Is eating more important than sleeping ?

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simoninsingapore

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Jun 27, 2007
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So here's the thing. I've heard a lot of people complain about passengers in front of them throwing their seat back during meal service. Me, I don't really care too much about food, fullstop. I care about sleep. And I travel a lot over night, so it's more than a minor inconvenience for me that the person behind me is getting stroppy at 2am and they're being served "dinner" and want me to put my seat upright. Particularly when I've popped a magic pill, have got Mazzy Star on my MP3 player, and am all set for dreamtime. Invariably, this person behind me is the size of a truck and wouldn't know what hunger was if it got up and gave him a sloppy french kiss, but anyway ... I've been dragged into lots of uncomfortable situations where the hostie is pulled in as an accomplice to trying to get me to put my seat up while the bloke behind me gorges himself on food he doesn't need. I've developed a number of strategies to win the battle, but the wrong and right of it still puzzles me. Do I have a right to sling my seat back that trumps the right of the person behind me to have unfettered access to his/her meal tray ? Sleeping or eating: which wins ?
 
Eating - not everyone is a binging food hound or a pill popping recliner. If the drugs are good enough then you should be able to sleep seated rather than reclined by 20 degrees...
 
I spill stuff on myself reclined or upright :)
Don't have a problem getting to my food if somebody is reclined though, not sure what the big deal is.
E
 
Is democracy more important than anarchy?


I'm not sure of any airline that serves dinner at 2am, but if they do and you are in cattle class then you are obliged to bring your seat upright. You have the freedom to choose whether or not you eat, you do not have the right to make that decision for the person behind you.

The crew will dim the cabin lights when it is time to sleep and therefore reasonable to recline ... if you don't like that then travel First Class or get a hotel room.



Cheers,


Andrew

.
 
Ok take take your point about the dimmed lights, but notice in Y they always are very very late to dim the lights ! in J and F they are off as soon as reasonable, dim even during meal service so people can sleep.

Anyway i never answered the question.... 90% of the time sleep is most important to me. sometimes i watch a movie. I find sleep helps witht he jetlag reduction.

E
 
I don't see it as much of a problem (but still prefer the seat in front of me is upright), BUT when you have a drink on the table, and the person suddenly lets the seat fly straight up into an upright position, it can get very uncomfortable/frustrating especially if something is spilled.
 
I am not an expert but I do not think that the 15 or 20 degrees recline makes that much difference in be able to sleep or not.

If I am tired I will sleep but most times I am awake either doing sudokus or watching movies and most times with a beer or scotch and coke. If the person in front reclines, I can't get the tray table down in front of me, then I have to get my body into a weird angles for long periods and it makes me very uncomfortable.

One of the reasons I made sure I got QF Gold and now QF Platinum status was to try to get bulkheads and exit rows on most long haul flights. This way no one in front of me to recline and I can have a somewhat comfortable flight, if there is such a thing. So far so good....
 
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I love airline food - so eating for me. :)
No seriously, I've tried re-creating the experience at home...:oops:
I once asked SQ for an airline meal recipe but they said they couldn't help me.

Flying SQ economy I've always managed to get bulkhead or emergency exit row seating (sometimes with the aid of a guardian angel...) so the reclined seating affecting my meal tray in Y is not an issue. I'm always happy to wait for the person behind me to finish their meals before reclining though. :)
 
To be honest, if I want to sleep enough, then I can sleep with the seatback upright. I often don't bother reclining my seat at all in the first place so that I don't have to wake up to de-recline my seat for the person behind me. (Yes I do like my sleep - I live in a chronic state of sleep deprivation, and travelling in economy is a damn good excuse to sleep and do no work - no in-seat power :mrgreen:)

I'm a small person but I do find it a bit hard to access the food if the person in front of me reclines his/her seat fully, so I can sympathise with people that want you to put your seat upright.

However, as someone who likes sleeping, I do sympathise with the opening poster if he has difficulty sleeping with the seatback upright. Maybe getting used to sleeping with the seat upright would be an answer? Falling asleep in an uncomfortable office chair does the trick (seriously...).
 
If I haven't eaten, then eating is important but if I have, sleeping is more important.
As for the debate on who should get preference to seat position during meal service, I think it is generally accepted that seats in economy remain upright during the meal service.
So simoninsingapore, what are some of your strategies (so I can develop counter strategies next time I have someone like you on my next flight ;) )
 
When I fly, be it in economy class or other class, I tend to think of others and keep my seat upright all the time. No matter how big a plane is, it is still never roomy enough.

