“S o I’m in Y on a US domestic flight, seated in row 30, but the only available overhead space was above row 26. I put my bags above 26 and take my aisle seat in row 30. When we land, I get up and there is nobody in the aisle in front of me at the time, so I walk to the row 26 overhead to get my bag, then wait to deplane standing next to row 26. Some guy turns around and tells me ‘you cut in line, that’s bad etiquette’. I say to him I’m getting my bag from this locker, I’m not going to walk back to row 30 afterwards to wait just because I sat there. And that was the end of that.”
With that etiquette question pertaining to leaving the airplane, who was being unreasonable: FlyerTalk member belfordrocks; the other passenger; or both of them?
Is Retrieving Baggage From the Overhead Storage Bin Considered Cutting a Line?
“I think that could go either way. Mostly, if my bags are ahead of me, I stay in my row, wait my turn and grab them on the way out”, opined FlyerTalk member StartinSanDiego. “If they end up BEHIND me, it’s a harder call… do I run grab them before the aisle fills, or wait until everybody has past and I can go backwards and get them? Usually, there’s small gaps of space in the aisle, and I can either work my way back, row by row, or dart back and grab my bag while people are organizing their own luggage further down. It’s only a minute or two extra, not worth aggravating others.”
The position taken by FlyerTalk member zitsky is that “I think what you did was fine. If you had all your stuff and were the first to stand up, I don’t think it’s rude.”
FlyerTalk member dreaming on a jet plane decided to be philosophical pertaining to this potential quandary: “You cannot cut in line where there is no line.”
Summary
That last line — pun intended — is the key for me. If there is no line when the Fasten Seat Belt sign is no longer illuminated after the airplane has arrived at the gate and you are able to retrieve your belongings. that is fair game, in my opinion.
If there are people already standing in the aisle, I would wait at my row until it was my turn to walk down the aisle and retrieve my belongings, as it would be rude to push through the crowd in the narrow aisle to get those belongings.
If the belongings were inside of an overhead storage bin located behind my row, a person could either wait until the aisle is clear up to the point as to where the belongings are located; or a fellow passenger could be asked to kindly pass down the belongings if the overhead storage bin is located within a reasonably close proximity to the assigned seat, as I have witnessed happen multiple times. In fact, there have been times where a fellow passenger proactively offers to retrieve the belongings.
I rarely ever experience this conundrum — primarily because the belongings I carry aboard an airplane will fit under the seat in front of me if there is no room in the overhead storage bin within the vicinity of my assigned seat; and for me, that is the solution to this issue.
Your solutions and experiences are welcomed. Please share them by posting them in the Comments section below.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
