Woman’s air travel dilemma causes fierce debate online, social media users described it as “petty”


A woman has accidentally sparked a fierce debate online after she shared her dilemma while boarding an aeroplane.

Can you see what the fuss is about?

A female air passenger took to TikTok to share her struggle while boarding a six-hour flight.



Credit: TikTok/@leads.to.keys


The woman, who posts under the username @leads.to.keys, claimed that the passenger behind her told her not to recline her seat so the passenger can keep using her laptop during the flight.

“So I recline my seat and the girl behind me IMMEDIATELY tells me that she can’t use her laptop if I recline (didn’t ask me to unrecline – more of a statement with the expectation)," she recalled.

“So I put the seat back to normal although I want it reclined for this six-hour flight. Let it go?”

While the passenger's request has made her feel a bit disappointed, she said that the plane at least had a “pantry area with unlimited snacks” which she enjoyed.

EMTVdoufO0cLzYE6jnkPW9txfGo5QeoMk5sz3aNb2My_gvxEP_8K26hdxkrtHZODQOZtzyjhcFhAmf3n7qqGtuUCh0GWrX0ckd163rQw_eGpsbUbsnH7y0opHgGY2KzrjG4Tbds

The woman’s dilemma rekindled the age-old debate on whether you should recline your seat during a flight. Credit: Getty Images.

The video instantly became viral, gaining more than 650,000 views and hundreds of comments, from TikTok users who were divided on whether she should refrain from reclining her seat next time she boards a plane.

A number of users agreed with the woman, with many saying that she had the right to recline the seat.

One person wrote: “If the chair can recline, then you can. It’s ridiculous to think you have to stay uncomfortable based on what the joker behind you wants.”

“Once had a tall bloke demand I didn’t recline on an overnight flight to St Lucia. No chance. Pay for extra legroom or don’t go," another quipped.

A flight attendant — who labelled the passenger's request "petty" — commented on the issue, writing: “They have the right to recline. You can recline too. You want everyone to accommodate you?”

However, others pointed out that while the TikTok user had the right to recline her seat, it's also not fair for the person behind her to experience the hassle of her act.

One comment read: “Reclining chairs shouldn’t be allowed in economy! It is just a pain for the person behind you (especially people who are tall and have long legs).”

“I never recline my seat out of respect for those behind me. The recline doesn’t make much difference for you anyway," said another who claimed to be a frequent flyer.

A third chimed in: “Lmao you don’t need to recline for a six-hour flight. You will survive.”

Meanwhile, TikTok users seemed to have come up with a consensus that reclining your seat should only be done during long night flights when you sleep, but not for the rest of the flight.

How about you, what are your thoughts on this? Should people refrain from reclining their seats when boarding a plane?

For those of you who are looking to spend some quality time relaxing while travelling through the air, here's a tip from a professional flight attendant on which seats you should take when boarding an aeroplane.



Credit: YouTube/Fly with Stella
 
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I once flew with Qantas from Melbourne to London and the 6’6 guy in front of me slept with full incline the entire way. I asked him kindly to put his seat up so that I could at least enjoy the meals, but he would not do it. I could not even watch the TV. Claustrophobic and sick by the time I got off. The steward was not at all sympathetic to my situation. I never fly Qantas now.
 
In my experience the reclining seats in economy are very poorly designed. If the person in front of you reclines you end up with a lap full of seat. You are entitled to your space. You paid for you seat after all. But if the seat reclines you are also entitled to recline it. It's a Catch 22. Stop the problem by making all the seats fixed on short flights and redesign them for long flights so seats can be reclined without infringing fffffffffffffffffffffffffnhfdgjjf
 
Some thoughts
1. If the seats recline without conditions attached by the carrier, then everyone has the right to recline it whether on a short or long flight.
2. A reclined seat does not stop you using a laptop. I use mine regularly and regardless of whether or not the seat in front is reclined....
3. Good on the lady for focusing on the positive aspect of having an unlimiteed stocked pantry, and not being too upset by the upstart behind her.
4. When booking flights you have many options that enable you to select seats, leg room, meals etc etc..... if you want to use a laptop on your flight, then simply select a seat that wont get your dander up.
Have a great flight....
 
When on flights where I have to fly economy I prevent the person in front reclining it's an intrusion into my space and a thoughtless act by the person in front.
Sometimes that person in front needs to recline the chair a little for comfort reasons or to sleep particularly at night. It’s thoughtless of the Airline to rack more seats into the cabin space not the pax who sits in front of you.
Having said this, I have suffered badly in an overnight (6 hour flight) where on a fully booked flight, I was allocated a seat on a “ non reclining seat row” , the row immediately in front of the Exit Row seats. The reclined seat in front o me came back to about 12 inches in front of my face. I could not drop the table down, view the entertainment screen or reach down to pick up anything I dropped on the floor, including the small travel pillow I had to fill the “ back of neck” gap that might have allowed me to sleep a little. It was the most uncomfortable flight I’ve ever taken. I would have been fine if I could have reclined my own seat. So, beware the non reclining seat row behind a reclining row!
 
