Do you know the unwritten seating rules on flights?

The Flight Detective
a person looking out the window of an airplane

There are a bunch of unwritten seating rules that frequent flyers are aware of when flying. Regular travel means that you learn what works and what doesn’t work – you know the ropes, so you speak.

People who travel rarely don’t know these and may cause unintended frustration on board. Here are a few of the things that you should know when selecting a seat on a flight.

All Seating Rules Are Not The Same

Some people religiously choose their favourite seat, for example some only sit in window seats and others only aisle seats. Personally, I think some flexibility is required.

On short flights, I enjoy window seats because I like to see outside. I also know it’s unlikely I’ll need to get up to go to the toilet and having to disturb the person next to me. Choose the window if you’re likely to stay put most of the time.

When it comes to long-haul, I almost always sit in an aisle seat. Why? Sleeping on a plane doesn’t come easily to me and I like the option to get up whenever I like without disturbing people. People who can sleep for 10 hours on a flight should really choose a window seat.

Are you someone who needs the toilet frequently or someone who will due to drinking on board? Aisle seat. Perhaps you’re that guy who can’t sit still and needs to get crap out of his bag in the overhead locker every 38 seconds. Aisle seat.

What About The Middle?

Since the middle seat is clearly the worst seat to have if you’re travelling alone, the unwritten seating rules here are as follows. Both arm rests are for the middle seat passenger. No ifs, no buts and no maybes.

Window seat passengers have the cabin wall to lean on if they like, and the aisle people have all that space next to them, not to mention easy access to the rest of the aircraft. Give the middle people a break and let them have both arm rests.

Legs, Bags and Coats

Your legs should remain in the same parallel space as your seat. Nobody likes sitting beside the guy who has a habit of manspreading. I personally don’t appreciate someone’s knee pressing into mine, but I am that guy who will defend his personal space.

Are you that person who brings a bag of Duty Free on board, has a handbag the size of Walmart, and is dragging along a coat and neck pillow in addition to your standard carry on bag? I’ve met you a couple of times.

Watching these people try to stuff all of this under the seat in front is slightly amusing. Until you realise that half of it is going to be in your foot space.

The only thing that can be done here is to be self-aware. Maybe you didn’t need to save a dollar on buying that large bottle of booze to take home with you. Perhaps your coat could have been put into your carry on bag before boarding. There are always solutions.

Overall Thoughts

Planning ahead is the most important thing here when it comes to the seating rules. If you can choose seats before you fly, think about your needs in the air, so that your seat choice is best for you. That way it will also be best for those around you.

While I know it is time consuming to wait for baggage at the carousel on landing, the airport experience without toting a large carry-on bag with you is as freeing as taking off a pair of tight jeans. It’s wonderful! Consider checking a bag if you have lots of stuff.

What do you think of these seating rules? Are these things you have experienced before? Agree? Disagree? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image by Tim Gouw via Unsplash.

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Chris W.

Those at the window seat control the window blinds. Unless the sun is really disturbing. A long day flight Asia to Europe I always make sure I sit window to have it open. I dont want to sit in the dark.

Eileen Kerrigan

“Give the middle people a break and let them have both arm rests.”

I never really gave this much thought (as I’m almost always #TeamWindow), but this makes perfect sense. The middle-seaters deserve as much space and sympathy as you can spare.

Anne Betts

I’m definitely in the aisle camp for long haul, and window for short flights during daylight hours, especially if views on takeoff or landing have potential. I especially like some, not all arrivals in LaGuardia, and also Billy Bishop in Toronto and Reagan in Washington. On my last flight to LGA, the windows were aligned with the back of each seat and the passenger behind me promptly closed “our” window immediately after takeoff. Not my preference but I resisted opening it until just north of NYC. I can see this could be an issue on aircraft with similar window placement.… Read more »

Christian

I think that these are akin to the Pirate’s Code: more like guidelines than rules. For instance, my wife prefers the window seat, so despite my unusual height and size, I normally end up with the middle seat. In such circumstances, I normally try to take either the front or the back of each armrest.

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