Standing on the tarmac in pelting rain, cramming a week’s worth of outfits into Ryanair-appropriate hand luggage, jostling with ‘aisle lice’ to disembark…. Travelling the world is a privilege, but it’s not without stress. And that’s before you are faced with the overcrowded beaches, museums and bars that are par for the course in popular tourist hotspots.
All of this can bring out the worst in people, and cause some controversial habits to rear their heads. From queuing to board before the gate opens, to reclining the seat on short-haul flights, people have been owning up to the eyebrow-raising behaviour they engage in when travelling….
If you’re flying with an airline that asks you to pay to choose your seat, you might decide to wait and see if a kind stranger will swap with you on the day. But after one Reddit user shared their experience, it might be worth thinking again. In the popular sub r/unitedairlines, a user called psychological_Nose_2 revealed that agreeing to swap with a passenger who gave them the wrong seat number left them sitting in the middle seat, following a confrontation with another disgruntled passenger.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. In response to the story, Metro‘s Reddit followers were quick to share why they would refuse to swap seats if asked.
InstructionBulky4314 wrote: ‘I would avoid swapping seats I think. I usually pay to pick my seat for reason and would rather avoid any drama or hassle. Thankfully I’ve never been asked!!’. Striking_Hedgehog_21 simply said: ‘Hell no. You get what you pay for.’.
And that goes for train travel too. Metro Soaps Editor Duncan Lindsay says: ‘I would kick someone out of my train seat if they were in it.’. The wider Metro team have been sharing the controversial things they do while travelling. Senior Commerce Writer Lydia Wheatley said: ‘I always hide a few liquids in my makeup bag if I’m travelling with hand luggage. Concealer and eyeliner don’t count IMO… neither does cleansing balm or lip gloss.’.
Deputy Picture Editor Rosy Shearman shared: ‘I have friends that are a couple and they will not travel together on the same flight when going on holiday. They have kids and everything. They have such different approaches to travel that they will actually take separate flights.’.
And Acting Lifestyle Editor Kristina Beanland added: ‘I try to get the direct phone number of a specific taxi driver — either from a friend that’s visited before or I ask if they have a card. It’s like having your own private driver on speed dial…’.
To recline or not to recline: that is the age-old travel question. Every chair has a button to recline it, and every passenger has a right to use it — so why does it feel so wrong?. Reddit user Ok_Sir_3090 shared in r/NoStupidQuestions: ‘I’ve been on three flights in the last year and have reclined my seat on all flights.
‘I have had comments from people behind me on all three fights. ‘I’d consider myself a nice person, I didn’t argue with them, I just explained it was a 5-hour flight and I’d like to be comfy and I didn’t know it was an issue. ‘Do people normally not recline their seats to give others more room? I thought everyone reclined their seats’.
This subject made it back into headlines in recent months, after a viral TikTok hack for preventing other passengers from reclining their seats went viral. Clare Duggan demonstrated how she puts her tray table down and wedges a Pringles tube on top of it, effectively blocking the person in front from adjusting their seat.
Some users branded it ‘ridiculous’ and ‘pathetic’, while others praised Clare for the idea and called it ‘genius’. @Pringles #traveltiktok #traveltips #lifehacks #pringle. ♬ original sound – clareduggan1982. Users were quick to share their frustration with reclining seats in the replies.
Inner_Proof4540 said: ‘I don’t even know why reclining is an option on flights that are that close person to person’, while ErrantJune commented: ‘It’s fairly difficult to sleep with someone else’s chair crushing your knees, too.’. Key_Ingenuity_5446 added: ‘I’m about 6ft6 and when someone reclines their seat in front of me, it literally crushes my knees.
‘They will feel my kneecaps stabbing their backs. Usually they complain to the staff about me kicking their seat.’. Paris has the Eiffel Tower, Dublin has wildly overpriced pints in Temple Bar, New York has Times Square — these are all places tourists travel thousands of miles to see, right?.
Not always. Plenty of people actively avoid these ‘tourist traps’ on their trips. On Reddit, Laughternotwar wrote: ‘I never visit the tourist attractions, those are usually crowded and a low-quality experience.’. ReliabilityTalkinGuy echoed: ‘I have little interest in tourist attractions, excluding extremely old castles/churches,’ while ofcourseIwantpickles said: ‘I’ve skipped waaaay more museums and sites of worship than I’ve seen. Traveling without FOMO is liberating.’.
