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Comment by Aardwolf | Hacker News Reader

Isn't aisle seat at least as annoying as middle seat? People walking through the aisle bump into your shoulder all the time, and the stream of people walking through it almost never stops. It's not like you can use it as leg space.

Middle is worst of both worlds, except at least you don't get a constant stream of moving people right next to you

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As a large person, I can say the aisle is definitely where I want to be. There is a good chance I'll be able to raise the arm rest on the aisle side of my seat, which gives me more room to fidget. I can also more easily get up to stretch.

For contrast, I once had to sit in the middle seat between two people larger than I was, and behind a person who reclined their seat. And when I'm sitting at the window, my head can bump into the curved body of the plane, which is quite obnoxious.

Aisle seat all the way for me!

and behind a person who reclined their seat.

Jam your knees in there. There are certain periods of long haul flights where you need to recline but the inconvenience to your fellow passenger should never be necessary on shorter ones.

Speaking as a tall guy as well, one of the things I do actually like about Ryanair is their seats don't recline.

I got upgraded on a BA flight once because the person behind me said he was too tall for me to recline my seat.

I'm not sure where this idea came from that tall people can stop people from reclining their seat. If I've paid for a reclining seat, I'm going to recline it if I choose to.

Just be a bit polite and mindful of the person behind you. They may have something on their table. It doesn't hurt to just ask if you're going to hit anything.

And believe it or not, some people actually have long legs, and physically cannot fit if you recline your seat. Should they optimally have gotten a seat with more leg room? Sure! But that isn't always possible.

But the tables are designed to stay flat, even when the seat is reclined - often by being physically disconnected from the reclining part, or via a system of linkages. I'm six feet tall and haven't ever had a problem when I've had to fly economy, but maybe I'm not tall enough to notice though?

I can barely lower the tray table over my legs when the person in front in me is not reclined. When the seat is reclined, I have to start doing a contortion act to use the table.

Yes, the table stays flat. However the room above it is reduced. The seat can easily crush a laptop screen.

But why should the person in front be the one that experiences the issue? The tall person still gets to recline their seat.

Because that's just their luck, being seated in front of a really tall person. Maybe that sucks a bit, but those are the odds, you only choose your own seat. Next time they may be seated in front of a really short person, who knows?

The point is that you should have a bit of common courtesy towards other people, and it goes both ways.

Just blithely jamming your seat as far back as it'll go, just because you can and because you feel entitled to do so whenever you want, is a real shitheel ego move.

I'm not talking about blithely jamming it back, but a reclining seat is something you pay for, right? It's not because you feel entitled, it's because that is what you have purchased.

You might as well just take someone's inflight meal from them or cover up the screen of the inflight entertainment.

Sometimes you pay for something, but circumstance prevents you from making use of it.

Tough luck.

>>Sometimes you pay for something, but sometimes somebody prevents you from making use of it because they're too tight to pay for an exit row seat.

Fix it for you.

and then you have a little cry, because that's really all you can do about it.

You think?

> I'm not sure where this idea came from that tall people can stop people from reclining their seat

Physics. If my legs are there, your seat can't be.

It's no so much an "idea" as a physical reality.

On most airlines, the seat is made to recline. If you don't like this, book a seat with more leg room, or book on a plane which doesn't have reclining seat.

I don't mind that people recline their seats.

I do mind when they just smash it back as hard as possible the instant the seatbelt sign switches off. I also very much mind when they do it while I have stuff on the table in front of me, especially since the seats seem perfectly designed to smash cups and water bottles. Or even worse -- laptop screens.

It's fine that people want to recline their seats, but they should be just a tiny bit mindful of the person behind them.

I habitually do, when the option is available.

However, you can get up to either stretch your legs or use the restroom whenever you like. I always go with an aisle seat.

Depends on the flight. On long haul I sometimes go for window (if it's a sleeping flight), sometimes go for the aisle (if it's a working flight). The latter allows me to get up and stretch my legs. Daytime flights from Europe to Africa though I choose a window - never get tired of staring across the Sahara.

What annoys me is people who close the blinds on the non-sun side of the plane. 7 hour flight from Frankfurt to Lagos for example, Flight takes off about 10:00 (GMT+1), lands at 1800 (GMT+2). What possible reason is there to want to sleep on such a flight - very few will be transferring from outside Europe, and those that do are likely from the US, where they'll have slept on the previous leg.

On wide bodies, it could be a 2-3-2 layout, I go for the aisle on the middle in the hope that the middle of the 3 will be empty, or it will be a couple who won't disturb me. On a 2-4-2 again aisle in middle.

On shorthaul flights though it's always window -- no need to get out of your seat for a 2 or 3 hour flight, so board, sit, and not be disturbed.

You definitely can use it for leg space, or rather, for knee space. You're not going to stretch your legs into the isle, but just poking out your knee a bit can give much desired relief for those with long legs.

For me on a budget airline, this tends to be worth it. Even more so if the person in front of me decides to recline their seat.

If you know that you care more about access to the restroom or your overhead bags for some reason - aisle, if you think that you're ok and won't need restroom and just want to be left alone with book/laptop/sleeping - window. Never middle.

I'd say Window > Aisle > Middle. Middle definitely to be avoided.

People are generally ignorant of seat etiquette. Window seat gets the window, obviously. Aisle seat gets the better legroom. Middle seat gets both arm rests.

And in business or first class, always go for the rear facing seats...

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