I would never have any problem moving so people can get up. I’ve only had a couple of times where people have quickly slithered in front of me before I had a chance to get up, and I found it very weird! I’m happy to get up, no problem, I don’t want someone’s butt in my face.
it’s important to get up and walk around periodically, anyways, helps prevent blood clots.
3 Likes
It feels safer to get up and make space so no one accidentally gets a toe or other body part injured by someone trying to get by a tight space. Often my companion will also go to the bathroom and sometimes the person on the aisle seat as well, since we all got up anyway.
2 Likes
Agreed. Heck, it’s even difficult to step over someone in a standard domestic First Class seat in a 737-sized plane. No way it’s easy in coach. Not to mention it requires the climbing person to grab onto the top of the seat in front of them for stability, which disturbs that person too.
3 Likes
I travel a lot and find people generally are pretty reasonable and accommodating. I’ve had a few unpleasant incidents, including a plus-sized person literally spilling over into my seat. Made for a hot, sweaty, unpleasant flight. I also had a couple that demanded I give up my first class aisle seat for the husband’s window bulkhead seat (I hate bulkhead seats because there usually isn’t enough leg room). When I refused, he came up to me and made some unpleasant remarks and glared at me for the whole flight. She started frosty but was fine by the end.
As I mentioned, I often fly with extra legroom or PE seats in part because I need room for my legs and business or first on my business trips. In all cases, I want to be comfortable enough to work and prefer a little privacy when I can get it. We have a high-end consulting firm and clients pay for business or first class as a matter of course (except for shorter, domestic flights) and we stay at high-end hotels. Employees tend to get desensitized to cost (we should only stay at high-end hotels in Paris or have a fancy downtown office even if clients don’t visit us) even when the firm is paying for it rather than clients, and I could see costs creeping up.
The firm pays its own sales/marketing costs (though I try to keep costs down by piggybacking sales/marketing trips on to of paid client trips). In this case, I needed to get to Paris to sell/close a possible significant engagement and could not piggyback. So, the transatlantic trip would be paid for by the firm and not clients. In part to signal to my employees that we need to be careful about the firm’s costs, I chose to fly coach from Houston to Paris on Air France. My assistant had put me in a row near the back with 4 seats and I was the only one in the row. When I got to the AF ticket agent, I asked her if the row was still empty except for me. I said, “Fantastic. My plan is to lay down across the row and go to sleep for the whole flight.” I walked to the gate and asked the gate agent if the row was still empty. She smiled and said yes, it had been blocked out and I could see the XXX on the three seats next to mine on the screen. The ticket agent must have done it.
As the plane was getting ready to taxi, although the plane was not that full, people started switching seats and I put some stuff (including my folded shirt on the end seat in my row. I felt a little bad doing it, but thought that if they had blocked it out for me, that was OK.
After the plane took off, I pulled up the armrests and found that the center armrest could not be raised. So, although I am tall enough that lying on my back, I would have taken up the whole row, I had to lie on my side with my knees around the armrest. This meant I was using three seats and the fourth one was free. I offered it to someone who had checked it out earlier, but he declined. I then took a mild sleeping pill and went to sleep, skipping dinner. Partway through the night, I was startled by someone trying to lie down on my legs. I kicked and then looked up and saw a roughly 20 year old woman getting up from the seat. I went back to sleep. Later on, I felt someone snuggling in against my legs, basically wrapping herself around my legs. I later saw that it was the same young woman. I decided to keep my feet there and we both stayed. I slept less soundly but woke up after breakfast had been served. She got up, said a couple of words in French, and walked back to her seat.
A little complex as I only had the seats blocked off because I asked and she could not have known about the blocking. She definitely intruded into my space, though she was small and fit (and it turned out quite attractive) rather than over-sized. I suspect that if genders were reversed, this would have been an actionable offense, and also that being an attractive young woman, she figured out she could get away with it with no problem.
Yeah, I don’t want anyone’s body parts quite that close to me, unless it’s someone I love. The rare times my husband did that, I always grab his butt. Which he doesn’t appreciate, so he doesn’t do that any more.
Just not enough room, even if someone is tiny.
1 Like
Why would the ticket agent block off an entire row for you? I’m a two million miler Diamond elite at Delta and I would never imagine they would block off an entire row just for me. I would guess that row was blocked off for one of a multitude of reasons and they released a seat for you, but didn’t block the whole row for you, nobody is that special.
