Raymoland

Some real entitlement from the pax in 20E this morning. When I boarded all his stuff was where the seat was located (where my bag is now). When I asked him to move it, he said no. When I told him it blocked access to the emergency exit, he huffily pushed it all under the seat.
When I pponpoi out that was my under seat storage, agressively said "who says you get extra leg room" and "I would have to put it in the overhead"

The middle seat is empty, so much as I love a good conflict, I have stored my bag there. He has nothing under his seat, btw. Will be keeping my legs fully extended for the entire flight.....

Often1

While I will politely engage another passenger on simple matters, if that does not immediate resolve whatever the issue is, I turn it over to the crew. That is their function.

dcadwell

I had a similar experience on a DTW-NRT trip. Booked 41J on the A350 and the couple traveling in row 40 decided to put their bags/coolers (yes, coolers - in addition to all of the in-flight catering they brought additional meals/snacks) in the space in front of me.

Figured the flight attendants would say something because as you state it blocks emergency exit access, but alas they did not.

Mr. Tickets

Technically, nothing is allowed in that space where there is no seat. It is supposed to remain clear. As someone said, it all depends
upon if the FA sees it.

ecaarch

I had a similar situation occur last year (I was in 21A on a 739). Except that I boarded before the person in 20B, so I had already placed my bag under 19A. The pax in 20B told me that I needed to move my items from under 19A - I declined. She placed her items in the open area next to her seat. The FA noted it before take-off and made her move her bag to the underseat in front of her.

During the flight, she literally put her bag on my outstretched feet/ankles. I was resting/dozing and I might have accidentally kicked her bag over a few times in my sleep.

lost_perspicacity

I've completely given up taking my favorite seat, 5A, on CR9s and E75s because of several 5B pax wanting to share the space under 4A.

defrosted

Nice, these people think that you aren't entitled to anything extra, yet somehow they are entitled to the space beside them and two underseat spaces?
EDIT: and I just noticed they took both seatbacks too! I mean they need two safety cards? That space is clearly not intended for them, unbelievable.

That is the only downside of that seat if you don't get there first.

Cory6188

Actually, I'm curious - what's the collective POV on this one? In the case of the 739, there's a seat in front of you that you can put your stuff under, but for 5B, there's nothing at all. Given that it's a wide underseat space, since 4A is an F seat, does it all belong to 5A? Or does 5B get to share?

Same question would apply to 10C on the MD-88/MD-90.

jdrtravel

I don't think 5B gets to share unless they ask nicely if there is extra room if both pax have small bags. Otherwise, it's just like being seated at a bulkhead--you have to use the o/h bin.

RaflW

Before the MD-90 drawdown, I often chose 25B as my favorite seat. I always expected the pax in 26A to put their bag under 24A. Often, if their's wasn't too big, I could then put my small messenger bag next to theirs for extra foot room (25B doesn't have extra knee space, but I value shoulder space highly as a sturdy guy). But I'd generally check with the 26A pax, either verbally or with eye contact before placing my bag.

As to the RJ's F to C+ offset, great question. As a window seat fan, unless the pax in the B seat has a huge bag that precludes my messenger bag also fitting, I'd share if asked. OH bin space sucks, esp on the CR7s/9s.

Often1

The empty space is not "under the seat in front of you." The reason for the rule is to prevent carryons from going flying in turbulence. It is the FA's job to require that the bag placed in the empty space be placed either in the OH or under the seat in front of its owner.

strickerj

TravelLawyer

@Raymoland I hope you felt the need to take off your shoes while your legs were extended for the duration of the flight.

AA100k

vincentharris

My general approach here or in any "contested" space is to politely state, "excuse me but this is where my luggage would go". I say its a 50/50 split. 50% might be novice travelers or not have realized it, apologize, and move their stuff. 50% are entitled jerks. For the 50% entitled jerks I politely say "ok, thanks" and then would find a FA to handle it. I assure you before take off you having your bag there would upset FAs because it does in fact block the exit row.

I once had my bag in the overhead for a bulkhead seat in 1B (First), once at flight level I went to get my bag and saw a bag with what looked like expensive stuff in front of mine (Shopping bag from a high end retailer). I stated "is this yours.. (I couldnt finish with "I didnt want to touch/move it without your permission") before they flew off the handle about how they have a right to put it there and blew up on me. Before it turned into the next YouTube video I simply stated "I am not fighting with you" and sat down. I waited a few minutes, was the bigger person turned around and apologized, and when the FA came joked about buying them a drink as an apology. It defused the situation, and once I explained what I was trying to do were apologetic as well but it just goes to show you that for whatever reason whether in Y or F people who might otherwise be really nice people day to day turn into horrible people once in an airport/airplane.