# The Definitive Rules of Flying **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2023, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650 "2023-12-15T19:52:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/41 "2023-12-16T02:40:44Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’ve encountered people bringing stinky food onto planes a few times (tuna, egg salad, etc.) It’s just not a pleasant thing to have to sit next to, especially when they then let the stinky wrapper sit there for the rest of the flight. (FWIW, I can’t stand tuna.) POS (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad) has a KFC in the airport food court. Every time I have flown out of there, at least one person boards with a box of 10 pieces of chicken. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/42 "2023-12-16T02:41:17Z")
I’ve experienced a few cases where the flight attendant forced someone to switch seats. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/43 "2023-12-16T03:28:17Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Second biggest annoyance are the people who get up and stand near the gate as soon as they start boarding first class, even though they’re in boarding group 5. You’re just in the way of the people who are trying to board. Sit down until the gate agent calls your group. That and the people who have to stand two inches from the baggage carousel even though they haven’t yet seen any evidence of their bag. Good luck squeezing through that throng of motionless road blocks when _your_ bag shows up. ---
**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 16, 2023, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/44 "2023-12-16T06:56:01Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I disagree. I paid extra to check bags and I have as much right to space in the overhead as the guy who is trying to squeeze a bag up there. I’m 6’ and the only thing that goes under that seat are my feet. I might feel different if they allowed me to stow something under my own seat, but they don’t. I’m with you. I don’t put a bag up in the overhead, so I think putting my jacket up there is no big deal. I’m fine with someone moving it on top of their bag. Or squishing it. But I’m not about to put it on the dirty floor. This is especially true since I usually fly Southwest where the bags are free. ---
**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 16, 2023, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/45 "2023-12-16T06:58:04Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Lyft or Uber, according to my experience visiting my extended family over Thanksgiving. Another plus - we take early morning flights, 66:30 or even earlier, and I’m sure to not bug a friend or neighbor to get up early enough to get us there. You can reserve a Lyft ride for any time, and it has always worked. No long waits when getting picked up either. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/46 "2023-12-16T09:36:54Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I paid extra to check bags and I have as much right to space in the overhead as the guy who is trying to squeeze a bag up there. Strongly agree. The proliferation of rollaboards is a big part of the delays during boarding and disembarking. I am of the opinion that each seat gets a certain volume of storage space. It is my decision how I want to use that space. And if I want to put my stuff above my seat so I have more space for my feet, so be it. Practically every airline gives an official limit of one carry on, and then allows a “purse”. The flight attendants don’t want to argue with the passengers because the passengers might get violent and/or delay the flight. The last time I flew, there were more than a dozen rollaboards at the end of the jetway which got gate-checked. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/47 "2023-12-16T11:08:00Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > My biggest flying pet peeve is when people board the plane, and immediately toss their purse and coat in the overhead bin. That stuff goes under the seat. I’m another one who disagrees with this. I prefer to travel with light luggage, so my carry-on usually consists of a small bag and a coat. I want those in the overhead bin; I don’t want them under the seat, where they get dirty and take away my leg room. I’m not going to put them under a seat for the benefit of another traveller who abuses the fact that airlines usually don’t enforce the size limits for carry-on luggage and is too selfish to check their stuff in. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/48 "2023-12-16T11:41:11Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > I wholeheartedly endorse these rules. They mostly boil down to “Don’t be a jerk”. I agree, but the authors of this canon seem to take a different view when they say: > Because the airport is [a parallel dimension](https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/tips/how-survive-hours-an-airport/?itid=lk_inline_enhanced-template) where the normal rules that govern humanity are cast aside. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2023, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/49 "2023-12-16T23:15:35Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Can you buy an aluminum can of water? There are some companies that actually sell canned water. I don’t want canned water. I don’t want bottled water. I don’t want boxed water, either. I want my own good well water, damn it, in my own (re-usable) container. Yes, I know. I can’t have it. I have to drink either the awful tasting water for sale, or the awful tasting water out of the airport pipes. And yes, I know, there are people who don’t think one or the other or either taste awful. Luckily I haven’t had to fly in years. Maybe that’ll continue. ---
**Author:** ![Apodder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apodder/32/17727_2.png) [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/50 "2023-12-17T02:18:39Z")
Omg, I’ve been saying this for years. Why are we still climbing over each other? Call us by rows, starting at the back. FFS, it’s just common sense! I’ve had this happen one time: in Belize City. They opened both doors, front and back, and boarded us by which half your seat was in. Genius. Of course, it was a little airport and we were boarding directly from the tarmac. ---
