Flight attendant shares what he thinks of reclining seats on planes
- @ichbinvin told his 13,600 TikTok followers when it is and isn’t okay to recline their aeroplane seats
- An overly-eager seat recliner once broke another traveller’s nose
When is it okay for us to recline our seat? Is it only acceptable if our flight is over three hours? A flight attendant has shared their do’s and don’t’s on plane seat etiquette.
For some, there is nothing worse than being on a flight with zero legroom, especially if it’s because another passenger has decided to recline their seat.
But for others, setting that seat backward and being able to relax is their right as a paying customer.
Lucky for us, a flight attendant on TikTok, @ichbinvin, has shared his thoughts on when and why reclining your seat is acceptable.
The TikTok user @ichbinvin (pictured), who is also a flight attendant, shared his do’s and do not’s in a video to his 13,600 followers
The contentious question is one that even had the flight attendant in a muddle. He confessed to his TikTok following of around 13,600 that there is now an ‘Excel spreadsheet’ in his brain of when it is okay and not okay to recline your seat.
He prefaced his advice with: ‘I know there will be people in the comments saying ‘I paid for my ticket I can do whatever I want’.
‘Yes while that may be true it doesn’t make you not an a****le.’
He said in the video, with over 8,000 views, that the decision to recline or not wasn’t a question but rather ‘a balancing act of 2 very important things’.
Before you decide to recline that chair you have to consider the length of the flight and the time of day, according to the flight attendant.
@ichbinvin said:’If you are on a one hour flight in the middle of the day, there is no need to recline your seat
‘However if you’re on a one hour flight at 5’o clock in the morning you could do it.’
He went on to advise that if your flight is over three hours you can recline your seat at any time.
But the rules of setting your seat back on an aeroplane are not always clear, as the 2 hour marker is ‘a grey area’ according to the TikTok user.
He added: ‘For two hours you need to read the room and see what’s going on.’
Users shared their own rules for plane seat etiquette, with one stating: ‘I usually peek behind me to see if the person is like eating or something before I recline.’
Another shared their bad luck while flying: ‘Ask the person behind you. I’ve had a few drinks spilled in my lap by guests in front of me.’
He said it’s just as important to know how to recline your seat, as it is to know when. He said a traveller once told him an overly-eager seat recliner broke her nose
And lest we forget the action of reclining the seat itself.
The flight attendant detailed how important it is not to rush to put your seat backwards – not only to avoid upsetting other passengers, but to avoid injury.
‘One time a woman told me that she broke her nose because a person in front of her reclined her seat too quickly.
‘Do it gently. There is no need to push the button and put all of your body weight throwing back into the seat to recline your seat. There is no need for that.’