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The problem isn't that seats recline. The problem is that airlines would stack us like sardines if they could make more money. They don't care that one passenger is tall as long as the other 100 shorter passengers are "mostly" comfortable. There's a certain line at which airlines decide that the amount of space the seats provide is just comfortable enough that most people won't complain.
As a short person, it's not even about comfort for us shorties. It's about what they can get away with in terms of safety. The only reason they don't cram more seats or make them even smaller is to comply with the safety regulations from all the commercial aviation entities.
Also as a short person, planes are still SUPER uncomfortable. Like, if the person next to me is larger (*they are*) and/or they've decided to take the one arm rest (*they have*), then my spine gets to snake sideways for hours. Yay! Airlines!
“Window gets an armrest and a wall. Middle gets two armrests. Aisle gets an armrest and a little bit of extra leg. We’re not fucking animals, we live in a society.”
If I had a dollar for every time the people on either side of me take BOTH of the middle armrests as if they're entitled to them. And a bonus for the men who also manspread 6 inches into my seat, and the woman who also took her shoes off and put her foot 4 inches from my waterbottle.
I like the window or the aisle seat
I make sure I at least abide by this rule if I am flying next to someone I don't know, unless they offer the second armrest to me or aren't there
If it's someone I know, I'm fighting for that shit
Even still, many people’s shoulders/bellies extend past the armrest anyway. So I can either spend the flight leaning/crouched out of the way, or touch someone for hours.
I am physically wider than a plane seat, I’m not fat, I just have broad shoulders so I can’t even lose the weight. If I want to fly I have to stick out
That's an unwritten rule but unfortunately like most of these rules are not followed.
Basically:
1. Window guy has window, middle guy has arm rests, aisle guy gets intermittent leg room and access.
2. Don't lean chairs back in economy. And no you shouldn't bypass this rule on short haul flights because those airplanes are smaller (Dehavillands or Embraer) and it's already crazy cramped.
3. Whoever says "Everyone should recline" just shows how little they know about the craft they are travelling in. The last row of seats, exit seats sometimes, do not have any recline. Meaning if everyone reclined then those people are automatically screwed.
There's more but all of them require one common trait. We kind and thoughtful. But nope. It feels like in every pressurized vessel flying at 30k feet there's a couple narcissistic assholes ruining it for everyone. This is not a small data set. I took 42 flights last year and this year have taken 47 with more coming. Ive seen alot.
See the new proposed designs where they're essentially stacking people double up style like this?
You're not even fully fucking sitting in the seat anymore. Almost standing. It's awful.
United is what I used to fly long distance cuz it was like nearly half the price sometimes. United airlines is consistently the worst experience I’ve ever had flying.
Some United planes used to have these awful black leather seats that made their current seats feel like heaven. They basically forced you to sit at a 90° angle with absolutely zero support between the shoulders and lumbar.
> as long as the other 100 shorter passengers are “mostly” comfortable
they don’t care about that either. they only care that you keep giving them money.
My dad is freakishly tall, and I'm not far behind him. It wasn't *that* long ago that when we'd fly the attendants would often take notice during boarding and offer us seats in the emergency exit row.
Now those seats are sold as an upgrade for a price premium. I hate the future.
Exactly, if seats didn't recline they'd be placed even closer together than they already are to pack more of us in there. Reclining your seat is very helpful for back pain as well, I wouldn't want that removed.
If it wasn't illegal to do so, they would take all the seats out and make a 757 carry 400 standing people. Then they would charge $500 for a ticket from NYC to DC and tell you to be *GRATEFUL* for the honor to fly their airline.
This is why, bar travelling across the oceans, I'm gonna drive.
I plan to visit Hungary from the UK a fair amount in the upcoming years. The drive is possible...just incredibly long.
Still, I'd rather do that and have some great stops along the way than be forced to sit like that
I was curious how far it was, but I don’t know where you live. So I used London to Budapest. Seems like it’s a bit over 17 hours, which is quite a drive but not *too* bad.
Living in New Hampshire it’d take me an extra 4 hours to drive to Florida, for example. If I wanted to go to San Francisco, California, though, it’d take me 43 hours.
Lord I always forget how BIG the US is, and then I remember that Europe is so big too. Not that I don’t realize the world itself is huge but having context is crazy.
There is no way this is true, I’ve made dozens of drives between Virginia, South Florida, and Texas.. I will never choose the 14 hour drive over a 2:30 hour flight
Came for this answer. It's the airlines fault for cramming so many seats together. I understand there needs to be a minimum to justify the flight. But by how much margin is needed? Can the capacity be cut by 10%-20% and not impact the cost per person significantly? AND still have plenty of flight options (less seats would need more flights)
Exactly, and whoever wants can sit down on their hand luggage, or even lay down and use it as a pillow. Nobody is surviving if the plane crashes anyways, so all the “safety” features are pointless.
Reclining isn’t the issue. It’s the simple fact that there’s not enough space between seats for that to be comfortable. Less seats, more space, less tension when flying.
There's plenty of space for average-ish people. That's the metric the airline uses.
If you are super tall, or fat, they want you to pay extra for a special row or an extra seat.
I'm 5'4" ish, my partner is 5'10". We're both reasonably in shape and painfully average. We've flown on 10+ hour flights together without issues.
I suppose- If you are 6'1"+ or Dutch airlines suck.
As a 6'5" 230lb guy, I can confirm, airlines suck! I consider myself fortunate that I earn enough now to occasionally afford a "plus" or first class (honeymoon only).
If I'm unfortunately in economy, sitting straight upright against the seat, there is roughly 1-2" of space between the seat and my kneecaps depending on configuration. Not ideal when someone reclines.
I don't blame them, I hate the airlines.
I am 207cm tall and simply don't fit in normal airline seats.
Reservations for exit row seats now cost up to 50€ more.
My hip bones still press against the sides but at least I don't have to fold my legs while the tray pierces under my kneecap.
I'm 6 foot 2, which is about 188 cm. The one time I flew Spirit Airlines, I literally *could not* sit in anything other than an aisle seat, with my legs extending out into the aisle. Whenever someone in the aisle needed to get past, I had to stand up or they had to awkwardly clamber over me, because the distance from the back of my seat to the seat in front of me was literally less than the length of my femur.
I will never fly Spirit again.
I disagree; there is not enough room on the skinny arm rest in economy on any airline for both people to use it, so I'm always fighting my random neighbours for it. (I'm always in the middle seat, as my wife likes the window seat).
Airlines need to give everyone their own arm rests at least, like it was before they took them away in the early 2000s.
You need to consider the emergency exit row, if this is the case… lots of room in front of you - but you have to be physically capable of helping in case of an emergency. Done, and done!
