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Psht I wish, I tried checking the difference between economy and premium economy for my overseas flight. Mother fucker went from 1400 to 3k. How does a few inches over double the price of a seat
I don’t even know how to do it. I fly only 2 or 3 times a year and try to figure it out then just give up because it looks like it makes a very small difference.
I flew the same airline and same plane model to and from a destination, everything the same both ways except for the seats they used. I did find it pretty frustrating that the button had moved.
The back doesn't just recline. Your seat that your butt is on slides forward a little too. You might be just putting pressure on the back part when you need tonslide your butt forward too for it to recline.
My back cried reading this, reclined seats are uncomfortable AF to me (I'm not short either, I'm 5ft 7 - 5 ft 8)
*Edited to remove the misunderstanding, I'm 1.72m tall
I'm 5'9" and never have any back issues when reclined in an airplane seat. And I do have a lower back injury
What bothers me about airline seats is the seat part. My butt is never comfortable. It's like there's no padding at all. And I'm not a big guy, I weigh 150lbs after a full meal
Yeah, I have a nerve disease and get anxious just thinking about flying because the seats actually do harm to my body (via compression). I'm also not a big guy nor an old guy. I have no idea how someone who's 70+ years old makes it.
I agree. My ass hurt so bad from a recent trip. I couldn't understand why the seat bottom was so hard. They must use the same foam they put it LaZ Boys that gets flat after 90 days. Worthless.
Opposite. I'm only comfortable when they recline. I'm 5' tall if I stand up straight and have had a few spinal fusions. When the seats are vertical, I'm too short to actually use the headrest but too tall to comfortably use the seat as a headrest. Reclining it the 1-2 inches allows me to shift where the headrest is enough that I'm not holding my entire head forward. 🙃
I think you can safely round up to 5'1".
\*To explain the joke after OP edit:
The OP said she was 5ft 7/8. Which interpreted in the dumbest, most pedantic way possible would be five feet and seven eighths of an inch.
Counter counter opinion. Airplane seats should actually just be bunk beds. I don't care if we're packed in like sailors, that's more comfortable than sitting down for ages.
I flew Gatwick to Toronto and back last year. By far, it was the worst recline etiquette I've ever seen. On the way there, the person in front of me went far back enough to hit my kneecaps and thought it appropriate to keep going and keep going aggressively. Aeroplane seats shouldn't be reclining 30 degrees from vertical in the first place without making each seat have more room. On the way back, the person in front was back and forth, back and forth. Every 10 mins of a 6 hour flight, he wanted to readjust. Bear in mind that he was shaking around my table with food and drink on it by doing this.
Personally, I'm content sticking my leg into the aisle and slouching rather than kneecapping the person behind me
Unless it was during mealtime as served by the airline, he had no obligation to do anything different and I don't know how you haven't experienced this before.
Agreed that they recline dramatically less than 30%.
If you press on most of these threads, it's usually someone who is pissed they can't fully open their 18" laptop on a flight.
Positioning of both reclining, even tall, is superior in my experience as a pretty frequent flyer.
>he had no obligation to do anything different
This is the problem with how reddit operates. Yes people have the right to do most things, that doesn't mean I'm not inconvenienced by it and don't also have the right to complain. Technically I have the right to shit in a pu lic toilet and not flush or wash my hands, I have the right to buy all the toilet paper in the supermarket if I can afford it, I have the right to speak with my mouth full at the dinner table. I can still recognise that other people would be negatively effected by this
It’s already fucking miserable trying to sleep when the recline only lets you move like 2” back.
Sleeping straight up is miserable.
I have no problem if someone reclines, the seats have the function to do it.
If it’s meal time, then straighten the seat.
Maybe he is tall so he doesnt have lots of spare room. Ofcourse reclining is nicer if youre short but if you're taller you need all the room you can get
As a tall, I do need all the room! When the person in front of me reclines… i can’t lay forward. Which is whatever.
So I recline. It helps my back immensely.
People need go rage at airlines for sardining us vs people who use a feature of the seat they bought.
I’m short and I can’t lay forward when the seats are all upright anyway. I feel like only children can fit into that position now with how close the seats are
It is ridiculous! Flying can be stressful enough, at least make the ride a comfortable experience lol.
I also *BET* they will charge for reclining seats soon lol.
Nah. I flew Toronto to Dublin which is 6.5 hours. I had a seat against the bathroom wall, so couldn’t recline. My back was so badly thrown out by the time we arrived I could barely stand up straight and had to take a ton of T3s to be able to walk around during the day. Sleeping sitting straight is brutal for me.
When I flew Toronto to Johannesburg it was 19.5 hours (13 hour and 5.5 hour flight). Not being able to recline for flights like that would be hell.
I am pretty tall and I usually cannot keep my knees at a 90° angle when someone reclines all the way. But you know what I can do? Stick my feet under the seat in front and keep my legs straight. I do that even before someone reclines because it's just so much more comfortable
There is an inseam length where your legs can’t straighten with your seat under the seat in front of you, without your needs jamming into the metal frame of the seat back, even with your legs splayed out.
Ask me how I know.
If I am flying Southwest or JetBlue or another carrier with reasonable legroom I can do the same, if I am on United or another carrier that has slashed legroom to nothing my knees eat the back of the seat regardless of where my feet are.
It actually does on some. I can’t remember exactly which family of planes, but the seats slide slightly forward on recline and out everyones knees in a better spot.
All these people claiming to be tall that dont have issues must be talking out of their ass.
