War over underseat storage
 

Had an interesting experience on my last RJ flight. From PHL to DFW I got the privilege of being locked into a ERJ175 for close to four hours. Had 2F as a seat. Boarded with Group 2 and got into my seat. Couldn't seem to get my laptop bag into the underseat storage. After 2 minutes of fumbling, I finally find out from the person in 2D that the person in 1F (the bulkhead) had decided that the underseat storage under the seat was his storage, not mine.

So, I jammed my bag into it with my leg. About 30 seconds later I got a snide comment from Mr. 1F (I'll call him Mr. Bose for his noise cancelling headphones) that I was pushing his laptop bag underneath his seat. To which I replied that the area in question was MY underseat storage area, and that his privilege of the bulkhead seat did not extend to the under seat area.

So, for the next three hours there was constant bag jostling. I could feel when Mr. Bose was pushing back on his bag, and I would simply dig in and push back. Close to landing, Mr. Bose made a concerted effort to push his bag into mine. This time I responded in kind with a rather hard/semilateral shove. I heard a distinct crack this time from underneath the seat. Mr. Bose did not hear it.

Got off the plane, and smiled confidently (albeit a bit worse for wear in the legs) as I could guarantee that something inside his bag is a little bit worse for wear now too.

Any other suggestions on how to deal with this in the future?

No idea how to deal with it, just some sympathy, as I had my first experience with this issue on Friday. Traveled MSP-JFK and discovered that the person in the seat/row ahead of me had shoved his carry-on under HIS seat, not under the seat in front of him. I took great pride in squashing his case with my feet as much as I could. I've never had this happen in nearly 40 years of flying. Not sure what would cause someone to store items under his/her seat rather than the seat ahead (this was not a bulkhead situation).

Well the two times this happened to me I simply took the item and handed it to a flight attendent saying that I found this stuff in my stowage space. Problem solved.

He could be a flying noob; we don't know. He could be a piece of trash; we don't know. What is known is that you chose violence over diplomacy by shoving his bag before even addressing him.

My suggestion would be either 1) a polite chat with him/her or 2) a discussion with the FA. But acting with a first usage of force isn't on the list.

You find joy in damaging his stuff? Plain sad. :td:

Actually this time I very much did enjoy it. Quite elating really.

You could politely point out that he has to put the bag in the overhead compartment. Alternatively, you could have called the FA. At least you didn't take the more radical approach of putting your bag in the overhead and then stomping his bag as hard as you could for 3 hours.

"He could be a flying noob; we don't know. He could be a piece of trash; we don't know. What is known is that you chose violence over diplomacy by shoving his bag before even addressing him."

No doubt there are plenty of flying newbs who manage to get the bulkhead row, buy $300 headphones and know that they need to store their laptop before takeoff.

"Excuse me FA, but can you clarify for me whether or not this space under this seat belongs to me or to the pax in the bulkhead?" Live it, learn it.

In these situations, I've found that the high road and diplomacy can often - not always, but often - circumvent hours of schoolyard pushing and shoving.

Are you sure your bag/content was not damaged at all? The way you described "the action" could have impacted both bags.

Mr. Bose didn't take the civil approach after you claimed your "ownership/entitlement" of the underseat storage. We don't exactly know why. But I agree with others, handing it over to the FA probably is a better way of handling the situation.

I am sure the FA would have taken your side and your 4-hr flight would have been more peaceful. :D

Take it out and set it in the aisle... problem solved. I would assume the person from the last flight must have left it on board...

I agree.... and if he had found out, you could be responsible for the damage.

What you should have done was informed the flight attendant... nothing more. He/she would have taken care of the issue without having to play childish games for four hours....

I would have notified the FA and let him/her handle it.

I second the poster who would have placed it in the aisle, after the door is closed. Wouldn't want anyone to trip and fall over it.

Ringing the call button and handing it over to the FA would work as well.

I had an issue on this on LH last summer. Guy in the row ahead of me asks if I will put my bag in the overhead bin so he can put his bag in my under-seat storage space (under his seat.) I said no and he got very indignant making loud rude comments about how 'nice' I was; however, since I guess he knew he was in the wrong, he did not attempt to involve a FA.

I had a flight once in, oh, around 1980 or so when I actually thought that I was supposed to put stuff under my seat. Kind of like I did in school with those little basket/shelf thingys under the seat.
Now I know better and I try to avoid bulkhead seats for this very reason. I often have a very small carry-on, smaller than many purses, just to keep my books, mp3, junk food, Sudoku book and a few other small items. In the rare instances when i am in a bulkhead seat i will ask the person behind me if I could keep it in their space during takoff and landing and show how small it is. So far no one has minded. I think the key here is that I ask first.

Perfect.

Diplomacy good. Violence bad. :( sad for the OP.

[Off-topic remarks deleted.]

I've also recently seen FAs tell the bulkheads to put stuff under their seat, but usually if the seat behind is not occupied.i just push my backpack through and haven't had issues, but i'd go the route of alerting the FA or just putting it in the overhead myself...assuming there is room.

I just had this happen today. I was in row 4 and bulkhead was row 3. HOWEVER it was the male FA that told the lady in front of me to put it under her seat and make sure it was over the bar. All the while my stuff was pushed back into my aisle feet by her for her HUGE purse

O well it was a short flight and when i got up to leave i noticed it was an attractive young lady.

I was in the same situation a couple of weeks ago on a flight to Toronto.

Not only did the "gentlemen" in front of me (in bulkhead) steal my leg room by stuffing it full of his small carry on, he filled the overhead as well.