I was on an Alaska flight awhile ago, and was seated next to this poor guy who was absolutely huge and really needed both seats. I felt bad for him. I asked a flight attendant if I could move, and she pointed me to a row where a woman was sitting in the window seat, with the aisle and center empty. As I sat down in the aisle seat, the woman indignantly exclaimed, “They told me I’d be alone in this row!” To which I told her that this is where the fa told me to go, and that I’m sure she’d have plenty of room, because, “You’re not THAT big”. She wasn’t large at all, and I’m very polite, don’t know what possessed me to say that. I had flown all night, and she was so entitled that all these seats were hers.
1 Like
tbf: I have traveled with a broken foot, cast & crutches. (Parent passed, so I had to get on a plane.)
I took the aisle seat so I could put my leg in the aisle when the cart was not in process. The person in the middle needed to go, so I as started to stand up and she said, she’d step over me if I would just hold her forearm for support. Worked out ok.
6 Likes
It works well when everyone just tries to help each other out, and figures out the best thing for all. A little consideration goes a long way, especially in a tough situation.
11 Likes
I did see an Instagram reel of some lady cellophane wrapping her own own first class capsule in economy. Ahh, found it on YouTube. Woman's Plastic House Gets Destroyed on Flight! - YouTube.
1 Like
Not sure if if too off-topic, but has anyone had trouble getting those ‘extra-leg room’ seats (exit row or otherwise in non-first class) when purchasing tickets w/airline points?
My husband was unable to reserve a seat like this for recent flight from US east coast to Italy. As he’s over six feet tall it was a real problem - the look on his face when he ended up in a tiny seat was unfortunate! Luckily he could switch (somehow) but I really feel for larger sized folks (taller or wider) in these itty bitty plane seats. As common carriers subject to regulatory oversight, I can’t quite see how they get away with such little space.
I’m 5’5" and feel claustrophobic on Frontier!!
delete
1 Like
My husband would consider that a bonus!
3 Likes
Follow up articles said the video was embellished somehow. Will have to find that.
I think this is the follow up: https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/expats/unwrapped-truth-viral-video-of-passenger-cling-film-wrapping-three-seats-raises-doubt-video. Says it was a ‘“dramatization”
1 Like
Would you rather sit next to a plus-sized passenger or a pitbull?
Juanie on Twitter: “So…I’m next to a yt girl who just asked if I would give up my seat for her pitbull. When I got to my seat she had the pitbull in my seat. And now she’s acting like I’m unreasonable. All for emotional support animals. In your fricken seat.” / Twitter
@busdriver, I’m honestly not sure and was a bit surprised. I fly a lot – I’m over 2 MM on AA, Gold for Life on BA which is probably a lot more than the 2 MM, I’m sure, and usually have status on Star Alliance and JetBlue. But, I have never had status on SkyTeam so I was sort of surprised. The incident in question was a number of years ago (I believe 2005), when airlines were nicer to people. BA and AA used to give upgrades from J to F or PE to J about 50% of the time. Now it never happens.
Anyway, I was nice to the ticket agent and the gate agent (no different from normal, no presents or anything). But, the gate agent told me the seats were blocked off and showed me the X’s on the seat map. They had not moved me to a different row, so the row was not previously blocked off. My assumption was that she chose to block the seats off, but I have no evidence one way or another.
[
Trained Service Animals | Delta Air Lines
[image]
Delta
https://www.delta.com › accessible-travel-services › se…
](https://www.delta.com/us/en/accessible-travel-services/service-animals)
Delta no longer recognizes emotional support animals as service animals. We know how important it is to travel smoothly with your trained service dog. For …
This has to be old. BTDT.
1 Like
… as long as he fits under the seat in front of you during take-off and landing!
This Delta policy is correct and still true, afaik. But I think people can still pay the fee, maybe $100/flight, I think, to bring a pet on board, as long as it fits under the seat. But since this policy was instituted, have seen much fewer dogs/cats flying, and no turkeys, peacocks or other former “pet therapy” menagerie.
1 Like
Simple enough. Will your dog/pet (no rodents) fit under the seat in a 18x14x 8 inch bag? And stay there? You say take-off and landing…I call never.
2 Likes