There's nothing really of specific interest to United flyers here, so let's share this with the rest of the community.

I'll move this to TravelBuzz! where I believe this has been discussed in the past.

FlyinHawaiian, Co-Moderator
United Mileage Plus Forum

Ahh, the dread influence of Law School*, where every nail looks like a lawsuit! I can laugh, being a recovering lawyer myself, but it's all in the delivery -- a polite relaxed request may provoke belligerence, but as long as your "adversary" isn't alcohol-fueled, it's not inevitable. No harm in trying...just be prepared to use confrontation-avoidance skills thereafter (saith the mediator in me)

I am an aisle-seat limpet, and a picky one - being left-handed, I always want that arm on the aisle. That said, on most domestic flights, if I lop over the aisle armrest, I'll get bumped repeatedly by traffic, carts, etc. so the aisle armrest isn't much of an advantage, and I have never assumed that "etiquette" requires that I cede the middle armrest completely. BUT there's another solution...if the middle guy is much bigger than I am, I can use the rear third of the armrest while middle guy takes the forward two-thirds. A little non-verbal nudging gets to this solution pretty quickly. YMMV.

*I love College/Law School Flyer's sig line! Way to go!

So I was on this int'l flight the other day, 21J on a 777. I get to my seat and the guy in the aisle seat is all settled in already. Little jerk must have boarded really early just so he could snag the middle arm rest. I knew it would be a battle when I saw that he had already spread out across both armrests, but hey, I'm an experienced flyer so I knew I could take this guy.

The guy made his first mistake when he shrunk back into his seat to let me sit down. Big rookie mistake! I established my territory and stuck my elbow even a bit over the armrest, just to make sure he knew who was boss.

I knew on a long flight like this, he'd be looking for every opportunity to take back the armrest. He probably thought I'd let my guard down -- I saw him start to "read", but I knew he was really just trying to psych me out. I kept jerking him around, making him think he'd have a shot. I put down my tray table, got out my reading material, and pulled out my video monitor, all without moving my aggresively-positioned elbow. I did have to reach for my drink, but the poor sap was too busy with his own to take advantage of my brief lapse in focus.

When the meal came, I decided to let this guy have a little break. I figured what the heck, he's earned it for sitting next to me for a couple hours. 'Course he didn't know that, so it was freakin' hilarious to watch this guy scarf down his meal so that he could finish before me.

After the meal, I think I had totally intimidated this guy. He wouldn't move his arm for anything. He looked pretty smug, but he should have known, the battle was far from over. The minute he lifted has arm to hand back his tray, bang! The armrest was mine again. What did he think I was, some kind of amateur?

So this guy falls asleep eventually, even with just the one piddly armrest. I decided to get up and use the restroom while the coast was clear, but the second I stepped into the aisle, the little sneak took over the armrest! I don't know whether I woke him up getting out or whether he was just sitting there, waiting, the whole time, but in any case, I may have underestimated him.

But the little weasel had forgotten one thing: he was not impervious to the call of nature either. He may have won a very short-term victory, but how was he going to hold onto his newly-acquired territory. I could see the wheels spinning in his head as he tried to calculate whether he could run to one of the aft restrooms and get back before me. Poor guy, he spent so much time thinking it over that by the time he decided to get up, it was a lost cause.

I beat him back to the seat by a minute or two and reestablished my armrest dominance. The poor sap looked like he had just run a world-record marathon, only to find out that he came in second. I don't know what he did to shave time off his bathroom run, but lets just say I wasn't about to shake his hand at the end of the flight.

Breakfast was fun -- I kept jerking him around some more, making him think he had a shot. Needless to say, he was completely shut down and had to deal with having just the one armrest. Finally, I think he realized he was in over his head as he seemed to almost bow down in submission.

Anyways, Mr. 21H (he kept calling himself 21J for some reason) learned a valuable lesson that flight: no one steals that shared armrest that is my divine birthright!

I'm sure he was an FT'er so you'll probably read about what a jerk I was on some thread in TravelBuzz. Well, at least you have my side of the story: he was an unworthy opponent and he got what he deserved.

I am really surprised by this question in the first place but whatever...

I agree that the middle seat should have options on both middle armrests given that their seat is the worst of the 3.

The question really is what should the middle do if he/she is surrounded by 2 self centered slobs.

asking then nicely but ultimately if they refuse, or play the tantrum games as listed here, which are funny btw? I would talk to a stewardess and request their input on the situation, they must have a policy in this, it is only common sense that the middle should be given this.

So what? It's better to argue than teach a bully how to get his way.

This is 2 funny!!

I subscribe to the theory that you always get your right-handed arm rest.

When I'm hopelessly overpowered in the armrest contest I sometimes position a magazine next to the armrest to defend my ribs from the encroaching elbow. He (somehow it's always a he) may not like, it but there's no arguing that he has a right to that overhang.

I thought that all major airlines already had in their "conditions of carriage" that any shared arm-rests automatically would belong to me?

Seriously, I must have been lucky in that I have in 15 years of intensive traveling not had "elbow-problematic" neighbors, and that I sleep/read/zone-out just fine should I be short an armrest. On the other hand, in long-haul, I tend to fly C or above, where this rarely is a problem. For short-hauls of up to a couple of hours, it's never been a problem.

I have had PAX spilling over into my seat, though, and that I object to politely (if there are free seats) or to the FA (if I do not see any free seats) since I pay for a seat for my a**. It tends to be commonly either a large american gentleman with a circumference similar to that of an A380, or a small woman who happens to have purses, bags, boas and other things, spilling over into my seat.

But, when flying in Y, elbows are the least of my problems...knees are (I've got long upper legs....)

Just hilarious, love this thread and must review what I do on my next flight. Although recently I have been fairly fortunate in having the middle seat empty and using it for storage in company with my window neighbour.

I subscribe by the sharp elbow theory. This is only deployed against the serious armrest hogs. Get out a newspaper and start the process of unfurling it to its full length and width. This necessarily requires a series of rapid elbow "bursts" aimed directly at the offender's elbow. Each elbow to elbow contact (and let me tell you, they can be exceeding painful!) is followed by a clipped "sorry." Repeat until victory.

Thought of this thread this morning when I read this news story. This statement is quite apoplicable to armrest poachers. I also think it's applicable to the dreaded, evil Speedy Gonzalez recliners who cannot compromise.


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/te...8&partner=IWON

When I sit in coach, I sit on the 2 person side of the plane: There are 3 arm rests and two people and hopefully 4 arms . I take my arm rest and would like to share the middle arm rest -- you get it half the time, I get it half the time -- seems fair, right? But IME when my seatmate is a man, it's usually not possible to share -- What is it about you guys is there some genetic predisposition against releasing territory once staked? I have not noticed so much with women YMMV.

Recent flight from London - My seatmate claimed the middle armrest and shot me huffy daggers the 4(!) times I had to ask him to move his elbow so that I could get/return my tray table.

Whatever else happens, IMO you absolutely own the space between your two armrests, from your seat up to the ceiling. Your neighbor has no right to protrude his or her elbow into that space. I challenge people when they routinely and egregiously extend into that space, and I'll stick a magazine, clipboard, or notebook vertically between me and the side of the armrest if necessary. I'll even jam my elbow forcefully against my side of that vertical barrier if necessary. Who can complain? No one has a right to be occupying the space that I will push the barrier through in doing so.

Consider yourself fortunate that we've evolved, at least a tiny bit. If we were really true to our genetic heritage, we'd mark our territory by urinating on it.