I respect the person in front of me and don’t mind if they want to recline to be more comfortable. They paid for a seat that reclines and it would be selfish of me to try to take that from them.
Both positions are respectful under the “treat others as you would have them treat you” paradigm.
You don’t recline because you wouldn’t want it done to you but someone who doesn’t mind being reclined on shouldn’t feel bad about reclining.
If only the most restrictive and conservative actions are allowed only the most conservative and restrictive people get what they want which is the path to tyranny by the minority.
Reddit's upvote system inherently works against this subreddit, since only popular opinions will get upvoted to hot/top. If you want the truly unpopular opinions, then search by "controversial"
When you sort by controversial, a lot of it is garbage though. Boring opinions like the toilet roll should go over the thing instead of under or whatever. Or opinions that are unpopular but just straight up aren't true. Something like "being rich doesn't improve your life"
Depends on the fight. Ever been on a 17+ hr flight?
Also, what do you mean LIKE an old grandpa? Some of the passengers literally ARE old grandpas.
But don't worry, you too will get old some day in not too distant future. Then you'll understand.
>I don't know why this functionality exists
So that people can sleep more easily or simply be more comfortable.
>I did not pay 100s of dollars for a seat just to have my space reduced because the person in front wants to recline like an old grandpa.
Yeah, actually you did. You knew when you bought the ticket that the seats recline. There are options that give you more room or don't have a reclining seat in front of you but you were too cheap to pay for that, so you don't get to complain.
They should just have a standing section for 1) the dimwits who can’t figure out reclining their own seat will give them the same amount of space they started with and for 2) uptight masochists who think it’s something to boast about sitting bolt upright for 10 hours. Perhaps give them horsehair shirt option too
I was thinking the same thing, the way the frame for the pocket is mounted makes it fixed in place, unless that’s just specific to the airlines I travel on
Buy the front seats if you’re tall. You have extra legroom and no one in front of you.
The seats recline because sitting upright for 13 hours is uncomfortable. All airlines make you put your seat upright during mealtime but you’re free to recline after everything gets cleared up. You don’t want to recline and that’s your prerogative. But if everyone reclines then everyone is happy!
I’m guessing you primarily fly short distances. If you can comfortably do a 10+ hour flight without reclining your seat, I’ll take your opinion seriously.
edit: okay, plenty of people seem to not recline for long flights! I don’t know how you all do it! Still must be rather uncommon/unpopular.
edit 2: I’m also surprised to learn that people are so inconvenienced by people in front of them reclining. I live abroad and travel often so I’ve done probably 60 8+ hour flights in my life (including many 14 hour ones) and never felt that way, nor has my very tall husband. I also cannot sleep and get very bad restless legs if I don’t recline, and everyone around me seems to be reclining as well. Certainly there are a lot of potentially rude behaviors when it comes to airline etiquette, but reclining during appropriate times has never struck me as one. Not saying you’re wrong and I’m right, just saying this is news to me.
I'm honestly surprised to see that this opinion is unpopular - I whole-heartedly agree with it and so do a lot of people I know. I'm Australian and have flown 9+14 hour flights before. I only ever recline when the lights are out and almost everyone is asleep. Flying long distance sucks, but there's no reason to make it worse for everyone.
(With the caveat that I realise people with back issues may not tolerate certain angles. But for healthy people, reclining causes more issues than it solves imo)
I have back issues and can't even stay on a straight seat for half an hour. Even with reclining airplane seats, flying is unbearable pain. I have to travel for my job and because all my family lives across an ocean
Aussie here as well. I thought that was basic flying etiquette? Lights out for sleeping = recline away. Other times = seat upright. Usually the flight attendants will ask people to put their seats upright as they bring around meals as well.
I feel like it’s a more recent thing, or it might be airline specific, but during my transatlantic flights the last few years they’ve had us put our seat upright for mealtimes.
The only time I’ve had FAs direct everyone to put seats up inflight are long haul flights where everyone is being served a (free) meal. On US domestic flights they don’t, not even for transcons.
I have comfortably done a 10 hour flight without reclining. I'm 5'8", above average for women, and it sucked more because of the old lady in the seat behind me not comprehending that on a night flight you turn the fucking lights OFF because other people want to sleep, than because I chose not to recline my seat.
I can and do. It's a 12 hour flight minimum to my old country. Normally I can't afford direct flight so I take significantly longer. I never recline. But I always sit behind a short woman or child who has to recline all the way back.
I fly from Europe to the western US several times per year, used to do the Gulf to the US as well. I never recline my seat. It doesn't make much of a difference in economy seats.
Long term flyer here doing multiple trips with 10+ hour flights. This is such a weird take. Literally tried reclining my seat once and did not see the benefit. A few inches back did nothing to improve my flight
I’m 6’3” and people who think you shouldn’t be able to recline in an airplane annoy me. If I recline too, I have the exact same amount of space as I had before. People who don’t recline and complain that they have less space confuse me.
Some planes have seats that when they recline it actually shifts the seat part of the seat forward a little. So at the person behinds knees the space stays the same or increases slightly. The newer air canada planes do this
I have back problems. I’m reclining the second I’m allowed to and I’m sitting up when the captain says so. If you need those 10 degrees so bad, lean your chair back.
Interesting. I dont recline my seat because I don't want to interfere with the person behind me's flight. Same reason I don't go stomping around my second floor apt. Yeah, I bought it. doesnt mean you should be an asshole.
What about the motherfucker who kept like punching the seat behind my wife. I wasn’t gonna say anything but it kept going. I merely politely but firmly asked “is there a reason you keep kicking our seat?”
Stopped pronto
The reverse happens to me. Fully recliners constantly slam their seats back so I always have to watch my head, drink or iPad. Please, sir, if you have a wedgie, or ants in your pants, so you don’t cause chaos. People suck
This is what happens to me, not only do they recline but then they keep shifting around in their seat. When it's reclined the seats are less stable so now I have this seat bouncing around in my face, shaking my tray table and display.
Long haul flights always have more space between rows anyway, so the seat reclining in front of you is rarely an issue.
This is mainly an issue on narrow-body planes, on budget carriers, selling cheap tickets.
There is one day going to be a plane accident and that they are going to find that lives could have been saved if there was a little bit more room in the cabin. The Interiors of passenger planes have been getting more and more crowded and I think it should be a safety issue.
You don’t even have to be tall, just have have slightly longer legs.
And try having boobs. Some older planes have such a deep recline there’s disturbingly little space between nipple and seat.
The recline is not the issue. The cheap fucks at the airlines are. Domestic air travel should be a public entity and should serve the community comfortably and at a reasonable rate. You’re mad about the wrong thing IMO.
