Friday 5 December 2014

Surviving the middle seat on your flight

Which would you prefer: sitting in the middle seat for a long flight or having a hole drilled in your head? A recent survey was done to determine the top five middle seat annoyances:

1. Having a nosy seatmate peering over your shoulder
2. Crawling over someone to get to the bathroom
3. Not being able to stretch out
4. Having an overweight seatmate on either side of you
5. Not having a place to rest your head

If you’re a traveler there’s a chance you will be doomed to the middle seat at some point, here are some tips to avoid and survive the middle seat.

Make a narrow escape – Your first chance to escape the middle seat is to select an aisle or window when your first book your flight, however some airlines charge an additional fee, but it’s definitely worth it! If the worst happens and you discover that only middle seats are available then contact the airline to enquire if any better seats have become available, even if you have to pay for an upgrade!

You have prime placement on the armrests – Travelers often get confused about proper armrest etiquette, there is a rule of thumb that has worked for many people over the years: the person in the middle seat has priority when it comes to the armrests on both sides. Passengers in the more comfortable seats on either side of the middle seat will get the slightly less comfortable part of the armrest – it’s only fair!

Go before you go – If there was ever a time to behave like a four year old and visit the bathroom multiple times in the airport before your flight, this is it! And if you do ever have to get up from your seat during the flight do it before the person starts watching a movie, reading a book or falls asleep!

Use sleep and comfort aids – No, I don’t mean drugs, but rather neck pillows, eye covers, noise cancelling headphones or anything else that can make it possible for you to sleep or rest while sitting straight with nothing to lean on.

Surrender – If you do end up in the dreaded window seat, it will help if you just accept early that its not gonna be fun, easy or comfortable, so you might as well make the best of it! It’s going to be horrible, but sooner or later you will be on the ground. In other words: this too shall pass.

People dislike the middle seat so much that they will go to great lengths to avoid it; some travelers would even stay an extra night at their hotel than h
ave to endure the middle seat! It’s true that majority of us would rather go to the dentist than have to tell a seatmate that you have to go to the bathroom.



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Written By: Christine Romans

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