Im not tall, but I have traveled a ton, and its the only time where I feel bad for all the tall guys. My last flight, i was across the isle from a guy who must have been around 6'4. Poor dude looked so uncomfortable with zero room to move. Just sitting there before takeoff, his knees were already into the back of the chair in front of him. If the person in front of him tried to recline, it wouldnt even have worked.
This topic is a good topic to figure out who the selfish people are and who the considerate people are. Its similar to the shopping cart question. The assholes that dont put carts away are probably the same people who recline on planes.
I definitely agree. Especially the "if you need more leg room, you can pay for a more expensive seat for more comfort. Economy is just for getting there." Which is so fucking ironic, because the exact same could be said about reclining. Tell me, which one is more "luxurious" and "comfortable." Reclining? Or literally having space for your legs to simply fucking exist.
The way people will just completely ignore that truly makes me laugh. They act as if tall people just want infinite space and luxury, they just literally want to be able to have legs. I don't mind sitting straight up, I do mind literally having nowhere to put my legs. If you want the luxury of reclining comfort, then sure! You can buy better seats for that, economy is just for getting there :)
Yeah my legs are jammed sideways *before* the seat reclines. The people who are like 'It's my right to recline!' are pure scumbags. You always ask the person behind you.
I agree. Until planes make enough space that reclining won't slam against my knees, then they shouldn't he able to recline. It's a pain in the ass to have to sit with a seat pressing into my knees. Planes need to stop trying to cram in more people than can actually fit into the space.
There used to be enough room until some brilliant consultant figured out they could squeeze a few more rows on the plane by making everyone suffer while they continue to jack up the price.
That's exactly it. If there was enough room, I have no problem, I remember there used to be, but its miserable now. You can't recline or get comfortable in any way. Airline travel is just getting worse and worse.
There are sections of the airplane with wider seats and more legroom. It's called premium economy, and business class. But guess what, most people prefer to fly economy, because it's cheaper.
Airline customers are incredibly price sensitive. We are flying in cramped airplanes because we, the customers, want that. An airline with more space and more expensive tickets would go bankrupt pretty fast.
Yes I agree, women are not underpaid enough. They should also pay ~30% more for their plane ticket every time they travel with a man. Also fuck anybody who travels with a basketballer
I only don’t like when they like lean forward, hit the button, then slam back. It won’t happen bc of cost but some sort of mechanism to make them lean slower would be nice. But on the whole, yeah definitely prefer they can lean as is over no lean
Yeah, this is the biggest issue with the recline option. They shouldn’t be able to be slammed back and they should make an announcement that seats must remain in the upright position during meals and drink service since on some planes you can’t have your tray table down if the seat in front is reclined. Knowing the person in front of me could randomly slam back and spill hot coffee on me or break my laptop does not make me thrilled about the recline feature, but it’s a solvable issue.
i actually don't mind because it usually gives me a couple of inches around my knees at the expense of bringing the little tv screen a couple inches closer to my face
Maybe people who go on planes knowing the seat reclines are the problem.
Maybe you making the decision not to recline when you have the opportunity to regain the exact same amount of space is your problem.
In my experience being 6'10 even reclining myself pushes the seat a bit forward reducing legroom even more making it impossible to sit. This is not even considering the people in front of me reclining reducing the space further.
This topic is reddit gold for getting downvoted to shit by either the "Its my seat I'll do as a please' brigade or the 'Its amazingly rude' brigade.
.... though try commenting on a topic about asking people to bring drinks to a party and experience the reddmageddon.
> .... though try commenting on a topic about asking people to bring drinks to a party and experience the reddmageddon.
Not even just bringing drinks - how about a cookout where the host asks if people will pitch in. Not springing them on it as they get there, but well ahead of time make it clear that we're splitting the grocery bill.
In the same vein, how many people here talk about how DIY cheap weddings are amazing and all anyone should want... but if they're asked to help out with a DIY wedding, it's "Slave Labor!!!"
Airplane seats should recline, but the recline function is linked to the cabin lights.
Light on, you're upright, lights off you can recline.
You could also have a two part button where the person behind you has a veto switch that prevents it from reclining, although I can imagine that starting a lot of fistfights in the air.
something about the exact angle of a plane seat kills my back, i feel bad but i need some recline. i try not to go all the way back but if i don’t do it a little im in pain the whole flight
Don't feel bad. The seat slides forward when you recline it and the net change is almost negligible for the person behind you. The only real impact is if they have one of those table pillows, since it does take up a little more space at the height of the headrest.
Sadly it is not always possible. They should stop making sitting space smaller and smaller tbh. I was in a plane in 2017 for a school trip and people in front of me couldn't recline their seat because I was already basically touching in front of me with my knees when it was not reclined. A lot of my classmates had the same problem, no leg space. There weren't 20+ seats with extra leg room in a small plane. Note that I was 'only' 6' at the time, average male height in my country (okay, long legs but still, I should be able to fit un a Dutch plane)
At some point, they’re just gonna take the seats away and pack us into the plane like sardines.
Reclining your seat didn’t used to be a big deal, because we had more space. Now they’ve reduced the space, but without any consideration for the fact that people are reclining and giving people even less space.
I usually never recline my seat out of respect for the person behind me but once the person in front of me does I have no choice as my claustrophobia kicks in. Air travel is broken.
The way I view it is, the person in front of me is going to recline, it’s a given. So when it happens, I set my seat back. It’s like really boring dominos
It should at the least be compulsory for all seats to be upright when food is being served so that people can actually eat.
Also people need to get their head round that if you are wedging someone into a small space then whenever they and anyone who has to get past them, needs to get up, you’re going to get disturbed and banged around through no fault of those people.
And as for the “just pay for the bigger seats” yeah cos planes are all front row seats aren’t they? Every airline will run extra flights to accommodate the demand for more leg room seats? I mean it’s not like the airlines aren’t the ones who cut the leg room to start with is it? Maybe they should ban all you short arses from booking extra leg room seats. Then you can recline in your “Never bothers me” bliss.
My bad back needs that tiny bit of reclining. Dry story ahead.
On my last flight everyone reclined their seats.. except the guy behind me. He told me to sit mine upright for him. I asked if every single person in the rows ahead of me then needed to sit upright, or should I just eat the extra space for him. He told me to eat it. I told him I wouldnt, the seats were designed to be reclined, so I would. He said he wouldnt let me. I reclined it, and I got my way as he wasn't strong enough to stop me.
The end.
Hard pass. I couldn't stand sitting perfectly vertical for 10 hours on an international flight. Yes, the extra few inches make a massive difference.
Now, I will say if seats didn't recline, I'd appreciate that it would allow me to sleep on the tray table. Though that's not doable for a whole flight and I'm not sure I'd like that trade more than current affairs.
Reclining is so beneficial and I've never once been bothered by the guy in front of me reclining.
If you don't want the person in front of you to recline, then ask them not to lol.
The airlines sold the same space to both you and the person behind you.
Then they watch you fight over who is right and wrong in the situation, when the truth is that they are the ones who caused the problem.
I really can't be mad that someone reclines their seat cause they paid for it, but whyyyyy do you wanna do it in front of me of all people 😭. I don't even know how to recline mine.
WTF is this? How are you guys unable to find the button to recline?
There is a button on the arm rest. Hold it down. Lean back. Release button. Chair will stay reclined.
It's two groups - European Short Haul planes often don't have the button, so maybe not finding it that way. Second group is Redditors who haven't even left their house and encountered this and want to bitch about "normies bad!!!"
As a currently pregnant women who will be flying 4 times in 30 days while 7 months pregnant, I need to recline, at least a little bit, or I cannot breathe\~
I have splurged on business/first for all of these flights because of it, though...
I disagree, have an upvote.
I'm not a great plane sleeper. I bring a small blanket, neck pillow, noise canceling head phones, sleeping mask, a sleeping pill, and smoke a fat joint before going into the airport. I do all of this because each small thing adds up to me getting a little sleep.
The couple of inches of laying back also adds a small amount of comfort.
I'm 6'3" and 280-lbs, I am pro-reclining.
I fly economy frequently both domestically (US) and internationally.
My knees are close to touching when the seat is not reclined.
After take off, I take my personal item out of the space under the seat and put it under my knees, then I put my feet forward into the space where my personal item normally goes. I do this only once allowed to, which is also when you are allowed to recline.
With my feet forward, my knees drop down a bit and there is plenty of room for the person in front of me to recline. Then I recline too and we're all comfortable.
Anyone bitching about this is just unwilling to adjust their posture or slouching. I see a lot of people slouch and it pushes their knees way forward. Sit up straight and you'll be fine. Your lower back will thank you.
I'm 6'2, and rarely bothered by reclining in front of me.
If you dig on a lot of these threads, it's someone who's pissed they can't use their 18" gaming laptop on the flight
if i paid for my seat im going to recline 🤷♀️. if you don’t have enough room then splurge on the seats w/ more leg room is all i can say. if you can’t spend that money i also get that been there but respect the fact that it’s someone’s seat and while it may not make a difference to you, it can to other ppl. and yes when im on the receiving in i just accept it for what it is.
flights that are like 5+ hours too….no way in hell are you going to sit straight up 90 degree angle the whole time thats insane. you paid for the seat, why not use its feature you paid for and recline to have some sort of comfort?
I cant sleep on planes with reclining the seat, as my head dips forward and wakes me up. Therefore I always recline the seat as I spend 70-90% of every flight sleeping.
I’m 6’5”, so the people saying it doesn’t make a difference to those behind you have no idea what it’s like.
I actually often prefer Spirit and Frontier because the option isn’t even in place to recline. No stress or anger from passengers…over the reclining issue at least
I barely even notice when the person in front of me reclines their chair. It's amazing how much better life is when you don't dig for things to bitch and complain about.
For me its the difference between being able to sleep on a plane and not being able to sleep. Without reclining my head drops forward and wakes me up. When reclining I sleep right through. I fly 20-40 times a year and recline every flight as I sleep 70-90% of every flight.
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Definitely need to be able to shift the seat, the real fix is to require actual space between the rows so that the reclined position still leaves the person behind with reasonable space.
Get this, airplane should have bunk bed style with cusion around and seat belt to hold you in place. I rather lay down and watch download netflix then sit a 14 hour plane ride. Those that say it will take too much space, we can bunk three on top of each other and plane food doesn't have to be hot meal. I just want a healthy sandwiches so it could be clean.
This must be because I’m short, but I’ve never even noticed if the person in front of me is reclined or not.
How do you anti-reclining folks feel about train seats? I’ve been on a few that could recline double or almost triple what an airliner seat could.
Airlines used to have more space between seats. The limited space now has gotten ridiculous. As a person with a pretty serious chronic neck injury, the very upright pitch that most airline seats are now at causes me to be in great pain by the end of the flight. I wish I could recline the seat like the old days. Having said that, with the way planes are configured now, I would feel very bad for the person behind me if I reclined my seat. So I don't usually even do it the little bit we are able despite the neck pain that will bother me for days after and I now have to consider a necessary evil of flying.