Even with an upright sits, there are times when I got some people who somehow keep kicking my seats this is annoying, I can't think what happen if my seats is reclined. But once again understanding is the key to any peace ;)
 
Zulaiha said:
When I fly, be it in economy class or other class, I tend to think of others and keep my seat upright all the time. No matter how big a plane is, it is still never roomy enough.

Even with an upright sits, there are times when I got some people who somehow keep kicking my seats this is annoying, I can't think what happen if my seats is reclined. But once again understanding is the key to any peace ;)
Not sure I completely agree there. I think it's perfectly ok to be expected to keep my seat upright during meal times and am personally more than happy to do so, but at other times I think my right to recline is implied by the reclining function of the seats.

Last time I had some dude who kept kicking at my seat - the very nice stewardess in my cabin and her colleagues sorted him out in a jiffy after I made a rather polite complaint. ;)

If more room is needed - pay, whether using cash or mileage, to fly in a roomier COS - whether Y+, J or F. Otherwise you do have to expect the 34" of seatpitch or less, and the possibility of being reclined into at a closer proximity than you'd like.
 
Well i can't sleep upright :( but i woudl always be that way for meal service, even if the person in front isnot i don't care.

As for paying or pointing your way to a larger pitch, if only it was possibly, some of my flights like tomorrow at J0/Y0 for ages, 100% full.

E
 
Evan said:
As for paying or pointing your way to a larger pitch, if only it was possibly, some of my flights like tomorrow at J0/Y0 for ages, 100% full.
All i was alluding to is the need to have realistic expectations for the COS booked in/paid for. :)
 
I usually sleep rather than eat & find that inclining the seat doesn't help so I keep my seat upright all the time.

It can be difficult to eat when the seat in front is inclined, particularly on TG.
 
When we fly, we share the aluminium can we are in with a large group of people, and I think it is fair that we should consider others and not be utterly selfish. These days, I think it is generally accepted that if someone wants to have the meal, then the person in front should have their seat upright.

Just because you want to sleep, does not mean everyone else does and due to the way seats work being able to compromise with your fellow passengers on this seems to be a fair thing to do.
 
I find one of the few pleasures of flying is looking forward to the food ie takes mind off boredom of sitting in the one spot for long periods of time and mentally holding up the aircraft for the entire journey (not as bad as i once was).

Just getting off topic what is the general rule re the armrest situation. I am talking cattle class I guess. I find the arm rest very narrow - won't take two at a time! Is it first in best dressed? Must say i am not what you would say a walking example of anorexia.
 
Zulaiha said:
When I fly, be it in economy class or other class, I tend to think of others and keep my seat upright all the time.
If I was to get a skybed I'm not sure I would be upright for the whole flight. ;)

I'm not overly tall so I don't have a huge problem if the person if front of me reclines but I am alway quite embarrassed to recline myself. I always wait for the meal to be finished and then collected.

I cam sympathize with the OP though. On all the midnight flights to Europe out of Brisbane, the first thing I'm after is sleep. If the crew take two hours to serve a "refreshment and collect it" it can get a little frustrating. That said, I generally don't have too many problems sleeping upright, particularly if I'm tired.

As far as jetlag goes, its been scientifically proven that eating is quite important, particularly on long sectors across long time zones.
 
littl_flier said:
As far as jetlag goes, its been scientifically proven that eating is quite important, particularly on long sectors across long time zones.

Never knew that. Good thing I LOVE airline food then. :D
 
Zulaiha said:
When I fly, be it in economy class or other class, I tend to think of others and keep my seat upright all the time. No matter how big a plane is, it is still never roomy enough.
I agree. When I am in bulkhead or exit row the person behind me will be very lucky as I do not need to recline and they will have a pleasant experience if at all possible in that tiny metal tube in the sky.

Just getting off topic slightly but for anyone who has done a cost saver escorted tour anywhere in the world would understand how easily you learn to sleep on a coach in an upright position. When you are out until 2:00-3:00am drinking, or not, and you are on a coach, no spare seats, at 7:00am you really have no choice other than to sleep upright. If I remember correctly these seats do not offer any recline. It is only the premium escorted tours with the seats that recline.

andersen.joyce said:
Just getting off topic what is the general rule re the armrest situation. I am talking cattle class I guess. I find the arm rest very narrow - won't take two at a time! Is it first in best dressed? Must say i am not what you would say a walking example of anorexia.
I am probably the same type of build. I have been lucky in that I have had aisle for majority of flights, some have been window, and in this situation where I have someone sitting next to me I do not bother to rest against the arm rest between us. I give them the benefit of the doubt, as they are stuck between two people, and I lean over slightly towards the aisle for the duration of the flight except for meal times.
 
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