An Honest Guide to Airplane Etiquette
When you fly more than once, you start to notice some bad behavior on flights. Some people may just not know… Some probably know and don’t care that this is a shared experience by everyone on the flight and they can’t help but be selfish in their own experience. If I come across as an asshole in this post, please know I am not sorry and I am tired of seeing BAD BEHAVIOR on planes. As you’ll see below, I’ve had to endure a man taking my pillow to “try it out,” a man watch porn without headphones, and countless nasty bare feet propped up for the world to see. So, here we begin our possibly controversial guide to airplane etiquette.
Shoes
I’m not someone who mandates you must wear your shoes the entirety of a long flight. If it is longer than 5 hours, I take my shoes off! However, these are my rules:
Do not take your shoes off to be barefoot. At least wear socks, please. If you’re barefoot on a plane, you belong on the no-fly list.
Make sure the socks are CLEAN.
Keep your feet out of sight.
Keep your feet below your waist, and absolutely do not prop it up on the armrest in front of you or the walls of the plane. The only way I’ll allow your feet to be propped up is if you have the entire row to yourself and you’re sleeping.
To recline or not to recline?
This is a HOT debate in the travel community. I personally don’t recline if someone is behind me. That extra pitch doesn’t make a difference to me, so why should I subject the person behind me to more torture? We’re already cramped, so I want to be kind to my neighbor and not impose on their space any more than we already are.
However, the other side says that since the seats recline, you have the freedom to do so.
If you have the world's most specific back problem and must sit at precisely a 110-degree angle, then turn around, ask the person behind you if this is OK, and give them time to arrange their laptop, knees, and soul for what you are about to inflict.
If this is your first time in the air, know that reclining your seat more than two inches is going to make the person behind you fairly sad for several hours. If they're polite passengers, they won't be reclining their own seats and thus, thanks to you, your head will practically be under their noses. It's also an invitation to get your seat banged from behind as the squished passenger tries to get into their under-seat carry on despite the seatback in his/her face.
Luggage
If you can’t lift your own bag, don’t bring it on the plane. Flight attendants cannot lift your items because they cannot risk getting hurt on the job.
Don’t hog the overhead bin. It’s like Tetris - there is a certain way things fit.
Only your largest carry-on item belongs in the overhead bin. Not your coat, not your shopping bags. Only your largest item. Everything else goes by your feet and under the seat in front of you.
Seat Responsibilities
Sit down, then arrange/pull out your items. I like to sanitize my area, but I make sure to have my wipes in my hand while boarding. Then I put my items away, get into my row and start wiping down my area. This way I’m not blocking the aisle.
If you are in the middle seat, you get both armrests. That’s the rule.
If you are at the window or the aisle, you only get the outside one.
Stand up to let people out of the row. Don’t do the half-stand or continue sitting and force the person trying to get out to climb over you and give you a lapdance.
If you’re in a window seat, buckle up:
If the window is in between the rows, ask the person behind you their preference. Personally, I like the windows closed if I’m in the window seat during the flight.
Keep the blinds completely closed on red-eye flights. This is the time for everyone to hopefully sleep on the flight. If the window in my row, or even 10 rows ahead, is open, you’re flooding the cabin with light that no one wants.
Open the blinds when you’re landing. It helps people know how much is left in the process of landing.
Open the blinds to let other people see if you’re flying into a major city.
Be kind to flight attendants. And everyone actually.
In-flight
No one likes a screaming baby, but especially their parent. Don’t be an asshole about a screaming baby. However, if children are acting crazy, you can say something to the parents.
If you’re walking through the aisle to the restroom, don’t grab onto other people’s seats to give you momentum or stable yourself. It ends up pulling their seat and jars them.
No touching - people or their items. I once had a man take my pillow and try it on. Absolutely unacceptable.
If you’re watching videos on your phone, please bring headphones. I once sat across from a man watching porn on his phone without headphones. The flight attendants kept asking him to turn it off and he refused. I could hear the porn for 3 hours over the sound of my own Harry Potter movie I was watching with.my.headphones.
Don’t look at other people’s screens. This is rude in everyday life, but especially on a plane.
Lavatory
I have to use the restroom a LOT. So I make sure to get an aisle seat if possible so I don’t disturb my neighbors.
Respect the lavatory - don’t make a mess. If you do, please clean it up.
There are limited restrooms on airplanes, don’t take an unnecessarily long time in there.
Stay seated when the plane lands until it is your time to get up. When everyone stands up and crowd the aisle, it actually takes everyone longer to get off the plane :) Take this time to get all of your belongings in order so you are efficient and quick when you make your attempt to deplane.
Do you have any tips on how to be a decent person on flights? Or are any of these controversial to you? If so, drop them in the comments below!