Denied seat recline on long haul

[Paddy55]

Outside of meal times I think all is fair in love and reclining in long haul Y.
Not your fault your fellow traveller had a laptop with big screen.

 

[serfty]

I am 185cm (6 foot one for you old timers) and I generally don't have to recline if I need to sleep.

I bet most of the recliners on this thread 170cm and below!

Hello, my handle is serfty, I am 183cm and I am a recliner. ...

 

[DC3]

Not only do they want control over their own seat but they want to make use of your seat as a support as well.

Maybe not intentional but pehaps more due to being unthoughtful and rarely flying.

 

[kpc]

If the person in front reclines fully, I will also recline fully (slowly) to maintain my space; otherwise, I recline enough to make myself comfortable. if anyone kicks my seat regularly etc, I press the call button and inform the FA to sort it out!...I also will recline fully immediately.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

No point arguing as recliners always think they are smarter.

Hmmm. I need to get up out of my seat but how how do I get some leverage?
Oh found it and just the right height to get some help getting up.
Now I just need to just yank on this some more.
There I am finally up and no one was inconvenienced one little bit....

the difference however is that one is not rude (reclining outside of meal times), the other is rude and outside any normal person's behavior. (in fact it would only perhaps be a symptom of the person suffering from a disorder of some sort and unable to employ rational thought)

 

[dajop]

No wonder humanity has so many wars. If there is no such thing as compromise between so called civilised human beings about sharing a little space on a plane without being completely selfish pigs (on both sides of the debate) then what hope do we ever have of seeing peace in places like the middle east . Seriously. A little compromise can go a long way. I am happy to only recline half to give the person behind some space and vice versa if I want space.

I often work on planes and I can usually cope (by reclining a little myself) and only get majorly annoyed when people insist on forcing the seat back as hard as they can as quickly as they can (is it such a problem to do it slowly ? And take an extra 10 seconds?)


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[MEL_Traveller]

... and only get majorly annoyed when people insist on forcing the seat back as hard as they can as quickly as they can (is it such a problem to do it slowly ? And take an extra 10 seconds?)


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you raise a good point - but not all seats and situations are the same. The full and quick recline could be completely accidental and dependent on the angle of climb for example, or how 'stiff' the seat recline is. Someone coming off one flight where they had to push the seat quite hard to achieve recline might be surprised by another seat which gives quite easily. I was on a chinese carrier where the distance of recline took me by surprise - i was expecting a few inches but in fact it was far more generous than that - quickly rectified - but had the unintentional effect of going a little bit too far into the person behind's space!

This is nothing to do about world peace or all getting along with each other. Seats recline. in the old days with a single front-of-cabin movie screen everyone was asked to fully recline their seats during the movie so everyone could see! Never had complaints back then! (ok the seat pitch was a little more generous in those days). But this is all about people behind who for some reason don't like to recline themselves (thinking they hold some moral high ground) and then want to impose their will on the person in front. If everyone reclines everyone has their own space maintained. If you choose not to recline, bad luck if your space is lost no?

 

[Daver6]

So what is the etiquette if you are beat, planning on skipping the meal and just want to go to sleep? Ie, you are fully reclined come meal time, aren't eating. Should you be expected to wake up, put your seat forward?

Personally, that's not me. I take my meals. But if someone was in front of me and asleep as meal time, I don't think I'd expect them to wake up just for me.

Others thoughts on this one?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So what is the etiquette if you are beat, planning on skipping the meal and just want to go to sleep? Ie, you are fully reclined come meal time, aren't eating. Should you be expected to wake up, put your seat forward?

Personally, that's not me. I take my meals. But if someone was in front of me and asleep as meal time, I don't think I'd expect them to wake up just for me.

Others thoughts on this one?

yes - even if you are asleep it is usual on many airlines the crew will ask you to put your seat forward (you can continue to sleep of course). I've even seen crew on one airline manually press the button and raise the (still sleeping) passenger upright! (The passenger woke sometime later and reclined again, but by that time service was over).

Generally if it is a late night flight and everyone wants to sleep the meal service is also quicker (and tailored with fewer courses or might even just be a snack or sandwich). if that's the case and I plan on skipping the meal I just go to sleep upright and when I wake up recline then.

 

[Mal Ware]

I am 185cm (6 foot one for you old timers) and I generally don't have to recline if I need to sleep.

I bet most of the recliners on this thread 170cm and below!

Just like the midgets you see sometimes in an exit row.

 

[Mal Ware]

So what is the etiquette if you are beat, planning on skipping the meal and just want to go to sleep? Ie, you are fully reclined come meal time, aren't eating. Should you be expected to wake up, put your seat forward?

Personally, that's not me. I take my meals. But if someone was in front of me and asleep as meal time, I don't think I'd expect them to wake up just for me.

Others thoughts on this one?

Can't answer that one, if they full reclined on me there is no way they would be able to sleep. I would make sure of that. :mrgreen:

 

[Hvr]

Can't answer that one, if they full reclined on me there is no way they would be able to sleep. I would make sure of that. :mrgreen:

And you of course don't recline at all?

