own? </p>
<p>PS The space issue seems to be a canard as most incidents in the past week were in Economy Plus that has the extra inches. Fwiw, the older business class seats created more reclining issues for people who wanted to work during a long flights while others wanted to sleep. Fwiw, for the people who NEED to sleep on the way to Europe or LATAM, the workers and the readers who keep full lights on are also a nuisance. Traveling is just not much fun and forces compromises. </p>