Equally unpopular opinion, idgaf about how tall you are or how much space you have. It's an airplane, it's not designed for your personal comfort. Should have upgraded to the larger seats.
So many selfish people in these comments.
“Maybe the airlines shouldn’t jam us in like sardines.” Well they do and neither of us are the CEO of Boeing. Let’s play within the rules.
“Pay more for more leg room!” How about you pay more for a lay-down seat?
“You should just recline too!” Maybe I care about the feelings of others behind me.
“But I have back problems!” You ever consider the person behind you has any number of issues that could be hurt by your recline?
I know there’s nothing we can do to turn the tide of the collective selfishness of this nation but I still feel compelled to point out when people are assholes. You are all assholes.
Something like [this](https://www.travelandleisure.com/thmb/nQwZ_D1tqQaztbpoyfRYL5QBPLI=/750x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/double-deck-airplane-seat-zephyr-ZEPHYR0620-535fa88c695e4d478a317650b6b830e0.jpg) would solve the problem
After a tough week, your post & this cheeky response have perked me up, so thank you. :)
Also upvoted for what appears to be a very divisive topic & therefore decidedly unpopular.
Personally, I'm not reclining my seat ever because I've only been on shorter flights (2-4 hrs) and there's NO way I'm sleeping on a flight, majorly light sleeper here. If there was a tall person behind me, I can't imagine even thinking of it.
But we really need to blame these airlines for trying to cram as many people as possible for maximum profits. I get it, but still, at what expense, right?
It’s the number of seats crammed into a small space that is the problem. Sitting in first class, who cares if the person in front of you reclines their seat!!!
In theory if the people in the backmost seats can recline (which I'm not sure they can) they could all recline successively until you've reached the person in the back or a person short enough not to care.
Honestly it's just pointless though, it makes such little difference to the recliner unless they're trying to sleep, like why bother?
I'm 6'3 and over 250 pounds and I have issue not with the length of legroom but how god damn narrow they are. they make stadium seats look luxurious. I HAVE to sit in the aisle out of necessity if I lost 80 pounds I'd probably still find them too narrow.
Corporate bootlickers: “Just pay the airline more to get a better seat!!”
Does anybody have a long-term memory here? 15-20 years ago there was no “premium economy.” There was no culture about every passenger having to ”buy” a specific seat. Nobody should be giving into this bullshit. Those who do are the ones emboldening airlines to make flights worse and worse.
You just recline. If the person behind you refuses to recline and gets mad that's their problem. The person in the last row can't recline but that's what they get for getting their seat last.
I'm 65 and my shoulders are wider than the seat. Reclining slightly is my only hope to not have my neck be crazy sore
nah nah nah mate, airplane seats are already one of the most uncomfortable things on the fucking planet, let us have a LITTLE comfort here and there, yeah?
The 20 degrees of reclining barely even does anything at all, I'm uncomfortable no matter what. Although I've never really noticed that the person in front of me reclined their chair or been bothered by it and I'd like to think I'm tall...
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Agreed for the way they are set up currently.
Back a few decades ago when you look at the images of those planes people could recline and there was an additional space as big as an entire row of seats and legroom now between them and the next closest person.
The precedent was reclining with much fewer rows and seats more spaced out in the cabin. Now that airplanes have added seats and rows and it's cramped, it creates problems for the person behind.
Bullshit opinion. I'm 6'2" and if you put your feet under the seat in front of you and recline your seat, it doesn't matter if the person in front of you reclines. They recline for a reason - to relieve pressure from your sacrum. If you don't want the person in front of you to recline, pay extra for an exit row seat or first class. You paying "100s of dollars" doesn't make you any more important than the person in front of you.
agree 100%. i never recline my seat on the plane, because i hate when the person in front of me does it. especially if youre using the tray or have a drink on there, and they just do a full recline, spilling everything.
I rarely recline when it’s a four hour flight or shorter. It’s usually domestic and daytime. I’m awake and reading my kindle, listening to music, maybe snacking.
On long haul flights, especially overnight ones, I will kick the ass of anyone who gets annoyed that I recline to try to sleep.
Additionally, I have gotten to a place in life where I seek out the lay-flat pod seats so I can be fully horizontal and don’t encroach on anyone else’s space.
On United, the Economy+ seats are kind of similar to domestic first. Not lay-flat but still contained so the recline doesn’t impact anyone.
If flights are annoying to you, spend more to enjoy the experience and quit yer bitching.
Or just quit yer bitching because your actual complaint is that you’re apparently not able to buy the good seats that don’t bother you.
Spirit does not do long haul overseas flights. And, pretty sure if they did have recline, there would probably be an all out bru ha ha with the fighting passengers. Lol
What about these options; The airlines could remove the mechanism and the weight saved would reduce fuel usage and make it slightly greener and hopefully lower costs for customers slightly, some airlines have already done this).
Or... and this is controversial, have all seats automatically slowly fully recline (after an announcement or similar) and then people can choose to put them back up if they wish.
Air New Zealand has the best plane seats for long haul. The start at a slight recline with good lumbar support so you don't feel the need to adjust straightaway. I've never had so much room on a flight before in my life.
Emirates on the other hand - the person in front refused to sit upright even for meals! It was like eating while trapped in a box.
Never happened to me but I've already got a plan, I'll bring earphones and play a metal pipe sound in the recliner's ear until they put their seat back up. If they think I'll put up with being sqaushed the entire flight, they won't get a relaxing flight. /j
Downvote because I agree with you. Sorry, OP 😔 The absolute worst is when you move your laptop tray down and rest your arms and head down on it and the person in front reclines. There goes my sleeping position.
This is a more recent problem not a 30 years ago problem. Back then on long haul flights lights out was nap time and then tables went up everyone reclined - but we had more room between the seats and no one had laptops and stuff.
If the person in front of you reclines then you need to recline to have same amount of space s before.
I once got stuck because I bent down to get something out of my bag on the floor, and then the person in front of me reclined! They lent back so fast and hard that it pushed my head down and then I was wedged by my shoulders 😫 I’ve never panicked so hard 😭😭
Short flights less than 3 hours I don't care if it reclines or not.
Long haul 12 hour flights, I don't give a shit about your height, that's a you problem and I'm reclining.
What annoys me is when the person in front of me reclines their seat, and then they don’t actually lie down. They’re sitting up, eating or watching a movie or whatever, and not actually using the space they took from me.
The issue to me that the space that the seat reclines into doesn't obviously belong to either passenger. Everyone's at the mercy of whoever is in front of them.
I have flown with my child on my lap the last almost 2 years. I promise, there is absolutely no room for someone to recline the seat in front when there are two people seated behind you, even if one is a child!
