# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![orderfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orderfire/32/10908_2.png) [@orderfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orderfire)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/61 "2015-12-14T14:11:03Z")
I don’t think anyone has mentioned the DICKHEAD who just can’t live without their music - oh yeah, you’re using your little earbuds or headphones or whatever - but it’s cranked up way past eleven, so everyone within a 4-5 seat radius can hear the tinny thumping of your stupid, def, dope-ass jams or boot-scootin bullshit. Jesus Christ, that’s annoying. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/62 "2015-12-14T14:33:49Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I’d like to ask the airline people, what flight destinations tend to be the worse? > > My aunt who just retired said it was the New York to LA flights. NY to/from LA is famous for entitled but loopy passengers. e.g. _I demand only organic kale. And a diet Pepsi. During takeoff._ NY to/from Florida and to/from Palm Beach in particular is noted for very selfish customers. They \*all \*deserve to be cared for ahead of everybody else, and especially the ones on the very cheapest fares. Anywhere to/from Orlando is lots of overexcited (to) or overtired (from) children. With lots of amateur flyers sheparding them. Which amateurs honestly believe it takes 100 lbs. of gear to barely keep a 1 year old alive for just 4 hours. Flights to Las Vegas have the most drunk and disorderly events on them, plus groups of people who don’t understand that everybody else on the plane is not part of their frat party. Flights from Las Vegas are more subdued; you can almost taste the collective hangover. Well before 9/11 I used to work a wide-body shuttle from NY to San Juan PR. We sold 250-some seats 2x/day each way. We \*always \*had Port Authority police on hand at the gate in NY before and during boarding. Something exciting happened every single day. Whether it was chickens in the carry-ons or grandma dying right during boarding or groups of family being unable to bear the sorrow of parting so they all try to storm the plane so they can all go, something happened on. Every. Single. Flight. Most of this crap is just a dull background drone for us drivers. The FAs and gate agents eat the brunt of it. Many times I’ve said: “I can do my job for 30 years. I could do the FA’s job for probably one 4-day trip. I could be a gate agent for about 1/2 of one departure before there was a dead body laying at the base of my podium.” ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/63 "2015-12-14T15:21:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Well before 9/11 I used to work a wide-body shuttle from NY to San Juan PR. We sold 250-some seats 2x/day each way. We \*always \*had Port Authority police on hand at the gate in NY before and during boarding. Something exciting happened every single day. Whether it was chickens in the carry-ons or grandma dying right during boarding or groups of family being unable to bear the sorrow of parting so they all try to storm the plane so they can all go, something happened on. Every. Single. Flight. 😃 Good times, good times. It has since lost a lot of that, erm, special charm. Though as I understand the midnight flight can still be idiosyncratic. > [@](#): > > Most of this crap is just a dull background drone for us drivers. The FAs and gate agents eat the brunt of it. Many times I’ve said: “I can do my job for 30 years. I could do the FA’s job for probably one 4-day trip. I could be a gate agent for about 1/2 of one departure before there was a dead body laying at the base of my podium.” OTOH that would probably make for a very orderly boarding process henceforth. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/64 "2015-12-14T16:15:07Z")
> [@Sputnikkk](#): > > Many times I have sat in the middle of two men and they both took over my arm rests, leaving me no arm rest. Sorry, but it’s not my fault that the airlines size their seats for small children or 10th-percentile adults. I’m 5’11" tall (hardly enormous), and my shoulders are about 21 or 22 inches wide. If the seat is only 18 inches wide, well, we’re gonna be cozy. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/65 "2015-12-14T16:19:44Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > That’s me. I only check a bag if a really really need to. I have missed international connections because my bag was slow to appear, and I just don’t trust the airlines to not lose it. (Yes, I and my family have often had to wait a day or two for a lost bag to re-appear.) I think it is frankly stupid to travel without a day or two of stuff with you on the airplane. You are just setting yourself up to have no clean underwear tomorrow morning. > > If I need to check a bag, I will do so, but it always makes me nervous. And I hate waiting for the bag to arrive at the other end, too. That can easily add 20 minutes to my trip. I agree with you about the day or two of stuff. I’ll cram a pair of underwear and socks into my laptop knapsack. But I regularly see people rolling “carry-on” bags that are the size of many peoples’ check-in baggage. And visually, it’s bloody obvious to me that they would not fit into the test cage (or whatever it’s called) located at the check-in counter and the gate. If I was the King of air travel (personal preference obviously) carry-on baggage would be restricted to a bag/back-pack big enough to hold a laptop, a couple of pairs of socks & underwear, and a book; and whatever jacket or sweater you happen to be carrying. And, regarding orderfire’s post, I am probably one of the dickheads in question, though I assume that as everyone else has Miley Cyrus or Justin Bieber pounding into their heads, they probably can’t hear the Sabbath or Alice in Chains that I’m listening to. