Most airlines have banned knee defenders, so if your seat won't recline, tell a flight attendant. And the airlines we've flown recently will tell the person reclining to bring the seat back up during meal times.

My husband almost lost a laptop screen once when the person in front of him abruptly reclined his seat, and it got caught. He and the guy next to him grabbed the seat back and pushed it far enough back up to release the laptop screen, then let the seat come down. It's a nice idea to check behind you before reclining, and then do it gently.

I wish they would modify the seats so they cannot recline as much as they could when there was more room between you and the person in front of you.

The premium economy seats on a flight to Australia are $2K apiece extra, so "just buy a premium upgrade" is not always financially possible. To Europe on Air France, they're $200 extra per flight, so $800 for a couple.

I ask the person behind me if they mind if I put the seat back. Never had a person object yet but if they do I won't recline.

IIRC, the seats in the row in front of the exit row(s) cannot recline, which is another reason to grab the exit row even with the extra charge.

"UPDATED on September 2, 2014: In the past eight days there’ve been three U.S. flights that had to make unscheduled landings after passengers got into fights over the ability to recline their seats. The first one was started by a passenger using Knee Defender but I don’t recommend getting this contraption."

Read more: http://www.johnnyjet.com/2014/07/how...#ixzz3CHulqj8u

I get a lot of good traveling advice from JohnnyJet.com.

Seats recline; therefore that means you are entitled to recline your seat. I know it's cramped but it is the way it is. My husband has back problems and could not endure siting a long time without reclining his seat.

It might be a slight exaggeration to say that the seat reclines into your lap, but it is a fact that you do not have to be six foot tall to be dramatically inconvenienced by a reclined seat.
Forget about working on a laptop.
Forget about reading a full size hardcover book.
Forget about getting out of your seat without bending double over backwards or falling into the lap of another flyer.

What you will be able to do, however, is count the bugs in the hair of the person in front of you.

I keep my knees where they block the person in front from reclining. The Flight Atendents make people in front move seat up for food. The people in front expect you to recline out of their way, I won't as I won't bother anyone.

Many moons ago when I flew from Detroit to Cleveland regularly, I observed a fresh-faced young go-getter working diligently on his laptop on an early morning flight only to suddenly go into shock when the seat in front of him reclined without warning. When he recovered, he discovered he now had a 2-piece laptop. The lid/screen had snapped clean off.

That happened when there was easily twice the space between seats. That was also back when the airlines managed to operate profitably, often leaving the middle seat empty to better accommodate winter coats and newspapers and work papers of the business flyer.

As would I. But like I said, the seat in front of you reclines a few inches. It is far from reclining into your lap let alone having someone sit in your lap.

Fly first class if its that big of an issue

:bigbow:Thank you, this is the MOST ACTUATE STATEMENT SO FAR, Lighten up folks, its not a big deal.:bigbow::bigbow:

I don't fly that much, but I'm 6'-6" tall and space is often a bit of a deal. Why do I think you may not be quite as tall?!? :)

I'm done with flying drove to California twice and drive to Illinois 3 time a year.

Do you have a reference regarding your statement that passengers causing diversions will be charged for the cost? I have not heard of this before and could not find anything on the Internet when I did a Google search..

32713]It might be a slight exaggeration to say that the seat reclines into your lap, but it is a fact that you do not have to be six foot tall to be dramatically inconvenienced by a reclined seat.
Forget about working on a laptop.
Forget about reading a full size hardcover book.
Forget about getting out of your seat without bending double over backwards or falling into the lap of another flyer.

What you will be able to do, however, is count the bugs in the hair of the person in front of you.[/QUOTE]

Get out those small pair of scissors and watch those little bugs run.:a040: