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A Virgin Airlines passenger sparks debate for breaking ‘unspoken’ rule

A Virgin Airlines passenger sparks debate for breaking 'unspoken' rule

A woman flying from Sydney to Melbourne has triggered debate online, after she shared her awkward middle-seat experience where another passenger sitting on the aisle of her row took more than their fair share of space.

In a photo posted to Reddit, the woman on the aisle seat is seen crossing her leg into the middle passenger’s section, with her foot tucked under the middle seat in the row before them.

According to the post’s caption, the woman on the aisle also allegedly removed the middle passenger’s arm from the armrest.

“She’s in the isolated seat. She pushed my arm off the armrest and plopped her feet in my space. The middle seat already sucks enough,” the caption read.

The post has acquired more than 550 comments, causing a stir online over plane etiquette and who has the right to the space.

One thread that received a lot of attention was a Reddit user’s explanation of who has the right to what part of the seat in a three-seat row.

“Window gets an armrest and a wall. Middle gets two armrests. Aisle gets an armrest and a little bit of extra leg. We’re not animals! We live in a society!” they commented.

“This is the way. The few times I’ve flown, I just naturally surrendered the arm rest for the middle seat,” one reply read.

“The armrests in the middle belong to the middle. This is global unspoken plane etiquette,” a third said.

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Others responded to the post with ways they would have handled the situation, including repeatedly going to the bathroom, stretching their legs over the aisle passengers and calling a flight attendant.

“Simple. Ask this person to respect your space. If she does not want to, ask to be moved to another seat because your neighbor is not respecting your space, ”one user commented.

“That’s where you rub your leg against hers and when she looks at you appalled, you can say, ‘Oh sorry. Was I invading your personal space?’” said another.

But not all commenters felt sympathetic towards the middle-seat passenger, seeing the post as her making a “big deal” out of an easy-to-solve situation.

“Can’t we just communicate anymore? Instead of acting all passive aggressive, kindly ask her to move her foot from her. Problem solved in 5 seconds without making a big deal of it. Never understood these posts,” one person responded.

“Just politely ask them to mind their space. Why take a picture and just continue to sit uncomfortably,” replied another.

Plane etiquette has become a hot topic as flights return to their pre-Covid capacities, with mask wearing, sanitization and social distancing where possible joining the list of already-existing unspoken plane rules.

While masks are no longer required in airport terminals, they are still mandatory on most flights and are only permitted to be removed if a passenger is eating or drinking.

For those who forget their mask, most airlines offer travel packs that include a mask and sanitization wipe which can be collected prior to boarding.

As for plane etiquette that existed prior to Covid-19, passengers are reminded not to kick the seat in front of them, wear headphones if listening to music or on-flight entertainment and to leave their shoes on.

“Take showers, brush your teeth, leave the perfume off, don’t eat stinky food (caesar salad and tuna fish I’m talking to you!), and bring headphones. Trust me,” a US flight attendant said in a popular Facebook group.

“These things sound basic, but (if not implemented) add to stress on crowded plans.”

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Vegan Air Canada passenger stunned at lack of airline meals

Vegan Air Canada passenger stunned at lack of airline meals

A woman was left stunned and annoyed after she ordered several vegan meals on a plane – but was served nothing more than a bottle of water during meal service.

Miriam Porter, a travel blogger who goes by the TikTok handle ‘the kind traveller’, was on an Air Canada flight traveling from Toronto, Canada to Frankfurt, Germany.

In a now viral clip that has amassed almost a million views, Miriam explained she ordered several vegan meals during the more than 10-hour flight, but was left hungry after claiming to be served nothing but water.

“POV: You are on an Air Canada flight for over ten hours and order vegan meals,” her post begins.

She then shares footage from the flight showing her first ‘meal’ being a bottle of water.

For “meal 2” she showed a napkin with nothing on it.

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Miriam was eventually given some food – though not part of the proper meal service.

Instead, a flight attendant nabbed a makeshift meal for her from business class.

“Shout out to the kind flight attendant that got me fruit & dinner rolls from business class,” she captioned the clip.

“I love fruit but also like entire meals!” she pointedly added.

Air Canada has a selection of ‘special meals’ that passengers can order in advance. It varies from vegetarian to diabetic, kosher and vegan meal options.

“Special meals are available in all classes of service on all flights where a meal service is offered (except on flights offering Air Canada Bistro service),” its site states.