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/66 "2015-12-14T16:42:01Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > On another note, I can’t stand the excessive carry-on practice. For me, my aim has always been to minimize what I carry; I don’t want to be lugging, towing, packing piles of crap through an airport and on and off a plane. The best I can get away with is my work laptop, a book, and my iPod. > > I actually know people who deliberately try to fly without check-in luggage. They are Satan and they’ve done vacations from Canada to Europe with carry-on only. I agree with you. I only flew a couple of times as a kid in the eighties, and didn’t do any flying again until after September 11th, 2001. So all the new security rules–and the by now near ubiquitous practice of charging for checked luggage–were alien to me. Checking luggage was a part of the air travel experience for me, so I said to myself “screw that! I’m not buying separate 2oz containers of all my toiletries, cramming all my belongings into a tiny suitcase small enough to fit in the overhead compartment and lugging it all through the airport, and not being able to bring my multitool!” And I’ve been grudgingly paying the extra $25 ever since. It seems unfair to call this an annoying passenger habit, since the airlines themselves are creating the economic disincentive, but I wish they would stop charging for the 1st checked bag. I read an article recently about how one of the airlines temporarily suspended the practice, and their on-time rate went through the roof. It takes twice as long to board/de-plane when every passenger has to load/unload their luggage from the overhead bin. People might complain that checking a bag adds 15 minutes of waiting at the baggage claim, but if everyone did it, we’d all gain back 10 minutes of de-planing time, and you’d be able to bring whatever you wanted, not just what the TSA Nazis will allow. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/67 "2015-12-14T16:52:06Z")
And since so many people are complaining about the small seats and getting squeezed, I’d also add “being obese” as an annoying passenger habit. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/68 "2015-12-14T18:39:23Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > I agree with you. I only flew a couple of times as a kid in the eighties, and didn’t do any flying again until after September 11th, 2001. So all the new security rules–and the by now near ubiquitous practice of charging for checked luggage–were alien to me. Checking luggage was a part of the air travel experience for me, so I said to myself “screw that! I’m not buying separate 2oz containers of all my toiletries, cramming all my belongings into a tiny suitcase small enough to fit in the overhead compartment and lugging it all through the airport, and not being able to bring my multitool!” And I’ve been grudgingly paying the extra $25 ever since. This. What the hell did the airlines think would happen? Going from $0 to $25. Instead, they should charge for carry-on. That would also make security lines faster. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/69 "2015-12-14T18:42:30Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Sorry, but it’s not my fault that the airlines size their seats for small children or 10th-percentile adults. I’m 5’11" tall (hardly enormous), and my shoulders are about 21 or 22 inches wide. If the seat is only 18 inches wide, well, we’re gonna be cozy. Exact same issue here. I’m 5’11" and broad shouldered. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/70 "2015-12-14T18:46:00Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > This. What the hell did the airlines think would happen? Going from $0 to $25. Instead, they should charge for carry-on. That would also make security lines faster. I don’t mind the fee (although I don’t have to pay on my regular airlines as an elite member), but I am royally screwed if they lose my bag. I’m usually flying somewhere where I absolutely need what’s in my bag when I get there. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/71 "2015-12-14T18:47:19Z")
Nothing really bugs me about flying except for when the passenger in front of me reclines for a good duration of the flight. That annoys me. I refuse to ever recline my own seat for this reason. Oh, and the one time I had a kid kicking into the back of my seat. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/72 "2015-12-14T19:31:27Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Nothing really bugs me about flying except for when the passenger in front of me reclines for a good duration of the flight. That annoys me. I refuse to ever recline my own seat for this reason. Oh, and the one time I had a kid kicking into the back of my seat. Yeah, this is the only thing that really bugs me. I mean, I’m sure there are things I haven’t run into that would bug me more, but I fly a lot, and in the ordinary course of flying, having the seat in front of my recline into my knees is the only one that really annoys me. Why do all you people care that I bring a suitcase on board? It fits overhead. I don’t spend a ton of time putting it there or taking it out. And I’m not in your way when you wait to get your luggage, which will probably arrive faster since you don’t have to wait for my bag. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/73 "2015-12-14T19:34:29Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > I agree with you about the day or two of stuff. I’ll cram a pair of underwear and socks into my laptop knapsack. But I regularly see people rolling “carry-on” bags that are the size of many peoples’ check-in baggage. And visually, it’s bloody obvious to me that they would not fit into the test cage (or whatever it’s called) located at the check-in counter and the gate. I was standby on a Lufthansa flight from SFO to Frankfurt (didn’t get on) and they checked the size of our carry on bags carefully. In fact they went around the gate area with a portable scale and a ruler and checked everyone’s and even took a big bag away from one guy. I wish there was more of this. If I fly standby I don’t want to check luggage, but I can keep everything in a small bag, small enough to fit in the overhead easily. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/74 "2015-12-14T20:37:15Z")