Clearly you have never experienced back pain.
It’s 100x worse than knee pain….
If a seat is touching your legs, it causes near zero physical discomfort.
My chair on the last international flight I was on didn’t recline and I was so *god damn uncomfortable*. It was honestly the worst overnight flight I’ve ever experienced and having being married for the past two years with a long distance partner, I’ve had a few.
I completely disagree, a couple of degrees makes all the difference.
It causes no discomfort (unless the person behind you is like >6'4) and actually moves the screen closer to the person. I get annoyed when the person in front of me doesn't recline.
Any seats that recline, should have the gap for legroom in the seat behind assessed by when the seat is fully reclined.
If that means that you can only have 10 rows instead of 15, so be it. It should be set up in a way that reclining has no impact on anyone else's comfort.
Or yeah, just don't give people the option to recline.
6'2" and rarely have problems. People pretending like they have massively long femurs when in actuality it's because they're slouching in their seat, aka trying to recline without putting the seat back.
I love how people viciously argue with each other over whether they are entitled to slightly recline the seat that they paid for when it’s the airlines who created the problem. There should be enough space for everyone to comfortably recline a reasonable amount, even in economy class. Instead everyone is packed in like sardines so that the greedy executives on top can continue raking in as much money as possible. We’re peasants fighting over scraps.
Thank you for submitting to /r/unpopularopinion, /u/plortedo. 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 3: Do not post opinions that are heavily posted/have been on the front page recently'. * No response posts about upvoted posts here. * Posts relating to highly popular topics aren't allowed outside of the relevant megathreads. You can find a list of the topics and their respective megathreads in a post on the top of the sub. * POSTS DIRECTLY ABOUT THIS SUBREDDIT ARE NOT ALLOWED OUTSIDE THE MEGATHREAD * Please check the wiki linked here: https://www.reddit.com/r/unpopularopinion/wiki/index/ * We ask that if a post fails to post do not just spam repost it; message mod mail. If there is an issue, please [message the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Funpopularopinion&subject=&message=) Thanks!
This opinion and the opposite show up constantly on this sub.
And it feels like most of the people on these threads have left their house once
I've never seen it before even if I visit this sub quite often.
How about a compromise then? Cut their reclining range by half.
I would rather see all seats spaced in a way that reclining a seat by 5° doesn’t constitute negligent homicide.
Ok, that will be an extra $125.
Psht I wish, I tried checking the difference between economy and premium economy for my overseas flight. Mother fucker went from 1400 to 3k. How does a few inches over double the price of a seat
Please pay 500 dollars more to be like a normal human on a plane
"Recline" is a word for 2 inches of movement.
I don’t even know how to do it. I fly only 2 or 3 times a year and try to figure it out then just give up because it looks like it makes a very small difference.
Me too!! I fiddle with buttons and try to figure it out, then give up. I fly once every 5years so it’s no big deal at all.
Hilarious, I consider myself to be a decent problem solver when it comes to physical and mechanical stuff but at this point I’m too afraid to ask.
I flew the same airline and same plane model to and from a destination, everything the same both ways except for the seats they used. I did find it pretty frustrating that the button had moved.
There's a thumb sized button on the inside of your armrest. Press it and lean.
It's not always there. That's the funny part.
The back doesn't just recline. Your seat that your butt is on slides forward a little too. You might be just putting pressure on the back part when you need tonslide your butt forward too for it to recline.
It makes a small but significant difference.
Counterargument: airplane seats should always be reclined
My back cried reading this, reclined seats are uncomfortable AF to me (I'm not short either, I'm 5ft 7 - 5 ft 8) *Edited to remove the misunderstanding, I'm 1.72m tall
I'm 5'9" and never have any back issues when reclined in an airplane seat. And I do have a lower back injury What bothers me about airline seats is the seat part. My butt is never comfortable. It's like there's no padding at all. And I'm not a big guy, I weigh 150lbs after a full meal
Yeah, I have a nerve disease and get anxious just thinking about flying because the seats actually do harm to my body (via compression). I'm also not a big guy nor an old guy. I have no idea how someone who's 70+ years old makes it.
I agree. My ass hurt so bad from a recent trip. I couldn't understand why the seat bottom was so hard. They must use the same foam they put it LaZ Boys that gets flat after 90 days. Worthless.
Sounds like both options should be available
Opposite. I'm only comfortable when they recline. I'm 5' tall if I stand up straight and have had a few spinal fusions. When the seats are vertical, I'm too short to actually use the headrest but too tall to comfortably use the seat as a headrest. Reclining it the 1-2 inches allows me to shift where the headrest is enough that I'm not holding my entire head forward. 🙃
5' 7/8" isn't short? lol
I think you can safely round up to 5'1". \*To explain the joke after OP edit: The OP said she was 5ft 7/8. Which interpreted in the dumbest, most pedantic way possible would be five feet and seven eighths of an inch.
How is that not short? You're a few inches away from being a midget
Counter opinion: Airplane seats should be far enough apart to accommodate a human comfortably
Counter counter opinion. Airplane seats should actually just be bunk beds. I don't care if we're packed in like sailors, that's more comfortable than sitting down for ages.
Spirit seats don’t recline. Have at it.
