If you’re like most people, flying around in a big metal tube in the sky isn’t your idea of a fun time. From the terrible food to the cramped space, flying can be a miserable experience. Don’t make the flight even more soul-sucking by breaking airplane etiquette. We’ve compiled a list of the worst-inflight offenders.
The human gas machine
You pass gas the entire flight without getting up to go to the restroom. If your seatmate buries her nose in her scarf, it’s time to take action. Don’t forget that your fellow passengers are trapped on the plane with you and can’t escape your obnoxious fumes.
The bad breath seatmate
You start chatting with your seatmate, only to have her wince and pull away as much as possible. That’s a sign it’s time to grab a breath mint.
The seat switcher
In the past, I’ve obliged when asked to switch seats so that friends and family members can sit together. Now that airlines charge extra for premium seats, I’m hesitant to give up my window or exit row seat to someone else who didn’t plan in advance or pay for a premium seat. I’m not giving up the extra leg room in seat 6A to sit at the very back of the plane, near the restrooms. Sorry.
The seat recliner
You slam your seat back without checking to see if the person behind you has their laptop out on the tray table or the size of a basketball player. I’m not in the anti-seat recline camp but please be considerate of the person behind you. No one wants to have their laptop or their knees crushed.
The queue jumper
You’re at the gate and so excited about your destination that you jump out of your seat and run to the front of the plane. Unless you have a tight connection to make, wait your turn to depart the plane. Waiting your turn means letting everyone in front of you exit the plane before you. Resist the urge to cut in line. If you’re stuck in row 41 and have 15 minutes to make your connection, politely ask other passengers if you can jump in front of them.
The argumentative couple
No one wants to hear you and your spouse arguing for 5 hours straight, especially if your fight causes your kids to cry.
The rule breaker
Think the 1 carry-on and 1 personal item rule doesn’t apply to you? Even if you manage to get on the plane with extra bags, prepare to be glared at by fellow passengers, especially if bin space is on short supply.
The kicker
Airlines keep redesigning their seats to be thinner and lighter which means they transmit the smallest kick. Every time you cross your legs or reach into the seat pocket, chances are you’re disturbing the person in front of you. If you’re a parent, make sure your child refrains from repeatedly kicking the seat. On a side note: The seat in front of you is not a handrail. It turns into a human catapult when you try to use it for leverage.
The undresser
Whatever you do, don’t strip down to your bare feet. Your feet probably stink and no one wants to look at them. One thing that’s even more appalling than bare feet? Placing your bare feet on someone else’s armrest.
The mad dasher
Patience, grasshopper. There’s a reason that airlines board by zones or groups nowadays. Airlines are trying to cut boarding times and get passengers on the plane faster. If you dash to the front of the boarding queue, you’ll most likely be told to go to the back of the line.
The bin stealer
If you’re sitting in the rear of the plane, don’t place your bag near the front of the plane unless instructed to do so by the flight attendants. Airlines should require carry-on bags to be placed in the bin above your seat.
The babies
Like it or not, babies on flights are a fact of life. You should make an effort to quiet your baby, even if it doesn’t work. Fellow passengers will appreciate that you’re doing your best to stop the crying and will usually show some sympathy.
The really sick person coughing everywhere
Sometimes you have to fly when you’re sick, but that doesn’t mean you need to cough and sneeze all over everyone else. There’s nothing worse than boarding the flight and realizing your seatmate is going to be coughing all over you. Do everyone a favor and wear a mask.
What’s your airplane pet peeve?
Thanks for all your info
They guy who had 27 drinks (no joke) on a flight to London and when the airline shut him off pulled out his own bottle from his carry on. The only thing I can think is he was terrified because he did not even slur.
There are folks that need to be told to put on their seat belts, and turn of electronic devices many times. Just like every other flight the plane can not leave until you put on your seat belt AND your child’s seatbelt even if you or they do not like them. You are delaying the flight.
Make sure you remove all your baggage tags once you get to your destination. I found out the hard way that if you have more than one and they both get scanned the airline thinks you have two bags and can only find one. Now I was delaying the flight and really ruined the guy who had to find me on the plan’s day.
