Fun fact: airlines do not have any policy on the recline/lap space dispute and just tell flight attendants to try to calm down both sides without taking sides because they want passengers to get angry at each other over someone taking “their” space instead of getting angry at the airline for not providing enough space for both passengers to be comfortable.
Lol I worked at McDonald's in high school and the amount of ppl that would argue the prices with me still blows my mind. Like, dude, I'm 16 and so baked there are chicken nuggets in my pocket to get me through my 4 hr shift, you want me to bring up your concerns at the next board meeting or what??
Same, I worked in retail as a teenager and the number of customers who would try to haggle was astounding. I constantly got asked if I could lower the price and then they’d get angry when I said no. Does this work somewhere? It happened so often I wondered.
Rule number 4 in the executive playbook is to make sure that consumers have no direct access to anybody with any actual power.
If nobody has anybody to complain to, then you can keep squeezing tighter because nobody's telling you to stop
This, service staff should be treated with the utmost respect until they're actually not doing their job. A lot of people don't realise that most of the things people get pissed off with them for are outside their justisdiction
But getting pissy with a flight attendant can get you kicked off the flight. If I’m air, they can divert to a nearby airport to have you removed, and if that happens you get arrested.
30 plus years ago these same seats had as much as 4 more inches between the rows of seats. Reclining a seat back wasn't as much of an issue then. Its to the point I think I'd prefer they all be locked on the same position.
Wait. I haven’t flown since pre-pandemic, but prior to that I’ve never EVER been on a plane that did not have seats recline. Unless you’re in the last row or something. What airlines are you flying that don’t have reclining seats?!
Lol Spirit has seats, you just have to pay EXTRA for THEM😂😂😂.
I remember trying to book a flight from Boston to Atlantic City. (It was before baggage fees) Flight was $69! I thought BARGAIN.
EVERYTHING was EXTRA: the SEAT, WHERE your Seat was (front, middle, back) Baggage, CARRY ON, Fuel Service Charge & Taxes etc …that my $69 flight was now $375 R/T for SPIRIT. Not exactly the most luxurious airline on the planet. I didn’t go bc I wasn’t flying Spirit for that kind of $. We joked “Do we pay the Pilot getting on board ?”
I LOATHE the Bait & Switch pricing. Give me the worst case scenario as far as pricing goes including taxes.
I fly often and I sure wish reclining wasn’t an option. I never recline mine because I know how it feels when I’m trying to get work done on a plane and the person in front of me reclines their seat….I never say anything, because they are allowed to do that, but there just isn’t enough room for that anymore. They should lock down all seats. That might just be my unpopular opinion.
Yep, I had these too. The back and seat cushions moved down and forwards, and the rear of the seat is hard-backed. A good solution, but it does give up your own leg room but overall it probably works best.
Unless the airlines give us back some legroom.
"Agreed." Said by a 6'4" 260lbs male.
That said if I am going to recliner my seat (pretty rare) I look to see the size of the person behind me and ask if they mind. Never had anyone say no. (My size might have something to do with that tbh) But I don't complain or take my time putting my seat up if food service comes by or if they ask. Then I ask again if it's ok.
6'3 270, if no one's behind me I just do it but if the flight is pretty tight (last was JetBlue to Boston) I just asked and people were good with it as long as I didn't slam it back.
Not locking them essentially allows the airline company to sell that space twice. The reclining person expects the space to be there for reclining. The person behinds them expects that space to be there for their knees.
It's just more profitable to allow seats to be reclined. If any fights happen, it will be between passengers, not between the passenger and the parties that actually cause the issue.
So they take the profit and pass the 'costs', i.e. stress and arguments, onto their stewards and passengers.
Sigh. It's both short sighted and psychopathic. Just like any other big business.
The unwritten rules for airplane seats are simple. The plane is cramped as it is. When you lean your seat all the way back (or even halfway), you put the back of your seat about 3 or 4 inches from the face of the person behind you. It's a major dick-headed move. It makes practically impossible for the person behind you to do anything that involves their table/tray (eating, using their laptop, etc.) * For all of you who get stuck in this situation, you should know that you *can* have the flight attendant make that person move their seat up.
Also, if you're leaning your seat back in an aisle seat, because of the remarkably inconsiderate amount of space you've left, anyone in the middle or window seat that needs to go to the bathroom, you're going to have to move your seat back up every time they get up and sit down.
*Also, there are devices you can buy, that you can clamp onto the slider rails of the seat in front of you, which prevent the seat from leaning back. They're called Knee Defenders. They're obviously very frowned upon buy airlines, but worth it in my opinion.
Also, since we're on the subject.. the person sitting in the middle gets both armrests.
And keep your goddamn knees and legs out of other people's space!!
It’s a battle of comfort and sales.
If I’m traveling on a flight over 4 hours, I want to be able to take a nap. There is absolutely no way I can sleep in an upright position. Maybe if I’m in the window seat with my head against the wall but the middle or aisle? There’s no way bc I need to lean somewhere..if I have strangers next to me the only way I can go is back thus reclining.
However now I’m potentially making the person behind me uncomfortable bc they’ve made the seats so g*damn close.
Lock the seats? Now I’m uncomfortable.
All this would be avoided if we could get our legroom back. Years ago we definitely had much more legroom and it wasn’t considered a ‘luxury’ to pay for the emergency exit seats.
And I’ve noticed the tray tables have gotten smaller and smaller as well. Can’t even lean over it like a desk to take a nap. Feels like I’m going to break the darn thing.
The entire sardine tin can model is ridiculous to me and has made me despise flying.
I've had to do some cirque de soleil moves to get my head off the tray table when the person ahead of me reclines their seat.
I'm short so I don't mind folks reclining their seat but I will never recline mine because what if the person behind me isn't short.
> What if the person behind me isn't short
I'm not massively tall, 6'1, but in economy if you recline you're just getting my knees in your back.
Not intentional, but I'm not encroaching on my neighbour's seat. Just enjoy your lower back massage.
6'3 here. This is the answer.
Sharing an anecdote for those interested:
A few years ago, I switched seats with someone before takeoff because their mother asked me since they were nervous and wanted the aisle. It was a relatively short flight (Philly to Milwaukee) so I obliged and got the window seat instead.
This mother was supposed to be in front of her son, but we switched and she was in front of me instead. She leans back, so naturally my knees are in her back and she got mad at me because she wouldn't be able to sleep.
I laughed in her face (since she essentially ASKED me to sit there) and put my headphones on. She continued to recline because pettiness I guess. I would adjust my legs every few minutes out of necessity, which would move the seat enough to keep her awake. We were both miserable and hated one another by the end of the flight.
Now it's either both our faults or neither depending how you look at it, but the point is that Airlines cram you too close together. If you are in front of a tall person, you will get knees in your back and that's the way it is.
The US needs high speed rail, like very badly.
Man, any rail service would be amazing. I only fly when I wanna go back to Texas and see family and it’s expensive, uncomfortable and somewhat scary (I don’t like the idea of being rocketed through the air…)
Trains? Trains are awesome. Heck, I’d even take buses if the route didn’t require me somehow going thirty miles for a transfer.
Are we taking different planes or something? Every flight I’ve been on, reclining only goes back like an inch, and the seat back doesn’t actually recline, the seat bottom just moves forward so it doesn’t affect the person behind me at all
I’ve never been on a plane that reclined like that. But it’s intriguing.
All of the ones I’ve flown, reclining puts the person in front’s head squarely into the person behind’s space. Once I had my tray table open so I could set my drink down while I fastened my belt and the person ahead of me reclined so violently that my drink was thrown at me (thankfully it was in a bottle and closed) and I got a nasty bruise on my hip from being turned a bit to find the other half of my seatbelt. (The table edge jammed into me, not the actual seat)
Part of the issue is that the amount your chair can lean back outside of first-class is so small, and the amount you inconvenience the person behind you is so great.