The rule of thumb is, anything under two hours your seat should remain in the upright position. And if a seat is reclined to the point that you cannot eat your meal the steward will request the passenger to put the seat up.

We only fly Qantas, and their cabin crew have always been outstanding, both international and domestic. There have been times that I have had to use other carriers and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. This includes a couple of one world carriers as well.

Being height deficient I really dont have a problem where I sit, however, my husband does. So after we retired he insisted we always fly business class, it may cost us a little more but we're comfortable all the way and have our own steward between a limited number of passengers.

We also accrue frequent flyer points which we use for domestic flights, either on us or our grandsons. We flew our eldest grandson (all 6'5" of him) up from Hobart to Brisbane in business class for his 18th birthday, he declared that he will never fly cattle class ever again. We've told him get a good job and start saving all of his bickies.
 
Woman’s air travel dilemma causes fierce debate online, social media users described it as “petty”

A woman has accidentally sparked a fierce debate online after she shared her dilemma while boarding an aeroplane.

Can you see what the fuss is about?

A female air passenger took to TikTok to share her struggle while boarding a six-hour flight.




Credit: TikTok/@leads.to.keys


The woman, who posts under the username @leads.to.keys, claimed that the passenger behind her told her not to recline her seat so the passenger can keep using her laptop during the flight.

“So I recline my seat and the girl behind me IMMEDIATELY tells me that she can’t use her laptop if I recline (didn’t ask me to unrecline – more of a statement with the expectation)," she recalled.

“So I put the seat back to normal although I want it reclined for this six-hour flight. Let it go?”

While the passenger's request has made her feel a bit disappointed, she said that the plane at least had a “pantry area with unlimited snacks” which she enjoyed.


EMTVdoufO0cLzYE6jnkPW9txfGo5QeoMk5sz3aNb2My_gvxEP_8K26hdxkrtHZODQOZtzyjhcFhAmf3n7qqGtuUCh0GWrX0ckd163rQw_eGpsbUbsnH7y0opHgGY2KzrjG4Tbds

The woman’s dilemma rekindled the age-old debate on whether you should recline your seat during a flight. Credit: Getty Images.

The video instantly became viral, gaining more than 650,000 views and hundreds of comments, from TikTok users who were divided on whether she should refrain from reclining her seat next time she boards a plane.

A number of users agreed with the woman, with many saying that she had the right to recline the seat.

One person wrote: “If the chair can recline, then you can. It’s ridiculous to think you have to stay uncomfortable based on what the joker behind you wants.”

“Once had a tall bloke demand I didn’t recline on an overnight flight to St Lucia. No chance. Pay for extra legroom or don’t go," another quipped.

A flight attendant — who labelled the passenger's request "petty" — commented on the issue, writing: “They have the right to recline. You can recline too. You want everyone to accommodate you?”

However, others pointed out that while the TikTok user had the right to recline her seat, it's also not fair for the person behind her to experience the hassle of her act.

One comment read: “Reclining chairs shouldn’t be allowed in economy! It is just a pain for the person behind you (especially people who are tall and have long legs).”

“I never recline my seat out of respect for those behind me. The recline doesn’t make much difference for you anyway," said another who claimed to be a frequent flyer.

A third chimed in: “Lmao you don’t need to recline for a six-hour flight. You will survive.”

Meanwhile, TikTok users seemed to have come up with a consensus that reclining your seat should only be done during long night flights when you sleep, but not for the rest of the flight.

How about you, what are your thoughts on this? Should people refrain from reclining their seats when boarding a plane?

For those of you who are looking to spend some quality time relaxing while travelling through the air, here's a tip from a professional flight attendant on which seats you should take when boarding an aeroplane.




Credit: YouTube/Fly with Stella

Don’t recline, it’s like the smallest space around you as it is. If a person wants to recline, ask first and if it’s a NO then leave it be😐
 
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Reactions: Singomate and Ricci
I try to get the back seat now........ it's so much safer....... why you ask????
Well, I've never heard of a plane backing into a mountain.....
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: Thecla and Ricci
Oh boy, I hope I don’t get someone asking me that, when I go to my country of birth for a visit. After all it’s two trips for the destination of 14 hours + 8 hours = 22 hours not including the stopover 😂😂
It’s a long journey for a seat to be up all the way 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️
 

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