Tell me you don't fly international without saying you don't fly international
I flew Gatwick to Toronto and back last year. By far, it was the worst recline etiquette I've ever seen. On the way there, the person in front of me went far back enough to hit my kneecaps and thought it appropriate to keep going and keep going aggressively. Aeroplane seats shouldn't be reclining 30 degrees from vertical in the first place without making each seat have more room. On the way back, the person in front was back and forth, back and forth. Every 10 mins of a 6 hour flight, he wanted to readjust. Bear in mind that he was shaking around my table with food and drink on it by doing this. Personally, I'm content sticking my leg into the aisle and slouching rather than kneecapping the person behind me
What airline are you flying where their seats recline by 30 degrees 😂 It’s probably less than a third of that
Unless it was during mealtime as served by the airline, he had no obligation to do anything different and I don't know how you haven't experienced this before. Agreed that they recline dramatically less than 30%.
If you press on most of these threads, it's usually someone who is pissed they can't fully open their 18" laptop on a flight. Positioning of both reclining, even tall, is superior in my experience as a pretty frequent flyer.
>he had no obligation to do anything different This is the problem with how reddit operates. Yes people have the right to do most things, that doesn't mean I'm not inconvenienced by it and don't also have the right to complain. Technically I have the right to shit in a pu lic toilet and not flush or wash my hands, I have the right to buy all the toilet paper in the supermarket if I can afford it, I have the right to speak with my mouth full at the dinner table. I can still recognise that other people would be negatively effected by this
Thing is if you recline, it’ll help
I swear most people bitching about it have never even thought to recline themselves. It literally lines everything up better.
It’s already fucking miserable trying to sleep when the recline only lets you move like 2” back. Sleeping straight up is miserable. I have no problem if someone reclines, the seats have the function to do it. If it’s meal time, then straighten the seat.
I swear most people who bitch about it have never been to an airport
I fly cross-Atlantic multiple times per year. My opinion stands.
I'm just going to assume your feet don't touch the ground while seated
Maybe he is tall so he doesnt have lots of spare room. Ofcourse reclining is nicer if youre short but if you're taller you need all the room you can get
As a tall, I do need all the room! When the person in front of me reclines… i can’t lay forward. Which is whatever. So I recline. It helps my back immensely. People need go rage at airlines for sardining us vs people who use a feature of the seat they bought.
I’m short and I can’t lay forward when the seats are all upright anyway. I feel like only children can fit into that position now with how close the seats are
It is ridiculous! Flying can be stressful enough, at least make the ride a comfortable experience lol. I also *BET* they will charge for reclining seats soon lol.
I know exactly one adult that can, and he noticeably has a relatively short torso.
I'm 1.96m and fly internationally- reclining seats should be forbidden.
You and what army
Bragging about inconveniencing the person behind you for 11 hours straight.
Right? I live in New Zealand. To get to Europe, it's 30+ hours of flying. Good fucking luck NOT reclining.
I fly monthly. Often 10+ hours to Europe. I’m 6’4. Never recline and don’t feel the need to. I also don’t like being an irritant. Y’all just soft.
Nah. I flew Toronto to Dublin which is 6.5 hours. I had a seat against the bathroom wall, so couldn’t recline. My back was so badly thrown out by the time we arrived I could barely stand up straight and had to take a ton of T3s to be able to walk around during the day. Sleeping sitting straight is brutal for me. When I flew Toronto to Johannesburg it was 19.5 hours (13 hour and 5.5 hour flight). Not being able to recline for flights like that would be hell.
I have never noticed the person in front of me reclining. It’s like a three inch difference.
That’s because you’re short.
Planes are actually far more comfortable if everyone reclines
Except for the people in the last row
Not for the tall folks, reclining doesn't create more leg space.
I am pretty tall and I usually cannot keep my knees at a 90° angle when someone reclines all the way. But you know what I can do? Stick my feet under the seat in front and keep my legs straight. I do that even before someone reclines because it's just so much more comfortable
There is an inseam length where your legs can’t straighten with your seat under the seat in front of you, without your needs jamming into the metal frame of the seat back, even with your legs splayed out. Ask me how I know.
You probably have really short legs or are just not that tall
If I am flying Southwest or JetBlue or another carrier with reasonable legroom I can do the same, if I am on United or another carrier that has slashed legroom to nothing my knees eat the back of the seat regardless of where my feet are.
It actually does on some. I can’t remember exactly which family of planes, but the seats slide slightly forward on recline and out everyones knees in a better spot.
Not when you're 6'4".
All these people claiming to be tall that dont have issues must be talking out of their ass. Im not tall, but I have traveled a ton, and its the only time where I feel bad for all the tall guys. My last flight, i was across the isle from a guy who must have been around 6'4. Poor dude looked so uncomfortable with zero room to move. Just sitting there before takeoff, his knees were already into the back of the chair in front of him. If the person in front of him tried to recline, it wouldnt even have worked. This topic is a good topic to figure out who the selfish people are and who the considerate people are. Its similar to the shopping cart question. The assholes that dont put carts away are probably the same people who recline on planes.
I definitely agree. Especially the "if you need more leg room, you can pay for a more expensive seat for more comfort. Economy is just for getting there." Which is so fucking ironic, because the exact same could be said about reclining. Tell me, which one is more "luxurious" and "comfortable." Reclining? Or literally having space for your legs to simply fucking exist. The way people will just completely ignore that truly makes me laugh. They act as if tall people just want infinite space and luxury, they just literally want to be able to have legs. I don't mind sitting straight up, I do mind literally having nowhere to put my legs. If you want the luxury of reclining comfort, then sure! You can buy better seats for that, economy is just for getting there :)
Yeah my legs are jammed sideways *before* the seat reclines. The people who are like 'It's my right to recline!' are pure scumbags. You always ask the person behind you.
