Real world pax: What maddens you ?

[JSACKS 0]

Just flew into KDCA (in real life, I mean), US Air Shuttle A319. Perfect flight, nice aircraft! But pax next to me, by window, was on her BLACKBERRY 100% of the time. She totally ignored cabin crew calls to close down for t/o and landing, fiddled like a lunatic nonstop writing messages 10 miles long, scrolling, beeping, flashing. She didn't look out the window ONCE despite incredible departure views of Manhattan and amazing approach views of Potomac/D.C. She was a nervous wreck. Why'd she choose the window when I could've been there and enjoyed the whole flight more?Not my first time with a lunatic next to me. Seen plenty of others on all kindsa flights these past 40 years!What drives YOU crazy with RW pax ?JS

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Let me try a quick response before this gets moved to Hangar Chat---My one pet peeve is the "armrest hogs" in coach who arrange their elbows in such a way as to prevent you from sharing the armrest.I avoided this issue on one transcon flight once between BWI and Phoenix. We were warned that headwinds would make the flight six hours. And, since it was a SWA 737-7, there was no in flight entertainment other than my own walkman. Last, the flight was nearly full.Anyway, I boarded, and found a free window seat in a row where, for lack of a better word, the aisle passenger looked (and acted) like a gangbanger. He didn't even look me in the eye when I asked if the window seat was free and just grunted an answer that seemed to end with "know what I'm sayin". I took a gamble suspecting that no one would sit in the middle between us (for obvious reasons). I had human nature pegged on that flight--the only available seat was the one between us. People actually walked near the back of the plane where we were, and would turn around and choose other middle seats elsewhere.Never have I had a more peaceful long haul flight than that one. I wanted rest, and I had a passenger who cooperated by not socializing (although probably for all the wrong reasons) :)-John

[JSACKS 0]

Nice one!Oho, so there is a hangar "chat" on AVISM, eh? I never even checked...!JS

[Guest ThrottleUp]

I LOVE window seats!!!!So what makes me MAD is when Im stuck in an aisle seat and the clown who has the window sits down, pulls down the blind and falls asleep........!~#&^%$

[Guest Waltm]

I love a window seat!!I was once in an aisle seat on a 737 from Chicago to Seattle. Two elderly women were between me and the nearest window. Weather was fantastic and what views I could see of Montana and Washington state were stunning. The two women eventually noticed that I was trying to see out the windows, and they dismissively said to me: "It's just clouds..." :-eek

[Guest HepburnUGA]

I was on a 7:30 AM Monday morning business flight and sat next to a man who obviously knew the woman in front of me.From boarding to taxi to touch down, he yelled over the drone of the engines in a conversation as I was trying to catch some much needed sleep. The only time he quit talking to her, he actually got on the airphone! The worst part was...no one was sitting in the seat next to her and all he had to do was move up and sit next to her. Normally I would have said something, but exhaustion prevailed :)

[Guest DZollner]

Worst flight for me? A red-eye from LAS to DTW on Northwest. I had just dozed off and was dreaming sweet nothings when I was bolted awake by the elderly woman next to me spilling her ice water on my 'pelvic' region. I was wearing windpants at the time. Let me tell you, that is enough to wake anyone, and everyone else on the plane who happened to fall asleep, in record time.

[Guest Hawkeyeted]

Great thread!What drives me nuts are folks who bring a 26" pullman into the cabin and stuff it into the overhead bin, preventing others from sharing the space. This, of course, is followed by squeezing and slamming the bin lid shut so the hinges are ready to burst!Two words: CHECKED BAGGAGE!

[jagabom 21]

The person beside me who looks sideways to see the paper I'am reading then gets mad when I turn the page!! Buy yourown paper.JimCYWG

[1mikel151 71]

"The person beside me who looks sideways to see the paper I'amreading then gets mad when I turn the page!! Buy yourown paper."LOL, OMG yes, I was on a flight to Vegas last year and had a tourist publication on hot spots and the person next to me did the same thing (or tried to!)Regards, MichaelKDFWhttp://www.calvirair.com/mcpics/mcdcvabanner.jpgCalVirAir International

[AWACS 12]

An hour of touch and go's and low approaches on the E-3. Heavies were never meant to do this much transition!Jeff

[Guest]

Many people don't ask for a particular seat, they get assigned one.So don't blame someone for not looking out the window... Do you know the history of that person? Maybe she'd seen it all a thousand times before and there was nothing new in it for her...Yes, ignoring crew calls is annoying. But it shouldn't annoy you and if the crew were alert and cared they'd say something about it.What annoys me more than anything is passengers who think they have a right to disturb me, a right to control what I do or think on a flight.Or maybe it's the people who shove their seatback in your face, putting their seats all the way back 5 minutes after takeoff and not putting them upright until the chief purser tells them they must do it just before landing (often after ignoring several earlier requests by flight attendants).Maybe next time I would be the one in the window seat not constantly looking out and drooling over what I see. Except of course I prefer aisle seats for the better legroom and will try to get one usually.

[Guest ssurjap]

Definitely it's the people who recline their seats all the way back not leaving me much room. I can't afford to fly first class (unless I have upgrade points) so I have to get stuck in coach. I know yoiu people will say "It's my right to recline my seat because I paid for it" but can't you also think about the people behind you? These people also don't have the decency to move their seat a little bit up when it comes to meal time (for those airlines that offer meals).

[Jayjay 62]

During my professional life I used to cross the atlantic about 5 to 6 times a year, travelling from Brussels to our headquarters in Denver. I have never experienced a situation where a passenger's behaviour would have driven me mad. O course, some people are better than others in being social while sharing such a small space in an arcraft, and sometimes for many hours. Yes, I have had neighbour passengers "invading" the armrest, sometimes unconsciously, other times because they are rather of a rather large size for the type of seat we were sitting in. I have always happily resolved the situation, by kindly asking "do you mind if we share this armrest?". As for people watching what I was reading on the plane, it never bothered me, as I would generally reading something in french...but it would sometimes lead to an interesting discussion: on a flight from N.Y. or Chicago to Denver there would generally not be many french speaking passengers. The only thing I was realling feeling uncomfortable with was some people smelling bad because of bad hygiene. But I only experienced this situation a couple of times.J.J.JJ StruyfBraine-L'AlleudBelgiumhttp://jdtllc.com/images/RCsupporter.jpg

[Guest]

It gets worse. Last year I flew Amsterdam-Seattle with my father. Someone came in with a huge weekender, a laptop case, and a reporter bag with paperwork or something and started to shove it into the bin my father had put his bag in (which was already several rows aft of his seat and contained among other things heart medication...).He got angry when it wouldn't fit and started to remove my father's bag and carry it all the way aft in search of a bin to put it (instead of looking for a place to put his own bags...). My father flipped and got the head FA involved who told the man in no uncertain terms he could keep any one item and had to check the other two :)