jor

doc, Get real.

JJason

tiberius, you are correct. A 350;b should buy 2 seats (and a Jenny Craig membership) but is welcome to sit next to me as long as he does not have "dunlap's" disease. Dunlaps is when his gut "done lap" over his belt into my seat. And since my seat would be reclining anyway....

suzanne

He is too polite to recline his seat more than an inch or two, though it wouldn't help much anyway (his knees are all the way in the adjacent peoples' spaces even when the person in front isn't reclined). We cannot afford first class seats. Should he be penalized for being tall? The exit row seats are fine though. Extra leg room, and no one can recline onto your lap. Personally, I think they should give exit row seats to extra-tall people, because regular coach seats have close to zero legroom.

BayArea

I still think it's funny that y'all are bitching each other out.

Seriously. It's the airline, bitch them out!

Though in our overly litigious society, I hope someone can make a DeepVein Thrombosis case stick. That is likely to be the only thing that will FORCE the airlines to go back to offering the leg room that once was common.

Rainy

I hate it when people recline all the way back in front of me - but even worse are the people who pretend like their legs were just practically amputated when the person in front of them just reclined and inch. I sat next to one of those recently and eveytime the person in front of her even moved she'd make this big dramatic scene - I wanted to smack her.
Now the absolutely worst thing I EVER sat behind was a man with horrible dandruff which was flying all over "my space" - I was afraid to eat my meal - I had to keep it covered so his dandruff wouldn't fly into my food. He kept hitting his head against the seat so that dandruff was flying everywhere! When I was getting off the plane I noticed my purse which was stowed under the seat was covered with dandruff. It was beyond disgusting.

missjanna

I'm sorry...here I am about to get on my flight TOMORROW ans now I gotta worry about stuck barf bags and recliners...LOL

But in all seriousness....if I put something in the barf bag (which is usually wrappers from anything I ate on the plane) I always give it to the flight crew when they pick up the trash.

As for recliners, being 5'3" I don't have much of a problem, I usually only recline halfway unless I notice someone who might have a problem behind me, in which case I don't recline at all. However, even at my short height, there have been instances where the person reclining in front of me has limited my leg room! (Especially at theatres!) So I see both sides of that argument!!

Traveler_A

I love the responses on the reclining discussion! I'm only 5'1" and it still bothers me when someone in front of me reclines their seat. For me it's not an issue of squishing my knees, but that the person's head is now 4" from my face, which is annoying (see previous dandruff comment). While people have every right to recline their seat, I usually don't recline mine since it doesn't seem to make a whole lot of difference in my comfort anyway. Plus I know it can be annoying to ME, so I don't like to annoy anyone behind me. You certainly should be able to recline your seat if you choose to - it's the airline industry that's to blame. Who are they kidding when they decide how much pitch/space to allow between rows and seats? Who is the "average" person that they're measuring as a guide? I'm a short person and I STILL feel confined in those tiny seats! Love the United Plus more legroom seats but have heard that some airlines may discontinue that system

HuwMorgan

The best way to handle flights is to accept the discomfort and make preparations to alleviate the discomfort. The best way I know is to drink heavily at the airport bar and have a drink or two on the flight. Inebriated, you will find sleep easy without having to recline into the lap of the person behind you. A bonus to this sort of travel practice is that you will have used your travel time wisely by taking advantage of sleeping druing an unpleasant portion of your trip.

Loki

What if you actually barf in the "barf" bag? Do you bring it to the bathroom and empty it? Politely hand it to the FA who's wheeling the lunch cart down the aisle? Stash it in the seat back? Slide it under the seat of the person in front of you who is reclining into your airspace?

What's the etiquette here?

Kath

Good question. Fodors should make this this next poll - Have you ever actually barfed in the barf bag?

jor

Here's an off beat dinner party gag idea. I collected eight barf bags and place one by each setting. It was a going away party, and I'm not a great cook.

Suzie

jor, a "gag" idea? Funny!

b26440510

I don't recline in seats unless there's no one behind me (and very seldom even then). I know how bad it makes my legs feel when the person in front of me reclines and I don't want to do that to the person behind me.

Tiberius_Solarass

I've barfed in a barf bag before. Once, while taking off from Logan out over the harbor. The winds were terrible, the plane was all over the place. I normally am not one to get squeamish, but one person barfed and then a few others, and just the sound of the others barfing (listening to someone barf is a terrible sound) did something to me. Before I knew it, I felt that bitter taste in my mouth and lost it. It was a terrible experience.

Tiberius_Solarass

Whoops, I accidentally posted before finishing my story. Well, to answer your question, yes, we all handed the barf bags to the FAs and they were quite professional about it. I was impressed with their calm demeanor, not sure if any of you have seen a used barf bag, but believe you me it is not a pretty sight. Most people cannot neatly direct their barf into the narrow opening of the bag and there was quite a bit of multi-colored splatter and spillover on the various bags being handed in. It was quite a sight, one of those 'flight from hell' episodes. First time in my life I saw an entire cabin full of pasty, pale-faced passengers with some very distressed expressions on their faces. I was sweating like a pig for about an hour after the plane leveled off. Ugh.

theladyjess

Recline, don't recline, I don't really care.

What I HATE is the perfume/lotions/ointments/etc. that people wear. I was once on a commuter flight where the woman in front of me had that old person formaldehyde smell. It was making me sick. Everytime I couldn't smell it anymore she'd move and I'd get another wave of it.

I now have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, a condition where smells, soaps, fumes, etc. bother me. I'm so sensitive that I can't do down the household cleaner or laundry detergent asiles in the grocery store. I avoid using the mall enterances to department stores because the perfumes bother me so much. I was at a paino recital and had to move because the woman's perfume in front of me gave me an asthma attack.

As for gum chewers being more disgusting than smokers is just not true. My gum chewing won't kill me or others. It also doesn't make my clothes, breath or body stink. I'm a poilite chewer and don't smack my gum or chew like a cow chewing cud. For me it's a way to relieve stress, as I tend to clench my teeth when stressed.

fiasco

i've utilized barf bags for writing impromptu letters. the recipients always find this amusing, and none have ever mentioned that there is gum stuck inside.

as for reclining, i always check behind me, and wont recline if i see someone extremely large or tall in the seat. if the person isnt going to be inconvenienced, back i go. it doesnt really bother me when the person in front of me reclines. i'm flying 12 hours on AA this weekend (boston-honolulu, yeehaw!) and i'm hoping for the "more legroom" seats. bummer that they're discontinuing those.

fiasco