Those people that must access the overhead compartments during turbulence and the captain has warned several times to sit down and buckle up. This happened on a flight from Cairo Egypt when we hit very rough air near Canada. Captain told everyone to take a seat and buckle up. This does not mean hanging around the galley he said. The guy across from me was into his luggage several times. I got mad. I am on blood thinner and if I get injured and cant stop the bleeding, I die or plane will need to land at nearest airport. Stewardess came and said there is nothing they can do. I said I can if injured or die from falling luggage. I will sue the passenger and airline. Boy did the rest of the plane get quiet for rest of the flight…..
Children are 1000x worse than babies bc babies can’t be taught etiquette. If a kid is old enough to be in their own seat, however, they need to learn to behave in public. I sedate my dog but people frown on this with kids so…
This is an easy one for me. People who stuff their carry on luggage and then can’t lift it and/or make it fit into the overhead bin. Then spend minute after minute holding up the line trying to make it fit. I could go on and on about carry on luggage!!!! It’s a pet peeve!!!!
definite pet peeve of mine too! Especially when they have more than the allowed carry on and the airline says NOTHING about it. Why bother having rules for 2 carry on items if you don’t intend to enforce the rules!
HATE ROLLY BAGS and esp. people who can’t lift them. I know checked bags cost money, but just don’t bring a lot of junk with you, right?? We’d all get on faster
Even though I’m a passenger, I try my best to be as supportive of others as I can because I see people that just sit and watch while a family is trying to get seated. Many times, a person could offer assistance instead of making an @ss out of themselves. I’ve flown many times and courtesy goes a long way to make a successful flight for all concerned.
American Airlines allows dogs on the airplane. This policy has caused me more than one problem.
I hate people who get up as soon as the plane lands, even though they tell you that you must remain seated until the plane has stopped. We once were stuck on the middle of the runway because this idiot just needed to get his bags right away. Jeesh I really hate those people. Just do as they say!!
They need to charge $100 for the second carry-on, including airline elite flyers!!!!!
The people who use the bins over everyone else’s seat, but there OWN, and then they’re up and down in and out of their seats for the entire flight!… And, also, the idiots that won’t turn off their electronic devices when told to! Yes, you’re just sooo important!!!… they are the WORSE!!!
Robin,
I so agree with your comments! Sometimes we are the last ones to enter the plane, and we find that there is not any more room for our carry-on. Someone has placed his/her bags in the area above our seats, and we have no place to store our carry-ons. We are in the first row, and we cannot place our bags beneath the seats in front of us. The middle aged flight attendant from American Eagle insists that we find a place for out luggage. We are Seniors returning from Europe, and we have difficulty walking. I always thought Texans were polite, but she simply was not. She did not offer to help, and fortunately we must have reminder a young man of his grandparents, because he stepped forward and helped us. Fly American Eagle from Dallas to Amarillo is not always a picnic. Flight attendants should help passengers stow their baggage if unable to stow above their assigned seats.
I can’t stand the passenger who immediately reclines their seat as soon as the flight begins. Why an adult needs to nap in the middle of the day at the expense of another passengers space is beyond me. I think the airlines should think about adding extra cushioning to seats as a trade off to installing seats that don’t recline.
The airlines need to add a fixed seats section. I would gladly pay extra to sit in this section.
I am annoyed at the person who sits next to me and then takes up part of my seat or the person who asks you if you would mind moving over from your aisle seat for them. Not going to happen.
Carol S. post really hit home w/me. I was on a flight when the attendant came to ask me to allow a woman with a child who had obviously booked/boarded late and had to take a middle seat. attendant asked if I would change seats with her and give her my aisle seat I informed the attendant I had booked my seat/ticket 3 months in advance….as you say not going to happen
I’m a frequent flyer and try to be courteous and tolerant to most, but there are many people out there that are truly in oblivious. My 2 biggest compliants are 1) with Flight attendents who think they are doing you a favor by providing what their job is to begin with; 2) the sweaty overweight individual who just makes the plane (standby) and sits in the middle seat overhanging onto to yours and your body…yuk!