“We won’t be able to guarantee that your special meal request can be accommodated if it’s submitted less than 24 hours before the first flight in your itinerary.”

However, Miriam said her order was placed “well in advance and confirmed (many times)”.

“This has happened many times sadly. I always preorder in advance and bring my own food in case. But this time it was impossible,” she said.

Her clip has attracted hundreds of comments from users who asked why she just didn’t bring her own food this time.

“I always bring my own food in case but I was on a 24-hour delay and couldn’t make food to bring,” she explained.

Air Canada states: “You may bring your own snacks and food on board, or purchase meals and beverages at the airport before your flight – just make sure to purchase beverages after you’ve passed through security and take into consideration any limitations on bringing food through US pre-clearance when traveling to the US.”

Miriam described the situation as “annoying”.

“Especially since it was day two of trying to get home with little food. But I’m back so a happy ending,” she said.

Miriam added that it took her two days to get home from Berlin.

Her clip prompted others to share their horror food stories, with one woman saying she was served a “small bun with three slices of zucchini” during a long-haul flight.

Another said they were served “lettuce with six cold mushrooms on top” during their flight.

One woman said she was given “chicken on my vegan pre-booked menu”.

Others said they often had to fill up on the bread rolls and snacks such as pretzels and hummus.

News.com.au has contacted Air Canada for comment.

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Perth woman booted off Jetstar flight for wild suitcase issue

Perth woman booted off Jetstar flight for wild suitcase issue

Ready to begin the five hour flight from Sydney to Perth, Clare Vertannes had her Apple Airpods and noise-cancelling headphones on when she was approached by a Jetstar flight attendant.

At first, the actress and events co-ordinator thought she was being upgraded to first class.

Unfortunately, reality was less desirable.

“I was sitting there minding my own business, and then she was like: ‘Can you please come with me?’” Ms Vertannes told news.com.au, speaking of the flight she took in April 2022.

“I was getting really excited because it genuinely didn’t cross my mind [that I was about to get kicked off the plane]. It’s wasn’t until we walked off the plane, that I started asking questions.”

‘A very dangerous item’

Once her and the flight attendant were on the tarmac, the Perth woman was informed that staff had found a “very dangerous item” – a battery pack – in her checked luggage.

While portable chargers containing a lithium ion battery are banned from check-in baggage, Ms Vertannes was certain she had not packed hers in her suitcase.

“I held up my battery pack and told them I didn’t have a second one,” she said.

“The flight attendants that kicked me off the plane were really rude. I understand they have jobs to do but they didn’t even give me the time of day to explain.

“I asked them to call someone to confirm because there was nothing in my suitcase but I was told to go to baggage claim.”

At the same time she was told she would miss her existing flight and she’d have to pay for her next one.

She claims the flight attendant told her she wouldn’t be reimbursed “because you’ve held up everyone on the current flight”.

On her way to baggage claim, Ms Vertannes began crying.

“It was like I was going to the principal’s office. It was so terrible,” she said.

However, she remembers the surreal moment when she realized the airport had made a terrible mistake. As she was walking to the baggage claim, she claims to have overheard a staff member on the phone.

“She was like: ‘Why would she do that? What’s wrong with you people? I told you to wait for confirmation,’” said Ms Vertannes.

“She then saw us walking towards her she just stops and says into the phone: ‘I think the lady you’ve kicked off is in front of me and she is not impressed.’”

A missed flight and a miscommunication

That’s when she was told that there had been “a miscommunication”. While airport staff had initially found something dangerous in her bag, it turned out to be a false alarm.

“There was nothing in my suitcase. I was actually hoping that there had been something wrong with my luggage, especially after all this drama,” joked Ms Vertannes.

“I said look: ‘Thank you for your apology but I need to get home. Can I get back on my flight now?’”

However, in the time Ms Vertannes had reported to baggage claim, her original flight had taken off. She was then told the next flight wouldn’t be until tomorrow.

While Ms Vertannes said the airline initially refused to pay for another flight that day, she was determined to return to Perth.

“I literally just sat there and stared at her. I know the airport staff was doing their best but I knew that nothing was going to get done unless I just sat there,” she said.

After “an hour or two”, she was approached by a Qantas staff member, who are the parent company for Jetstar. In another twist of events, she had been offered a flight for that day free of charge, however it was scheduled for 8pm, which at that point was around eight hours away.

