JALPak

Just fly with Oman Air. Its new J seat is a suite so you won't bother other passengers as much with an open window.

77W_12A

I close it as soon as the wheels go up. There's really not much to see.

The worst offender was a passenger in the mini cabin opening and closing the shades every 5 minutes. He kept doing this for a good two hours when we were flying over Alaska.

aceboy44

It seems that some commentators here are not getting my point, so I will simply respond to them by re-posting one of the commentator's response:

If people get disturbed by the sun in the plane they might fly cargo planes as well such as FedEx or uPs. Once there no one will disturb them since no windows exist in the first place

millionmiler

The CX cabin crew are very determined though. I've seen many debates as an observer. I guess you could scream and act badly but in a calm debate I've never seen a passenger win.

Also, I don't think that the passenger has a formal "right" to open the shade if the crew requests to keep it closed. There are those that feel that they should be allowed to do what they want as long as it doesn't jeopardize the safety of the aircraft, the crew, or other passengers. That is naďve and not correct. On a commercial aircraft or ship it is generally accepted and in most geographies legally required to follow the instructions of the crew even if it might inconvenience you.

Of course the cabin crew should allow a passenger to open the shade. I agree with that completely. If they don't or the airline policy is too deny it for the convenience of other passengers then of course you are free to take your money elsewhere.

QRC3288

First off, this isn't really a daytime flight....it departs at 2am, is 7 hours of flying time and lands HKG midday. It is a strange situation as is one of the ex-DXB departures where you have a short red eye but the second half of the flight is all light outside. It is absolutely a flight appropriate for sleep.

With that cleared up, I sympathize with both sides. I like opening the windows to look out too. That said I hardly think it's as black and white as implied by those who insist it is a horrible policy to ask pax to close shades. Why? Because I'm also in the camp of folks who flies extensively for business (including to ME last week), and desperately wants to maximize sleep on that flight. Two things ask for a party atmosphere on the plane: lights on and shades open. Simple fact that more pax talk, drink and make noise when there is light in the cabin, and it's harder to sleep for others. Do you have shades? Yes. Does that mean you sleep as well with them on? Um, in my case, definitely not.

On my ex-DXB flight last week the lights were on for almost 3 hours after departure, and a couple got angry at the flight attendants for turning the lights off and stopping the party. Every businessman in the cabin breathed a sigh of relief. I'm sure it could be a similar situation when someone on the ex-DOH or late night ex-DXB flight kept their window open, when most of the others are trying to sleep. I know it sucks when you get asked to close the shades....but it also sucks for others who may have a different agenda than you and aren't on vacation but going straight to the office upon landing. You cannot please everyone. CX makes the business decision on those flights in J that there are enough people who need to get to work the next day and would appreciate the best 4-5 hours of sleep possible. Is it "right"? I'm not sure really what's wrong or right here. CX just makes a business decision. And for better or worse, I think the majority of CX fliers in J would at least understand the businessman's predicament.

And to the OP: IME, fairly disengenuous or emotional comments about IFE. I far prefer CX to QR, as someone who has used both extensively. Yes CX has some clunky controls including getting to the midpoint of a show, but thats about the only inferiority on StudioCX versus QR. Not as familiar with EK but my brief impressions are very positive.

And the cold cabin.....to each their own. I far prefer cold to hot. In too many CX flights to count, btw, I have never seen the cabin temperature below 20 C. And usually it's between 22-23.

CrazyJ82

It's not just about sleep. The open windowshade is inconsiderate of pax who are trying to watch the IFE. The glare can be a problem. And I'm also not so quick to assume the eyeshades make it irrelevant whether you open or close your windowshade. Even with better eyeshades than they include in the amenity kit, I find that too much ambient light, or a sudden change in the ambient light when a rude fellow pax opens their shade can disturb me.

Bottom line, this isn't an issue like seat comfort, food quality, or IFE (where the OP knows better than we do what s/he likes) where I'm sympathetic to an argument that if you've paid a lot of money you should have it just so. If you want to be free from any constraint to be considerate to your fellow passengers, fly private.

marcuslai

But then you could also heed your own advice. If you won't want other passengers opening their window shades and cause glare on your screen or disturb your sleep, fly private

I for one am the pro-"if people want to open their shades, you might as well let them". Sure, you might consider them inconsiderate, but at the end of the day, and assuming this is indeed a rule, the FAs can't police the entire cabin the entire time.