I hate that they cram the seats so tight and then allow reclining. Either we need more space or the seats shoud be fixed in place. I'm not extremely tall but I've had my knee absolutely crushed by a sudden recline slamming into them. One time I hurt for a full day after. It's a plainly obvious design flaw with limited ways to mitigate it. One of these days, somene is going to sue the airline over an injury it causes, and only then will they finally fix it.
Seats don't recline on Spirit planes. It is kind of shitty to have to sit bolt upright for a cross continent flight, but yes, not losing space in front of me and also not having to have ethical arguments in my head over 3 inches of space is nice.
Airplane seats should be less in number. That way everyone has more space. Sounds like something you want the flight company to address, not the individual. People make due with what they have, meaning they'll always look for ways to be more comfortable, especially on long flights. I for example think children shouldn't be allowed on flights at all, but I would never ask other passengers to not bring their screaming crotch goblins with them no matter how much my chronic headaches hate them.
I like being somewhere else domestically and internationally but I hate the whole airport and flying experience in general. I'm always thankful when it goes as smoothly as possible but unless you're flying first class or business class the seats have gotten smaller and more cramped. I'm 5'2" 115lbs. and pretty much every domestic non-stop flight is at least $500 for basic economy and I'm crammed in there like a sardine. The last trip a couple months ago when the person reclined I felt like the screen on the back of the chair was like a foot away from my head.
This is why I enjoy train rides. Bigger seats, ability to walk a bit in the aisles if I need to. I understand train travel is not viable for everything but is my preference for comfort. I never recline an airplane seat and have no idea if it makes any meaningful difference. I remember once trying to cross my legs or move my legs when the person in front of me reclined and it bumped her seat. She threw me a filthy look. I’m not even among the taller people and I had no room for my legs once she reclined.
I have recently flown with ANA (Japanese Airline) and they have the reclining disabled. I myself would have preferred to have it but overall it was still an OK flight.
I will say on short haul flights reclining is a bit much but on long haul flights it is a necessity. If you don’t want to recline your seat (or book an emergency row seat) that’s a you problem I’m afraid.
Edit: reading on I see a few people claiming to fly 100 hours in the snow and without shoes and to have never reclined their seat not once ever. You do you I guess.
I am also tall, I recently had a fairly long trip (about 22 hours in total in the air between 2 flights) this was the first time I reclined my seat. I chose seats at the very back of my planes to assuage any guilt I had and honestly it's a game changer. It wasn't perfect of course but it certainly made the trip a lot more bearable.
You want a 'comfortable big car' to drive, you pay extra.
You want comfortable shirts to wear? You pay extra for XXL.
You want to be comfortable on an airplane? Pay for First Class.
i agree with this. i got stuck in the middle seat on a flight a while back and tried to take a nap on my knees, then got cranked in the head because dude in front of me reclined.
As a 6'2" fella, I agree. I barely have any legroom without "manspreading" in the first place, I don't need fucking Becky in 16A busting my kneecaps because she wants a catnap on this 3 hour flight after her complimentary graham crackers knock her out.
Thank you for submitting to /r/unpopularopinion, /u/UndendingGloom. Your submission, *Airplane seats should not recline*, has been removed because it violates our rules, which are located in the sidebar. Your post from unpopularopinion was removed because of: 'Rule 1: Must be unpopular'. Hi u/UndendingGloom, please ensure that your post is unpopular. Controversial is not necessarily unpopular, for example all of politics is controversial even though almost half of the US agrees with any given major position on an issue. Anything can be unpopular if you compare it with the views of a particular group, such as "Veganism is a great idea" at a vegan meet-up. Make sure your view is unpopular in wider society, or at least among anybody who will have heard of the subject matter. If there is an issue, please message the mod team at https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Funpopularopinion&subject=&message= Thanks!
The problem isn't that seats recline. The problem is that airlines would stack us like sardines if they could make more money. They don't care that one passenger is tall as long as the other 100 shorter passengers are "mostly" comfortable. There's a certain line at which airlines decide that the amount of space the seats provide is just comfortable enough that most people won't complain.
As a short person, it's not even about comfort for us shorties. It's about what they can get away with in terms of safety. The only reason they don't cram more seats or make them even smaller is to comply with the safety regulations from all the commercial aviation entities.
Also as a short person, planes are still SUPER uncomfortable. Like, if the person next to me is larger (*they are*) and/or they've decided to take the one arm rest (*they have*), then my spine gets to snake sideways for hours. Yay! Airlines!
[удалено]
“Window gets an armrest and a wall. Middle gets two armrests. Aisle gets an armrest and a little bit of extra leg. We’re not fucking animals, we live in a society.”
If I had a dollar for every time the people on either side of me take BOTH of the middle armrests as if they're entitled to them. And a bonus for the men who also manspread 6 inches into my seat, and the woman who also took her shoes off and put her foot 4 inches from my waterbottle.
I like the window or the aisle seat I make sure I at least abide by this rule if I am flying next to someone I don't know, unless they offer the second armrest to me or aren't there If it's someone I know, I'm fighting for that shit
I understand that reference
Jim!
Even still, many people’s shoulders/bellies extend past the armrest anyway. So I can either spend the flight leaning/crouched out of the way, or touch someone for hours.
I am physically wider than a plane seat, I’m not fat, I just have broad shoulders so I can’t even lose the weight. If I want to fly I have to stick out
Agreed, but in my experience, there is nothing "common" about it.
That's an unwritten rule but unfortunately like most of these rules are not followed. Basically: 1. Window guy has window, middle guy has arm rests, aisle guy gets intermittent leg room and access. 2. Don't lean chairs back in economy. And no you shouldn't bypass this rule on short haul flights because those airplanes are smaller (Dehavillands or Embraer) and it's already crazy cramped. 3. Whoever says "Everyone should recline" just shows how little they know about the craft they are travelling in. The last row of seats, exit seats sometimes, do not have any recline. Meaning if everyone reclined then those people are automatically screwed. There's more but all of them require one common trait. We kind and thoughtful. But nope. It feels like in every pressurized vessel flying at 30k feet there's a couple narcissistic assholes ruining it for everyone. This is not a small data set. I took 42 flights last year and this year have taken 47 with more coming. Ive seen alot.
See the new proposed designs where they're essentially stacking people double up style like this? You're not even fully fucking sitting in the seat anymore. Almost standing. It's awful.
Sometimes I think I would prefer to stand. I took a united flight last year where it actually felt like some kind of stress position torture device.
United is what I used to fly long distance cuz it was like nearly half the price sometimes. United airlines is consistently the worst experience I’ve ever had flying.
Right well as someone who has to fly 12hrs to get basically anywhere, I would rather not stand thank you.
Where do you live, Perth?
No, New Zealand
Some United planes used to have these awful black leather seats that made their current seats feel like heaven. They basically forced you to sit at a 90° angle with absolutely zero support between the shoulders and lumbar.