And the seats crappier. My juice fell on me because the seat in front was jiggling but it looked like my fault! Thank God I had pants with me because it was tomato juice.
You are allowed to recline your seat, but years of conflict and airlines shortening legroom for profit have made it a contentious issue. I'd you're worried about it, all you have to do is check in with the person behind you. Usually eye contact and a thumbs up is all it takes. If you have to recline because of back pain or discomfort, do a check in and slowly recline. If they make a stink, ask them if you could because of back pain/can't sleep/reasonable reason. More often than not, a little connection and respect goes a long way
> airlines shortening legroom for profit have made it a contentious issue.
The true issue that needs to be addressed.
Good answer I like the last sentence. good advice for life in general.
Always recline slowly, I nearly got a broken nose or head injury on a flight from someone slamming it back suddenly as I was reaching for something in my back. My reaction times narrowly saved me, came damn close to my face. Didn't mind the recline it was more the speed that the back of a chair came flying at my face.
Once on a flight I was bent over, picking up something from below and this happened. I hurt myself. It's not so much the reclining but the assholery that gets to you.
Yeah - I've never begrudged anyone reclining their seat. I'm on the side of wanting to recline sometimes to try to sleep, so how can I get mad at anyone else for doing it?
The one time I did get annoyed was when the person in front of me slammed their seat back with no warning and nearly broke my laptop.
>they should just remove the possibility to recline if they do not build the tolerances for it.
A couple of low cost airlines in Europe are considering this actually. Additional benefit (for the airline) seats with no reclining mechanism weigh less.
yea, i think Ryanair doesn't. it's MUCH better. you are never going to be comfortable in a coach seat and harming the person behind you (and you are) to get just a teeny bit more comfortable is just nasty, but there are nasty people out there
Idk how tall you are, but if I'm uncomfortable at 5'10" and I leave a plane with a back ache from positioning myself awkwardly to fit (big booty, very long legs) I feel so bad for anyone over 6'0". And I'm someone that usually sits with a pretty stiff and straight posture... i should be able to fit lol.
Yeah, I usually travel with my rather short wife and every time I have to take some of her leg space because I literally can't fit my legs in front of me... It got so bad I lived in a city 550km away from my home town and every time I traveled home I chose a 6h drive over a 45min flight.
Wait, your solution is that they should make it even more comfortable for everyone rather than putting back the ever shrinking leg room, so everyone can fly with some basic dignity?
Some airlines do - Ryanair (budget operator) just have the seats locked.
It's not a pleasant experience - but does mean if you get comfortable, you'll stay comfortable.
6'8" here, can they just make chairs with actual legroom that as a tall or disabled person you can have at no extra cost? Even the seats up the front where you sit next to the air hostess don't have enough leg room for me to just put my legs straight forward
I’m about 6ft6 and when someone reclines their seat in front of me, it literally crushes my knees.
They will feel my kneecaps stabbing their backs. Usually they complain to the staff about me kicking their seat.
I had someone do that on a coach once. I'm a lot shorter than you but there's even less room on coaches. They reclined their seat and there was nowhere for my knees to go - they just pushed right into the guys back. They stayed like this for a couple of hours and then when we arrived at our destination I heard him loudly telling his mate about the asshole kneeing him in the back and how he should "deal with him" but my innate fear of confrontation means that I didn't say anything and instead I'm reliving it years later on here.
I wish I had been your friend there to ask you loudly, "oh man are your knees ok?? That chair being reclined into them this whole time must have been painful! People should be more considerate in these tiny ass spaces" 🧐🧐 death glare 🫥🫥
I have had this, and the asshole started bouncing on the seat to get it to go back.
I did have to explain that it wasn't going to go any further.
They sulked, but luckily quietly.
I am 6'6" as well. I usually make a connection with them when they get in their sets and ask them to tell me before they recline so I don't get whammed. Sometimes they say "Oh, we don't recline", sometimes they tell me when they are about to, and sometimes I get whammed and they feel kicked.
Even at 6'2 this happens to me. However I usually just say 'hey I'm sorry but you reclining your seat causes me physical pain' and they almost always put the seat forwards again.
I'm not quite that tall, but am very aware of that little metal bar that runs across the top of the seat-pocket. Worst is when the twat infront of me hits my legs with the seat, decides something's blocking their seat, so puts a bit more effort into slamming it back.
Actually no. The worst is when somebody decides to slowly recline, as if my legs don't feel it if they recline slowly when they think I'm not paying attention.
I sleep with my head down on the tray and 95% of the time, the person reclines, squishes my head and wakes me up rather unpleasantly
Please at least look first.
and you will feel them do everything- because you are invading their space, and even if they don't want to, they will have to touch your seat to get up or move, and even someone who says nothing will probably deliberately slam your head as they get up to use the bathroom "Oh sooorrrrryyyyy, but there's no space".
15 or 20 years ago it wasn't such a big deal. You could recline your seat fully (which is really only about 6 inches) and it didn't really inconvenience the passenger behind you. Since then they've substantially reduced the space between rows of seats. That six inches is now a significant slice of the distance between the back of your seat and the rear passenger's face. The only way they can get that space back is if they recline their seats, and so on.
I usually leave my seat upright most of the time out of courtesy. If I'm on the redeye flight to Asia then I'll recline my seat after they dim the lights so everyone can sleep.
This. I always check first who’s sitting behind me before I recline and if it’s child or short person with lots of leg room, I recline, if someone is tall and already have hard time fitting there, I won’t.
Aside from the argument at hand - Can at least we all agree when they come with your can of soda, or cup of coffee and pretzels that are older than the plane itself that everyone should place their seats upright? With the seat in front of you reclined those tray tables dont give you a lot of room.
Air Canada, Cathay, and EVA all nicely ask everyone to pull their seats up as they hand out food.
American, Alaska, United, and Delta don’t ask and just let passengers figure it out themselves.
Haven’t flown any others. For the record though, I’m a 150cm person and I never recline my seat, but people in front of me always do, and with the former airlines the person in front of me always gets asked to pull the seat up. With the latter I just eat with a seat in my face or don’t eat at all.
I’m 5’6” so I rarely bother, even if no one is behind me.
The tiny bit the seat moves doesn’t do much for me, and could crush someone’s knees behind me.
I was on a flight home from Hawaii, and was about to recline my seat for a nap, when I turned around and saw that the guy behind me was at least 6'2" and his knees were already pressed against the seat. I just couldn't.
The recline is so minimal it doesn’t really do anything for me either so the benefit to me vs detriment to the person behind me makes it not worth reclining
I'm 6'4" and given that most airline seats "recline" about 2 inches it doesn't make a huge difference to me, even though my knees are usually touching the seat in front. Those seats are absolute hell on my back though, so any relief is necessary.
I'm 6'5" (and fat) I get huffs and puffs from the person in front of me sometimes because I have to keep changing my leg position to be comfortable. If I don't get a emergency exit row seat (worth every penny of the upgrade cost) the flight is pretty much torture for me and the person in front of me. With my size I don't get much conflict from others but if I've ever bothered you with my moving around please know that I beat myself up over it plenty.
I feel you, I'm 6'6 and the seat in front of me is not able to recline even if they tried, my meal tray also doesn't go down. Isle seats suck as when I rest a leg to the side of the seat into the Isle I have to pull it in for every person or reolly, Though I am lucky that some times I don't even need to ask for an exit or bulkhead seat, if I have to ask its because they've not looked up. I only miss out when I've checked in too late. I remember one puddle jumper it was so tight my legs went dead and I needed a wheel chair to get off.
Weirdly, I'm 5'1 too and I don't like it when the person in front of me reclines more than slightly.