If you must sleep undisturbed, you really should take it upon urself to wear a very decent eyeshade (certainly not the rather flimsy ones from the amenity kits), put on ear plugs, and maybe a sleeping pill or two, with a glass of wine or two.

Also, I really don't find it all that inconsiderate for people to open the shades while others might want to sleep. Some people might be claustrophic, some just want to look out the window, some wants natural light for readng. Some just don't want to sleep. Whatever. I don't believe my fare includes a surcharge to stop others from opening their window shades.

QRC3288

I actually agree on all points here. And to be fair, the FAs don't really police, at least not in my experience. I've never had an experience like the OP's whereby I was not allowed to keep them open. Maybe his experience is an outlier, or maybe a misunderstanding.

I do think it can be considerate to keep shades closed on flights like the ex-DOH/ex-DXB flights like he was on, but at the same time everyone has their own agendas and needs and that's the way it is. There are no rules one way or the other.

I think the way CX does it now is actually very good - they certainly discourage open shades, and they ask you to put them down, but never once have I had an FA push back on me when I say "no, I want to keep it open for now" or "I'll close it myself". I've done this many, many times and never received a problem. So basically, you have the indifferent pax usually who have them down, pax who insist on having them open doing what they want, and I feel like that's a fair deal. Selfishly, I am all for the FAs politely asking pax to close if they don't mind closing the shades, or proactively closing shades of sleeping passengers (which is a very common practice).

Obviously, it's not ideal when a pax like the OP comes away with such a negative impression, but I wasn't in his shoes and can only speak from my own experiences...I've never once had a problem keeping it open. You just have to be willing to tell them you prefer it open! As someone who both a.) occasionally keep the window open a little longer after window-closing time, and b.) a business traveler who also likes to sleep a lot on planes, I'm a fan of the policy.

Guy Betsy

I guess that's why the 787 comes with window shades that the cabin crew can control !

aceboy44

I told them that I wanted to keep my window shades open and insisted on it, but they kept closing it and when they turned away I would sneakily open it again, so they came back and told me not to do it to "avoid disturbing other passengers." To add insult to injury they kept walking on my side of the cabin to check that my window shades were closed, despite having my entire row unoccupied.

Now I have flew with a variety of airlines including Kuwait Airways, Emirates, Oman Air, Malaysia Airlines, and Srilankan Airlines and I never had an experience like the one I had with Cathay Pacific.

I e-mailed them regarding this issue. Let us wait and see whether they would even bother responding to me or not.

marcuslai

In your position, I would have told the FA I feel claustrophic, or am getting airsick. Need to have an open window or I would feel extremely uncomfortable. Not much they can do (other than upgrade u to F for the claustrophobism )

sxc

Personally I like that CX insists that the blinds are down. A sliver of an opening lights up the whole cabin, and even with eyeshades this affects sleeping patterns and ability to sleep.

Considering that the premium paid for J class is so that passengers can sleep, I think sleeping needs override other considerations.

percysmith

Devil's advocate view http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...there-one.html

1010101

You're probably used to a blinding cabin if you fly on Emirates, but the rest of us like to sleep in darkness. Don't be so selfish ^

ps the reason CX is rated better than QR is simple. No matter how excellent the 787 is, had you flown DOH-HKG on a QR aircraft, you would have had the awful 2-2-2 slopey seats for company. CX has consistency that QR/EK do not.

aceboy44

Unfortunately Doha flights do not have F class cabin in them But thanks for the tip. @:-)

It is not my fault that I can't sleep in planes. When I fly to new destinations I also want to explore the natural landscape beneath me. I think I have the right to do that yes?

Again, eye-shades exist for a reason, and when we fly, we’re all in this together so just as you have the right to sleep comfortably, I also have the right to look out the window since I find it difficult to sleep on planes.

When I pay a higher price to sit in a premium cabin (and book my window seat in advance,) then I have every right to look out the window.