Yay for another seat recline thread!

I am curious how the person in front of you was supposed to know, or even care, that you were sleeping in that position?

Yes you are wrong, seats recline. I know some people expect they can tell others what to do and they'll listen, but that isn't always the case.

Just ask and if you get an answer you don't like, sorry but that's life.

I would never consider asking the person in front of my not to recline, and I will recline if it makes me comfortable. However, I recline carefully and slowly, so as not to surprise the person behind me.

You answered your own question:

Yes, you are wrong. Tray tables are tray tables. They're not sleeping platforms. The reason the button to control recline the seat in front of you is on the seat in front of you is because it is a feature of the seat in front of you -- it's not yours to control. If you want to be more comfortable, you can recline your own seat. It's not your place to tell someone else what they should do with their own seat unless you've paid for it.

Thing is, OP has much bigger problems than whether or not to put his head on a seat table. What OP really needs is a GF that will stick up for him in public no matter what.

There is nothing wrong with sleeping on a (tray) table except you are responsible if you break it with your weight or whatever.

You may not pull on someone else's seat in order to get up but the person next to you (including in front) is supposed to upon notice move to allow you to get up and out or otherwise risk being climbed over.

On most airlines, to get a better position for the laptop or DVD player, pull the tray table horizontally towards you.

Travel tips: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

Hahahaha....good point. :)

"My gf immediately snapped at me and demanded....."

From my experience, a gf's lap or shoulder is far more comfortable than a tray table. ^

Actually thinking the same thing, and the "answer" is always the same! The thing is, if I was the person in front of the OP, and he told me he had just run a half marathon and needed some rest (nicely), I'd probably work something out for him......

Why on earth does anyone think that one person has the right to choose any position and be undisturbed while sleeping, but an adjacent passenger as absolutely no right to do the same? :confused:

seats are made to recline, so, recline...
 

I am sorry but if the manufacturers made seats in a way that they recline a certain angle, and the airline bought the aircraft that way, that means to me that you have a right to recline your seat. On may airlines website they even publicise how much you can recline !

So, my view is that everyone has a right to recline their seats. If the person behind wants to work, so what ? He has a right to work and I have a right to sleep, and it looks like the plane was made to accommodate my wishes better than his, tough luck, he should also recline... Same applies if I want to work. Yes I would sometimes like to open my laptop or stetch my legs, but I can't because the person in front is reclined - again, tough luck for me, I should recline too so I feel more comfortable.

There may of course be common-sense exceptions. I may want to sit up when the person behind is eating (yes, eating is part of every long-haul flight, it's expected), but not when he or she wants to work or read or just stretch legs. And I may also (reluctantly) not recline if I have a mother with baby behind, or an elderly person, but that's common courtesy...

@:-) Maybe they should divide every flight in two sections: one for people who want to recline / sleep, and one for people who don't want to recline and want to work or whatever. @:-) Wow, hey, I posted this here, now this is patented, anyone using this idea must pay me patent fees.;)

What airline have you been flying?

I'm afraid the first airlines are already starting to install non-reclining seats. However, I don't think their main incentive is to make life easier for the seated pax, but easier for the flight attendants and to allow for cheaper and lighter seats to safe money.

Have heard of them. Feel free to use them on YOUR seat, but please leave MY seat (the one in front of you) alone!

HTB.

Learned lessons
 

Hi all,

Didn't mean to spark such a heated discussion. If this situation occurs again, I will politely ask the person in front of me if they'd not recline all the way and hope for the best instead of getting upset and slamming the dining tray into an upright position.

However, whether it's okay to recline or not, it'll still bug me. But it is something that i'll have to deal with on my own. Otherwise, when sleep is an absolute must, I'll just cash in miles and upgrade to FC where I won't have these problems to contend with as much.

Don't think I'll be deploying the knee defender either, as they appear to be rather bulky and will probably be witheld by TSA when I go through screening to get to my boarding gate.

Hope everybody has a great weekend!

Eric

I've always assumed reclining seats are to make sleeping just a little easier. If everyone is reclining to sleep, or doze, then no one should lose any space from it.

But if it's meal time or just a two hour flight then I don't care how much right people have to recline their seats, they're still being rude if they do.

If you recline your seat when the person in front of you does, then you would have the same amount of space, no?:confused: Pitching a fit is never the answer.:(