As a big bloke I would find it a bit uncomfortable if the seat in front of me was fully reclined but I certainly wouldn't retaliate against the incumbent.

One of the benefits of having WP status is choosing better seats than the majority of the people on board. I always choose the exit row aisle and if possible move to the first row of economy at T-80. Neither seat has a problem with recliners.Surely if we have the ability to plan ahead and choose our seats wisely then this isn't really a problem.

 

[whatmeworry]

We either have to have seats that do not recline or set periods when you can recline in Y.

Anyway a good pic if you are tall in Y.



Economy class seats | Legroom on Australian airlines | Travellers' Check

 

[Mal Ware]

And you of course don't recline at all?

Not usually no, on the rare occasion that I do, I swing back and check with the person behind me. I usually see if it is a tall or big person when they sit down in which case I would not even consider it.

Flying in Y I often pay for the exit row internationally and even though I cannot be reclined on, I don't do it to the person behind me, unless it was a smallish person and I would still check first.

 

[dajop]

you raise a good point - but not all seats and situations are the same. The full and quick recline could be completely accidental and dependent on the angle of climb for example, or how 'stiff' the seat recline is.

Yes, true I've experienced that being on both sides of this (and not too mention the auto-reclining, ie broken, seats), but to be honest those making genuine mistakes are usually a little apologetic or correct them in some way. The ones who don't usually exhibit other obnoxious behavior characteristics as well - hogging armrests, being rude to flight attendants/ignoring instructions etc. I noticed a guy the other day who was asked to put his seat up during the meal service, and then as soon as the FA moved on put it back - and he wasn't sleeping or anything, in fact he was eating a meal like everyone else, a little selfish.

Seats recline. in the old days with a single front-of-cabin movie screen everyone was asked to fully recline their seats during the movie so everyone could see! Never had complaints back then! (ok the seat pitch was a little more generous in those days). ?

Yes, I am sure it was more than the almost standard 31" these days. Fly on a carrier with 34" pitch and being reclined on doesn't seem so bad. On the other hand I think the newer style seats are quite a good solution, whereby it's a combination of recline and seat base going forward - better than the CX shell seat option - and better than seats that recline more deeply.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I remember reading another thread somewhere where the 'anti-recline' sentiment was nothing really to do with the loss of personal space, but was about the person 'losing control' - feeling intimidated and bullied by the recliner (because the person in front was able to take away something from the the person behind without having to ask, or without having to pay any 'price').

That feeling of victimisation could explain counter measures such as yanking a seat while getting up, or jamming knees into the back of the seat in front... some people only feel equal if they have equal control over a situation. As a self esteem issue it was a sad thread to read.

 

[flyingfan]

So what is the etiquette if you are beat, planning on skipping the meal and just want to go to sleep? Ie, you are fully reclined come meal time, aren't eating. Should you be expected to wake up, put your seat forward?

Personally, that's not me. I take my meals. But if someone was in front of me and asleep as meal time, I don't think I'd expect them to wake up just for me.

Others thoughts on this one?

IMO yes, you should be expected to wake up (and will be woken up) even if you don't intend to eat and this is the way I've always seen it done. It's about the fact that the seat is reclining significantly into the space of the person at the back rather than the sleep status of the person in front that matters.

I should also add that this recline or not to recline debate will never have an end, so long as people (myself most definitely included) are only prepared to pay for Y

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Can't answer that one, if they full reclined on me there is no way they would be able to sleep. I would make sure of that. :mrgreen:

Are you saying that if I purchase a seat in Y, with a recline function, and with you behind me, l would not be able to use this function?

WOW.

OP, in future, just use Serfty's method.

 

[pippy]

I can not believe this is such a hot topic.

There is a recline function and I expect the person in front of me to recline at some point and I will recline also at some point. I don't expect the person in front to ask and I don't have eyes in the back of my head to see what's happening behind me. Although I do usually do the small partial reclines instead of one sudden one.

i didn't realise people get so worked up about it. It is just a part of flying. Although an experience I had years ago should have alerted me to the fact that reclining can be an issue. (Which is why I now use the slow recline method)

On an overnight flight a long time ago I had my daughter, about 10 at the time with her head asleep on my lap, I went to recline and it didn't go back, I thought it needed a nudge so I pushed back harder and the man behind me yelled at me for being an idiot and that as he was over 6 feet tall did I not realise he was deliberately preventing me from reclining, then he swore at me again. I pulled the blanket over my head and cried, later when I got a grip I made a point of biding my time and reclining all the way. Sorry not my problem he was tall and flying in Y on a low cost carrier at that. Of course the fact that he was incredibly rude to me made me not give a rats.

But seriously I had no clue there even was an "etiquette" and that I am suppose to check the height of the passenger travelling behind me or if they are intending to eat/use a laptop or check if they prefer me not to recline because it annoys them.

Nah bugger it while there is a recline option I will use it and expect everyone else to as well especially on an overnight or long haul flight.

 

[dfcatch]

God damn this thread is depressing

Lucky for me EF just advised me QF16 has a U seat available..... ))


Then again - Guess I'll have to leave trying 32A till next time

"No recliners for me... no recliners for me......"