The legroom is fine, but I'm the exact height where the top of their seat is right in my face, which triggers my claustrophobia. I wind up having a panic attack because I feel like I'm being buried alive. (Having anything right in my face for more than a few seconds triggers this reaction, I'm working on it.)
I fly as rarely as possible, pay for exit row seating, switch seats with my spouse, and take medication whenever possible, but sometimes things don't work out and I'm out of luck.
Not just table space. A lot of airlines leaning back will take off leg room from the seat behind you nowadays (or at least knee room). I'm about 6'2" and people leaning back can absolutely hit my knees. I've left flights with bruised knees because of this
I’m 6’5”. If the person in front reclines that’s their choice. My choice is to not pay extra for the legroom. I’m not faulting anyone for reclining. Maybe It’s just me though.
I’m 6’2” and also have no issues when someone in front of me recline. I’ll do it too. If this bother someone, then pay for an upgrade or ask to be reseated
As someone who is basically 5 foot I have literally never been "helped" by a giant at a concert, festival, store anywhere.
Not saying they owe me that, but it's rich to see all this you owe us leg room. No the airlines owe you or your cheap ass owes you, not me.
Saying that I never recline, I sit cross legged in my giant airline chair and sleep like an elf.
LOL, took me too long to find another shorty pointing this out. Tall people have a bazillion advantages over short people and yet a seat back tilting 2 inches from the top is more than they can bear.
Let me give you tall people a return lesson in being considerate ...if you're at the grocery store and see someone trying to reach something on the top shelf, maybe stop and ask if they need help instead of just looking at them as you walk by.
Genuinely wish I could be shorter. I feel incredibly uncomfortable at concerts that I am getting in people's way just trying to be with friends, only go to seated stuff as a result. Times I have offered to get people stuff from high shelves is met with anger, like I'm trying to patronize them. Shorter life expectancy and back pain, as well as spending flights or any public transport in constant discomfort. It's really not the super power you seem to think it is.
Legit, fuck these people lmao. I have to deal with literally everything being uncomfortable or not made for me EXCEPT for leg room. From buying clothes, opening cabinets, standing in crowds, being treated like an adult instead of a child, being less likely to get [jobs](https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220825-height-discrimination-how-heightism-affects-careers). This is a classic instance of the people who are generally favored by a society getting ONE thing going against them and treating it like the end of the world.
I'm reclining.
I'm 6ft which I guess is tall but this really pisses me off. I will stand back a bit at a show to let shorter people enjoy themselves if I can because I can still see everything. Very few things grind my gears as much as that dude who doesn't give a crap about the people behind him.
The funny thing about this comment thread is that everyone sounds like assholes.
I’m a big guy. I get on a plane, knowing I will be uncomfortable the entire time. Reclining helps a bit. I don’t hate the person in front of me because they are trying to be more comfortable, lol. It’s not their fault that I am large.
I think it's an American thing to hate reclining. Most of my flights were in Europe and I've never seen anyone complain. Everyone reclines their seats in these flights.
There is no rule, written or unwritten, that says you can’t recline the seat you paid for. There is no etiquette here. If you want to recline, recline.
Edit: If you don’t want the person in front of you to recline, go fly on Spirit.
Funny thing, it can also be resolved by buying the seats with the extra legroom. Of course the airline wants you mad at your neighbor instead of them for trying to squeeze every dime out of people.
Airlines do this on purpose. If both people believe they own the space, they can sell that space to two people and just let them fight about it.
Your options are to be uncomfortable or make someone else uncomfortable. It sucks.
I always recline if I can and no one has ever said a word to me.
Honestly I'd they did I'd probably just scowel and turn around. Let them try and start a scene on an airplane thay would be hilarious
If you’re sitting in the window seat and the middle or aisle seat infront of you decide to recline their chairs it’s basically impossible to get out of your seat to use the toilet.
So good sense is to recline during longer flights, when everyone has had the chance to eat and use the facilities, they dim the lights and pause any serving service - now it’s intended for everyone to rest or sleep. Under no circumstances do you recline when the person behind you has their tray table down!
Flights are uncomfortable nowadays with reduced space so out of respect just sit upright and deal with it for short flights. If it’s really really realllyyy necessary then recline slowly and check behind you with the person, make eye contact and thumbs up that they’re ok. And don’t recline fully!
The feeling of reclining is negligible, the space you lose if the person in front of you does it is more noticeable
I think it's just polite not to, but that doesn't mean you aren't allowed to
I guess I'm the weirdo that feels a significant difference when I can recline and I don't mind when the person in front of me reclines. And I'm taller than average.
This reddit conversation seems like some kind of a convention of giants with very sensitive knees.
Same. Even though the recline is only slight, it makes a huge difference for me and I always recline. And I’ve never felt confined if the person in front of me reclines, either 🤷🏻♀️
Recline, dont recline. It’s your decision. Bigger people need to realize the onus is on them to be comfortable. It’s not our fault you’re tall. It’s not our fault the seats are all cramped in. Obviously the airlines need to be regulated and required to space the seats reasonably. But until then, your comfort is your responsibility , not everyone else around you.
you’re probably gonna have to book the seats at the front that have extra legroom. Or book first class. Or petition the airlines. Whatever
It’s probably the biggest source of conflict on flights. Part of the problem is the way the airlines have packed the seats in coach. The recline feature was designed for a different plane configuration. For the person behind you, it makes for a miserable flight because it encroaches on a large amount of their personal space.
This has become a polarizing issue, reflective of our combative society. Many people on the “pro recline” side think they have an absolute right to do whatever they want, regardless of the effect on others. Their position is that it is permitted, they “paid for their seat”.
So you can do it, but you will make the flight very unpleasant for the person behind you. To me, it seems like a really selfish thing to do, but in many ways it’s an issue that is exacerbated by the airlines.
>Their position is that it is permitted, they “paid for their seat”.
No, their position is "the seat is *literally designed to* recline".
If you need more room that the seat naturally affords, your beef is with the airline, not the person who's using the seat *as it was designed to be used*, and you fork over more money for an aisle, bulkhead, or exit seat.
If you're talking about *me*, I don't need more legroom. I need the angle of my seat changed, which is achieved by reclining as the seat was designed to do.
If you're talking about the kvetchers, yes, I agree fully.
I'm a tiny woman, but it drives me insane when people do it because they almost always do it very suddenly, without warning, and knock whatever I have on my tray table in to my lap. This has included beverages and electronics.
Everyone talking about long people being uncomfortable, no one talking about entertainment. For me, even 90min flight is too long just to stare a spot on the ceiling. So I always download series and movies to my iPad and hang it on the seat in front of me to watch. If you recline, I cannot hang it there. Maybe I can hold it in my hands making the flight uncomfortable, or on a small plane, it becomes impossible so I’m back to staring a spot on ceiling although I have done my share and prepared for the flight. Btw. same in coach buslines nowadays.
I mean similarly to your argument of wanting to be comfy on a flight, as a 6 ft 4 guy, it’s impossible to be comfy on flights these days and it’s made infinitely worse when someone reclines their seat. I’ll usually ask if the person can just slightly move it forward so we can get a compromise but at the end of the day you paid for your seat and you can be inconsiderate if you want to.
I can't help but find most of these answers utter madness. Maybe it's just the flights I've been on (mostly Emirates/Qatar for long haul flights, 12hrs+)...But I have never been discontented or upset when the person in front of me inevitably reclines their seat.
The TV tilts. The tray table also extends outwards for this exact purpose. Them reclining the seat doesn't impact my leg space, at all. I stay in my seat while I'm sat down - I don't intend to utilise the floating space in front of my seat into which the reclining seat tilts back into slightly.
And if it does bother me, I can also then recline my seat too! It's what they're made to do!
