I took a Continental flight from the US to Dublin. The flight left at 9:30pm and I reclined my seat to begin my nights rest.

The flight attendant woke me up to say that the lady behind me couldn't eat her dinner with my seat reclined. He then insisted that I put my seat in the full upright position until after dinner was completed.

After dinner, I reclined my seat and went back to sleep. The same flight attendant woke me up again to say that the passengers behind me couldn't get in and out of their seats to use the rest room. He suggested that I sleep with my seat upright.

Business class was full so this was in coach. Does one have the right to recline their seat during flights?

Absolutely. That's why they recline!

Was everyone on this flight asked to keep their seats fully upright too, all night? What was the person in front of you doing?

While I do think it's polite to keep seats upright until after dinner meal service, I've never heard of that being required for the duration of a flight.

This is a tuffy - wait until the rush to the bathroom is over and then recline. If reclining is paramount, then travel 1st class.

As a courtesy, I keep my seat upright when eating, but after that I recline so I can try to get some sleep.

Monica

I agree with the others. I recline during dinner and after that it's my time to be comfy.
The flight attendent should have found you another seat.
Protect Our Rights to Recline.

We have agreed to disagree on this topic.

Ditto the others. (Liz's opinion)

You only have the right to recline on overnight and/or international flights (Tim's, who is 6'5", opinion)

I heard somewhere that some US airline is changing their seats to limit the recline, due in part to this controversy.

I agree that it is courteous to:

Keep the seat upright during dinner service

When you do recline, do so slowly, or let the person know behind you that you are - in case they have their laptop up or something.

Recline fully when you do sleep, cuz you can... and those seats are too uncomfortable anyhow.

Thinking outside the box, I would have asked the lady behind you to switch places with you

If the plane was a 757, like the Continental flight we took from Newark to Copenhagen, it had very little legroom for an overseas flight and was uncomfortable. One should be able to lean back a little to get some sleep! I think the real problem was a cramped plane, otherwise reclining the seat a little bit wouldn't have bothered anybody so much!

This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine! Keep yer darn head off my lap!!!!! My knees are squished and going numb, I can't get out to go to the bathroom, and I'm trapped like a bug under a shoe until the lack of oxygen or movement almost does me in! If it's bedtime and we're traveling internationally and dinner is over, then s-l-o-w-l-y recline, otherwise buy a first class ticket if you must lay down!!!! Sheesh, could you be more inconsiderate?! I once 'unreclined' the seat of a nun who was sitting in front of my 6'3" husband when she was in the bathroom! (Wow, I feel better. Thanks.)

I recline and people recline in front of me all the time and I have never found it to be a problem eating or getting in and out. My sister-in-law and a friend werew flying on AirFrance last year and two women behind them started screaming at them because they reclined.

Tell your sister that I apologize. Oh,no, I didn't go to France last year. AND I don't compain to the person, I just talk about them behind their backs. Hahaha

This is an age-old problem. I usually try to be polite and think of the person sitting in back of me.

However, on a flight from Europe the passenger in front of me INSISTED he needed to keep his seat fully reclined - even though he was sitting upright and using his computer the whole flight! He felt it was his right and nothing was gonna change his mind.

Sheeeesh!

If the airlines asked me, I'd urge them to do away with reclining seats.

I suggest that anyone here who doesn't think I paid for a seat which reclines and then have a right to get that recline out of it buy their OWN ticket in First Class.

Otherwise suck it up...you need to think about the person <b>in front of you</b> as well as the person behind you.

And if you can't get out of your seat to go to the BR then maybe you should shed a few pounds because in some instances that IS the real reason there is so much difficulty.

Hi C,

&gt;Does one have the right to recline their seat during flights?&lt;

Yes.

Is it polite to fully recline one's seat?

No.

&gt; the passenger in front of me INSISTED he needed to keep his seat fully reclined ..&lt;

For those persons, I use their seat back to aid me in getting up and out of my seat.

I find that I often feel a leg cramp coming on about 2 min after they have fallen asleep.

Sometimes this happens 10 - 12 times during a flight.

It's not the person in front of you whose life mission is to make you uncomfortable, nor should it be your mission to make them uncomfortable.

It seems to be the airlines' mission to make us all (in coach) miserable and defer the anger to our fellow passengers.

For those of you with a huge chip on your shoulder regarding the poor person sitting in front of you (or behind you), grow up and direct your ire where it belongs.

The next time the person in front of you reclines all the way back - kindly inform them that its an airline seat not a dental chair! Recline some, yes- but not so much that the person behind you is crammed in. And of course no reclinig during meal times- you would be surprised how many people are not aware of this courtesy- call the flight attendant's attention to these folks!