Arm rest etiquette

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I likewise always give up the arm rest to the unfortunate person sitting in the middle seat, luckily it is never me :)
I also always give up the armrest to the poor middle guy but it seems many or not as considerate. Thankfully, I don't get stuck in the middle often but from time to time it seems a reasonable trade-off for an earlier flight. If my husband and I travel together in economy (domestic only - we have a firm 'business or better' rule for international flights), we always select two aisles on a 3-3 configuration.
 
Etiquette for anything to do with seat recline, arm rest, lockers etc all comes down to the people you are either lucky or unlucky to be seated with.

Yes we can all well say it's the "right" thing to do when flying with whatever the majority think...but it's going to do you no good in the air if someone hogs your space. What do you say? "I read on a FF forum that you should not be using the arm rests as I'm in the middle seat". It's not going to help in any case.

Some people have manners and decency, some don't.

I don't see why these threads end up with pages and pages of discussions time after time, when sometimes it just plain sucks to be seated next to someone who has no respect for other travellers. And this applies for any seat you pick, even sometimes in Business (not the middle seat issue, but plenty of similar ones)
 
Trying to eat with a knife and fork in the middle seat is a challenge. It's a sign of experience to be able to do it though. That comes from all those early days of non-status flying when they used to have knife and fork meals!

I've only sat there once in recent years - was also the same as above where there was a chance to get home an hour earlier and it was the only seat (but in the first row of Y so a better class of DYKWIA there!)
 
Etiquette for anything to do with seat recline, arm rest, lockers etc all comes down to the people you are either lucky or unlucky to be seated with.

Yes we can all well say it's the "right" thing to do when flying with whatever the majority think...but it's going to do you no good in the air if someone hogs your space. What do you say? "I read on a FF forum that you should not be using the arm rests as I'm in the middle seat". It's not going to help in any case.

Some people have manners and decency, some don't.

I don't see why these threads end up with pages and pages of discussions time after time, when sometimes it just plain sucks to be seated next to someone who has no respect for other travellers. And this applies for any seat you pick, even sometimes in Business (not the middle seat issue, but plenty of similar ones)

Oh so true. Imagine if this guy came and plonked himself down next to you...

Airplane Armrest Leads To Airport Arrest « JONATHAN TURLEY
 
I try to see what part of the armrest the middle-seater claims. In my experience it's not usually the whole lot (most flyers are pretty civil), but the front part or the back, and I then lay claim to the other bit. I have had exceptions, of course, mainly large males determined to claim as much space as they can. It's usually been short haul, so not a major issue. In a past life, I spent a lot of time on trains, so am fairly tolerant.....
 
Regardless of seat, elbow into any person's ribs is not on. I either rest my elbow on the corner of the armrest, making up to the middle available. Or I lean forward and use the whole armrest away from where they are using it.

Outer seats taking both armrests is poor form. But I get really po'ed at being elbowed in the ribs.
 
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I can never understand why people sit themselves packed in down the back of the plane when there are so many big empty seats up the front where i sit?
 
And that's why we shouldn't sweat the small stuff!! Don't want to be in a middle seat? Pay for business or first, or if travelling in Economy try and go for an airline that has 2 to a row somewhere in the configuration or travel with another person.

One would think that rows with only 2 seats are the solution to armrest fights...but I actually endured 12 hours of an overweight guy massaging my spleen slowly with his elbow whilst he was doing crosswords. The armrest was nowhere to be seen, hidden somewhere under a giant flap of adipose tissue...
 
Etiquette for anything to do with seat recline, arm rest, lockers etc all comes down to the people you are either lucky or unlucky to be seated with.

Yes we can all well say it's the "right" thing to do when flying with whatever the majority think...but it's going to do you no good in the air if someone hogs your space. What do you say? "I read on a FF forum that you should not be using the arm rests as I'm in the middle seat". It's not going to help in any case.

Some people have manners and decency, some don't.

I don't see why these threads end up with pages and pages of discussions time after time, when sometimes it just plain sucks to be seated next to someone who has no respect for other travellers. And this applies for any seat you pick, even sometimes in Business (not the middle seat issue, but plenty of similar ones)

+1

Loud discussion on mobile in SQ TPR (The Private Room)'s dining room.

You should not do that even on a bus.

Who would have thought F pax would behave like that but it did happen to me.

