Originally Posted by
eightblack
That way, you end up with the entire row for the whole flight. I've never once had someone try and sit in the row. I reckon you can nearly have as comfortable a sleep lying across 4 seats in Y as in J (I said "nearly").
I employ this strategy religiously.
However I did once have a grumpy old guy brazenly sit on my legs on an MH flight. About 2 hours in, he decided he wanted more space, went for a wander, and saw me lying there. We made eye contact, and he just stood there staring, presumably hoping I would volunter to sit up. I closed my eyes, as I had been up for some 30 hours and was trying to fall asleep. Next thing I knew, he sat down on my legs. As you can imagine, I was really surprised.
It's hard to know what to do in a case like that. If he had asked nicely, I would have shared the space. I didn't want to start a big fight, because that's just hassle the flight crew doesn't need, and even if you think you have "justice" on your side, you never know how the authorities will see it.
I settled for the somewhat ridiculous passive-aggressive approach of taking off my socks and "accidentally" massaging his lap with my toes every time I shifted positions, until he gave up half an hour later. As a grown man in my 40s, I felt really childish at the time, but it was strangely satisfying too!