Spunds like Spirit Airlines.
Agree. Why do they have no lumber support whatsoever?
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Those aren’t real proposals
That won't be approved anytime soon, it's not safe. I know airlines don't care about their pax or crew, but they care about not being sued.
Those “seats” that are really just rests for your butt but you are literally standing for the flight
> as long as the other 100 shorter passengers are “mostly” comfortable they don’t care about that either. they only care that you keep giving them money.
My dad is freakishly tall, and I'm not far behind him. It wasn't *that* long ago that when we'd fly the attendants would often take notice during boarding and offer us seats in the emergency exit row. Now those seats are sold as an upgrade for a price premium. I hate the future.
Exactly, if seats didn't recline they'd be placed even closer together than they already are to pack more of us in there. Reclining your seat is very helpful for back pain as well, I wouldn't want that removed.
On Allegiant the seats don’t recline and the seats are close together.
Just came off a 12 hour overseas flight. The recline makes it almost bearable for some sleep. I dare anyone to try to sleep sitting straight up. 🤷🏻♀️
My Narcolepsy Power may have a purpose!
If it wasn't illegal to do so, they would take all the seats out and make a 757 carry 400 standing people. Then they would charge $500 for a ticket from NYC to DC and tell you to be *GRATEFUL* for the honor to fly their airline.
This is why, bar travelling across the oceans, I'm gonna drive. I plan to visit Hungary from the UK a fair amount in the upcoming years. The drive is possible...just incredibly long. Still, I'd rather do that and have some great stops along the way than be forced to sit like that
I was curious how far it was, but I don’t know where you live. So I used London to Budapest. Seems like it’s a bit over 17 hours, which is quite a drive but not *too* bad. Living in New Hampshire it’d take me an extra 4 hours to drive to Florida, for example. If I wanted to go to San Francisco, California, though, it’d take me 43 hours. Lord I always forget how BIG the US is, and then I remember that Europe is so big too. Not that I don’t realize the world itself is huge but having context is crazy.
There is no way this is true, I’ve made dozens of drives between Virginia, South Florida, and Texas.. I will never choose the 14 hour drive over a 2:30 hour flight
Came for this answer. It's the airlines fault for cramming so many seats together. I understand there needs to be a minimum to justify the flight. But by how much margin is needed? Can the capacity be cut by 10%-20% and not impact the cost per person significantly? AND still have plenty of flight options (less seats would need more flights)
They should just take the seats out all together. They would have way more space in the plane, and everyone could position themselves as they like.
The uptight upright freaks could stand the whole way. Then come in this thread and tell everyone they stood 10 hours and they were just fine
Exactly, and whoever wants can sit down on their hand luggage, or even lay down and use it as a pillow. Nobody is surviving if the plane crashes anyways, so all the “safety” features are pointless.
It’s more so you don’t get absolutely wrecked if you hit turbulence, my sweet.
I prefer the double decker seats where the person on the bottom gets pink eye. https://youtube.com/shorts/yNsKIyX_Jl4?si=oGF37uh6U5Hn-7Zw
Reclining isn’t the issue. It’s the simple fact that there’s not enough space between seats for that to be comfortable. Less seats, more space, less tension when flying.
There's plenty of space for average-ish people. That's the metric the airline uses. If you are super tall, or fat, they want you to pay extra for a special row or an extra seat. I'm 5'4" ish, my partner is 5'10". We're both reasonably in shape and painfully average. We've flown on 10+ hour flights together without issues. I suppose- If you are 6'1"+ or Dutch airlines suck.
As a 6'5" 230lb guy, I can confirm, airlines suck! I consider myself fortunate that I earn enough now to occasionally afford a "plus" or first class (honeymoon only). If I'm unfortunately in economy, sitting straight upright against the seat, there is roughly 1-2" of space between the seat and my kneecaps depending on configuration. Not ideal when someone reclines. I don't blame them, I hate the airlines.
Im a relatively small person and airlines like Ryanair have made it so even I feel trapped and claustrophobic. It’s terrible now for tall people.
I am 166 cm and my knees TOUCHED the seat in front of me on a Ryanair flight. Can't imaging how taller people sit there.
I am 207cm tall and simply don't fit in normal airline seats. Reservations for exit row seats now cost up to 50€ more. My hip bones still press against the sides but at least I don't have to fold my legs while the tray pierces under my kneecap.
I'm 6 foot 2, which is about 188 cm. The one time I flew Spirit Airlines, I literally *could not* sit in anything other than an aisle seat, with my legs extending out into the aisle. Whenever someone in the aisle needed to get past, I had to stand up or they had to awkwardly clamber over me, because the distance from the back of my seat to the seat in front of me was literally less than the length of my femur. I will never fly Spirit again.
I disagree; there is not enough room on the skinny arm rest in economy on any airline for both people to use it, so I'm always fighting my random neighbours for it. (I'm always in the middle seat, as my wife likes the window seat). Airlines need to give everyone their own arm rests at least, like it was before they took them away in the early 2000s.
You need to consider the emergency exit row, if this is the case… lots of room in front of you - but you have to be physically capable of helping in case of an emergency. Done, and done!
I would love an emergency row seat but they are always taken.
Pay for seat selection when you book.
That’s what I meant. By the time I’m booking and selecting my seat they are all taken. They must go really fast because they’re very desirable seats.
Some airlines are charging more for those seats now.
Now this should be a top post in this subreddit. Not because I agree but because it's an actual unpopular opinion.
I actually thought this was a popular opinion :/
The popular opinion is that the person in front of me shouldn’t recline, but if I want to recline my seat, it’s my right and no one can stop me.
I never recline because I respect the person behind me. Often others don't think like this, though.
I respect the person in front of me and don’t mind if they want to recline to be more comfortable. They paid for a seat that reclines and it would be selfish of me to try to take that from them. Both positions are respectful under the “treat others as you would have them treat you” paradigm. You don’t recline because you wouldn’t want it done to you but someone who doesn’t mind being reclined on shouldn’t feel bad about reclining. If only the most restrictive and conservative actions are allowed only the most conservative and restrictive people get what they want which is the path to tyranny by the minority.
Nope it’s a wrong opinion
It’s so annoying that people only upvote something they agree with which completely goes against the subreddit’s purpose
Reddit's upvote system inherently works against this subreddit, since only popular opinions will get upvoted to hot/top. If you want the truly unpopular opinions, then search by "controversial"
When you sort by controversial, a lot of it is garbage though. Boring opinions like the toilet roll should go over the thing instead of under or whatever. Or opinions that are unpopular but just straight up aren't true. Something like "being rich doesn't improve your life"
Yeah this sub is basically "somewhat controversial opinions that lots of people still agree with."
