Airline staff waking passengers for meals
Discussion
Is this a new thing?
I fly Emirates long haul 2 - 4 x a month for work (sadly in economy as it's my company and I'm too stingy to pay for business).
I usually take the red eye and all I want to do is get on, sleep, then wake up at the other end.
This has worked for quite some time, but recently (the last 6 months or so), the staff seem intent on waking me up for the meal. I have a neck pillow, eye mask, and headphones on - i.e. clearly asleep or trying to be - but they insist on poking me or grabbing my shoulder to ask if I want to eat (to which the answer is always 'no').
This is really starting to hack me off, but I can't tell if I'm being unreasonable (maybe some people want to be woken to eat, although I doubt it?) or if they're breaking plane etiquette/being morons by waking me up?
If the latter, apart from telling them at the start and the message probably getting lost between the 15 staff in the cabin, or stitching "don't f
king wake me up" into my eye mask, is there a way I can avoid being disturbed? Or am I doomed to an eternity of disturbed slumber?
I fly Emirates long haul 2 - 4 x a month for work (sadly in economy as it's my company and I'm too stingy to pay for business).
I usually take the red eye and all I want to do is get on, sleep, then wake up at the other end.
This has worked for quite some time, but recently (the last 6 months or so), the staff seem intent on waking me up for the meal. I have a neck pillow, eye mask, and headphones on - i.e. clearly asleep or trying to be - but they insist on poking me or grabbing my shoulder to ask if I want to eat (to which the answer is always 'no').
This is really starting to hack me off, but I can't tell if I'm being unreasonable (maybe some people want to be woken to eat, although I doubt it?) or if they're breaking plane etiquette/being morons by waking me up?
If the latter, apart from telling them at the start and the message probably getting lost between the 15 staff in the cabin, or stitching "don't f
king wake me up" into my eye mask, is there a way I can avoid being disturbed? Or am I doomed to an eternity of disturbed slumber?GT03ROB said:
Tried and tested?22s said:
No. I like the post-it idea. 
Tbh I'm more interested as to whether the waking up is normal or not.
And I also just felt like having a moan today.
I would imagine it's normal. Probably due to the fact that if they didn't someone would complain that they didn't get the meal they paid for.Tbh I'm more interested as to whether the waking up is normal or not.
And I also just felt like having a moan today.
Personally I just tell them to leave me be if I'm sleeping.
My experience is that if you don't clarify to them that you want to sleep, there is a higher chance they'll wake you, but I've been caught out by having specified what meal I want, deciding to sleep, and forgetting to tell them, which is obviously my fault.
It helps that a lot of business/first cabins have some form of "on demand" dining, so you can sleep when you want and then eat at a different time.
Related - put your seatbelt on over any blanket etc you're using if trying to sleep or otherwise not be disturbed, so they can see it's on when doing a cabin check, and don't have to get you to put it on if the seatbelt light gets put on.
It helps that a lot of business/first cabins have some form of "on demand" dining, so you can sleep when you want and then eat at a different time.
Related - put your seatbelt on over any blanket etc you're using if trying to sleep or otherwise not be disturbed, so they can see it's on when doing a cabin check, and don't have to get you to put it on if the seatbelt light gets put on.
I flew with Ethiopian from Addis Ababa to London last month, it was a 01:35 departure, I was in a window seat had a hooded pillow, so was fully covered and was asleep for once.
It wasn't the attendant who woke me up for the dinner, but the bloody middle seat passenger - and she did it again for the breakfast.
I say dinner, but it was a cold and soggy sandwich, and for the breakfast - an inch thick "omelette" that might as well been made of cardboard. I left the whole breakfast after one bite - never done that before. It was the worst set of meals that I have ever been presented with on an aircraft since I started flying to Africa in the early 1980s.
It wasn't the attendant who woke me up for the dinner, but the bloody middle seat passenger - and she did it again for the breakfast.
I say dinner, but it was a cold and soggy sandwich, and for the breakfast - an inch thick "omelette" that might as well been made of cardboard. I left the whole breakfast after one bite - never done that before. It was the worst set of meals that I have ever been presented with on an aircraft since I started flying to Africa in the early 1980s.
I tell the stewardess to wake me up when a meal arrives. And so far, they always do so. Maybe that will also work if you do not want to be disturbed. I do not know how they remember it, maybe they don’t, or they mistake you for someone who would want to be woken up. That eye mask with “do not disturb” sign seems like a good idea for you, @22s.
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