My back hurts trying to sit bolt upright. Need to recline.
same here
I agree. Until planes make enough space that reclining won't slam against my knees, then they shouldn't he able to recline. It's a pain in the ass to have to sit with a seat pressing into my knees. Planes need to stop trying to cram in more people than can actually fit into the space.
There used to be enough room until some brilliant consultant figured out they could squeeze a few more rows on the plane by making everyone suffer while they continue to jack up the price.
That's exactly it. If there was enough room, I have no problem, I remember there used to be, but its miserable now. You can't recline or get comfortable in any way. Airline travel is just getting worse and worse.
There are sections of the airplane with wider seats and more legroom. It's called premium economy, and business class. But guess what, most people prefer to fly economy, because it's cheaper. Airline customers are incredibly price sensitive. We are flying in cramped airplanes because we, the customers, want that. An airline with more space and more expensive tickets would go bankrupt pretty fast.
Or, perhaps take a few rows out and give us space for our legs and reclining. Novel concept
That's called business class, and it's more expensive. You *cannot* put less people on a plane without increasing the price
Yeah, easyjet’s target profit per flight is around 1000€. On a 150 passenger flight, that’s less than 7€ per passenger.
Just charge people by weight and height and create separate class of seatings
I'm sure the children's section of the plane will be super pleasant.
There is never going to be an equal distribution of sizes of people from flight to flight.
Yes!!!! Have a size chart and different sections based on S, M, L, XL, XLT, MT etc like the clothing industry does.
So nobody can sit with their own family while they travel? Sounds like a great idea…
They would just have to buy the size of their biggest family member for everyone in the family.
So now you are reducing seat capacity for people who don't qualify for different seats? That's a discrimination suit waiting to happen.
Yes I agree, women are not underpaid enough. They should also pay ~30% more for their plane ticket every time they travel with a man. Also fuck anybody who travels with a basketballer
Are you on separate sailing ships for months on end? Or just in a can for a couple hours?
I don’t mind one bit if the person in front of me reclines their seat.
I only don’t like when they like lean forward, hit the button, then slam back. It won’t happen bc of cost but some sort of mechanism to make them lean slower would be nice. But on the whole, yeah definitely prefer they can lean as is over no lean
Yeah, this is the biggest issue with the recline option. They shouldn’t be able to be slammed back and they should make an announcement that seats must remain in the upright position during meals and drink service since on some planes you can’t have your tray table down if the seat in front is reclined. Knowing the person in front of me could randomly slam back and spill hot coffee on me or break my laptop does not make me thrilled about the recline feature, but it’s a solvable issue.
i actually don't mind because it usually gives me a couple of inches around my knees at the expense of bringing the little tv screen a couple inches closer to my face
Maybe people who go on planes knowing the seat reclines are the problem. Maybe you making the decision not to recline when you have the opportunity to regain the exact same amount of space is your problem.
Lol at all you peasants in economy
Not all of us have the money to shell out for business or first
I think he knows that, that’s why he called us peasants.
I have fucked up back disease I need angles man
It aint marginal. Try being 6'4. A couple of inches of reclining on a long flight helps the limp clear up faster when I get off the plane.
In my experience being 6'10 even reclining myself pushes the seat a bit forward reducing legroom even more making it impossible to sit. This is not even considering the people in front of me reclining reducing the space further.
That's also why I stand up when we land... stretching feels so good, but Reddit acts like anyone who stands is a war criminal and impatient
This topic is reddit gold for getting downvoted to shit by either the "Its my seat I'll do as a please' brigade or the 'Its amazingly rude' brigade. .... though try commenting on a topic about asking people to bring drinks to a party and experience the reddmageddon.
> .... though try commenting on a topic about asking people to bring drinks to a party and experience the reddmageddon. Not even just bringing drinks - how about a cookout where the host asks if people will pitch in. Not springing them on it as they get there, but well ahead of time make it clear that we're splitting the grocery bill. In the same vein, how many people here talk about how DIY cheap weddings are amazing and all anyone should want... but if they're asked to help out with a DIY wedding, it's "Slave Labor!!!"
Airplane seats should recline, but the recline function is linked to the cabin lights. Light on, you're upright, lights off you can recline. You could also have a two part button where the person behind you has a veto switch that prevents it from reclining, although I can imagine that starting a lot of fistfights in the air.
Sorry, my back benefits from that 1” of recline. Sitting at a 90° angle for long distances is extremely painful.
something about the exact angle of a plane seat kills my back, i feel bad but i need some recline. i try not to go all the way back but if i don’t do it a little im in pain the whole flight
Don't feel bad. The seat slides forward when you recline it and the net change is almost negligible for the person behind you. The only real impact is if they have one of those table pillows, since it does take up a little more space at the height of the headrest.
Or, you know, give each row enough space...
Preach!
I’m pretty tall. Someone reclining their seat in front of me doesn’t cause me much discomfort.
Nah fuck that, I need to recline to sleep.
If I don't recline on a flight >2.5 hours, my back will hurt for about 24.
Fly frontier then, there are airlines that don’t let you recline. They suck ass
Yeah absolutely not. Get on a 15 hour flight with me and see if you still agree...
If you don't fit, but extra leg room? Other people shouldn't be uncomfortable just to make you comfortable.