Looking back at her airport debacle, Ms Vertannes said she was surprised by the lack of services given to her by the airlines.

In a statement to news.com.au, Jetsar says they “sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding and are looking into what took place”.

Much to be desired

Despite the “miscommunication,” she claims she was told she was unable to check in her luggage early. While she decided to meet up with her boyfriend from her back in the Sydney CBD, she was told that she would have had to pay $50 to store her luggage from her at the airport.

Another blow came as she was sitting in her Qantas seat.

“I’m sitting on the Qantas flight and I get an email from Jetstar. It says: ‘thank you so much for your purchase of a pie. That’s $10,’” she said.

“Someone on my flight had charged on foot to my seat and I got that invoice. I was done.

“I remember getting that on the flight and not even being surprised.”

The experience left much to be desired.

Now, in the four months from the ill-fated flight, Ms Vertannes says she’s finally ready to talk about her it.

“When I got back I genuinely needed to recover from the trauma,” she said.

Sharing her experience on TikTok, Ms Vertannes amassed more than 67,100 views, 5100 likes and 285 comments.

Despite this, she hasn’t been thrilled with the airline’s response.

“The flight really upset me. It had an effect on my mental health and it was really stressful. [I asked for] two return flights to a destination around Australia,” she said

“I wanted some form of compensation and I thought I was being quite reasonable.”

To date, in documents seen by news.com.au, Ms Vertannes has been given a $116.22 cash refund and a $350.76 voucher which Jetstar says aligns with the purchase methods used to buy her flight from Jetstar to Qantas.

Later, when she tried to get reimbursed for the $50 taxi fare into the city, she was told they were “unable to provide you with any compensation nor cover your out of pocket expenses”.

“I kept on being in all these phone calls but everything just got too annoying so I took the voucher,” she said.

“But all I wanted was just some compensation and to not be left on the phone for two hours. It’s not that hard.”

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Flight attendant reveals why they won’t stow passengers’ carry-on bags

Flight attendant reveals why they won't stow passengers' carry-on bags

A flight attendant has revealed the “real” reason cabin crew won’t stow passengers’ carry-on bags for them – and it’s left many online users fired up.

If you have recently been on a plane and noticed flight attendants don’t offer to place your suitcase or backpack into the overhead locker, there’s a reason.

According to US flight attendant Cierra, none of the crew get paid while passengers are boarding.

“We actually don’t start to get paid until the moment that airplane door shuts and the handbrake gets lifted,” she said in a viral TikTok.

“On top of that, if it’s because you’re having trouble lifting it, you can easily get your packed [luggage] checked at the gate for free.”

Cierra’s clip, which has amassed almost one million views, has left hundreds shocked.

“Think it’s ridiculous that you don’t get paid until the door shuts. Should be as soon as you enter the airport,” one person wrote.

“It’s ridiculous that you don’t get paid until the doors close,” a second person agreed.

Some claimed that with the current global chaos surrounding airports, airlines and lost baggage, they would rather not have their bags checked in, while others didn’t take lightly to Cierra’s clip.

“OK asking for help to lift a bag shouldn’t ruin your day if someone is asking kindly. There’s plenty of people too short to reach the cabins up top,” one person commented.

“So you’re not gonna help someone with a simple thing like their bags because you’re not getting paid? Seems a little messed up – it’s not that big of a deal,” a second person wrote, while a third added: “Last time I went on a plane they announced if you need help putting luggage overhead just ask since it’s just common courtesy to help people.”

While the rules vary for different airlines, some can have policies preventing flight attendants from lifting passengers’ suitcases, according to the travel brand Matador Network.

Flight attendant Jamela Hardwick told Insider why she won’t help passengers with their luggage.

She explained that it not only comes down to pay, but if they get injured while performing the act, they’re not covered.

“We do not get paid until the boarding door is closed,” she said. “If we get hurt while putting that bag in the overhead bin, we do not get to write it off as an on-job injury.”

Kat Kamalani, a flight attendant for more than six years, said while it is “crazy” it is true that it’s not their job to lift luggage into the overhead lockers.

“A tonne of airlines tell (flight attendants) not to do this because there are so many injuries with it, so if we get injured it’s not even covered,” she said in a TikTok. But she said while the flight crew won’t stow the luggage for you, if you ask for help while you put your luggage in the overhead compartment, they will gladly give it.

“Ask the flight attendant to assist you and they will totally help you put it up there.”

Read related topics:TikTok

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