Window seat etiquette on flights

In the aisle seat you can stand up without bothering the window seater and stretch it all out.

In the window seat you have to bother the aisle seater to get out.

 

I hardly ever get up at all, but to me? If you’re on the aisle? You can probably expect someone inside the aisle to get up at some point, especially if it’s a long flight. It’s not an affront to have to use the bathroom. It’s part of the social contract of having an aisle seat that you’re going to deal with that.

And, part of being a courteous window seater is to not abuse it. Barring being sick or something, you shouldn’t get up more than once, say, per 2 1/2 hours of flight time. If you are? Then the window seater is being annoying, but once? No biggie.

 

On many planes the footwell is narrower in the window seat. Less room for feet, less room for underseat carry on.

Also, I will neither seek, nor will I accept, the responsibility of operating the shade.

 

LOL link?

"Please keep your seatbelt fastened at all times unless the sign is off and you ... in aisle seat 19C, the 6-foot-1 240-pounder? Yeah, you ... we know you like to stand and stretch it out, hun, but uh, we only allow 2 standing-stretch breaks during the flight so please choose them wisely ... we do have an air marshal aboard and will not hesitate to have him lock you down."

Now, I think we can both agree to this sentence ...

There is only one thing both sides agree on: the intense dislike of the middle seat.

... which is part of this story.

Indeed, just shoot me if I'm ever in the middle.

 

September 2015, San Fran to Albany, I lucked out and got the whole row to myself.

That was a great relaxing flight. Except the coffee was pretty bad.

 

And I took full advantage.

 

I can think of only a few US cities that warrant an open window shade -Honolulu/Maui, NO, SF, NY, LA and DC (Reagan). PHX if you're heading over the Grand Canyon and maybe Vegas. Most other airports are usually so far out all you see is farmland or industrial stuff.

 

I'm tall and have irritable bowel syndrome, so for me, it's aisle all the time. And on Southwest, that means the closer to the front, the better, so I can use that toilet and not have to worry about anyone banging on the door.

(I know you didn't ask, but that's my justification.)

I have also noticed that anymore, there are a lot of shade-downers. My response to that is to leave the reading light on the entire time.

 

The older I get, the more concerned I am about DVT on long haul flights. I used to always sit in the window on an overnight flight. From now, aisle only so I can easily get up more often.

 

I don't care what time of day it is. If I'm flying, I'm sleeping, and the window is the best place to be if you want to sleep. Close the shade, lean against the fuselage and I'm usually out before we're even in the air. Nobody will ask me to move so they can get out. Also, I move when I sleep. If I'm on the aisle, that makes it a pretty good bet my leg will end up too far out and in the way.

 

Window seat, shade down, and I’m probably asleep unless the flight attendants are bringing around lunch.

I have thus far avoided ever using an airplane toilet, and given what I’ve been told and read about the sanitation conditions in airplane bathrooms I will probably never use one. Airport terminals have lots of bathrooms.

 

I also try to "sleep", but it's plane sleep, not real sleep. When I flew to the West Coast, I used to think, I can budget x-amount of hours for sleeping! Yeah right.

I am truly envious of those who can get true REM sleep on a plane ... though I am highly doubtful anyone truly can.

But if I am going to make the effort to sleep? Window seat all the way.