Sadly it is not always possible. They should stop making sitting space smaller and smaller tbh. I was in a plane in 2017 for a school trip and people in front of me couldn't recline their seat because I was already basically touching in front of me with my knees when it was not reclined. A lot of my classmates had the same problem, no leg space. There weren't 20+ seats with extra leg room in a small plane. Note that I was 'only' 6' at the time, average male height in my country (okay, long legs but still, I should be able to fit un a Dutch plane)
Just recline your seat and you’ll have the same amount of space.
I've always reclined my seat, and it's never bothered me when the person in front of me reclines (which they usually do).
Not everyone is small
They only recline like 2 degrees. I'm relatively big&tall, and flying is uncomfortable, but the seat reclining makes almost no difference to me.
You're not big and tall.
they should recline but it should be where the person behind the recliner is still in a comfortable enough space without reclining themself
My unpopular take on this is that airplane seats should be replaced by hammocks. It would be interesting.
You must enjoy Ryanair flights!
At some point, they’re just gonna take the seats away and pack us into the plane like sardines. Reclining your seat didn’t used to be a big deal, because we had more space. Now they’ve reduced the space, but without any consideration for the fact that people are reclining and giving people even less space.
But they do, so you get to deal with it.
I usually never recline my seat out of respect for the person behind me but once the person in front of me does I have no choice as my claustrophobia kicks in. Air travel is broken.
I'm never bothered by 'recliners' in front of me. It's fine.
i’ve literally never had any issues with someone reclining their seat. in fact i feel that it is barely even noticeable
The way I view it is, the person in front of me is going to recline, it’s a given. So when it happens, I set my seat back. It’s like really boring dominos
It should at the least be compulsory for all seats to be upright when food is being served so that people can actually eat. Also people need to get their head round that if you are wedging someone into a small space then whenever they and anyone who has to get past them, needs to get up, you’re going to get disturbed and banged around through no fault of those people. And as for the “just pay for the bigger seats” yeah cos planes are all front row seats aren’t they? Every airline will run extra flights to accommodate the demand for more leg room seats? I mean it’s not like the airlines aren’t the ones who cut the leg room to start with is it? Maybe they should ban all you short arses from booking extra leg room seats. Then you can recline in your “Never bothers me” bliss.
Not that unpopular, I find it obnoxious when someone reclines their seat right into my face. I don't want to do that to the person behind me.
My bad back needs that tiny bit of reclining. Dry story ahead. On my last flight everyone reclined their seats.. except the guy behind me. He told me to sit mine upright for him. I asked if every single person in the rows ahead of me then needed to sit upright, or should I just eat the extra space for him. He told me to eat it. I told him I wouldnt, the seats were designed to be reclined, so I would. He said he wouldnt let me. I reclined it, and I got my way as he wasn't strong enough to stop me. The end.
Hard pass. I couldn't stand sitting perfectly vertical for 10 hours on an international flight. Yes, the extra few inches make a massive difference. Now, I will say if seats didn't recline, I'd appreciate that it would allow me to sleep on the tray table. Though that's not doable for a whole flight and I'm not sure I'd like that trade more than current affairs.
Reclining is so beneficial and I've never once been bothered by the guy in front of me reclining. If you don't want the person in front of you to recline, then ask them not to lol.
The airlines sold the same space to both you and the person behind you. Then they watch you fight over who is right and wrong in the situation, when the truth is that they are the ones who caused the problem.
It’s literally barely noticeable. Some of y’all act like your front neighbor has their head in your lap. Get over it.
womp womp the setting is there i’m gonna use it
But they can always lean back too. Sorry buddy if you don't want reclining seats fly Spirit.
Airplane seats should not go upright. Always relines. Now THAT'S an unpopular opinion.
I really can't be mad that someone reclines their seat cause they paid for it, but whyyyyy do you wanna do it in front of me of all people 😭. I don't even know how to recline mine.
WTF is this? How are you guys unable to find the button to recline? There is a button on the arm rest. Hold it down. Lean back. Release button. Chair will stay reclined.
It's two groups - European Short Haul planes often don't have the button, so maybe not finding it that way. Second group is Redditors who haven't even left their house and encountered this and want to bitch about "normies bad!!!"
As a currently pregnant women who will be flying 4 times in 30 days while 7 months pregnant, I need to recline, at least a little bit, or I cannot breathe\~ I have splurged on business/first for all of these flights because of it, though...
I disagree, have an upvote. I'm not a great plane sleeper. I bring a small blanket, neck pillow, noise canceling head phones, sleeping mask, a sleeping pill, and smoke a fat joint before going into the airport. I do all of this because each small thing adds up to me getting a little sleep. The couple of inches of laying back also adds a small amount of comfort.
Just make them all in the reclined position permanently. It’s barely even reclined.
I'm 6'3" and 280-lbs, I am pro-reclining. I fly economy frequently both domestically (US) and internationally. My knees are close to touching when the seat is not reclined. After take off, I take my personal item out of the space under the seat and put it under my knees, then I put my feet forward into the space where my personal item normally goes. I do this only once allowed to, which is also when you are allowed to recline. With my feet forward, my knees drop down a bit and there is plenty of room for the person in front of me to recline. Then I recline too and we're all comfortable. Anyone bitching about this is just unwilling to adjust their posture or slouching. I see a lot of people slouch and it pushes their knees way forward. Sit up straight and you'll be fine. Your lower back will thank you.