I am disabled but it doesn’t show. I have several neck and back operations and much severe pain. The airlines does not assist putting carry-ons in the bins. I also have difficulty when I have notified the airlines I need a wheelchair to get from one terminal to another, especially larger airports and flights that are close. Often, that message does not guarantee a chair and at times I have missed fights due to their mistakes. I also missed an overnight hotel room in Miami because the airline flight attendant took it upon herself “just look at her there is nothing wrong with her and denied me assistance from any of the five flight attendents. I called AA and was speaking to Customer Service (but she thought I was speaking to a friend) and she demanded I be left on the plane to remove my carry on from the overhead bin. It had medical supplies. I eventually pulled it as close to the edge as possible then pulled it and it fell to the floor. Several medical devices were broken and my eyeglasses were broken. The Representative instructed me to remain on the telephone line but not to let it be known who I was talking with. She recorded the entire conversation. When I found someone, I asked for help, she was helping someone else but she came back for me. When I finally got off the plane and out to the airport, my luggage was displayed with a sign noting the time and a sign that said if the luggage was not claimed by a specific time, it would be destroyed”. I had 5 minutes left. The employee who was assisting me with the wheelchair took me to check in to the hotel I had reserved a room for overnight. I had a 5 am flight out the next am. I was so late by then, they had given my room to someone else. I had to take a bus over an hour to a motel I know not where. I had maybe 3 hours to rest. I had been told many times to “ask one of the gentlemen on the flight”. It is on my ticket that I need assistance and I think the airline personnel is wrong to tell me to ask a total stranger to do this. It is not their job. They may also have disabilities. I do not like to call attention to myself either. it is very rude for them to allow these employees to make these statements. Especially when it is written on the ticket and on their list nd I have been informed that they will assist. The terrible experience in Miami was AA and they reimbursed me voluntarily.
AA has the rudest flight attendants, they believe they are royalty
One of the most difficult, dangerous and, unfortunately, all-too-common in-flight situations these days concerns the accommodation of morbidly obese passengers who are so large that they take up more space than they’re entitled to. Often these folks spill out of their seats into the space of other passengers, crowding them unnecessarily and raising the risk of deep vein thrombosis in others. If it were a question of one or two such passengers a year, it would not be an issue. But every time I’ve flown transatlantic in the past 10 years, I have gotten stuck sitting in the same row with someone who is so fat that they have difficulty moving around and don’t want to get up when their row-mates need to get up to use the restroom. People like that should be discouraged from flying altogether, because the risk that they will have an in-flight health emergency (or cause one) is a liability to the airline. The extra weight costs the airline more in terms of fuel needed to complete the flight. They should be made to pay for as many seats as they actually take up. In fact, I’m for tying body weight to the price of airline tickets, because it’s absurd that a small, thin person should have to pay as much as someone who takes up more than one seat and brings luggage on board.
We travel a bit, the most revolting episode on a flight was the passenger who felt they needed to use the flight to maintain their personal hygiene and trimmed their finger and toe nails. Such a lack of respect for the other passengers.
I agree with body and luggage weight being tied to ticket prices. My less than 100 pound young adult daughter and her luggage weigh under 150 pounds. Yet I have to pay the same for her that the 300+ pound passenger with 100 pounds of luggage who takes up 1/2 my daughter’s seat and 1/4 of the aisle. How is this right?
On my last flight there was a woman who talked the entiretime, and I mean non-stop to another pasenger. I was redy to stangle her.
i’ve not flown since 1991 nor do I intend to.
They missed a bunch of annoying stuff:
The tickler
Your seat mate has sleeves that “stick out” beyond the need to cover their arm. Your shirt sleeve doesn’t reach out beyond the skin on your arm. You’re cruising in dream land just about to get to the “interesting” part, when you are abruptly awoken by that annoying sleeve next to you that tickles you. That discourteous passenger next to you has been doing that annoying thing all their life, so they are “shocked” that their sleeve tickle annoys you.
