Etiquette of Reclining

by Neil Woodburn on

I’m a hypocrite.

I don’t like when the person in front of me on an airplane reclines, and yet I do it myself.

When I do recline, however, I do it slowly so as not to crash into the person behind me or spill whatever drink they may have sitting on their tray. It seems the person in front of me, however, never bothers to do so.

So what is proper reclining etiquette?

A great column in the Wall Street Journal by Scott McCartney tackles this question and provides some insight into the “reclining gap” between airlines. Southwest Airlines, for example, has now standardized the recline at 3 inches (some of their seats reclined two inches while others went back as far as 4.5 inches). A large part of the reason for doing so was to provide enough room for laptops.

According to McCartney, the most generous airline for reclining is Continental. The 5-6 inches their seats go back is great for recliners but hell for those sitting behind a recliner.

So is it okay to recline or not? McCartney interviewed a number of people who generally agree that it is a passenger’s right to do so. Etiquette experts, however, suggest turning around before reclining and warning the person behind you. And then lean back.

My school of thought? It’s okay for me to recline, but not you. Once everyone learns this rule, flying will be much more comfortable.

At least for me.

InFlight Magazines

by Erik Olsen on

Sometimes when you fly, you forget to bring along reading material. And when this happens, which is quite unfortunate, you are forced to either endure the in flight movie (usually something horrendously awful) or you pick up the airline’s magazine stuffed there in the pocket in front of you. Is there a sniglet for this pocket? I’m not sure. Perhaps it is called the “flybrary”. But whatever, I always find it interesting to see how different airlines come up with stuff that they think flyers will like. Each airline is a bit different, and as you can see from this list of in-flight magazines, each has its own language, too.

I have to admit, I spent some time clicking around the list here and there some some interesting ones…even those NOT in English. Take a look, for example, at SkyEurope’s Magazine, which offers, obviously, lots of pieces on things to do in Europe. Or what about the magazine for Montenegro Airlines. Now, that’s rather interesting. The articles are downloadable as a Word document, just in case you feel the need to have it while you’re not connected. The list is extensive and it made me think that maybe these would be a good source of info for whatever trip I decide to take next.

Emirates Airlines to Allow Cell Phone Talk on Flights

by Adrienne Wilson on

Here is a story that leaves me middle of the road. As much as I enjoy my own cell phone bicker-babble to my home girl Becky about last night’s victory in Taboo over cheese and wine I can honestly say if some stranger on the street were having a similar chat with their loved ones for an extended period of time in my presence I’d probably get a little annoyed. Since cell phones have become an extension of man’s ear time, place, and usage etiquette have been of large discussion.

Starting January 2007 Emirates Airlines will be the first carrier to allow cell phone chatter while 35,000 ft. in flight. Calls made in-flight with Emirates will fall right in line with international roaming rates which vary by mobile carrier. Australian airline, Quantas, hopes to have the technology to allow in-flight cell phone talk by early next year, but it looks like it will be a while before the U.S. follows suit. CNN also notes that 61 percent of business travelers oppose the idea of being able to use their cell phones while flying. I can certainly OVERstand that. As if jetting to and fro for your big corporate American hot-shot boss isn’t enough now they’ll have the opportunity to ring your ears out while coping with turbulence and the nasty recycled air blowing from above your head. If you’re traveling for leisure and wish to have a quick word with your friend of family member about your flight time or groceries to pick up from the store that could be just fine and dandy so long as it doesn’t last the full length of the flight. There isn’t enough cabin space if you ask me, but who am I to make up the rules?

How do you feel about in-flight cell-phone use? Should the U.S. get with it or keep away?

Holiday Parking

by Erik Olsen on

One of the worst parts of living in New York City is dealing with the airports. I loathe going to La Guardia, JFK, or Newark. It can take anywhere from 50 minutes to 2 hours if the traffic is bad (and it usually is during the holidays) and the cost of a cab is almost always well over $50. That ain’t chump change to your average blogger, trust me. Of course, if you own a car, you can try and park at the airport, but forget trying to save any money, as the parking people extract organs for the price of placing your precious little Jetta in their care.

Well, we’ve kind of come3 up with a solution to all this. It’s not a great solution and it’s not for everyone, but it has worked for a us a few times. Instead of booking our flight through JFK, La Guardia or Newark, we try to book through Long Island’s MacArthur Airport. Yes, it takes a good hour to get there, but if you book an early flight, you can generally get there pretty quick. What’s more, the parking at MacArthur is about $10 a day, so if you’re going away for the weekend, well, that’s far cheaper than the cab fare you’d pay.

I was doing some lokking arond about how to deal with airport parking over the holidays and I fond that Jaunted did a post on the subject. Also, Budget Travel editor in chief Erik Torkells talked on CNN the other day about it, offering some sage advice about reserving ahead.

Holiday Travel: We Are All in the Same Boat

by Adrienne Wilson on

A few days ago I learned something very valuable about holiday travel that had never been revealed to me before. “We are all in the same boat.” You see I learned all this on my flight out of Chicago into Atlanta where I needed to make my connection to Tampa. The flight into Atlanta was running about 30 minutes behind and once we landed the plane just sat there on the runway until they could get the gate situation figured out. Even though my connecting flight was scheduled to leave in just 7 minutes I remained calm. The flight attendant was kind enough to make an announcement to tell all those who weren’t connecting to remain seated so those of us who were could make a mad dash off the plane. By the time the plane reached the gate and the seat belt sign went off my watch showed two minutes past my scheduled departure time to Tampa. GREAT! My hope did not fade. I was seated only two rows behind first-class and I was sure I could convince a few people to let me slide past. I knew everyone standing had tight connections, but from the sound of things mine was the tightest of all. Everyone was super nice to let me pass with the exception of one first-class gentleman. Here’s what went down:

Adrienne: Excuse me Sir, can I squeeze past you?

First-Class Flier: Where do you think you are going?

Adrienne: I’m trying to get to the very front Sir. According to my watch my flight should have taken off already, but I want to try to run there anyway.

First-Class Flier: Look my plane takes off in 10 minutes and when I get off this plane I am going to be running like crazy to make my flight. We are all in the same boat.

As he turned back around I wondered where this same boat business came from. Last time I checked being on the ‘ten minutes till departure flight boat’ was a hell of a lot different than the ‘your flight is probably flying the friendly skies already boat.’ My boat felt like the Titanic while he was still was being jostled around in the S.S. Minnow. My hope fizzled for a moment and my holiday travel patience was close behind. The doors finally opened and he rolled his carry-on bag off, started in what didn’t appear to be a hurried pace at all and I quickly took off past him. My mind hummed some very choice words as I left him the dust. I made it to the train to get to Concourse B just in time and as the doors were shutting I saw my good friend that wouldn’t let me pass, a moment too short. Wicked fiery flames grew inside and evil laughter rang out as I gave the thumbs-up gesture and waved Sayonara to Mr. Nasty First-Class Flier. I felt like a character in one of those holiday films. Part of me couldn’t believe how I let the gentleman’s enlightening words of travel wisdom reach my boiling points.

When I hopped of the train into Concourse B I had one more leg of the amazing airport race to run. I heard them calling the last boarding call for flight 1093 to Tampa and with beads of perspiration dripping from my brow I handed the gate attendant my soggy boarding pass and shot a slight smile. I made it! I made it! The flight was delayed too and I made it! I was the second to last person to board the plane. As I oozed into my seat I felt myself return to my cool, calm and collected state of being.

The moral of this story people is a raft is not a yacht. Be nice – not nasty and rude during all your travels this holiday be it by car, plane or train and have fun!

Safe travels.