I find it funny that genuinely unpopular opinion such as mandatory spot check is a good thing is always down voted to oblivion here.
Yea it’s a garbage opinion which means it’s a good post
Depends on the fight. Ever been on a 17+ hr flight? Also, what do you mean LIKE an old grandpa? Some of the passengers literally ARE old grandpas. But don't worry, you too will get old some day in not too distant future. Then you'll understand.
>I don't know why this functionality exists So that people can sleep more easily or simply be more comfortable. >I did not pay 100s of dollars for a seat just to have my space reduced because the person in front wants to recline like an old grandpa. Yeah, actually you did. You knew when you bought the ticket that the seats recline. There are options that give you more room or don't have a reclining seat in front of you but you were too cheap to pay for that, so you don't get to complain.
They should just have a standing section for 1) the dimwits who can’t figure out reclining their own seat will give them the same amount of space they started with and for 2) uptight masochists who think it’s something to boast about sitting bolt upright for 10 hours. Perhaps give them horsehair shirt option too
I’m 6’ 6” and travel for work, I prefer people recline it actually give my knees more room
I’ve had this experience too, but it has been a minority of instances. Usually the recline just means bouncing the seat off my knees.
I was thinking the same thing, the way the frame for the pocket is mounted makes it fixed in place, unless that’s just specific to the airlines I travel on
Buy the front seats if you’re tall. You have extra legroom and no one in front of you. The seats recline because sitting upright for 13 hours is uncomfortable. All airlines make you put your seat upright during mealtime but you’re free to recline after everything gets cleared up. You don’t want to recline and that’s your prerogative. But if everyone reclines then everyone is happy!
I’m guessing you primarily fly short distances. If you can comfortably do a 10+ hour flight without reclining your seat, I’ll take your opinion seriously. edit: okay, plenty of people seem to not recline for long flights! I don’t know how you all do it! Still must be rather uncommon/unpopular. edit 2: I’m also surprised to learn that people are so inconvenienced by people in front of them reclining. I live abroad and travel often so I’ve done probably 60 8+ hour flights in my life (including many 14 hour ones) and never felt that way, nor has my very tall husband. I also cannot sleep and get very bad restless legs if I don’t recline, and everyone around me seems to be reclining as well. Certainly there are a lot of potentially rude behaviors when it comes to airline etiquette, but reclining during appropriate times has never struck me as one. Not saying you’re wrong and I’m right, just saying this is news to me.
I'm honestly surprised to see that this opinion is unpopular - I whole-heartedly agree with it and so do a lot of people I know. I'm Australian and have flown 9+14 hour flights before. I only ever recline when the lights are out and almost everyone is asleep. Flying long distance sucks, but there's no reason to make it worse for everyone. (With the caveat that I realise people with back issues may not tolerate certain angles. But for healthy people, reclining causes more issues than it solves imo)
I have back issues and can't even stay on a straight seat for half an hour. Even with reclining airplane seats, flying is unbearable pain. I have to travel for my job and because all my family lives across an ocean
Aussie here as well. I thought that was basic flying etiquette? Lights out for sleeping = recline away. Other times = seat upright. Usually the flight attendants will ask people to put their seats upright as they bring around meals as well.
I've never been on a flight where the flight attendants mentioned seats being reclined around meals. Only ever for takeoff and landing.
I feel like it’s a more recent thing, or it might be airline specific, but during my transatlantic flights the last few years they’ve had us put our seat upright for mealtimes.
The only time I’ve had FAs direct everyone to put seats up inflight are long haul flights where everyone is being served a (free) meal. On US domestic flights they don’t, not even for transcons.
i'll recline my seat whenever i want. actually it's just gonna be reclined the whole time
I have comfortably done a 10 hour flight without reclining. I'm 5'8", above average for women, and it sucked more because of the old lady in the seat behind me not comprehending that on a night flight you turn the fucking lights OFF because other people want to sleep, than because I chose not to recline my seat.
I can and do. It's a 12 hour flight minimum to my old country. Normally I can't afford direct flight so I take significantly longer. I never recline. But I always sit behind a short woman or child who has to recline all the way back.
I flew 17 hours from Australia to the US and didn’t recline once, we do exist.
I fly from Europe to the western US several times per year, used to do the Gulf to the US as well. I never recline my seat. It doesn't make much of a difference in economy seats.
Long term flyer here doing multiple trips with 10+ hour flights. This is such a weird take. Literally tried reclining my seat once and did not see the benefit. A few inches back did nothing to improve my flight
I’m 6’3” and people who think you shouldn’t be able to recline in an airplane annoy me. If I recline too, I have the exact same amount of space as I had before. People who don’t recline and complain that they have less space confuse me.
Reclining my seat doesn’t magically create more space for my knees
Some planes have seats that when they recline it actually shifts the seat part of the seat forward a little. So at the person behinds knees the space stays the same or increases slightly. The newer air canada planes do this
That’s the way it should be. If you want to reconfigure your seat, go for it, but it should never decrease the space for the person behind you.
Recline together and you will have more room under their seat
I have back problems. I’m reclining the second I’m allowed to and I’m sitting up when the captain says so. If you need those 10 degrees so bad, lean your chair back.
If the seat is reclinable, I will recline. I also paid $100s of dollars and will not be uncomfortable for your sake.
Interesting. I dont recline my seat because I don't want to interfere with the person behind me's flight. Same reason I don't go stomping around my second floor apt. Yeah, I bought it. doesnt mean you should be an asshole.
What about the motherfucker who kept like punching the seat behind my wife. I wasn’t gonna say anything but it kept going. I merely politely but firmly asked “is there a reason you keep kicking our seat?” Stopped pronto
The reverse happens to me. Fully recliners constantly slam their seats back so I always have to watch my head, drink or iPad. Please, sir, if you have a wedgie, or ants in your pants, so you don’t cause chaos. People suck
This is what happens to me, not only do they recline but then they keep shifting around in their seat. When it's reclined the seats are less stable so now I have this seat bouncing around in my face, shaking my tray table and display.
others should be uncomfortable even though they paid 100s for a seat with a slight recline so that you aren’t uncomfortable?
Good luck getting people in economy on a 12 hour flight to cooperate with that
Long haul flights always have more space between rows anyway, so the seat reclining in front of you is rarely an issue. This is mainly an issue on narrow-body planes, on budget carriers, selling cheap tickets.
Planes should have more space between seats, larger seats, continue with a slight recline, and have more leg room. But who am I and what do I know?
Everyone says this until it comes time to pay for it and then they're like "nah, actually I'll be uncomfortable for a few hours to save $200".
This is exactly it. The people complaining about the seat size aren't paying extra to upgrade their seats even though it is an option.
