# Annoying airline passenger habits **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 12, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241 "2015-12-12T13:26:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/21 "2015-12-12T21:01:38Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Perhaps it’s because I’m not tall but I’m mystified at people who are annoyed when the person in front reclines his/her seat. When they do so, the part of their seat nearest to your knees moves not at all while the part closest to your head moves about two or three inches. Extremely tall people have issues, even if they aren’t overwright. Not so tall, but overweight, people likely have problems. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/22 "2015-12-12T22:44:26Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Perhaps it’s because I’m not tall but I’m mystified at people who are annoyed when the person in front reclines his/her seat. When they do so, the part of their seat nearest to your knees moves not at all while the part closest to your head moves about two or three inches. It’s no mystery to me. If the person on front reclines, I’m stuck. Can’t move my legs at all. Combine that with the narrow seats that are not wide enough for my manly broad shoulders and I’m in pain for most of the flight. Flying in the 80s used to be no trouble. Since I haven’t gotten any taller, the seats must have really gotten smaller and closer together in the intervening years. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/23 "2015-12-12T23:06:10Z")
Fortunately this gripe no longer applies, but when i first started working for an airline and travelling standby on my staff concession, smoking was still allowed on flights - I know it hardly seems credible these days. The smoking section was at the rear of the plane. Unfortunately on busy flights the only free seats for us standbys was also down the back. What annoyed me most was the number of smokers who insisted on being given non-smoking seats where the air was more breathable, but then spent much of the flight standing around the aisles at the rear blowing their filthy smoke over me :mad::mad::mad: ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/24 "2015-12-13T01:30:56Z")
What gets me is the guy behind me who grabs my seat back whenever he gets up or sits down. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/25 "2015-12-13T01:44:38Z")
My biggest gripe is that other people show up to the same flight. They’re all assholes who will make my flight less pleasant. Every last one of them. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/26 "2015-12-13T01:47:04Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I’m old enough to remember people dressing up to fly. So damn near everything about it is annoying. The whole experience reeks of Walmart Syndrome. The only difference these days between air travel and a Third World bus or train trip is the lack of livestock. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/27 "2015-12-13T02:34:04Z")
Do a google search for “passenger shaming”. It’s images and videos posted by flight attendants about how terrible passengers are. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/28 "2015-12-13T03:06:20Z")
My closet is bigger than the airplane seat :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:yea the seat is built for small kids and even 5 foot tall person being 100 pounds is too small!!! I witch we can go back in time to the good old days of when airplanes where like going on VIP airplane today. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/29 "2015-12-13T03:08:42Z")
> [@herman\_and\_bill](#): > > Kids, goddamn fucking kids. From birth thru college, they can always be obnoxious. From squealing little shits to older dumb fucks, female kids having their major drama every goddamn five minutes. Older goddamn boy kids thinking that they need to practice a basketball dunk shot every three steps. Gangs off two or more fucking kids having to bump into every goddamn person on an aisle seat. All of them just being a goddamn nuisance. If those fuckers need to fly, do so in groups of no more than one fucking kid, or put them down in the belly of the fucking plane. Go in this. Pay the big money and go in VIP plane. [http://www.contemporist.com/photos/lufthansa\_2.jpg?1ff4a6](http://www.contemporist.com/photos/lufthansa_2.jpg?1ff4a6) [http://www.aviationcomplete.com/images/large/vip2.jpg](http://www.aviationcomplete.com/images/large/vip2.jpg) [http://www.contemporist.com/photos/lufthansa\_4.jpg](http://www.contemporist.com/photos/lufthansa_4.jpg) Problem is over. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/30 "2015-12-13T03:24:02Z")