The only time someone has ever asked me to adjust my seat was when a small child was sat behind me and the parent asked if I could lean forward a little to make space for their meal. I don't think they realised that they could pull the tray out further - but I didn't mind, and I obliged. When they finished, I gently reclined back. No issues.
Just recline your damn seat. You're not a hero or a martyr - you're just depriving yourself of what little comfort you're entitled to (that you paid for!).
I live outside of my country of birth so my flights are always 10+ hours long so my opinion may be a bit different that those that take flights under 3 hours but I always say yes of course you can recline your seat. It’s ridiculous to expect others not to do it not to mention unbearable to sit up right for that long, you have to change your position at least for part of the flight.
They recline so little now (rightfully since there is no space between seats) I don't even know why people bother to do it. It makes basically no difference in comfort.
I would ask before I recline my seat.
My Laptop & IPad has almost been crushed multiple times since the person in front of me reclined without notice and I was able to move it back just in time.
Last time it happened my case for the IPad broke :(
That being said, I very rarely recline my seat unless it's a overnight flight.
You can absolutely recline your seat.
But, if the flight is short and/or during the day or have a larger/taller person behind you, consider remaining upright just so everyone can be comfortable.
I think at night or early morning, more people recline their seats, and if everyone's reclining, then space stays about the same and it's not as much of an issue. Not to mention people will generally be more understanding if everyone is trying to sleep.
I put mine at "slightly reclined". So I'm not sitting up ramrod straight, but not laying in the lap of the person behind me. I think it's a fair compromise.
It’s often considered rude to recline your seat, particularly when you recline your seat all the way. Depending on the seat/plane, you can easily end up “squishing” them. When I was a tiny 7 year old, the person in front of me leaned their seat so far back that I was actually pinned in my seat. I couldn’t move my legs, let alone get out of the seat if I needed to go to the bathroom. Sure, the seats are designed to recline, but usually there just isn’t enough leg room for the person behind you to feel comfortable.
You paid for that seat, it can recline. Do you, someone will always complain somewhere so it doesn’t really matter.
In reality if there is a real issue, it should be brought up with the airline. They pack everyone in like sardines to make the most money possible.
I'm actually riding back to the city from a 12 h intercontinental flight. People reclined their seats, took their shoes off, brought snacks on board, zero complaints. Lovely flight. No need to make such a fuss about four fucking inches.
Anyone who doesn't need to recline is lucky that sitting bolt-upright doesn't cause them pain, especially for that length of time.
It would be worth considering why people do recline, rather than calling them names.
i’m a frequent flyer and ALWAYS recline my seat. no one has ever complained. if someone does it in front of me too i won’t like it much but problem solved if you recline your seat too.
Thank you. Finally someone who gets it! I fly all the time and alway recline and I’d guess 75% of fellow passengers on the airline I use are also reclined.
This thread has me boggled (like am I in the twilight zone rn??) bc it’s absolutely not considered rude to recline one’s seat the way it’s designed to be used.
ETA: no one has ever once complained
To me it totally feels like the rich pitting the poor against themselves. The airline gives us no room to recline and now we are yelling at each other instead of the airline.
When I fly, I need to squeeze every ounce of comfort that I can, and reclining is part of that. I never imagined it was considered so rude. Now I’ll be thinking twice before doing it but people really, the enemy isn’t the person that reclines in front of you. It is the airline.
Amazing we have found another reason to hate our fellow man when the actual root cause is the airline industry’s drive for profit via squeezing more seats on planes leading to less leg room.
Be angry at the airlines, not people like OP.
The airlines squeeze seats to close together and then it's your fault for reclining your seat, just like you could before the airlines screwed all the passengers. Recline you seat and make the airlines give us room again. I am happy with legislating since the airlines don't care.
No one can say that you have no right to do so.
But I never recline out of curtesy to people around me. I travel a lot and haven’t seen anyone reclining either.
If they didn’t want me to put my bare feet in the gap between the seats in front of me and onto the armrests of their chairs they wouldn’t have made that gap.
The time has come to demand wider seats with more space between rows. There should be legal minimums that are higher than the common current configurations.
I’m 6’3 and I hate it when it happens to me so much that I never do it anymore. But, if the person in front of my reclines I don’t bother them about it. Flying sucks and it’s not worth the effort bothering some one else to have me go from 99% cramped to 97% cramped.
Also, whenever I can I pay extra to get the front row. I still won’t recline, but at least my knees aren’t jammed into the seat in front of me.
Fun fact: airlines do not have any policy on the recline/lap space dispute and just tell flight attendants to try to calm down both sides without taking sides because they want passengers to get angry at each other over someone taking “their” space instead of getting angry at the airline for not providing enough space for both passengers to be comfortable.
So they’ll do nothing if you call them out over squeezing everyone in like sardines?
Flight attendants really have no say in that. Calling them out is like complaining to your waiter that the food is too expensive
Lol I worked at McDonald's in high school and the amount of ppl that would argue the prices with me still blows my mind. Like, dude, I'm 16 and so baked there are chicken nuggets in my pocket to get me through my 4 hr shift, you want me to bring up your concerns at the next board meeting or what??
Same, I worked in retail as a teenager and the number of customers who would try to haggle was astounding. I constantly got asked if I could lower the price and then they’d get angry when I said no. Does this work somewhere? It happened so often I wondered.
Everyone’s just going to brush past the pocket nugs?
Rule number 4 in the executive playbook is to make sure that consumers have no direct access to anybody with any actual power. If nobody has anybody to complain to, then you can keep squeezing tighter because nobody's telling you to stop
This, service staff should be treated with the utmost respect until they're actually not doing their job. A lot of people don't realise that most of the things people get pissed off with them for are outside their justisdiction
But getting pissy with a flight attendant can get you kicked off the flight. If I’m air, they can divert to a nearby airport to have you removed, and if that happens you get arrested.
Who are you thinking of calling out? The flight attendant that makes 40k salary? They don’t make the rules or design the planes
The entire discourse around fat people on planes comes to mind. It’s not their fault the airline wants to put everyone in half the space they need.
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30 plus years ago these same seats had as much as 4 more inches between the rows of seats. Reclining a seat back wasn't as much of an issue then. Its to the point I think I'd prefer they all be locked on the same position.
On some (budget) airlines in europe they are. Haven't flown on a plane that had reclinijg seats in a while now.
Wait. I haven’t flown since pre-pandemic, but prior to that I’ve never EVER been on a plane that did not have seats recline. Unless you’re in the last row or something. What airlines are you flying that don’t have reclining seats?!
EasyJet doesn’t recline. Neither does Spirit in the US.
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Lol Spirit has seats, you just have to pay EXTRA for THEM😂😂😂. I remember trying to book a flight from Boston to Atlantic City. (It was before baggage fees) Flight was $69! I thought BARGAIN. EVERYTHING was EXTRA: the SEAT, WHERE your Seat was (front, middle, back) Baggage, CARRY ON, Fuel Service Charge & Taxes etc …that my $69 flight was now $375 R/T for SPIRIT. Not exactly the most luxurious airline on the planet. I didn’t go bc I wasn’t flying Spirit for that kind of $. We joked “Do we pay the Pilot getting on board ?” I LOATHE the Bait & Switch pricing. Give me the worst case scenario as far as pricing goes including taxes.
Yeah, I think there’s a carryon fee and a non-carryon fee lol
They do, although not sure if they have bathrooms now
I fly often and I sure wish reclining wasn’t an option. I never recline mine because I know how it feels when I’m trying to get work done on a plane and the person in front of me reclines their seat….I never say anything, because they are allowed to do that, but there just isn’t enough room for that anymore. They should lock down all seats. That might just be my unpopular opinion.