Spirit charges for checked luggage. Spirit charges even more for carry-on overhead. So I packed veeeery lightly and put everything in my backpack, which I could put in the space underneath the seat in front. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/75 "2015-12-14T22:32:25Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I don’t mind the fee (although I don’t have to pay on my regular airlines as an elite member), but I am royally screwed if they lose my bag. I’m usually flying somewhere where I absolutely need what’s in my bag when I get there. This may be a topic for another thread, but maybe there is an easier way to do the whole baggage thing than separating people from their bags early in the process. Most people have but one suitcase (or less) that they can navigate around the terminal as well as security just fine - that bag/suitcase may or may not fit in the overhead bin. Sure, there are families with a lot of gear, but that is not the rule. Why not let people keep their bags with them as long as they want, all they way to boarding, then part ways there. And likewise, let people claim their bags right there as they exit the airplane instead of having it go to a far-flung baggage claim area where you could be competing with the hoards. That way you know your bag is on the same plane as you, and it will arrive at the same place as you at the same time. Is the whole baggage handling/claiming system antiquated? Is this a case where the airlines and airports think they are doing the flying public a service when in fact they are causing worry and effectively forcing people to behave accordingly with their possessions? Like I said, maybe another thread. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/76 "2015-12-14T22:32:49Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Why do all you people care that I bring a suitcase on board? It fits overhead. I don’t spend a ton of time putting it there or taking it out. And I’m not in your way when you wait to get your luggage, which will probably arrive faster since you don’t have to wait for my bag. It doesn’t bug me that YOU do this:). It’s everybody else that bugs me since they do spend a ton of time with it, especially loading. It’s particularly wonderful if they’re juggling their coffee at the same time and many people actually have two humongous bags with them. ---
**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 15, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/77 "2015-12-15T02:12:54Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Spirit charges for checked luggage. Spirit charges even more for carry-on overhead. So I packed veeeery lightly and put everything in my backpack, which I could put in the space underneath the seat in front. Spirit charges extra for oxygen used on their flights. There is no circumstance where I will ever fly Spirit airlines again. If the choice is Spirit or don’t go, I won’t go - don’t care what it is. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/78 "2015-12-15T02:26:02Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Spirit charges extra for oxygen used on their flights. There is no circumstance where I will ever fly Spirit airlines again. If the choice is Spirit or don’t go, I won’t go - don’t care what it is. Yeah, I flew Spirit once. Now I know better. That was on business, and I was required by my client to carry a suitcase full of stuff with me, and not check it. I didn’t realize in advance that I was going to have to buy a ticket for the carry-on. Neither did anyone else in that glacially slow line. Ugh! ---
**Author:** ![Youcantrecline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecae2f/32.png) [@Youcantrecline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Youcantrecline)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/79 "2015-12-15T02:47:27Z")
What a lot of shorter people don’t get is that with some of us taller passengers, you physically can’t recline. My knees are already JAMMED into the seat in front of me. If you try to recline it’s not like my legs can bend backwards. I’m “only” 6’2 (granted quite tall for a lady and even pretty tall compared to men) but I have incredibly long thighs (longer than a 6’5" gentleman I sat next to). And I don’t fly airlines with small pitch. I always pay extra to sit in a bulkhead or emergency exit row, but sometimes there aren’t any of those seats available and sometimes flights get cancelled and I get stuck on another flight that also doesn’t have those seats available. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241/80 "2015-12-15T03:16:35Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Sorry, but it’s not my fault that the airlines size their seats for small children or 10th-percentile adults. I’m 5’11" tall (hardly enormous), and my shoulders are about 21 or 22 inches wide. If the seat is only 18 inches wide, well, we’re gonna be cozy. Are your forearms attached directly to your shoulder? I understand that elbows and the like may make things a little messy, but the middle seat has rights over resting their arms on the armrest itself. Having broad shoulders doesn’t mean you can’t rest a hand in your lap. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-airline-passenger-habits/740241.md?page=5)