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Armrest Etiquette

Armrest Etiquette

Old Aug 22, 2018, 6:33 pm
  #16  
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Originally Posted by FlySleepSail
I'm with some of you. Aisle people have the aisle, window people have the window, middle seat gets the arm rests, the end. Right?
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Old Aug 22, 2018, 7:53 pm
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by pcoll

Actually no, I don't think that. I was taught that everyone gets 1 armrest and that one is to be shared. That could be with either window or aisle passenger depending on side of plane. They are meant to be seat dividers and hold control for seat recline. In Europe the understanding is periodic use. with a smile from outer passenger as a sign of thanks for temporary use. Hogging is frowned upon. Also, please keep your feet under the seat in front of you .
the arm rest is literally like an 1 1/2 inches wide. How much space is there really to be shared? I'm in the camp that the middle seat person gets the armrests.
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Old Aug 23, 2018, 12:57 am
  #18  
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Since this topic isn't specific to Alaska Airlines, we'll move it to the TravelBuzz forum, the home of general travel discussion. Please follow as the thread moves there.

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Old Aug 23, 2018, 2:12 am
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by pcoll
In Europe the understanding is periodic use.
Untrue. You might have experienced it but it's not the norm.
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Old Aug 23, 2018, 4:17 am
  #20  
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Originally Posted by pcoll
Recently had experience where passenger in middle seat aggressively maintained ownership of both armrests. In the aisle seat, I had to lean into aisle most of the flight as his elbows and upper arms were in my "space". Since my seat control is in right hand arm rest, I have always thought I should have access to that armrest. What are current thoughts on this?
You had to lean into the aisle? What is the option for the one in the middle when pax on both sides invade his/her space? The middle seat indeed DOES get both armrests as the one consolation of sitting in the middle. The middle seat passenger would not have needed to be assertive about the armrest had you not taken the only comfort that person has. He/she always gets both armrests.

I was taught that everyone gets 1 armrest and that one is to be shared. That could be with either window or aisle passenger depending on side of plane.
Exactly how does that work when, with 3 seats together, there are 4 armrests?

So for you in the aisle seat not to "lean into the aisle", you should have the 2 armrests while the middle and window passenger just get one? Come on.

You were misinformed; now you know. Since you feel put out for not having both arm rests as you described above, next time, choose the middle seat for both armrests! Maybe then you'll see why someone squeezed between two people "aggressively maintained ownership of both armrests". The other two in the row were trying to take them from him/her.
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Old Aug 23, 2018, 6:15 am
  #21  
 
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Originally Posted by pcoll
Recently had experience where passenger in middle seat aggressively maintained ownership of both armrests. In the aisle seat, I had to lean into aisle most of the flight as his elbows and upper arms were in my "space". Since my seat control is in right hand arm rest, I have always thought I should have access to that armrest. What are current thoughts on this?
I was recently seated on the right side an MD-88 where there are two seats. I had the aisle seat. A very large person was by the window. He had his right shoulder against the wall, and his left shoulder was way over into my seat. I had to sit sideways out into the aisle. The armrest wasn't even a consideration for me. It was a very uncomfortable flight!

I thought that airlines had guidelines about this... He did fit into the seat with both armrests down, and I don't believe he even used a seat belt extender. But he was very wide! And because he was by the window, the only place for him to overflow was into my seat. He should have either bought two coach seats or traveled in first class (or reimbursed me for the portion of my seat he used!)

This was a different case since there was no option to "share" the armrest, but in general I haven't found it to be a problem. Sometimes I'll share the armrest (front/back) with my seatmate, sometimes one of us will be using it then the other, and I have already been on a flight where the armrest was up the entire time.

I don't think there is really an etiquette for sharing the armrest, as it varies case by case. There is also no set rules for deboarding. As soon as the seat belt sign comes off (or before in some countries!), people get out into the aisle. One would think that those in the aisle will march off first as soon as the doors are open. But, in real life, people generally wait until the row in front of them is empty before going, even though it would be simple to charge ahead.
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Old Aug 23, 2018, 8:04 am
  #22  
 
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I always thought that each pax gets his/her half of the armrest, which works quite well to rest your arm on if you aren't a total clut, and ying-yang setups at mutual discretion. Of course you can treat it as a consolation price for the middle seat pax, but how do other constellations like 2-2, 2-4-2 etc. work?
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Old Aug 23, 2018, 11:48 am
  #23  
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Originally Posted by pcoll
Recently had experience where passenger in middle seat aggressively maintained ownership of both armrests. In the aisle seat, I had to lean into aisle most of the flight as his elbows and upper arms were in my "space". Since my seat control is in right hand arm rest, I have always thought I should have access to that armrest. What are current thoughts on this?
The middle seat person usually gets BOTH arm rests, as a crumb of compensation for being in the middle. The aisle seat gets more room, and the window seat person gets the view and the wall to rest on.

Everyone knows this.
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Old Aug 23, 2018, 8:05 pm
  #24  
 
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Middle gets both armrests. To try to claim one as a aisle/window is incredibly rude - if you did it to me Id insist on holding it and we would be holding hands the entire flight - I feel strongly enough to make the flight very awkward about this one.
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Old Aug 24, 2018, 9:06 am
  #25  
 
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I prefer to just settle the matter with fisticuffs.
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Old Aug 24, 2018, 11:49 am
  #26  
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Originally Posted by pcoll

Actually no, I don't think that. I was taught that everyone gets 1 armrest and that one is to be shared

You were taught wrong.

Middle passenger gets both. End of story.

Last edited by enviroian; Aug 24, 2018 at 1:42 pm
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Old Aug 24, 2018, 4:13 pm
  #27  
 
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Considerate people will grant custody of the armrests to the middle seat. However, this is not a "rule" and it is not known by "everyone." And if some clod thinks they have to claim both of their armrests, or part of the shared armrest, there's not much that can be done about it. (Because there is no rule.)
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Old Aug 24, 2018, 5:46 pm
  #28  
 
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Middle guy gets both. I always sit in aisle and when the middle guy gets there, I tell him/her "you get both armrests since you are in the middle". It always gets a smile and a thank you from the person and a very happy flight.
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Old Aug 25, 2018, 3:08 am
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by sylvia hennesy
Considerate people will grant custody of the armrests to the middle seat. However, this is not a "rule" and it is not known by "everyone." And if some clod thinks they have to claim both of their armrests, or part of the shared armrest, there's not much that can be done about it. (Because there is no rule.)
Agree entirely. It is unreasonable to assume that every passenger (with vastly varying flying frequency) has thought this issue through to the same extent as many on here and reached the same conclusion. I usually pick an aisle seat and will also surrender one armrest to the person in the middle out of courtesy but I have sometimes been in the middle seat (re-booked flight after cancellation) and only got half an armrest on each side and it didn't bother me.

Window seat gets control of the window blind during cruise, middle gets two armrests and I get some aisle space and the freedom to leave my seat without asking anyone to let me out. Sounds like a fair deal to me
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Old Aug 25, 2018, 4:31 am
  #30  
 
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Originally Posted by Allan38103
Why is this even a problem? We don't need a "rule" to address this. It's a shared resource, and we first learned how to share back in kindergarten. (Apparently some people have learned better than others.) On a plane this goes for the armrest, aisles, overhead space, or even standing in line for the loo.
Exactly. In 99% of cases people exercise common sense and cohabitate perfectly well even on longer flights without need for rules, customs and practices, etiquettes and all that.

Of course like anything in life there will always be people that obsess over such trivia. Small things, small minds, I suppose.
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