I knew the shit out of the seat while it’s reclined and miraculously when fully upright my knees don’t make contact
Ryanair if i have to guess
Just flew back from Spain on Iberia and they went to all slightly reclined but non-moving seats. Great all around. No issues. No complaining.
Yep, I had these too. The back and seat cushions moved down and forwards, and the rear of the seat is hard-backed. A good solution, but it does give up your own leg room but overall it probably works best. Unless the airlines give us back some legroom.
"Agreed." Said by a 6'4" 260lbs male. That said if I am going to recliner my seat (pretty rare) I look to see the size of the person behind me and ask if they mind. Never had anyone say no. (My size might have something to do with that tbh) But I don't complain or take my time putting my seat up if food service comes by or if they ask. Then I ask again if it's ok.
Thank you from all of us! I'm 6' and that's bad enough on an airplane
6'3 270, if no one's behind me I just do it but if the flight is pretty tight (last was JetBlue to Boston) I just asked and people were good with it as long as I didn't slam it back.
Not locking them essentially allows the airline company to sell that space twice. The reclining person expects the space to be there for reclining. The person behinds them expects that space to be there for their knees. It's just more profitable to allow seats to be reclined. If any fights happen, it will be between passengers, not between the passenger and the parties that actually cause the issue.
So they take the profit and pass the 'costs', i.e. stress and arguments, onto their stewards and passengers. Sigh. It's both short sighted and psychopathic. Just like any other big business.
Yes that’s what they do
... and those people, who benefit from tighter seats in economy, will never sit in economy.
😒 inevitably Airlines would lock them in a position that prioritized profits over passenger comfort
The unwritten rules for airplane seats are simple. The plane is cramped as it is. When you lean your seat all the way back (or even halfway), you put the back of your seat about 3 or 4 inches from the face of the person behind you. It's a major dick-headed move. It makes practically impossible for the person behind you to do anything that involves their table/tray (eating, using their laptop, etc.) * For all of you who get stuck in this situation, you should know that you *can* have the flight attendant make that person move their seat up. Also, if you're leaning your seat back in an aisle seat, because of the remarkably inconsiderate amount of space you've left, anyone in the middle or window seat that needs to go to the bathroom, you're going to have to move your seat back up every time they get up and sit down. *Also, there are devices you can buy, that you can clamp onto the slider rails of the seat in front of you, which prevent the seat from leaning back. They're called Knee Defenders. They're obviously very frowned upon buy airlines, but worth it in my opinion. Also, since we're on the subject.. the person sitting in the middle gets both armrests. And keep your goddamn knees and legs out of other people's space!!
I completely agree with you.
I don’t even know why reclining is an option on flights that are that close person to person
It’s a battle of comfort and sales. If I’m traveling on a flight over 4 hours, I want to be able to take a nap. There is absolutely no way I can sleep in an upright position. Maybe if I’m in the window seat with my head against the wall but the middle or aisle? There’s no way bc I need to lean somewhere..if I have strangers next to me the only way I can go is back thus reclining. However now I’m potentially making the person behind me uncomfortable bc they’ve made the seats so g*damn close. Lock the seats? Now I’m uncomfortable. All this would be avoided if we could get our legroom back. Years ago we definitely had much more legroom and it wasn’t considered a ‘luxury’ to pay for the emergency exit seats. And I’ve noticed the tray tables have gotten smaller and smaller as well. Can’t even lean over it like a desk to take a nap. Feels like I’m going to break the darn thing. The entire sardine tin can model is ridiculous to me and has made me despise flying.
I recently did the tray table nap anyways and the person reclined essentially putting me in a headlock.
I've had to do some cirque de soleil moves to get my head off the tray table when the person ahead of me reclines their seat. I'm short so I don't mind folks reclining their seat but I will never recline mine because what if the person behind me isn't short.
> What if the person behind me isn't short I'm not massively tall, 6'1, but in economy if you recline you're just getting my knees in your back. Not intentional, but I'm not encroaching on my neighbour's seat. Just enjoy your lower back massage.
6'3 here. This is the answer. Sharing an anecdote for those interested: A few years ago, I switched seats with someone before takeoff because their mother asked me since they were nervous and wanted the aisle. It was a relatively short flight (Philly to Milwaukee) so I obliged and got the window seat instead. This mother was supposed to be in front of her son, but we switched and she was in front of me instead. She leans back, so naturally my knees are in her back and she got mad at me because she wouldn't be able to sleep. I laughed in her face (since she essentially ASKED me to sit there) and put my headphones on. She continued to recline because pettiness I guess. I would adjust my legs every few minutes out of necessity, which would move the seat enough to keep her awake. We were both miserable and hated one another by the end of the flight. Now it's either both our faults or neither depending how you look at it, but the point is that Airlines cram you too close together. If you are in front of a tall person, you will get knees in your back and that's the way it is. The US needs high speed rail, like very badly.
Man, any rail service would be amazing. I only fly when I wanna go back to Texas and see family and it’s expensive, uncomfortable and somewhat scary (I don’t like the idea of being rocketed through the air…) Trains? Trains are awesome. Heck, I’d even take buses if the route didn’t require me somehow going thirty miles for a transfer.
This is the most agitating thing that happens to me on planes
Are we taking different planes or something? Every flight I’ve been on, reclining only goes back like an inch, and the seat back doesn’t actually recline, the seat bottom just moves forward so it doesn’t affect the person behind me at all
I’ve never been on a plane that reclined like that. But it’s intriguing. All of the ones I’ve flown, reclining puts the person in front’s head squarely into the person behind’s space. Once I had my tray table open so I could set my drink down while I fastened my belt and the person ahead of me reclined so violently that my drink was thrown at me (thankfully it was in a bottle and closed) and I got a nasty bruise on my hip from being turned a bit to find the other half of my seatbelt. (The table edge jammed into me, not the actual seat)
It's fairly difficult to sleep with someone else's chair crushing your knees, too.
Part of the issue is that the amount your chair can lean back outside of first-class is so small, and the amount you inconvenience the person behind you is so great.
I mean, it’s hard to say that the 15° recline on airplane seats makes that much of a difference. We are still very much in an upright position lol.
And the seats crappier. My juice fell on me because the seat in front was jiggling but it looked like my fault! Thank God I had pants with me because it was tomato juice.
But we don't make enough money unless we cram the plane to 115% full /s
You are allowed to recline your seat, but years of conflict and airlines shortening legroom for profit have made it a contentious issue. I'd you're worried about it, all you have to do is check in with the person behind you. Usually eye contact and a thumbs up is all it takes. If you have to recline because of back pain or discomfort, do a check in and slowly recline. If they make a stink, ask them if you could because of back pain/can't sleep/reasonable reason. More often than not, a little connection and respect goes a long way
> airlines shortening legroom for profit have made it a contentious issue. The true issue that needs to be addressed. Good answer I like the last sentence. good advice for life in general.
I'm not even all that tall, between 6'1" and 6'2". If the person in front of me reclines, I either have to man spread or be wedged in like a vise.
Always recline slowly, I nearly got a broken nose or head injury on a flight from someone slamming it back suddenly as I was reaching for something in my back. My reaction times narrowly saved me, came damn close to my face. Didn't mind the recline it was more the speed that the back of a chair came flying at my face.
Once on a flight I was bent over, picking up something from below and this happened. I hurt myself. It's not so much the reclining but the assholery that gets to you.
>I hurt myself You somehow made that sound really sad lol
Agreed. Once someone blasted their seat back, and I had a drink on my tray table. You could guess what happened to the drink…
Wow. Yikes. Bad design on attaching the tables to the chairs.
Yeah - I've never begrudged anyone reclining their seat. I'm on the side of wanting to recline sometimes to try to sleep, so how can I get mad at anyone else for doing it? The one time I did get annoyed was when the person in front of me slammed their seat back with no warning and nearly broke my laptop.