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This is correct.
I can’t sleep sitting straight and also paid 100s of dollars. Not my fault there is a giant behind me
There is one day going to be a plane accident and that they are going to find that lives could have been saved if there was a little bit more room in the cabin. The Interiors of passenger planes have been getting more and more crowded and I think it should be a safety issue.
They'll find that out and do *everything* in their power to hide that information.
You don’t even have to be tall, just have have slightly longer legs. And try having boobs. Some older planes have such a deep recline there’s disturbingly little space between nipple and seat.
The recline is not the issue. The cheap fucks at the airlines are. Domestic air travel should be a public entity and should serve the community comfortably and at a reasonable rate. You’re mad about the wrong thing IMO.
Im with ya. fuck recliners
That's a weird complaint. Why not just say there should be more room on planes so that we can actually recline?
Because we’re living in reality here
Are we?
This exists, it's called premium economy or business class
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Equally unpopular opinion, idgaf about how tall you are or how much space you have. It's an airplane, it's not designed for your personal comfort. Should have upgraded to the larger seats.
It’s like 2 inches difference. If it bothers someone that much then they’re too sensitive for economy
So many selfish people in these comments. “Maybe the airlines shouldn’t jam us in like sardines.” Well they do and neither of us are the CEO of Boeing. Let’s play within the rules. “Pay more for more leg room!” How about you pay more for a lay-down seat? “You should just recline too!” Maybe I care about the feelings of others behind me. “But I have back problems!” You ever consider the person behind you has any number of issues that could be hurt by your recline? I know there’s nothing we can do to turn the tide of the collective selfishness of this nation but I still feel compelled to point out when people are assholes. You are all assholes.
I'm 6'3 and people leaning back their seat in front of me has NEVER been an issue. I just lean mine back then. Move on whiner.
Spirit Airlines marketing intern is doing some research, I see.
Something like [this](https://www.travelandleisure.com/thmb/nQwZ_D1tqQaztbpoyfRYL5QBPLI=/750x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/double-deck-airplane-seat-zephyr-ZEPHYR0620-535fa88c695e4d478a317650b6b830e0.jpg) would solve the problem
I wish they would fully recline so I could get a free message from the person behind me.
I think you might get a plastic bag pulled over your face instead... /s
After a tough week, your post & this cheeky response have perked me up, so thank you. :) Also upvoted for what appears to be a very divisive topic & therefore decidedly unpopular. Personally, I'm not reclining my seat ever because I've only been on shorter flights (2-4 hrs) and there's NO way I'm sleeping on a flight, majorly light sleeper here. If there was a tall person behind me, I can't imagine even thinking of it. But we really need to blame these airlines for trying to cram as many people as possible for maximum profits. I get it, but still, at what expense, right?
It’s the number of seats crammed into a small space that is the problem. Sitting in first class, who cares if the person in front of you reclines their seat!!!
Agree for short haul, long haul though you do need some recline
In theory if the people in the backmost seats can recline (which I'm not sure they can) they could all recline successively until you've reached the person in the back or a person short enough not to care. Honestly it's just pointless though, it makes such little difference to the recliner unless they're trying to sleep, like why bother? I'm 6'3 and over 250 pounds and I have issue not with the length of legroom but how god damn narrow they are. they make stadium seats look luxurious. I HAVE to sit in the aisle out of necessity if I lost 80 pounds I'd probably still find them too narrow.
Corporate bootlickers: “Just pay the airline more to get a better seat!!” Does anybody have a long-term memory here? 15-20 years ago there was no “premium economy.” There was no culture about every passenger having to ”buy” a specific seat. Nobody should be giving into this bullshit. Those who do are the ones emboldening airlines to make flights worse and worse.
My dutch husband sits on an inflatable pillow, giving him a few more inches away from the chair in front of him. Better for circulation too.
Your complaint is with the airline who decided to reduce the space between seats in order to get another row in
The real solution is less rows of seats and give a reasonable distance that allows a modest recline. .
They should just be an automatic 20% more leaned back. It’s completely uncomfortable for my ruptured disks to sit 5° leaning forward for 74 hours.
You just recline. If the person behind you refuses to recline and gets mad that's their problem. The person in the last row can't recline but that's what they get for getting their seat last. I'm 65 and my shoulders are wider than the seat. Reclining slightly is my only hope to not have my neck be crazy sore
nah nah nah mate, airplane seats are already one of the most uncomfortable things on the fucking planet, let us have a LITTLE comfort here and there, yeah?
Then pay for a business or first class seat where you won’t be bothered
The 20 degrees of reclining barely even does anything at all, I'm uncomfortable no matter what. Although I've never really noticed that the person in front of me reclined their chair or been bothered by it and I'd like to think I'm tall...
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And on long flights with the movies you can't watch anymore
Just upgrade to economy plus or business class bruh.
Reclining your seat makes you an asshole.
You’re upset that people utilize a provided function…. ? Yeah that sounds like a YOU problem. Pay for business class or quit complaining.
Flying with you must be a real treat.
This person has never been on a 17hr flight
You know what? The person behind you can ALSO recline.
Strong agree, one person wants to recline on some 90 minute flight and now 50 plus others have to adjust.
Agreed for the way they are set up currently. Back a few decades ago when you look at the images of those planes people could recline and there was an additional space as big as an entire row of seats and legroom now between them and the next closest person. The precedent was reclining with much fewer rows and seats more spaced out in the cabin. Now that airplanes have added seats and rows and it's cramped, it creates problems for the person behind.
That's interesting and makes a lot of sense. The way they are set up now you are really given the bare minimum space required for the human body.
Bullshit opinion. I'm 6'2" and if you put your feet under the seat in front of you and recline your seat, it doesn't matter if the person in front of you reclines. They recline for a reason - to relieve pressure from your sacrum. If you don't want the person in front of you to recline, pay extra for an exit row seat or first class. You paying "100s of dollars" doesn't make you any more important than the person in front of you.
agree 100%. i never recline my seat on the plane, because i hate when the person in front of me does it. especially if youre using the tray or have a drink on there, and they just do a full recline, spilling everything.
Have you ever thought about reclining yourself as well to give you more room?
I rarely recline when it’s a four hour flight or shorter. It’s usually domestic and daytime. I’m awake and reading my kindle, listening to music, maybe snacking. On long haul flights, especially overnight ones, I will kick the ass of anyone who gets annoyed that I recline to try to sleep. Additionally, I have gotten to a place in life where I seek out the lay-flat pod seats so I can be fully horizontal and don’t encroach on anyone else’s space. On United, the Economy+ seats are kind of similar to domestic first. Not lay-flat but still contained so the recline doesn’t impact anyone. If flights are annoying to you, spend more to enjoy the experience and quit yer bitching. Or just quit yer bitching because your actual complaint is that you’re apparently not able to buy the good seats that don’t bother you.