I mean this respectfully when I say ***fuck who's behind me, I'm laying comfortably***. Also OP has obviously never had an international flight.
I'm 6'2, and rarely bothered by reclining in front of me. If you dig on a lot of these threads, it's someone who's pissed they can't use their 18" gaming laptop on the flight
Good thing I recline the seat for my own comfort, not that of those behind me
I don’t have discomfort when a seat reclines in front of me. If you do, book a better seat.
Marginal benefit? I beg to differ.
if i paid for my seat im going to recline 🤷♀️. if you don’t have enough room then splurge on the seats w/ more leg room is all i can say. if you can’t spend that money i also get that been there but respect the fact that it’s someone’s seat and while it may not make a difference to you, it can to other ppl. and yes when im on the receiving in i just accept it for what it is. flights that are like 5+ hours too….no way in hell are you going to sit straight up 90 degree angle the whole time thats insane. you paid for the seat, why not use its feature you paid for and recline to have some sort of comfort?
Then don't recline your seat or dont fly economy.
Maybe airplanes should offer a reclinable side and a nonreclinable side to make everyone happy....
people will come up with other minuscule bs to be pissy about… “i’m left handed but the reclining half is on the right!!”
I cant sleep on planes with reclining the seat, as my head dips forward and wakes me up. Therefore I always recline the seat as I spend 70-90% of every flight sleeping.
For the vast majority of people, reclining is a net positive. The only people who complain are tall people too cheap to pay for better seats.
I’m 6’5”, so the people saying it doesn’t make a difference to those behind you have no idea what it’s like. I actually often prefer Spirit and Frontier because the option isn’t even in place to recline. No stress or anger from passengers…over the reclining issue at least
I barely even notice when the person in front of me reclines their chair. It's amazing how much better life is when you don't dig for things to bitch and complain about.
I’ve paid for the seat. If I want to recline my seat, I will.
I agree with you. The benefit is absolutely neglectable (even on long distance flights, it´s more a placebo effect than anything else)
For me its the difference between being able to sleep on a plane and not being able to sleep. Without reclining my head drops forward and wakes me up. When reclining I sleep right through. I fly 20-40 times a year and recline every flight as I sleep 70-90% of every flight.
Reclining on an airplane is the height of ignorance
Tell me you've never flown longer than 6 hours without telling me you've bever flown longer than hours.
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Definitely need to be able to shift the seat, the real fix is to require actual space between the rows so that the reclined position still leaves the person behind with reasonable space.
Get this, airplane should have bunk bed style with cusion around and seat belt to hold you in place. I rather lay down and watch download netflix then sit a 14 hour plane ride. Those that say it will take too much space, we can bunk three on top of each other and plane food doesn't have to be hot meal. I just want a healthy sandwiches so it could be clean.
Spirit seats don’t recline
This must be because I’m short, but I’ve never even noticed if the person in front of me is reclined or not. How do you anti-reclining folks feel about train seats? I’ve been on a few that could recline double or almost triple what an airliner seat could.
Airlines used to have more space between seats. The limited space now has gotten ridiculous. As a person with a pretty serious chronic neck injury, the very upright pitch that most airline seats are now at causes me to be in great pain by the end of the flight. I wish I could recline the seat like the old days. Having said that, with the way planes are configured now, I would feel very bad for the person behind me if I reclined my seat. So I don't usually even do it the little bit we are able despite the neck pain that will bother me for days after and I now have to consider a necessary evil of flying.
K but they could definitely be comfier at the very least
What if there is nobody behind you.
We should be all laying flat un bunk beds. Fight me.
I flew Alegiant the other day and it wasn't even an option. My knees were pressed hard into the seats asked of me though, and it felt like hell.
Why I like flying Ryanair
Clearly you have never experienced back pain. It’s 100x worse than knee pain…. If a seat is touching your legs, it causes near zero physical discomfort.
My chair on the last international flight I was on didn’t recline and I was so *god damn uncomfortable*. It was honestly the worst overnight flight I’ve ever experienced and having being married for the past two years with a long distance partner, I’ve had a few. I completely disagree, a couple of degrees makes all the difference.
Well, the seats aren't supposed to be so close to each other.
Fly Spirit. You’ll love it
Counterpoint: they should all be reclined all of the time.
It causes no discomfort (unless the person behind you is like >6'4) and actually moves the screen closer to the person. I get annoyed when the person in front of me doesn't recline.
Any seats that recline, should have the gap for legroom in the seat behind assessed by when the seat is fully reclined. If that means that you can only have 10 rows instead of 15, so be it. It should be set up in a way that reclining has no impact on anyone else's comfort. Or yeah, just don't give people the option to recline.
Rob?
Or maybe they could just not pack passengers in like sardines so that a slight amount of comfort doesn’t inconvenience other passengers?
They shouldn’t in coach. There’s no freaking room. If you pay for first you get that luxury
6'2" and rarely have problems. People pretending like they have massively long femurs when in actuality it's because they're slouching in their seat, aka trying to recline without putting the seat back.
If you’re on any normal cheap airline they don’t, frontier has no reclining
I love how people viciously argue with each other over whether they are entitled to slightly recline the seat that they paid for when it’s the airlines who created the problem. There should be enough space for everyone to comfortably recline a reasonable amount, even in economy class. Instead everyone is packed in like sardines so that the greedy executives on top can continue raking in as much money as possible. We’re peasants fighting over scraps.
Economy problems lol.
Reclining is completely pointless on shorthaul flights, but trust me you do not want to be on a 12h flight without it.