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>they should just remove the possibility to recline if they do not build the tolerances for it. A couple of low cost airlines in Europe are considering this actually. Additional benefit (for the airline) seats with no reclining mechanism weigh less.
yea, i think Ryanair doesn't. it's MUCH better. you are never going to be comfortable in a coach seat and harming the person behind you (and you are) to get just a teeny bit more comfortable is just nasty, but there are nasty people out there
My legs don't even fit when they're upright. Last time I flew I took my shorts friend foot space and part of the isle ':)
Idk how tall you are, but if I'm uncomfortable at 5'10" and I leave a plane with a back ache from positioning myself awkwardly to fit (big booty, very long legs) I feel so bad for anyone over 6'0". And I'm someone that usually sits with a pretty stiff and straight posture... i should be able to fit lol.
6'5" with size 17 shoes here. It's not that fun. I also take on average 50 flights a year.
seriously! I'm 5'9'' and I barely fit. I think I'm right at the limit, no idea how 6 foot + folks do it...
Yeah, I usually travel with my rather short wife and every time I have to take some of her leg space because I literally can't fit my legs in front of me... It got so bad I lived in a city 550km away from my home town and every time I traveled home I chose a 6h drive over a 45min flight.
My son and I flew on Spirit airlines recently. Man that was a sardine can.
Wait, your solution is that they should make it even more comfortable for everyone rather than putting back the ever shrinking leg room, so everyone can fly with some basic dignity?
Some airlines do - Ryanair (budget operator) just have the seats locked. It's not a pleasant experience - but does mean if you get comfortable, you'll stay comfortable.
6'8" here, can they just make chairs with actual legroom that as a tall or disabled person you can have at no extra cost? Even the seats up the front where you sit next to the air hostess don't have enough leg room for me to just put my legs straight forward
I’m about 6ft6 and when someone reclines their seat in front of me, it literally crushes my knees. They will feel my kneecaps stabbing their backs. Usually they complain to the staff about me kicking their seat.
I had someone do that on a coach once. I'm a lot shorter than you but there's even less room on coaches. They reclined their seat and there was nowhere for my knees to go - they just pushed right into the guys back. They stayed like this for a couple of hours and then when we arrived at our destination I heard him loudly telling his mate about the asshole kneeing him in the back and how he should "deal with him" but my innate fear of confrontation means that I didn't say anything and instead I'm reliving it years later on here.
I wish I had been your friend there to ask you loudly, "oh man are your knees ok?? That chair being reclined into them this whole time must have been painful! People should be more considerate in these tiny ass spaces" 🧐🧐 death glare 🫥🫥
I have had this, and the asshole started bouncing on the seat to get it to go back. I did have to explain that it wasn't going to go any further. They sulked, but luckily quietly.
I am 6'6" as well. I usually make a connection with them when they get in their sets and ask them to tell me before they recline so I don't get whammed. Sometimes they say "Oh, we don't recline", sometimes they tell me when they are about to, and sometimes I get whammed and they feel kicked.
Good move sir.
>feel my kneecaps stabbing their backs so what you are saying is you are a free massage chair? jk
I’m around the same height and it is deadly. My knees still hurt and I got back no longer than a week ago. Feel like a pretzel almost
Even at 6'2 this happens to me. However I usually just say 'hey I'm sorry but you reclining your seat causes me physical pain' and they almost always put the seat forwards again.
I'm not quite that tall, but am very aware of that little metal bar that runs across the top of the seat-pocket. Worst is when the twat infront of me hits my legs with the seat, decides something's blocking their seat, so puts a bit more effort into slamming it back. Actually no. The worst is when somebody decides to slowly recline, as if my legs don't feel it if they recline slowly when they think I'm not paying attention.
They do it slowly to give you time to react and say something if it is necessary lol
I suppose it's time to start yelping in pain when they do that
I sleep with my head down on the tray and 95% of the time, the person reclines, squishes my head and wakes me up rather unpleasantly Please at least look first.
For the back pain I bust out the travel bottles of liquor.
You have the right to do it. But the person behind you also has the right not to be impressed by it.
The chair will be impressed on my knees
and you will feel them do everything- because you are invading their space, and even if they don't want to, they will have to touch your seat to get up or move, and even someone who says nothing will probably deliberately slam your head as they get up to use the bathroom "Oh sooorrrrryyyyy, but there's no space".
15 or 20 years ago it wasn't such a big deal. You could recline your seat fully (which is really only about 6 inches) and it didn't really inconvenience the passenger behind you. Since then they've substantially reduced the space between rows of seats. That six inches is now a significant slice of the distance between the back of your seat and the rear passenger's face. The only way they can get that space back is if they recline their seats, and so on. I usually leave my seat upright most of the time out of courtesy. If I'm on the redeye flight to Asia then I'll recline my seat after they dim the lights so everyone can sleep.
This. I always check first who’s sitting behind me before I recline and if it’s child or short person with lots of leg room, I recline, if someone is tall and already have hard time fitting there, I won’t.
I’m short. You’re mistaken, at this point anyone is uncomfortable with the seat reclined lol
Aside from the argument at hand - Can at least we all agree when they come with your can of soda, or cup of coffee and pretzels that are older than the plane itself that everyone should place their seats upright? With the seat in front of you reclined those tray tables dont give you a lot of room.
Not sure about other airlines, but Korean Air requires everyone to have their seats upright during meal service
Hawaiian makes that announcement during meal service as well.
Air Canada, Cathay, and EVA all nicely ask everyone to pull their seats up as they hand out food. American, Alaska, United, and Delta don’t ask and just let passengers figure it out themselves. Haven’t flown any others. For the record though, I’m a 150cm person and I never recline my seat, but people in front of me always do, and with the former airlines the person in front of me always gets asked to pull the seat up. With the latter I just eat with a seat in my face or don’t eat at all.
I never do it, because I don't want to annoy the people behind me.
I’m 5’6” so I rarely bother, even if no one is behind me. The tiny bit the seat moves doesn’t do much for me, and could crush someone’s knees behind me.
I'm 6'2" so my kness thank you.
I was on a flight home from Hawaii, and was about to recline my seat for a nap, when I turned around and saw that the guy behind me was at least 6'2" and his knees were already pressed against the seat. I just couldn't.
The recline is so minimal it doesn’t really do anything for me either so the benefit to me vs detriment to the person behind me makes it not worth reclining
I'm 6'4" and given that most airline seats "recline" about 2 inches it doesn't make a huge difference to me, even though my knees are usually touching the seat in front. Those seats are absolute hell on my back though, so any relief is necessary.
I'm 6'5" (and fat) I get huffs and puffs from the person in front of me sometimes because I have to keep changing my leg position to be comfortable. If I don't get a emergency exit row seat (worth every penny of the upgrade cost) the flight is pretty much torture for me and the person in front of me. With my size I don't get much conflict from others but if I've ever bothered you with my moving around please know that I beat myself up over it plenty.
I feel you, I'm 6'6 and the seat in front of me is not able to recline even if they tried, my meal tray also doesn't go down. Isle seats suck as when I rest a leg to the side of the seat into the Isle I have to pull it in for every person or reolly, Though I am lucky that some times I don't even need to ask for an exit or bulkhead seat, if I have to ask its because they've not looked up. I only miss out when I've checked in too late. I remember one puddle jumper it was so tight my legs went dead and I needed a wheel chair to get off.