Suck it up and move on, after a complaint to management !
 
I had the benefit of both armrests in 6E yesterday. Never an issue, no need to nudge or fight for them. Very civilized.

My God it was cramped though. My first time in a middle seat for over a year.
I have refused offer of earlier flight if only middle seat was available.
 
quote_icon.png
Originally Posted by simongr
Peace, love and happiness...

Lol - extremely funny simongr :)

What's so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding?
(Brinsley Schwarz 1974)
 
One would think that rows with only 2 seats are the solution to armrest fights...but I actually endured 12 hours of an overweight guy massaging my spleen slowly with his elbow whilst he was doing crosswords. The armrest was nowhere to be seen, hidden somewhere under a giant flap of adipose tissue...

This is my worst nightmare. Armrest positioning can usually be sorted......provided you can still find them. Every time I see an over-oversize person waddling past the CSM I shudder and suddenly find God (pray for them not to be seated next to me).
 
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Every time I see an over-oversize person waddling past the CSM I shudder and suddenly find God (pray for them not to be seated next to me).
Luckily on Qantas I don't usually waddle past the first couple of rows in economy. On Virgin though it is a different story....
 
Luckily on Qantas I don't usually waddle past the first couple of rows in economy. On Virgin though it is a different story....

I wondered when I typed whether the comment may offend some fellow flyers. The pondering didn't last long though as what I typed is the truth. There are people (very nice people for the most part) that simply do not fit in the narrow Y seats and personally, I find excess portions overflowing into adjacent seats, though a sensitive issue to raise, should simply not be a problem other flyers just have to "grin and bear". Comfort seats can be purchased and should be purchased where someones size requires two seats. I'm not the smallest person in the world either but I certainly fit within my purchased seat without expecting my short-term neighbours to share their seat with me (ie. my waistline girth does not exceed my shoulder width).

So if my comment does offend anyone, I apologise for the offence taken....not for the comment made.
 
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I wondered when I typed whether the comment may offend some fellow flyers.
Your comment did not offend but you stereotyped without thinking about it.

I am overweight. Probably considered obese. I do fit in my seat and I do not inconvenience anyone when I am flying. I am very conscious of it and make sure I do not spoil anyones flight.

If in an aisle seat I lean towards the aisle for the duration of the flight and actually get bumped by the cart many times. The only time there is contact of thighs/buttocks is if the person in the middle seat overflows into my seat or starts moving around in their seat without consideration for the person next to them.

A couple of nights ago on QF flight I moved from 24D into 23A on an ex-BA 767. I probably should have stayed there as the middle seat was vacant but the thought of the cut-out and extra legroom won. I was last to board (personal page to board again) and when I got to 23A the elderly lady sitting in 23B must have thought "Why me?". She had nothing to worry about but she was not to know that at the time.

Then there are people who are "normal" or even underweight who care about no one but themselves and should never be allowed out in public especially on public transport....
 
One would think that rows with only 2 seats are the solution to armrest fights...but I actually endured 12 hours of an overweight guy massaging my spleen slowly with his elbow whilst he was doing crosswords. The armrest was nowhere to be seen, hidden somewhere under a giant flap of adipose tissue...

I've sat next to that guy. He was a jovial bloke all the same. Had a nice chat with him. I have sent a complaint about a guy who had to physically jam his hips between the fixed armrests and the top half overflowed. Nothing achieved and I understand an airline can't do anything.

My understanding is that I'm technically obese, but I do still fit a seat.
 
General thoughts tend to indicate that "Middle" seats gets priority over window/aisle but YMMV.

Yes we can all well say it's the "right" thing to do when flying with whatever the majority think...but it's going to do you no good in the air if someone hogs your space. What do you say? "I read on a FF forum that you should not be using the arm rests as I'm in the middle seat". It's not going to help in any case.

This and this. Fortunately I haven't found myself in a middle seat recently (even when changing flights at the last minute) apart from when I'm travelling with people I know.
 
Your comment did not offend but you stereotyped without thinking about it.

No, onboard I'm sterotyping (assuming any over-oversized person will overflow). My comment here was not. It was directly about only those people who do actually overflow into other seats and they are around, though happily not in the majority. Although I know I'm stereotyping with my onboard thoughts, I doubt I'll discontinue the practice any time soon! :oops:
 
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