The bumper
Similar to the tickler, except that annoying seatmate can’t stop fidgeting in their seat (and in their “overhang” in your seat). To make things worse they express extreme offense when you ask them to stop bumping you–that it interrupts your reading or your sleep.
The arm rest hog
The passenger that uses both left and right arm rest and even “hangs over’ with an elbow that constantly jabs you, making you culr up into a ball in your seat. Even after asking them to not wake you up with that elbow jab, they continue to do it.
The tray flicker
This annoying passenger keeps opening and closing the tray either next to you or on the back of your seat.
They just can’t decide whether the want the tray open or closed, so they just keep trying every few minutes. Dirty looks you silently give them after the first few times they open and closer the tray usually don’t work. You actually have to explain to them (or the parent of the child doing it) that they need to choose either open or closed.
The game dropper
The little kid next to you just can’t seem to keep his game pieces on the tray. Each time he drops a game piece, he pushes your legs out of the way so he can climb under his tray to pick up the game piece. His parent are content with him annoying you–they are seated elsewhere!
The loud yapper
This annoying passenger thinks that everyone should enjoy his conversation… he talks so loud that the whole plane should hear. He’s totally offended when asked to talk a little lower in volume. Even if he lowers the volume, it invariably returns to loud in just a few minutes.
The frequent restroom flyer
Who knows what this person eat before the flight. What ever it was, it requires trips to the restroom every few minutes. Of course, you are seated closer to the isle than he is. After the third trip, he’s upset when he returns to see that you are in “his seat” and you have left your isle seat to him, for the convenience of ease for the next trip to the restroom.
Food “spillway”
Some people just can’t seem to kepp their food either on the plate or in their mouth. You are lucky enough to sit next to one of these. While opening the bag of mixed pretzels the flight attendant gave to him, he “jerks” it open, spilling the contents all over you. And… lucky you… that wonderful passenger also ordered lunch! Just bring a bib and apron and “dust off the spill-over” after he finishes eating. Hopefully, he eats as fast as he spills, so your agony is short lived!
The shoulder surfer
No matter what you are doing (reading, working on your computer, watching a movie, etc), this annoying passenger thinks he has to lean over and read right along with you. Worse you yet, he comments about everything. Moving the newspaper or computer to a different angle just make him lean into you a little more. You offer to share the newspaper with him, while you read the other part. He refuses the offer… he just wants to read the SAME thing you do and the SAME time that you read it.
The volunteer coach
You are quietly playing scrabble, backgammon, or solitaire on your computer. The idiot next to you finds the need to “coach” you on every move… including the “shoulda” moves after you made the play! On your offer to let him play, he says, “No! You just go ahead. I’m having fun ‘just watching’!” If only he could just watch and “shut the yap”!
The volunteer travel guide
Oh so wonderful to sit next to the frequent flyer of the flight you are on! This annoying passenger takes it on himself to relate every stale story of the flights his has been on. This include the time his kid spilled his soda all over the guy next to him and the time his baby “shared” the milk he just drank with another guy next to him. You subtly notice that he has another baby seated on his lap.
Sound the alarm, we’re landing!
Be sure to bring enough candy and pacifiers for all the kids and babies within earshot! On takeoff and landing, the cabin pressure changes. Little kids and babies don’t automatically adjust their inner ear pressure. They cry instead. After the first few yelps, it becomes the landing siren! Offer the parents the “goodies that you brought for that purpose. Have some “sugar free” stuff for the parents that object to sugar. It will make takeoffs and landings so much more pleasant for all.
Ujchu – Great list. Agree with your entire list. Thanks for posting.
I travel fairly frequently and have for some time now. I often share several of the complaints already lodged here. Recently, however, I too have had issues with people who overfill their seat space. I know it is impossible for the airline to know that the person booking a single coach seat cannot fit but perhaps need to find a way and insist that they buy a second seat. Inevitably these folks are the most obnoxious about encroaching into my space. I was once told by a very large (both tall and overweight) man that it wasn’t his fault that he was so big and couldn’t confine his arms into his own area. I replied that neither was it my fault. I called the flight attendant who mercifully moved me into a premium seat.