Flat Lake Flyer

I like the free drinks on the long SEA / ANC flights. Is it rude of me to use the call button to ask for more? Or ask for doubles? Don't drink enough to get sloopy but I've been known to walk off the plane kind of slow...

And on the subject of rudness... Do you recline your seat? I do and have been supprised at teh number of folks I've asked that said they thought it was rude.

WinSea

My own opinion:

1. Recline Seat - Not Rude

2. Using the call button to request more - it can be rude or completely normal in my opinion, if you hit the button every 20 mins, I am sure the FA won't be amazed. I do see someone keep pushing call button to ask for drinks during the entire flight.

dayone

Probably, unless the FA is ignoring you. If you urgently want another drink, why not walk to the galley and ask? Standing up also may inform your decision to have another drink.

It's OK to ask and it's OK for the FA to say no.

I don't, but opinion is pretty evenly split. If it's important to you, consider choosing the last row of F.

Flat Lake Flyer

I'm not that bad. Usually no more then four drinks on a SEA to ANC run...

WinSea

They do have the policy to refuse drinks to intoxicated passengers. If the FA believes you should not have another drink, she/he can surely say no or ignore you.

Seat 2A

There are times where it's considered inappropriate to recline your seat - such as during boarding or at mealtimes. But otherwise there's a good reason why seats have recline buttons and there's equally good reason why airlines make light of this. (Alaska makes a point of indicating that its new Recaro seats have a 3" recline. I doubt they'd offer seat recline or mention it as a function of their seats it if they expected people to get all touchy and/or guilty feeling about it.)

This was never an issue until airlines began to cram more and more seats into airplanes after deregulation. Back in the sixties and seventies, the industry standard for Coach was about 36". A few airlines like Western and Frontier advertised First Class legroom (38-40") throughout the plane. These days seat pitch has been reduced to about 31" on average. Alaska is one of the better airlines in Coach with a seat pitch of 32".

A few chronic whiners make it sound like the world is coming to an end over this issue and so don't want anyone to recline. Ignore them. As long as seats have recline buttons, people are going to feel entitled to use them. And they should. In a perfect world, the airlines would restore civilized seat pitch, which ought to be about 34" minimum. Alas, it ain't a perfect world, is it.

Jimgotkp

A person next to me on a recent transcon had at least 8 Crown Royals and Coke... he didn't seem that drunk at all.. mentioned he was from Alaska, so I'm assuming Alaskans can drink quite heavily

UAPremierExec

I always look behind me to see if person is on laptop or doing something that my reclining would interrupt... just like I grab row 1 when I know Im gonna be working...

WinSea

I do the same when I am in coach, always check before I do that, F class, not usually, just do it slowly, person behind you should have enough room.

PDXPremier

My wife quickly puts her seat back (in F or Y) as soon as we lift off the ground. If I put my seat back, I sometimes try to do it slowly so it's not quite as noticeable. As for the drinks, I've found a sure fire way to avoid having "too much" and keep the drinks flowing....stick to sodas, juice, and coffee My wife, for the most part, is a 100% water drinker so she hands her big water bottle over to the FA, gets it filled up once or twice, and she's set!

dayone

The only thing wrong with that is using Coke as a mixer. Crown Royal is a sweet whisky. Add Coke and you're drinking candy.

“All generalizations are false, including this one.”

MonThruThurs

Most people don't do this and I've almost had my computer screen smashed because of it!

Me personally, I never recline. We're all already jammed, why make it worse by invading personal space even more. But, that's just me.

CDKing

IBTL, Just another seat recline debate thread that will likey go downhill fairly quick

Somewhat on topic (different airline). I was on AA on Tuesday and each flight the FA offered everyone 2 mini's at the same time. On the last flight they were only charging for the 1st and the 2nd was a gift.

Seat 2A

While I've yet to drink 8 of anything on an airplane, I do find that prior to the flight it's helpful to put in a request for wheelchair assistance at my destination if I feel I might be wanting to drink a little more than usual on the flight...

macfadsj

Getting back to the question of ringing the call button to order another drink,
using simple eye contact and body or verbal language, it should be possible to order another drink every 30-45 minutes, assuming one could drink that much.

When you catch the flight attendants' attention in this manner, it tends to be at a time that is mutually convenient to both of you. When you ring the call button, it is at your convenience, but may not be at the convenience of the flight attendant, who is taking care of up to 15 other passengers.

Much more respectful to refrain from using the call button to order drinks IMHO.