Ever been surprised at seat recline when flying? I know I have. Numerous articles have been written about this, asking flight attendants, frequent flyers and any of the great unwashed what they think about this issue.
I’m here to give it to you straight. If it is light outside and your flight is less than 3 hours long, don’t recline your seat. It really is that simple. You can thank me for this amazing advice later!
Early Recline
Recently I was travelling on an afternoon flight from Amsterdam to Dublin. Now we’re talking about a journey of an hour, maybe an hour and a half tops if you board early.
Sitting quietly in my seat before take off, I was relaxing when the two passengers immediately in front of me both reclined their seats. Someone across the aisle decided to follow suit and reclined his seat.
When it came time to leave, the cabin crew wandered through and did their checks and asked the people to put their seat backs upright for take off.
Did They Really Need To Recline?
Once we were in the air, the couple forgot to recline their seats again. Clearly too busy scarfing down everything they could buy from the cabin crew. We were flying from Amsterdam so perhaps their munchies got the best of them.
Neither of them looked infirm and as I mentioned it was a day flight. Of course, once they finished hoovering up the goodies, back came the seats again.
On a one hour puddle jump? I don’t think so, buddy! Airlines like Ryanair have no seat recline at all and strangely enough no-one complains. In fact, they carry over 100 million passengers per year in Europe on flights up to 4 or 5 hours long. NO ONE COMPLAINS.
Overall Thoughts
Ryanair are on the right track here. Short haul fleets should have seats that just do not recline. I hate having someone else’s seat right in my face. For others, it is the knee crushing that seat recline causes that is their pain point, quite literally. Try eating a meal with the seat in front reclined – you need to be a contortionist to get at your food while not elbowing the person beside you in the face. Same with laptop use – ergonomics be gone!
Take my advice, don’t recline your damned seat. It’s better for everyone. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Chris Brignola via Unsplash. Second image via Aer Lingus, final image via British Airways.
I’m not a recliner generally but it gets pretty tempting when the person in front of your reclines their seat….then you are almost forced to recline or risk hitting their seatback with any movement. Domino effect
I’ve seen the domino effect before – everyone gets some space when that happens, but it’s rare enough. I know exactly what you mean! Thanks for the comment!
You can recline when you’re allowed to by the cabin crew. As long as it’s not during meals take off or landing…outside of that don’t need your permission
That’s correct!
I was trying to write on my laptop and couldn’t use the tray because of the seat recliner in front of me. So, my laptop was on my lap and I could barely read the screen. What a pain in the arse!
If you’re going to sleep, then fine. But these two ladies just talked the entire flight. Argh. I feel your pain.
Exactly, it’s hard enough to use a laptop in the confined space – virtually impossible when the seat in front is reclined as you said. Thanks for the comment!
Thank you, thank you thank you. You are completely correct, and I’m so happy you wrote this post. As someone who’s 6’5, I avoid reclining my seat on any flight that’s not overnight, just because it’s so awful that I wouldn’t do that to another person without extenuating circumstances. Do unto others, as it were.
I’m happy you agree – thanks for the comment! Completely see where you’re coming from!
I paid for my damn seat, and yes that includes my right to recline. As long as I didn’t slam it hard and cause a spill / injury to the person behind, I don’t see how you have the right to tell me what I can or cannot do with the seat I paid for.
I understand what you mean! Everyone has a right to do what they want but one must consider the people behind. Thanks for the comment!
Keep the advice. If u want ur personal space then pay extra like everyone else instead of complaining u little crybaby. If I paid for a seat that reclines I’m going to use it. U have no idea what people kind of day people are having when traveling, for all you know these people have been traveling many hours and are jet lagged and just trying to catch a little nap between flights . U sound like the idiots that tell people not to eat meat or drink milk or drive a car just cuz they dont. As an American… Read more »
Oh I completely agree that people can do what they like with their seat, however it all comes down to consideration for your fellow human beings. You are correct that everyone has different circumstances but considering I have only had people recline on short flights on a handful of times, it is already the exception rather than the rule. Appreciate your comment!
Oh poor you! Someone reclined thier seat in front of you!? Well they should move you to first class immediately! I’m 6’2″. I’m going to continue to recline every time and not feel even a little bad about it.
More power to you, Bob! 🙂 Hey, if they moved people to first class for people reclining their seat in front of me, I’d be tapping people on the shoulder and -asking- them to recline!! Thanks for the comment!
