I have a couple of bulging discs in my lower back, so reclining puts too much strain on them. When sitting, upright is much more comfortable. So, I don’t recline. I have no problem sleeping or whatever from an upright position.
People love sitting behind me, I’m sure!
I have never felt inconvenienced by the person in front of me reclining, so I never gave a second thought to reclining, myself.
In light of this thread, on future flights, if I happen to be in front of a very tall person, I’ll refrain from putting my seat back, or, if I feel I really need to, I’ll ask if they mind, first.
If I’m in front of a short-to-average person who happens to be picky about three inches of their personal space, well, I’m afraid they’re SOL unless the politely ask me not to. I think that chula is right on–the space allotted to each passenger is designed with reclining seats in mind. If the person in front of you decides not to lean their seat back, bonus. If not, tough cookies. It is in no way rude to use the plane’s equipment in the manner it was designed for.
Now, hogging armrests, that is another matter entirely. Unless we are intimate aquaintences, that armrest is no-man’s land, buddy. 
I always lean back. It never occured to me that I shouldn’t. No one has ever asked me not to and I have never thought to ask the person in front of me not to. I have never had any problem using my laptop while the seat in front of me was reclined. The trays often slide toward you.
How the hell to you lean back just a little? Those seat only move maybe 3 inches, if that. Why bother?
I’m a recliner. I try to sleep on planes whenever possible. To those of you I annoy, I apologize. I do experience a moment of guilt when I recline, but it goes away when I slip into dreamworld.
Spit: “you don’t lose any leg room”??? My knees are an inch away from the back of the seat in front of me. If they recline their seat, now they touch.
I generally don’t tilt my seat back. I don’t like it when other people do it to me, so I don’t do it to others.
I lean back. I’ve never been bothered by anyone leaning their seat back in front of me either. It comes with the territory of flying. I find it odd that people are that overly pre-occupied with what the person behind them is thinking. :rolleyes:
That mindset is akin to letting everyone go before you in the checkout line since you would be inconveniencing them by making your purchase.
Children kicking your seat or passengers trying to stuff a steamer trunk into the overhead bin are far worse problems.
If someone feels people are “inconsiderate” by reclining their seat (which is made to recline!), then they should perhaps pay for business class or just deal with it as a necessary evil of flying. At best, flying is a nuisance anyway.
My pattern is that of porcupine and Skogcat. Slight recline, never to the max, straightening up when meal service is at my row (before the people behind get served). Thing is, some airlines’ seats are more uncomfortable in the straight-up position than others; in some, it feels like it’s hunching me slightly forward so I just ease back a little until I’m not feeling quite so unnaturally positioned (though whether upright or slightly reclined, if the flight exceeds 3 hours the inflight pillow is against the small of my back, else I’m one really stiff and slow deplaning passenger). On my last flight I was extra-conscious of it in that a sticky mechanism made my reclines/straightenings herky-jerky.
As to the full recline, in very-tight-seat-pitch configurations (and how tightly they pack you in is the airline’s call) even those 3 inches is far enough that it interferes significantly with handing out the food tray to the person in the window seat or with getting out and in. The atendants were asking people to straighten up “some” during the meal portion of that flight. (BTW in coach, even an inch or two can be significant. Recently flew one of those “more space” airlines, and though it really means less than 2 inches (5cm) net extra room, it felt like a lot more)
I’m in the same situation as amarinth in that my legs are always touching the seat in front of me. People who recline some of the way don’t bother me, but those who do it al the way usually result in me asking to switch seats with a shorter person. I almost never recline, not even to sleep.
In Europe some of the trains I was on had a feature in which reclining would cause you to loose leg room, which I think airplanes should implement as soon as they stop hemorraging money.
I’m not one to lean the seat back; I don’t sleep well if at all on planes, and I’m all of 5’3" so I don’t have any of the cramping issues. I also tend to read the whole way, so I probably annoy people more by having the reading light shining for hours on an overnight flight. I flew American last week, and the extra leg room makes a total difference. And when you sit in the exit row, you’ve really got it made.
