Should You Recline Your Seat On A Budget Flight

[limpsfield]

A little bit of a "one hour left to kill before leaving for the weekend " post but this is the background.

Last week I flew back on a package holiday flight. Now I know of course I should have leased a Lear jet for the purpose but leaving that to one side, the bloke in front put his seat back. This is on a four hour flight with no room whatsoever - if you have the misfortune to ever travel on one of these flights there is I think much less room than on a standard BA economy seat.

I asked him a couple of times if he wouldn't mid putting it in the upright position but "it's me back guv" In the section I was in he was the only person who had his seat back.

So, typical selfish stuff-you-I-am-alright jack attitude from him, or whinging git approach from me?

[Mattt]

Just go with the domino effect.

[bonsai]

I don't, primarily because I'm not an utterly selfish .

[hooperpride]

bonsai said:

I don't, primarily because I'm not an utterly selfish .

I couldn't have put it better myself

[cs02rm0]

IMHO perfectly ok for you to ask him to not, perfectly ok for him to decline.

[10JH]

Do EasyJet still have reclining seats. I'm sure when I went on one last it didn't have it.

I reckon if the person behind has it reclined then you can.

[patmahe]

I don't know why they bother with reclining seats on planes used by economy airlines, why not have a selection of extra legroom seats and charge for their use (and I don't mean first class) and leave the remaining seats fixed in place.

[anonymous-user]

Nope because I'm not a selfish . Its cramped enough for my legs in coach as it is, with the seat in front back I cant move.

It makes me want to bunch the person in the back of the head...... and the person kicking the back of my seat in the face

[Andy Zarse]

It's nice and civilised to put the seat back for a nap after the meal, it's only inconsiderate if the person behind is still eating or drinking. If you'd put your own seat back a bit you'd have maintained your peorsonal space. So no, I don't have a problem with it.

[RobM77]

Regarding the chap with the bad back, that shouldn't excuse him for trapping your knees. I have a back problem that gives me constant pain. Reclining my seat eases that pain, and aeroplane seats are especially and painfully upright (along with the latest train seats!). I don't know whether I'm being over-cautious here, but I've never though it right for me to inconvenience someone else to obtain pain relief; that's just unfair. To that end I've never reclined my seat on a sub 5 hour European flight, rather more I normally slouch and pack a cushion or towel at the base of my spine, and/or take painkillers before the flight.

One way out is to have a quiet word with an air hostess. I've seen people do this in the past and it normally works.

One final thing to remember if all of that fails - most budget seats don't have hard backs - the guy in front can feel your knees pressing into his back. So if he reclines his seat into your knees, don't tuck them up to the side, keep them where they are and prod the selfish git in the kidneys

[condor]

I always went for the aisle seat, so you could stretch your legs out that way....and trip others up

[t84]

I had the pleasure of flying with Thompson on a charter flight back from Tunisia a few weeks ago.

I never knew it was so utterly abysmal.

In flight meal was nice though, although I must've looked like a velociraptor trying to eat it.

[limpsfield]

RobM77 said:

One final thing to remember if all of that fails - most budget seats don't have hard backs - the guy in front can feel your knees pressing into his back. So if he reclines his seat into your knees, don't tuck them up to the side, keep them where they are and prod the selfish git in the kidneys

I did exactly this for the last 90 minutes. He seemed never quite sure if it was me or just a dodgy seat.

I am not proud of it but it gave me a smidgen of middle-Englander satisfaction.

[Matt Harper]

Even though it pisses me off enormously, I don't feel that it's reasonable to ask someone to put their seat back up, to make things a little less uncomfortable for me. The guy in front has paid for a seat and the seat does recline - I can't deny him that measure of comfort - even though I don't do it myself.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who sits there quietly seething, with the a-hole in front's dandruff gently wafting in my face.

[maser_spyder]

No.

I had a long-haul back from Hong Kong a few months ago, we took off, 5 minutes later the seat belt signs went off, and within less than 10 seconds the woman in front had her seat as far back as it would go.

It was there for the entire duration. The screen in front of me was, and I'm not exaggerating, about 6" from my nose. For 12 hours.

I appreciate people want to sleep on long haul, but that really did take the mottled oyster.

I've heard Cathay Pacific have seats that recline in their own footprint, is that right?

[grumbledoak]

On flights/classes where people are crammed in like sardines the airline should simply remove the possibility. Far too many people are prepared to be selfish cs.

[Republik]

Mattt said:

Just go with the domino effect.

This.

[Odie]

years ago I flew over to canada and its was an overnight flight, I'd been at work all day put my seat back to get some sleep and the little old lady (probably about 80 and about 4ft tall) behind me started kicking my seat, kicking up a fuss then the young lad next to her tapped me on the shoulder and asked me what the fk I thought I was doing, I just ignored them, It really wasnt worth the hassle.

They then complained to the air hostess who then proceeded to try and have words with me as she was I interupted with, "Can this please wait its 1am and im trying to get some sleep ive been at work all day" She just looked at me dumb struck, so I tapped my watch, turned away from her and closed my eyes. I couldnt believe the airhostess had even entertained them especially since the cabin lights where on the dim night setting..

The little old lady and the lad kept waking me up the whole flight.

What really pissed me off was that the row behind the little old lady was the one with the emergency exit so she could have put her seat back with no hassle at all.

I ended up sleeping in the car on the way to where I was staying

[Tony*T3]

Sorry but this isnt the guys fault. You need to take this up with the airline, if nessesary by choosing not to use them anymore. Its their greed that causes these issues.

I've been on many a cheap flight, its something you simply have to put up with. Unless you are freakish proportions, you aren't losing a great deal of space anyway. Its a tad annoying but hey, such is life. Pay more for your comfort, or live with it. Its always worth (if you can) pre-booking a seat with more space, so that it doesnt happen. Best way of dealing with it? Simply close your eyes.

Nearly all Ryan Air planes have seats that are locked. I'm surprised they dont have a coin slot allowing you to pay extra for the privalidge of tilting your seat.

[RobM77]

Matt Harper said:

Even though it pisses me off enormously, I don't feel that it's reasonable to ask someone to put their seat back up, to make things a little less uncomfortable for me. The guy in front has paid for a seat and the seat does recline - I can't deny him that measure of comfort - even though I don't do it myself.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who sits there quietly seething, with the a-hole in front's dandruff gently wafting in my face.

Essentially he's paid for the right to decrease your comfort in order to increase his own, so really as someone says above, the fault lies with the airline for making that sort of selfish act possible. Reclining your own seat doesn't solve the problem as people have said - the distance from my bum to the tip of my patella is only an inch less than the gap given by an airline seat - reclining my seat won't change that; I'll still get squashed!