[CalRobert]

Flights from sfo to Frankfurt bolt upright sound unpleasant…

Not to mention that when my wife was pregnant she could barely manage her back pain -with- the recline, never mind without.

The recline button is there for your use. You are welcome to avail of it yourself.

[oneeyedpigeon]

> You are welcome to avail of it yourself.

Ah, the exact opposite of the "pay it forward" principle...

[srmarm]

That's exactly how it usually happens in my experience. I think a lot of people are OK if everyones upright on short haul flights (here most budget airlines don't have a recline facility and it's not missed) but once someone reclines into your space you then recline to gain a little space back and the domino effect takes place even if you're not sleeping.

[gambiting]

And then the person in the last row is screwed because they are in a seat that doesn't recline but the seat in front of them does, so they have to sit like a canned sardine for the entire flight(ask me how I know).

[lostlogin]

> Flights from sfo to Frankfurt bolt upright sound unpleasant

Medium haul flights sound like a dream to us slumming down the bottom of the planet.

At least we have Elon giving us decent wifi now. Doha > Auckland at the moment.

[close04]

> Flights from sfo to Frankfurt bolt upright sound unpleasant

Same flight with someone's seat resting on your knees is downright painful.

> when my wife was pregnant

Imagine if she was a bit taller and someone reclined the seat all the way over her.

> The recline button is there for your use

You're right, like any shared resource, "space" is there for you to use. It doesn't mean you have to use it, you could try to be aware of your surroundings and assess whether your small comfort should come at the cost of someone else's extreme discomfort. And if you use the button others are also free, and probably correct, to call you a dick. Like a guy who empties the bowl of complimentary candy someone offers to all customers.

You shouldn't need physical blocks or laws to define your own common sense and decency.

[ahtihn]

I'm 185cm and I couldn't imagine having to endure a long haul flight without reclining.

I never get these discussions. It's only ever online that I see complaints. Almost everyone reclines on long flights. It's normal. It's expected. If it makes you uncomfortable that's a you problem, everyone else seems fine with it. If it makes you physically uncomfortable, pay for extra leg room. Don't make your problem the problem of another passenger.

[close04]

> I never get these discussions. It's only ever online that I see complaints. everyone else seems fine with it

That's a skewed conclusion you're drawing. Are you really surprised that people aren't willing to risk escalating the situation on a plane, arguing with what's likely the very inconsiderate person in front of them? Most people have an aversion to conflict. It doesn't mean "they're fine with it". You probably don’t advertise in real life how much you lean back and not care who’s behind you out of fear that people will change your opinion of you. Real life is a harsh mistress.

I've bumped into people and they said "sorry", do you think they wanted me to bump into them, liked it, and actually believed it was their mistake? No, I just tower at close to 2m so they didn't want to escalate the situation.

P.S. I always look at who sits behind me, if they're "space constrained" or not, and almost always ask if I can recline. Sometimes I don't bother, clearly the person will suffer. Sometimes they said "I'd rather not, thank you". Many times they said "fine". I used to fly a lot and my experience was very clearly not that "everyone is fine". I was never fine even if I didn't start arguing. So how would you have known?

[ahtihn]

I've literally never been on a 5+ hour flight where anyone in the row in front of me didn't recline at some point.

I've discussed this with various people IRL. No one, including taller people than me, ever complained about people being inconsiderate for reclining. Every tall person complains about leg room.

The vast majority of people do not think it's inconsiderate to recline. They think it's normal and that the function is there for a reason.

I actually think it's inconsiderate to complain to the person in front if they want to recline. The only time that is acceptable is when meals are served.

[Delphiki]

Anecdotal, but I'm 193cm, take a few 12+ hour flights per year, and have no problem not reclining. For what it's worth, I feel like I've experienced people on my shorter, domestic flights reclining their seats more often than on my longer, international flights.

[dylan604]

> I never get these discussions.

Nor I. TFA is about a chess bot, yet here we are discussing seat reclining etiquette.

[lostlogin]

You’ve been here before right?

At least we aren’t discussing ad blockers for the 18th time this week.

[dylan604]

Still does not negate that they do not make sense when they occur.

[bjourne]

You're tall so you can't sit upright? :P Do you need to lean backwards when you work too? I think you are wrong and a lot of people are not fine with it. I don't need a closeup view of someone's bald spot while trying to eat shitty airplane food.

[CalRobert]

So why is the recline button there?

[close04]

Mainly because they were introduced when the seats were set farther apart. Now companies squeeze more rows and keep the same seats.

But also because with any shared resource there's an expectation of decency involved. Some people just betray that expectation. They're the ones with the mentality that "they shouldn't have served alcohol if they didn't want me to get insufferably drunk", "they shouldn't have put the candy out if they didn't want me to take all of it", "why is the swing there in the park if not for my kids to use them continuously to the disappointment of other kids".

When your wife was pregnant someone probably let her go ahead in a queue, have her some priority for something, etc. That was a person with common sense and decency, not asking "why do queues exist", who doesn't do something only if there's a law about it.

[notnaut]

I’m several inches over 6’ and if I don’t get a fire exit seat I’m highly likely to get seated behind someone who will call me “extremely rude” for wrangling uncomfortably and bumping their seat uncontrollably when they inevitably decide that extra 6 degrees of recline is worth more than my knee cartilage.

[CalRobert]

People generally didn’t even offer her a seat on the metro. And letting other people decide whether you should be permitted to use the functionality the airline has given you is dysfunctional people pleasing.

[close04]

> dysfunctional people pleasing

Your "dysfunctional people pleasing" is someone else's "not being a total dick". As I said, there's no law against it. It's all about character and education (or lack thereof). Some people even think they must brag about it because why else would they have a mouth and keyboard.

[buellerbueller]

"Reclining one's airline seat = being a total dick" is the Godwin's-lawification of airline travel.

[buellerbueller]

>the functionality you have paid for

[lostlogin]

Good for me but not for thee.

[buran77]

I still see ashtrays on older plans, trains, and boats. Sometimes older stuff is left there because it's not financially advantageous to replace it. You can use the recline button to your liking, but it can be inconsiderate to do it. Traveler discretion is advised.

A question you can always ask yourself is "should I do it just because I can do it?". It will stop you from being needlessly inconsiderate many times, and maybe even make you a better person.