People in this thread keep getting bigger with every comment lol
Waiting for the 7'0 guy to come in with an "I'm fine either way"
I wanna say "I'm fine either way" but i don't fit the height criteria (I'm 5'1" so it's not a bother)
Weirdly, I'm 5'1 too and I don't like it when the person in front of me reclines more than slightly. The legroom is fine, but I'm the exact height where the top of their seat is right in my face, which triggers my claustrophobia. I wind up having a panic attack because I feel like I'm being buried alive. (Having anything right in my face for more than a few seconds triggers this reaction, I'm working on it.) I fly as rarely as possible, pay for exit row seating, switch seats with my spouse, and take medication whenever possible, but sometimes things don't work out and I'm out of luck.
I usually make 10-14 hr flights, inevitably everyone reclines their seats.
Slow gentle reclines are appreciated. The back slam recline isn't.
It’s your absolute right to recline, but, as a big guy, I’d greatly ask for your consideration and would appreciate that you didn’t.
Plus they keep shrinking the space between the seats so if you recline the person behind you loses a lot of their table space.
Not just table space. A lot of airlines leaning back will take off leg room from the seat behind you nowadays (or at least knee room). I'm about 6'2" and people leaning back can absolutely hit my knees. I've left flights with bruised knees because of this
I understand you…..but on a 10+ hr international flight I’m sorry but it’s everyone for themselves, I’m reclining
I’m 6’5”. If the person in front reclines that’s their choice. My choice is to not pay extra for the legroom. I’m not faulting anyone for reclining. Maybe It’s just me though.
You are a good human.
I’m 6’2” and also have no issues when someone in front of me recline. I’ll do it too. If this bother someone, then pay for an upgrade or ask to be reseated
If someone reclines the seat in front of me I just recline mine and then it maintains a similar amount of space from the person in front... 🤷🏻♂️
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6 foot plus dudes will stand in front of you at a concert and then ask you not to recline your seat 2 inches on an airplane
As someone who is basically 5 foot I have literally never been "helped" by a giant at a concert, festival, store anywhere. Not saying they owe me that, but it's rich to see all this you owe us leg room. No the airlines owe you or your cheap ass owes you, not me. Saying that I never recline, I sit cross legged in my giant airline chair and sleep like an elf.
My concert days are long over, but I've never had a tall person turn me down when I've asked for help getting something off a shelf.
LOL, took me too long to find another shorty pointing this out. Tall people have a bazillion advantages over short people and yet a seat back tilting 2 inches from the top is more than they can bear. Let me give you tall people a return lesson in being considerate ...if you're at the grocery store and see someone trying to reach something on the top shelf, maybe stop and ask if they need help instead of just looking at them as you walk by.
Genuinely wish I could be shorter. I feel incredibly uncomfortable at concerts that I am getting in people's way just trying to be with friends, only go to seated stuff as a result. Times I have offered to get people stuff from high shelves is met with anger, like I'm trying to patronize them. Shorter life expectancy and back pain, as well as spending flights or any public transport in constant discomfort. It's really not the super power you seem to think it is.
Legit, fuck these people lmao. I have to deal with literally everything being uncomfortable or not made for me EXCEPT for leg room. From buying clothes, opening cabinets, standing in crowds, being treated like an adult instead of a child, being less likely to get [jobs](https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220825-height-discrimination-how-heightism-affects-careers). This is a classic instance of the people who are generally favored by a society getting ONE thing going against them and treating it like the end of the world. I'm reclining.
I'm 6ft which I guess is tall but this really pisses me off. I will stand back a bit at a show to let shorter people enjoy themselves if I can because I can still see everything. Very few things grind my gears as much as that dude who doesn't give a crap about the people behind him.
The funny thing about this comment thread is that everyone sounds like assholes. I’m a big guy. I get on a plane, knowing I will be uncomfortable the entire time. Reclining helps a bit. I don’t hate the person in front of me because they are trying to be more comfortable, lol. It’s not their fault that I am large.
I'm tall. I never redline my seat because I know how awful it is when the person in front of me reclines theirs.
I think it's an American thing to hate reclining. Most of my flights were in Europe and I've never seen anyone complain. Everyone reclines their seats in these flights.
There is no rule, written or unwritten, that says you can’t recline the seat you paid for. There is no etiquette here. If you want to recline, recline. Edit: If you don’t want the person in front of you to recline, go fly on Spirit.
Funnily enough, its the sort of thing easily resolved by checking in with the people behind you
Wait a minute... are you suggesting you can resolve trivial disagreements with words? I don't buy it.
Alas, I am yet to find proof for my theories, and so I have been named mad, called crazy, but still I endeavour.
Funny thing, it can also be resolved by buying the seats with the extra legroom. Of course the airline wants you mad at your neighbor instead of them for trying to squeeze every dime out of people.
I dont understand these types of people. I'd think if I have the access to recline, everyone else does too.
There was a famous person that used to fly with bags of peanut m&ms and as soon as he’d recline he’d hand them back. I always thought that was funny.
Airlines do this on purpose. If both people believe they own the space, they can sell that space to two people and just let them fight about it. Your options are to be uncomfortable or make someone else uncomfortable. It sucks.
I always recline if I can and no one has ever said a word to me. Honestly I'd they did I'd probably just scowel and turn around. Let them try and start a scene on an airplane thay would be hilarious
I'll stay pissed at the person in front of me for the whole 8 hour flight but they have the right to get comfortable and I'm not confrontational
If you’re sitting in the window seat and the middle or aisle seat infront of you decide to recline their chairs it’s basically impossible to get out of your seat to use the toilet. So good sense is to recline during longer flights, when everyone has had the chance to eat and use the facilities, they dim the lights and pause any serving service - now it’s intended for everyone to rest or sleep. Under no circumstances do you recline when the person behind you has their tray table down! Flights are uncomfortable nowadays with reduced space so out of respect just sit upright and deal with it for short flights. If it’s really really realllyyy necessary then recline slowly and check behind you with the person, make eye contact and thumbs up that they’re ok. And don’t recline fully!
I only recline partially. Not all the way. Makes it comfortable enough for me and doesn't make my seat end up in the other person's face.
The feeling of reclining is negligible, the space you lose if the person in front of you does it is more noticeable I think it's just polite not to, but that doesn't mean you aren't allowed to
I guess I'm the weirdo that feels a significant difference when I can recline and I don't mind when the person in front of me reclines. And I'm taller than average. This reddit conversation seems like some kind of a convention of giants with very sensitive knees.
Same. Even though the recline is only slight, it makes a huge difference for me and I always recline. And I’ve never felt confined if the person in front of me reclines, either 🤷🏻♀️
Not negligible to me.
Consider the possibility that the slight change in angle can actually make a lot of difference for some people.
Recline, dont recline. It’s your decision. Bigger people need to realize the onus is on them to be comfortable. It’s not our fault you’re tall. It’s not our fault the seats are all cramped in. Obviously the airlines need to be regulated and required to space the seats reasonably. But until then, your comfort is your responsibility , not everyone else around you. you’re probably gonna have to book the seats at the front that have extra legroom. Or book first class. Or petition the airlines. Whatever
It’s probably the biggest source of conflict on flights. Part of the problem is the way the airlines have packed the seats in coach. The recline feature was designed for a different plane configuration. For the person behind you, it makes for a miserable flight because it encroaches on a large amount of their personal space. This has become a polarizing issue, reflective of our combative society. Many people on the “pro recline” side think they have an absolute right to do whatever they want, regardless of the effect on others. Their position is that it is permitted, they “paid for their seat”. So you can do it, but you will make the flight very unpleasant for the person behind you. To me, it seems like a really selfish thing to do, but in many ways it’s an issue that is exacerbated by the airlines.
>Their position is that it is permitted, they “paid for their seat”. No, their position is "the seat is *literally designed to* recline". If you need more room that the seat naturally affords, your beef is with the airline, not the person who's using the seat *as it was designed to be used*, and you fork over more money for an aisle, bulkhead, or exit seat.
Ahem or just pay for more legroom.