**Author:** ![Apodder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apodder/32/17727_2.png) [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/51 "2023-12-17T02:24:34Z")
I can’t imagine that’d be the case…the flight attendants already stand throughout the plane to scold people who put their bags where they don’t belong. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/52 "2023-12-17T03:29:25Z")
> [@Apodder](#): > > I can’t imagine that’d be the case You may or may not realize this, but @LSLGuy is a recently-retired pilot for a U.S. passenger airline, with decades of experience in the industry. If he says that passengers who have seats in the back of the plane do this regularly, I believe him. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/53 "2023-12-17T03:43:46Z")
Yeah, there isn’t a rule there that wasn’t learned through a lot of flying. I’d argue that #29 should be #1. No reclining. That’s how you tell the amateurs from the pros; amateur weekend fliers get in and immediately lean their seats back like giant fucking dipshits, and then get huffy if you ask them to un-recline it. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/54 "2023-12-17T04:03:37Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Broadly speaking, the reason is that under your method, the people who board first sitting in back will drop their luggage in the bins up front then walk to the back unencumbered. I’m curious how expensive it’d be to fit the luggage bins with electronic locks that could be turned off in blocks from the cockpit or attendant station. So, lock all bins except those above the back section, and board the back section; then unlock the second-to-back section and board those folks; and so on. It’d prevent that rude nonsense you describe from happening, and seems like it’d vastly speed up boarding, for relatively little cost. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/55 "2023-12-17T04:13:49Z")
> [@bump](#): > > No reclining. I’m perfectly comfortable reclining my seat on any flight where I’m trying to sleep. I expect and accept that the person in front of me will do the same. If you really can’t stand this, get an exit row or an extra legroom seat. Granted, I’m short, but I accept that it’s the way of the world. I fly a reasonable amount each year. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/56 "2023-12-17T04:30:59Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Yeah, there isn’t a rule there that wasn’t learned through a lot of flying. > > I’d argue that #29 should be #1. No reclining. That’s how you tell the amateurs from the pros; amateur weekend fliers get in and immediately lean their seats back like giant fucking dipshits, and then get huffy if you ask them to un-recline it. Naw, that’s how you tell who the self-important assholes are. They think they own the seat in front and have the right to stop people from using an amenity they paid for. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/57 "2023-12-17T04:54:18Z")
Not sure about rule 35: “Everyone can see your screen, so choose your content wisely. And while you’re at it, choose that content on your screen _gently_. There’s usually a head on the other side of that seat back screen you’re jabbing.” I agree that you shouldn’t bring your own porn on board, but whatever is offered in the in-flight entertainment system should be fair game. I think U.S. airlines blur out potentially offensive bits anyway. European ones generally don’t. Some of the stuff that’s available on Air France flights is _interesting_. (They really should’ve made that one rule 34. What a wasted opportunity.) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/58 "2023-12-17T05:01:14Z")
It’s not about “an amenity they paid for”, it’s about the _fact_ that the seats are too close together, and leaning your seat back almost always cramps the person behind you, especially if they’re somewhat tall. It’s a matter of being considerate, not a matter of who owns what. You may have the right to lean your seat back, but you’re still an asshole if you do, plain and simple. _Maybe_ on an intercontinental flight it’s ok, but it’s definitely not on some relatively short Houston-Atlanta flight or Dallas-Chicago, or Seattle-Salt Lake City flight. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/59 "2023-12-17T05:24:27Z")
> [@bump](#): > > It’s not about “an amenity they paid for”, it’s about the _fact_ that the seats are too close together, and leaning your seat back almost always cramps the person behind you, especially if they’re somewhat tall. > > It’s a matter of being considerate, not a matter of who owns what. You may have the right to lean your seat back, but you’re still an asshole if you do, plain and simple. Agreed. I’m short, but realize that that the person behind me is often struggling for space. I wouldn’t dream of lowering my seat more than a few inches unless there’s an empty seat or a small child behind me. If I can manage it with a fused spine, surely others can as well. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650/60 "2023-12-17T05:44:09Z")
I generally choose the back seats, because in my limited survey of aircraft accidents, it seems to be the place where you are least likely to die if the flight goes wrong. Also you get service first and there are toilets nearby. The onboading and offboarding delays don’t bug me too much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-definitive-rules-of-flying/994650.md?page=4)