I’m more irked by people who pull on my seat back so they can get up.
I agree with brondicon, I am 5’5" tall and I don’t have cramping issues either, and I also hate it when people pull on my seat back to stand up. I’ve even had people hit me in the head and not said anything! Jeez, much more rude than the seat reclining thing I think.
I personally only recline slightly when I fly but not as a courtesy to anyone else, but becaue I like it that way better, I am a selfish person, I freely admit that:rolleyes:
I always lean back. Only once did I receive a complaint.
How? Well, no sooner did I lean back than the person behind me forcefully shoved the backrest forward. This was to my immediate consternation and annoyance.
I decided not to make a scene, though. After all, the flight had barely begun, and we would be sharing a cramped airplane for several hours.
It’s awfully darn rude and insensitive.
Those 3" are the difference to me between walking and crawling off the plane after a 5 hour flight. I like volunteering to sit next to the window exit since the seat in front of it can’t be reclined.
My knees were already against the back, then they moved the seats closer so I have to sit diagonally, and now some JERK wants to recline?
I always recline, but I also** ALWAYS** ask the person behind me if it bothers them. If they’re really tall or if they say that it will bother them, I request a seat change and move. I understand that it can be uncomfortable for people to have me reclined, but I have a back full of fused vertabrae that say “recline, damnit!”.
Holy crap! What a jerk.
If I was cramped and the person in front of me leaned back, I might try the radical approach of asking them politely not to, or to lean back halfway instead of all the way. (It seems to me that some seats go back more than 3 inches.)
As for me, I’m like malden. I lean back if I think it won’t affect the person behind me.
Great topic. This is a perfect example of people being rude and inconsiderate without knowing it. Do you know a person who tells racial or sexist jokes in mixed company and doesn’t realize how offensive they are? This is the same.
I am 6’3", and fly often. My knees nearly touch the seat in front of me when upright, and that small bit of space is the difference between comfort and pain. And nobody has ever asked me if it was OK to recline. They just push that button and slam the seat back, jamming it into my knees. Guess what? That hurts! You have just caused me real pain so that you can have the dubious advantage of leaning back.
People who grab the back of my seat when getting up are FAR more tolerable than seat leaners.
Show some consideration.
It depends on how you sit. If you are tall and sort of just recline in your seat, naturally your knees will touch the back of the seat in front. If you sit all the way to the back, you’ll have a lot more leg room.
If sitting in the economy class cramps your style, try the executive class. Not all that more expensive.
I sit in window seats whenever possible so I can lean my head against the wall and sleep. Sometimes the window frame or the ridge joining the plastic wall panels will be right where my head wants to be, and that’s pretty uncomfortable, so I will recline a little to get into a better position. However, I do it very slowly, and if the person behind me is tall, I’ll ask first.
I don’t mind when people move their seats back. Flying is such an incredibly uncomfortable experience to begin with that I try and either get to sleep as quickly as possible, or get wrapped up in a book to get my mind off it all. The seat kicking kids are a million times more annoying than someone moving their seat three inches. That’s something that you can’t avoid noticing.
It depends on where you’re going - I guess. Business class for the place I usually fly is over 4 times the price of economy class.
Airline seats were meant to be reclined. They are unbearable when in the full upright position. The only reason that that they even go in that unnatural position is for safety during take-off and landing. Otherwise, it is expected that you will recline you seat. That is why they make all those little annoucements about it.
Yeah, it is somewhat less comfortable for the person behind you. But airline flights in general are uncomfortable. Nobody, not even the people reclineing their seats, are having a fun time. If you want more comfort, spring for a upgraded ticket or refuse to fly on airlines that have smaller coach seats.
My whole life I have been short. I have watched the sporting events being won by the tall guys, the babes be attracted to the tall guys. For just a few hours I get the rewards of my stature. Whoever is ahead of me, lean your seat back. Whoever is behind me, get ready, here it comes.