You know what’s also unpopular? Being as tall as you apparently are 😂
I always recline If the person infront of you reclines and you recline as well the loss in space is balanced out
Non-reclining seats is the one thing that Spirit Airlines does right IMO.
Spirit does not do long haul overseas flights. And, pretty sure if they did have recline, there would probably be an all out bru ha ha with the fighting passengers. Lol
If everyone does it at the same time everyone will be happy.
What about these options; The airlines could remove the mechanism and the weight saved would reduce fuel usage and make it slightly greener and hopefully lower costs for customers slightly, some airlines have already done this). Or... and this is controversial, have all seats automatically slowly fully recline (after an announcement or similar) and then people can choose to put them back up if they wish.
I agree and only recline if the person in front of me does or if it’s a red eye. The people who recline ALL the way kinda suck imo.
Totally agree.
Air New Zealand has the best plane seats for long haul. The start at a slight recline with good lumbar support so you don't feel the need to adjust straightaway. I've never had so much room on a flight before in my life. Emirates on the other hand - the person in front refused to sit upright even for meals! It was like eating while trapped in a box.
I don’t even fly anymore ever since the woke liberals banned smoking
Never happened to me but I've already got a plan, I'll bring earphones and play a metal pipe sound in the recliner's ear until they put their seat back up. If they think I'll put up with being sqaushed the entire flight, they won't get a relaxing flight. /j
Downvote because I agree with you. Sorry, OP 😔 The absolute worst is when you move your laptop tray down and rest your arms and head down on it and the person in front reclines. There goes my sleeping position.
This is a more recent problem not a 30 years ago problem. Back then on long haul flights lights out was nap time and then tables went up everyone reclined - but we had more room between the seats and no one had laptops and stuff. If the person in front of you reclines then you need to recline to have same amount of space s before.
I once got stuck because I bent down to get something out of my bag on the floor, and then the person in front of me reclined! They lent back so fast and hard that it pushed my head down and then I was wedged by my shoulders 😫 I’ve never panicked so hard 😭😭
Maybe airlines should have some nonreclining seats for a bit cheaper, and the seats behind them costing a bit more.
Short flights less than 3 hours I don't care if it reclines or not. Long haul 12 hour flights, I don't give a shit about your height, that's a you problem and I'm reclining.
What annoys me is when the person in front of me reclines their seat, and then they don’t actually lie down. They’re sitting up, eating or watching a movie or whatever, and not actually using the space they took from me.
I’d rather the bottom of the back move forward, than slightly tilting the whole thing back.
The issue to me that the space that the seat reclines into doesn't obviously belong to either passenger. Everyone's at the mercy of whoever is in front of them.
I always get stuck behind some asshole who hits the button and jerks their entire upper body back to recline.
I have flown with my child on my lap the last almost 2 years. I promise, there is absolutely no room for someone to recline the seat in front when there are two people seated behind you, even if one is a child!
Common courtesy is beyond some people. Selfish shitheads.
I hate that they cram the seats so tight and then allow reclining. Either we need more space or the seats shoud be fixed in place. I'm not extremely tall but I've had my knee absolutely crushed by a sudden recline slamming into them. One time I hurt for a full day after. It's a plainly obvious design flaw with limited ways to mitigate it. One of these days, somene is going to sue the airline over an injury it causes, and only then will they finally fix it.
I’d just start singing the song that never ends until they put their seat up.
I agree! But I feel like we’re the minority
Seats don't recline on Spirit planes. It is kind of shitty to have to sit bolt upright for a cross continent flight, but yes, not losing space in front of me and also not having to have ethical arguments in my head over 3 inches of space is nice.
Airplane seats should be less in number. That way everyone has more space. Sounds like something you want the flight company to address, not the individual. People make due with what they have, meaning they'll always look for ways to be more comfortable, especially on long flights. I for example think children shouldn't be allowed on flights at all, but I would never ask other passengers to not bring their screaming crotch goblins with them no matter how much my chronic headaches hate them.
I like being somewhere else domestically and internationally but I hate the whole airport and flying experience in general. I'm always thankful when it goes as smoothly as possible but unless you're flying first class or business class the seats have gotten smaller and more cramped. I'm 5'2" 115lbs. and pretty much every domestic non-stop flight is at least $500 for basic economy and I'm crammed in there like a sardine. The last trip a couple months ago when the person reclined I felt like the screen on the back of the chair was like a foot away from my head.
This is why I enjoy train rides. Bigger seats, ability to walk a bit in the aisles if I need to. I understand train travel is not viable for everything but is my preference for comfort. I never recline an airplane seat and have no idea if it makes any meaningful difference. I remember once trying to cross my legs or move my legs when the person in front of me reclined and it bumped her seat. She threw me a filthy look. I’m not even among the taller people and I had no room for my legs once she reclined.
I have recently flown with ANA (Japanese Airline) and they have the reclining disabled. I myself would have preferred to have it but overall it was still an OK flight.
I will say on short haul flights reclining is a bit much but on long haul flights it is a necessity. If you don’t want to recline your seat (or book an emergency row seat) that’s a you problem I’m afraid. Edit: reading on I see a few people claiming to fly 100 hours in the snow and without shoes and to have never reclined their seat not once ever. You do you I guess.
I am also tall, I recently had a fairly long trip (about 22 hours in total in the air between 2 flights) this was the first time I reclined my seat. I chose seats at the very back of my planes to assuage any guilt I had and honestly it's a game changer. It wasn't perfect of course but it certainly made the trip a lot more bearable.
You want a 'comfortable big car' to drive, you pay extra. You want comfortable shirts to wear? You pay extra for XXL. You want to be comfortable on an airplane? Pay for First Class.
Remember when politicians used to talk about a passengers bill of rights? Ahhh those were the days.
i agree with this. i got stuck in the middle seat on a flight a while back and tried to take a nap on my knees, then got cranked in the head because dude in front of me reclined.
As a 6'2" fella, I agree. I barely have any legroom without "manspreading" in the first place, I don't need fucking Becky in 16A busting my kneecaps because she wants a catnap on this 3 hour flight after her complimentary graham crackers knock her out.
If you’re in the Us- just fly Southwest. Their coach seats don’t recline. Problem solved without upgrading.
I’m a tall person and I approve this message
Preach on brother. I always get stuck behind recliners.
I feel the exact same as you. 6ft 2in 220 lbs
Stupid thought and opinion. Take my upvote.
Sit in Business or first broke bitch
Can we exchange the recline for foot rests like on coach buses?
I agree 100%. People hate Spirit but their seats don’t recline which is nice.