Carry On
01.15.13
Trip Doctor: Airplane Etiquette—What to Do About a Space-Hogging Seatmate
Do...
Assert your territory early on: claim your overhead and under-seat space, and put the armrests down.
Be sensitive about passengers of size. Alert your flight attendant discreetly; you may be able to switch seats.
Don’t...
Resort to dirty looks, or subtle little pushes. Being passive-aggressive only escalates the problem.
Be greedy. Airplane etiquette says that the middle-seat passenger has rights to both inner armrests.
Nikki Ekstein is an Editorial Assistant at Travel + Leisure and part of the Trip Doctor news team. Find her at on Twitter at @nikkiekstein.
Illustration by Tom Gauld
You might also like...
Topics
- 100 Places to Eat Like a Local (15)
- Adventure Travel (93)
- Affordable (244)
- Air Travel (315)
- Airport Security (48)
- America's Favorite Cities (7)
- Apartments + Villas (7)
- Architecture (38)
- Arts + Culture (362)
- Beach & Island (7)
- Beach/Island (1)
- Beaches + Islands (83)
- Beauty Road Test (16)
- Behind the Scenes (28)
- Biking (9)
- Books + Reading Lists (71)
- Budget Travel (9)
- Business Travel (1)
- Casinos (2)
- Celebrities (54)
- Celebrity Sightings (17)
- Charity Programs (24)
- Classes (3)
- Classics (1)
- Commentary (16)
- Contest Watch (28)
- Cruise (48)
- Cruises + Ships (60)
- Deals (226)
- Design (38)
- Disney (11)
- Driving + Car Rentals (30)
- Eco + Green Travel (67)
- Editor Find (96)
- Editorial Dispatches (20)
- Events + Festivals (160)
- Facebook (2)
- Fall Travel (19)
- Family Travel (98)
- Film (26)
- Fitness (2)
- Food & Wine Classic in Aspen (1)
- Food + Drink (451)
- Gadgets (16)
- Gay (4)
- Global Bazaar (10)
- Go Local (51)
- Golf (6)
- Guess Where? (110)
- Health + Fitness (31)
- Historic (17)
- Holidays (46)
- Hotels + Resorts (556)
- How We Travel Now (3)
- It List (3)
- Japan Relief (1)
- Just Back (15)
- Landmarks (5)
- Language (5)
- London (17)
- Luxury (43)
- Maps (9)
- Music (58)
- Neighborhoods (6)
- Nightlife (4)
- Offbeat + Strange (155)
- Olympics (7)
- Openings & Closings (102)
- Outdoor Adventure (74)
- Parks & Gardens (1)
- Parks + Gardens (22)
- Parties (3)
- Passports + Visas (5)
- People (4)
- Pet Travel (13)
- Photography (167)
- Preservation (6)
- Products & Gear (13)
- Q+A (50)
- Recipes (5)
- Responsible Travel (7)
- Restaurants (70)
- Road Trips (22)
- Romance (30)
- Safaris (12)
- Safety (67)
- Seasonal (13)
- Shopping (185)
- Skiing (27)
- Social Media (4)
- Spa + Wellness (29)
- Sports (18)
- Strange (10)
- Style + Fashion (122)
- Summer Travel (60)
- Sweepstakes + Contests (51)
- T+L Photo Contest (94)
- T+L Travel Tweet-Up (12)
- T+L Trips (2)
- T+L Twitter Chat (6)
- Tech Thursday (31)
- Technology - Mobile (127)
- Technology - General (75)
- Technology - Websites (99)
- Television (17)
- Theme Parks (4)
- Tips + Strategies (358)
- TODAY Show (25)
- Tour Guides (5)
- Tours (26)
- Train Travel (18)
- Transportation (76)
- Travel Alert (3)
- Travel News (532)
- Travel Op-Ed (2)
- Travel Products (36)
- Trends (62)
- Trip Doctor (179)
- Trip of the Month (5)
- Vacation Rentals (5)
- Vacationist (117)
- Video (33)
- Weather (27)
- Weekend Getaways (39)
- Wildlife (2)
- Wine (10)
- Winter Travel (27)
- World's Best Awards (7)
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