Moronic viewpoints.
Maybe the people reclining usually work nights and sleep in the day. They might be tired as hell and need some shuteye.
Others could be transiting from international flights and it’s nighttime where they came from.
Maybe they are just tired or…want to recline in a seat that they paid for.
You’d get an earful if you tried to police my reclining whatever the reason for my doing so…
I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to “police” someone’s reclining. Why make a fuss, after all, the seats can recline and people can do what they like. I just sit there hoping they’ll put it back up so I can enjoy the space I am entitled to in my seat. Thanks for the comment!
Exactly. My body tells me when to recline my seat, and I listen. Sometimes I go across the country and don’t think of it. But if I feel the need to stretch out a little, I’ll always check (occasionally the seat behind me is empty), I’ll sometimes go halfway, but unless it’s mealtime I’ll do it and close my eyes — but truly not at the gate.
I hear you – the good thing is that you check behind you. That is just good manners. Thanks for the comment!
Consideration counts. It is important. It is felt and remembered when it is offered and also when it is ignored. It is a wealth that anyone can afford and it should never be too much to ask. During my son’s first year he and I made many flights to visit my parents. It’s a two hour flight that we normally took mid-morning. As an infant I would have him in a carrier strapped to my chest for ease of comfort and use of my arms. The plane was always a small comuter and space was limited. Luckily I had a… Read more »
Absolutely 100% agree with you on this. The overall thing is consideration for other people on board the aircraft. If someone turned around to me and said, “I am dog tired and need to get some sleep” or something else, I would not have one issue at all with them reclining. It should be the same in reverse – if someone is tall and someone reclines into them, a quiet word should have the person agreeably putting the seat back upright. I’m pretty gobsmacked that someone actually would not put their seat back up for you when travelling with an… Read more »
It’s not very nice but when someone reclines I spend the entire time jamming my knee into the back of their seat. I’m tall so it gets the point across.
That’s definitely pay back! Sometimes you can feel people’s knees in your back when the seat is not reclined, I can only imagine the hell when someone reclines on a tall person. Just not good! Thanks for the comment!
As a POH (person of height?) with most of my above averageness coming from the length of my femur, I always strike up a short conversation with the person seated in front of me asking if they’d let me know before they recline their seat so I can get my abnormally long legs out of the way first. Works like a charm. Luckily 99% of my flights are in English speaking countries.
In the race to the bottom, shorthaul recline is probably a goner anyway…but we’ll let you take credit for it!
Hahahaha! Oh, I am sure others have far more claim to credit than I ever will 🙂 Sounds like a very smart move for your own health and safety to have a word with the person in front of you. I’d be shocked at someone responding that they could do what they like. I think most people are pretty amenable that way. POH indeed! Love it! Thanks for the comment!
I’ll typically recline my seat on shorthaul European flights if I’m connecting from a red-eye flight from the States. I’m usually dead tired as the flight from NYC to Europe isn’t long enough to get a proper nights sleep.
You are right there, it definitely isn’t. I’ve tried it and it’s just not enough time. People like yourself also have a reason to recline. The reason the recline stands out so much for me is that I can count on one hand the number of times people have reclined on short haul flights in front of me. It really stands out when it happens.
I don’t agree with this. you get what you paid for, he gets what he paid for.
if you’re in pleb class, you’re paying for the possibility of the person in front of you reclining just as much as the person in front is paying TO recline.
If you don’t want to have a seat “right in your face” you can recline and still have the same distance as if both did not recline. You prefer not to recline and that’s not the other passengers fault. That’s your choice to make and his as well.
You make a good point with it being someone in front’s choice to recline and then my choice not to recline. However, I don’t recline for two reasons. One, where is the need? Two, I don’t want to encroach on someone’s personal space behind me.
I imagine I would probably have a different view if I was 6’7″ tall – I’d probably recline all the time to get a little extra space. I still firmly believe there is no reason to recline on a short flight unless there is some medical reasons for you to do so.
That’s terrible advice. You should probably just stick to RyanAir.
Thanks for reading and for the comment! Appreciate it!
or fly J/F if you don’t like ppl reclining their reclinable seats into your personal space.
Seats still recline in J/F on most short haul aircraft. It’s less of an issue though due to the increased seat spacing. Well, in the USA, Asia and Australia. In Europe the J seat spacing is often exactly the same as Y