Bullshit.
And aisle seats cost the same as window seats. So what? I donât fault anyone for using a seat as it was designed to be used. Sure, itâs nice to be considerate of your fellow passengersâbut that means that the person in back should also have consideration for a passenger who may be exhausted. Bringing along special equipment just to prevent another personâs seat from performing its intended function is a dick move.
Sleeping on airplanes predates using laptops on airplanes. Why should the latter automatically have precedence over the former?
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But seriously, a technique that has worked extremely well for me over the years is to just ask politely. People are generally pretty nice about it, especially if they see you really are tall.
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Arguing with the flight crew is like arguing with a cop, though less likely to get you beat up, but probably more expensive. What a pair of asses.
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Once the seats in coach got so small, the idea of the person in front of you randomly deciding to take more of your space became untenable. Itâs a lot different now than it was 30 years agoâwhen they push back, for some people, itâs not a matter of stealing a little spaceâit can turn the flight into a misery.
Protecting my legs and/or laptop from an unexpected push back doesnât seem like a bad idea, if only to make them turn around and acknowledge it like decent people should. If they throw back without turning around and at least warning me first, then theyâre inconsiderate assholes (and could have hurt my leg) so whatâs the harm in locking it to ensure they give fair warning?
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I agree most people are pretty nice, but I seem to get all the assholes sitting in front of me when I fly coach. Almost never been asked.
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Blame the airline for the poor airplane layouts, not the person using their seat as it was designed to be used.
âAsking nicelyâ is a two way street. Installing equipment as a preventative measure to physically block someone from using their own seatâs reclining feature is the antithesis of asking nicely.
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Iâm 6â7". With the size of aircraft seats now, why should I have to be miserably uncomfortable just so someone else can be mildly more comfortable? The only reason this is even an issue is that airlines have been slowly squeezing people ever tighter. I donât have these things, but damned if I wouldnât consider using them if I canât get an exit row and the person in front is inconsiderate (and the latter is often).
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My experiences are somewhat mixed.
Iâll explain, apologise and even ask the cabin staff if thereâs someone better you can be seated, but if youâre in front of me, neither of us get a choice about things due to constraints of space. This often isnât enough for people.
I hate flying. Fortunately, I donât need to do it that often.
[quote=âpdf, post:28, topic:39763â]
The only reason this is even an issue is that airlines have been slowly squeezing people ever tighter.
[/quote]Again, it sounds like your issue is with the airlines.
Have you ever politely explained your position to the person in front of you and been refused? Most people are pretty decent if you treat them with respect. The âKnee Defenderâ is preemptive disrespect.
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The knee defender really is warranted at times. Like, for instance, when Iâm sitting in front of you. I wait patiently for the server to give you some nice hot coffee and then -BAM- I slam it back like an airbag! Oh wait, itâs actually the people sitting in front of me that do that. :â(
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Again, if they are surprised by it being blocked when the push back, they didnât turn around and ask----meaning they werenât respecting me at all. With this device in place, they either donât recline, or turn around and talk to me as they should have done in the first place.
I would see the thing as just an asshole-in-front-of-you-warning-device.
Since it is airline policy, if I got one Iâd never refuse to remove it when asked, though.
But, my leg COULD be wedged there, and their unannounced pushback could hurt it, or cause me to spill my drink, etc. Seems like thatâs more of a potential problem and sign of disrespect than the person in front of me being momentarily confused, then turning back to me and doing what they should have done in the first placeâASK, or at least, WARN, me before they push the seat back.
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No seats should recline at all. If the option exists either someone will be pissed off by the seat reclining into their space, or someone will be pissed off that the person behind wonât let them recline.
The alternative is to increase the pitch so thereâs enough room, but then people would have to pay more, and as has been clearly demonstrated, most people choose their flights on price ahead of everything else, so airlines which try that are onto a loser.
I wonder if it would be possible to engineer a seat so that as it reclines the seat moves forward, thus creating a trade-off for the person in the seat without affecting anyone else?
Perhaps they should be like trains and have rows of seats facing each other?
Flying backwards isâŚinteresting. Done that a few times on BA business class.
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+100
Get over yourself @Elusis and @Daneyul. Itâs a reclining seat. Iâve never been on a plane where the person reclining in front of me has impacted my space sufficiently that Iâd buy a douchey gadget to fix the self-diagnosed âproblemâ. You bought a trip from A to B. So did everyone else. If you have a problem with the lack of space in the cabin then complain to the airline for jamming so many people in. Youâd both have an extremely unpleasant trip - and I guarantee youâd get no work done - if you tried this shit on my seat.
âthey didnât turn around and askâ
Because thatâs a normal thing and everything.
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Iâm not usually a religious person, but sometimes I have to make an exception. Everyone, join me in praying to God that our argument doesnât result in this: http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/10/travel/standing-cabin-plane-study/
Ooh! That gives me an idea for an equally courteous product:
With the new Righteous ReclinerÂŽ, passengers can lock the trays behind their seats in the upright position so would-be laptop users will have to ask before preventing rest-seeking travelers from reclining at will.
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Yes, it would be nice if 100% of people werenât inconsiderate jerks, but thatâs not close to reality.
Just so you pre-emptive knee defence jerks know: I am extremely rude and unpleasant to people who are passive aggressive. I donât care about making a scene and making a situation uncomfortable, I actually find it pretty fun because most people find it distressing. Meanwhile, if people use big person words and communicate with me like a human, I am extremely friendly and, as Brainspore suggested, will treat you with the same respect.
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Did you fly coach? Then, no, you didnât. You paid for a miserable, semi-vertical coffin. You could have paid an extra $500+ for knee and laptop space, but you chose not to. It sucks that you have to make that choice, but you made it willingly. You canât have it both ways.
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Also worth mentioning that the cost of a âcoachâ or âeconomyâ seat is typically less than the cost of one passengerâs share of jet fuel. You are literally flying on the sweet knee-space dollar of the people in business/first class.
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