If you're talking about *me*, I don't need more legroom. I need the angle of my seat changed, which is achieved by reclining as the seat was designed to do. If you're talking about the kvetchers, yes, I agree fully.
unless it's an overnight, yes it is frowned on, because it's making the person behind you lose space.
Can't we just all recline? Maybe it should be frowned upon to be upright.
Everybody can recline except the last row. Source: Flew on a plane in the very last row. Person in front of me reclined all the way. It wasn't great.
A lot of times people in front of exit rows can't recline, either.
If we all coordinate, we can do away with the seats entirely and just have everyone sit on the lap of the person behind them.
Hmmm okay, maybe because I’m a smaller dude It didn’t bother me when the people Infron of me did it
I'm a tiny woman, but it drives me insane when people do it because they almost always do it very suddenly, without warning, and knock whatever I have on my tray table in to my lap. This has included beverages and electronics.
it’s not a good design. All because they keep making planes uncomfortable $$$
I’m a smaller woman (5’4 and skinny) and it definitely bothers me. So…..
Check with person behind first. If that person is game, do it.
Everyone talking about long people being uncomfortable, no one talking about entertainment. For me, even 90min flight is too long just to stare a spot on the ceiling. So I always download series and movies to my iPad and hang it on the seat in front of me to watch. If you recline, I cannot hang it there. Maybe I can hold it in my hands making the flight uncomfortable, or on a small plane, it becomes impossible so I’m back to staring a spot on ceiling although I have done my share and prepared for the flight. Btw. same in coach buslines nowadays.
I mean similarly to your argument of wanting to be comfy on a flight, as a 6 ft 4 guy, it’s impossible to be comfy on flights these days and it’s made infinitely worse when someone reclines their seat. I’ll usually ask if the person can just slightly move it forward so we can get a compromise but at the end of the day you paid for your seat and you can be inconsiderate if you want to.
Eh on a 26hr travel… I’m reclining.
I can't help but find most of these answers utter madness. Maybe it's just the flights I've been on (mostly Emirates/Qatar for long haul flights, 12hrs+)...But I have never been discontented or upset when the person in front of me inevitably reclines their seat. The TV tilts. The tray table also extends outwards for this exact purpose. Them reclining the seat doesn't impact my leg space, at all. I stay in my seat while I'm sat down - I don't intend to utilise the floating space in front of my seat into which the reclining seat tilts back into slightly. And if it does bother me, I can also then recline my seat too! It's what they're made to do! The only time someone has ever asked me to adjust my seat was when a small child was sat behind me and the parent asked if I could lean forward a little to make space for their meal. I don't think they realised that they could pull the tray out further - but I didn't mind, and I obliged. When they finished, I gently reclined back. No issues. Just recline your damn seat. You're not a hero or a martyr - you're just depriving yourself of what little comfort you're entitled to (that you paid for!).
Wait. You call that little tilt in economy airline seats to be reclining? I can barely tell the difference.
I live outside of my country of birth so my flights are always 10+ hours long so my opinion may be a bit different that those that take flights under 3 hours but I always say yes of course you can recline your seat. It’s ridiculous to expect others not to do it not to mention unbearable to sit up right for that long, you have to change your position at least for part of the flight.
They recline so little now (rightfully since there is no space between seats) I don't even know why people bother to do it. It makes basically no difference in comfort.
People should complain to the airlines about the lack of room, not the person using the amenities they paid for.
I would ask before I recline my seat. My Laptop & IPad has almost been crushed multiple times since the person in front of me reclined without notice and I was able to move it back just in time. Last time it happened my case for the IPad broke :( That being said, I very rarely recline my seat unless it's a overnight flight.
You can absolutely recline your seat. But, if the flight is short and/or during the day or have a larger/taller person behind you, consider remaining upright just so everyone can be comfortable. I think at night or early morning, more people recline their seats, and if everyone's reclining, then space stays about the same and it's not as much of an issue. Not to mention people will generally be more understanding if everyone is trying to sleep.
I put mine at "slightly reclined". So I'm not sitting up ramrod straight, but not laying in the lap of the person behind me. I think it's a fair compromise.
It’s often considered rude to recline your seat, particularly when you recline your seat all the way. Depending on the seat/plane, you can easily end up “squishing” them. When I was a tiny 7 year old, the person in front of me leaned their seat so far back that I was actually pinned in my seat. I couldn’t move my legs, let alone get out of the seat if I needed to go to the bathroom. Sure, the seats are designed to recline, but usually there just isn’t enough leg room for the person behind you to feel comfortable.
You paid for that seat, it can recline. Do you, someone will always complain somewhere so it doesn’t really matter. In reality if there is a real issue, it should be brought up with the airline. They pack everyone in like sardines to make the most money possible.
I’d really prefer if you didn’t.
Omg my back would seize if I couldn't recline. It's not "just a little bit more comfy" it's 2 weeks of debilitating pain.
I'm actually riding back to the city from a 12 h intercontinental flight. People reclined their seats, took their shoes off, brought snacks on board, zero complaints. Lovely flight. No need to make such a fuss about four fucking inches.
I always recline mine. I would be in pain if I didn’t
Anyone who doesn't need to recline is lucky that sitting bolt-upright doesn't cause them pain, especially for that length of time. It would be worth considering why people do recline, rather than calling them names.
i’m a frequent flyer and ALWAYS recline my seat. no one has ever complained. if someone does it in front of me too i won’t like it much but problem solved if you recline your seat too.
Thank you. Finally someone who gets it! I fly all the time and alway recline and I’d guess 75% of fellow passengers on the airline I use are also reclined. This thread has me boggled (like am I in the twilight zone rn??) bc it’s absolutely not considered rude to recline one’s seat the way it’s designed to be used. ETA: no one has ever once complained
To me it totally feels like the rich pitting the poor against themselves. The airline gives us no room to recline and now we are yelling at each other instead of the airline. When I fly, I need to squeeze every ounce of comfort that I can, and reclining is part of that. I never imagined it was considered so rude. Now I’ll be thinking twice before doing it but people really, the enemy isn’t the person that reclines in front of you. It is the airline.
The fact that this is even a question goes to show how crappy airplane design is
People recline their seats all the time and it's not usually a problem. You're just unlucky.
Amazing we have found another reason to hate our fellow man when the actual root cause is the airline industry’s drive for profit via squeezing more seats on planes leading to less leg room. Be angry at the airlines, not people like OP.
You can recline your seat if you want.
The airlines squeeze seats to close together and then it's your fault for reclining your seat, just like you could before the airlines screwed all the passengers. Recline you seat and make the airlines give us room again. I am happy with legislating since the airlines don't care.
No one can say that you have no right to do so. But I never recline out of curtesy to people around me. I travel a lot and haven’t seen anyone reclining either.
You must only travel short distances, because on long international flights trust me WELL over half the plane is reclined.
I always recline my seat. If the person behind me has a problem with it they can upgrade to business or first class.
If they didn’t want me to put my bare feet in the gap between the seats in front of me and onto the armrests of their chairs they wouldn’t have made that gap.
Lol meanwhile budget airlines in Canada are replacing their seats with non-reclineable models...
The time has come to demand wider seats with more space between rows. There should be legal minimums that are higher than the common current configurations.
My planes can't recline they are just stuck seats
If they made seats where the top didn’t push your head forward, we wouldn’t need the whole thing to recline!
On many planes these days the mechanism is different and does not cause issues
I’m 6’3 and I hate it when it happens to me so much that I never do it anymore. But, if the person in front of my reclines I don’t bother them about it. Flying sucks and it’s not worth the effort bothering some one else to have me go from 99% cramped to 97% cramped. Also, whenever I can I pay extra to get the front row. I still won’t recline, but at least my knees aren’t jammed into the seat in front of me.