I can handle the passenger section. You just succumb to the flow. And have a beer. What I can’t handle is the people that crowd the baggage carousel, waiting for their bag. You have to elbow your way to your luggage. I wish they had a line. And a sign that says stay behind the line. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/31 "2015-12-13T04:32:09Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > What gets me is the guy behind me who grabs my seat back whenever he gets up or sits down. This,this,this ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/32 "2015-12-13T04:51:19Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > A minor one, but I’m annoyed when the person in the seat behind me uses my seatback to help them stand up. > > Perhaps it’s because I’m not tall but I’m mystified at people who are annoyed when the person in front reclines his/her seat. When they do so, the part of their seat nearest to your knees moves not at all while the part closest to your head moves about two or three inches. Agree on the first if the grab the top of the seat rather than its shoulders. That’s my hair, you _dumbkoppf_! For the second, those almost-ten-centimeters are enough that I can’t have my book in a comfortable position; forget about using the tray. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/33 "2015-12-13T06:24:31Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > People bringing bags as carry-on that are way too large, both as per common sense and as per the airline rules, and the airlines letting them. > > **What also really annoys me is cabin crew and other passengers whining about closing the window thingy so I have to sit in the dark even though it’s light outside.** > > And of course the people who put back their seat back for 10.5 hours of an 11 hour flight and then become bitchy when you ask them if they can put it up so you can eat breakfast in a reasonable manner. And on the flip side, I can’t stand it when people insist on having the shade up even though everybody else in their row and the one across the aisle is trying to read, watch a screen, or sleep, and doesn’t want sunlight boring into their eyeballs like an icepick just so that one person can stare for the third consecutive hour at the same clouds and brownish-green blur on the ground. During takeoff and landing, sure, but at cruising altitude I just don’t get it. The bright outside light glaring against the dim plane cabin HURTS. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/34 "2015-12-13T06:37:56Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > And on the flip side, I can’t stand it when people insist on having the shade up even though everybody else in their row and the one across the aisle is trying to read, watch a screen, or sleep, and doesn’t want sunlight boring into their eyeballs like an icepick just so that one person can stare for the third consecutive hour at the same clouds and brownish-green blur on the ground. During takeoff and landing, sure, but at cruising altitude I just don’t get it. The bright outside light glaring against the dim plane cabin HURTS. How much do you like the smell of vomit? I have to leave my window open or I get very motion sick. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/35 "2015-12-13T06:40:20Z")
Is it true that in the airlines of some 3rd world countries it truly is a cattle car experience? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/36 "2015-12-13T07:47:07Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > And on the flip side, I can’t stand it when people insist on having the shade up even though everybody else in their row and the one across the aisle is trying to read, watch a screen, or sleep, and doesn’t want sunlight boring into their eyeballs like an icepick just so that one person can stare for the third consecutive hour at the same clouds and brownish-green blur on the ground. During takeoff and landing, sure, but at cruising altitude I just don’t get it. The bright outside light glaring against the dim plane cabin HURTS. Get a mask. The best thing of my first flight was going over Cornwall and one of the other kids saying “wow it… uh. I was about to say how it looks to much like a map. It’s amazing how much maps actually look like reality!” I like seeing the towns and factories and mountains and figuring out where I am. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/37 "2015-12-13T07:58:33Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > What I can’t handle is the people that crowd the baggage carousel, waiting for their bag. You have to elbow your way to your luggage. This. Just stand back so everyone can see what’s coming, then step up when your stuff arrives. How hard is that??? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/38 "2015-12-13T08:02:17Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > Just stand back so everyone can see what’s coming, then step up when your stuff arrives. How hard is that??? If you didn’t think ahead enough to make your bag look any different, it’s very hard, because you have to check the tag on all the other unadorned black bags. ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/39 "2015-12-13T08:22:25Z")
My flying peeves: - people who take off their shoes, - people who haven’t bathed in some time, - I miss Opal, and - people who wear too much perfume/cologne. Come on, people! It’s not like I can crack a window! ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/40 "2015-12-13T10:34:26Z")
Ok, now that the complaints have gone out, does anyone see anything about air travel getting any better or will it just continue to get worse? I mean the basic problem is the airlines trying to cram as many people as possible into the airplanes while having as few amenities as possible. We as passengers keep insisting on the cheapest flights. Will anything get better? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241.md?page=3)