I took the higher road until he slammed his seat into my knees. I then asked if he would like to take my seat as well all of my other space and that I could stand in the aisle if it would make his journey more enjoyable.

He ignored me so I moved his seat forward for him.

The problem isn't noobies. Its simply people being inconsiderate.

Very strange for me to notice this thread today. For the first time in all my years of flying I heard (from my seat in the last row of F) the FA come by and notify the PAX in the first [bulkhead] row of Y that they specifically were not allowed to use the space under their respective seats and instead had to put all items in the overhead.

Maybe the FA reads FT? :p

This has happened to me a few times. Once the person doing it wasn't in bulkhead- it was her first flight, and she didn't know any better. We told her that she should use the seat in front of her, and she was very apologetic. Alliance bought her a drink because she was so nervous the entire flight.

Another time, I was in the second row, leaning over to put my backpack under the seat when the guy in the first row quickly shoved his bag into the spot. I was startled, and exclaimed, "oh! I'm sorry, but there won't be room for that with my bag." He apologized and said he didn't know I had a bag, then put his into the overhead compartment.

I too have heard FAs tell pax in bulkhead rows to put their bag under their seat.

If it happens to me:

1. I'll first ask the pax to remove the bag.

2. I'll second ask the FA to remove the bag.

3. If the offending bag is not removed I will inform the pax that he/she might want to don gloves before retrieving the bag at the end of the flight.

Yep. I have no problem letting them handle it.

Friendly moderator reminder
 

Members, to keep the thread open, please feel free to discuss the subject of underseat stowage and methods of dealing with problems of others' stowed items. Per the FlyerTalk Rules, pejorative or personalized discussion of members isn't allowed. Ocn Vw 1K, Co-Moderator, TravelBuzz.

Isn't it tough to get a FA to help when they have just announced that pax in bulkhead rows can put their bags under their own seat?

I don't involve the FA ... I'll admit to "kicking" the offending bag out of my leg space onto the aisle and when the FA comes around, I feign ignorance as to whose property it is .... it's not mine :D

The next thing that happens is that the FA puts it in the overhead compartment or somewhere else other than my space.
:)

Recently I've had cabin crew tell me I could put mine under my (bulkhead) seat recently, when there was either no-one in the seat behind or the person behind did not have anything to stow.

In all cases my carry-on bag was very small and occupied just about the front 10-15 cm of the space below my seat, so I did. If the person behind had a carry-on baggage or mine was large, I wouldn't have put it there.

However, the overhead bin space is at such a premium especially with LCCs that charge for all checked baggage - it appears that the trend of charging for all checked baggage has resulted in larger amounts of larger carry-on baggage (no surprisingly) that no longer fits under the seat. If I had put mine in the overhead locker, it would have caused unnecessary reduction in overhead locker space in those cases.

So in some circumstance, I do believe it is more sensible to use the space under your own seat, provided you do not cause nuisance to the person behind you.

Yes, tell the FA to have the bulkhead person in front of you to remove his things. If you get some wimpy FA, get the FA manager to get those things removed.

Done.

Those who sit in the bulkhead have no underseat storage; that's life in the bulkhead seats. I've had this situation occur a few times and I have had the FA resolve the problem for me every single time.

So no need to hassle with the next person who takes your storage space. Tell the FA to have the space freed for you.

Well for a start with a bit more maturity than that of an 8 year old such as you described. You may have tried talking. He may be honestly ignorant of the fact that the space was indeeed yours. Failing that ask an FA for assistance.

Playing footsies such as you did is utterly sophmoric. It would serve you right if your bag made the cracking noise not his.

I was guilty of this a couple of years ago. Had a new laptop bag that I "thought" would fit in the OHB of an RJ and I boarded with it and sat in my bulkhead seat. Sure enough it wouldn't fit and the FA said the gate checked bags were already stowed. She didn't volunteer to put it anywhere, so I turned to the gentleman behind me and explained what a moron I am. Told him I would be glad to buy him a drink if he wouldn't mind me putting my laptop under my seat only for takeoff and landing. The remainder of the flight his leg space was all his. He agreed and I think we were both happy.

Getting the FA involved does not allways resolve the issue.

Start by talking to the guy, move from him to the FA if you get no Joy.

Failing that violence is a highly underated way to resolve a dispute:)

I'd simply reason out to him that my underseat storage is mine and not his.

I once made the mistake of thinking that the bag in my space had been left on from the previous flight. The passenger wasn't there at the time, having wandered off to the toilet or gone exploring or something. I handed it to the FA saying something like, "This was in my space, I think it must have been left on from the last flight." The FA took my statement at face value and off the plane it went. It wasn't till we were halfway to SYD that the passenger in front turned around and came looking for his bag. There was quite a scene...

At least on AA I can't recall ever not hearing an FA say that those in rows X,Y (bulkhead) must store their belongings in the overhead bin; I've NEVER heard them say to put them under their seat.

Good for you, I probably would have felt the same way, can't say though that its ever happened to me

Excuse me pax in front of me, this is my space, you may want to retrieve your stuff from the aisle, live it learn it :rolleyes:

I agree 100% plus i like the part about gee someone left in on board.. then maybe its a security risk and maybe you should bring it to TSA :D


again, never seen an FA say this. I would imagine as others have stated if the seat behind is open, then of course but now adays with the loads so great, never see the empty behind either.

one of the benefits of the bulkhead row is that no one can recline into you; what you give up is space on the floor.. plain and simple and an accepted fact of life or unwritten rule on an airplane

I bet that was fun to watch :D

Would love to have been a fly on tht wall :D

You misunderstood me - this was a suggested alternative for how the OP could have handled the situation.

yes i did,, my bad