A travel influencer has shared his popular list of dos and don’ts when it comes to flying – and the plane etiquette debate has been reignited.
Ben Keenan from Seattle believes it is “disgusting” for a passenger to take off their shoes and you should always check behind before reclining your seat.
While the original TikTok video from June last year was viewed about 110,000 times, a reposted version last week has already racked up almost 350,000 views.
Keenan starts the video with perhaps his least controversial point, which is that you should always greet your flight attendants when boarding a plane.
He then moves on to talk about taking off your shoes, which is a rule not everyone seemed to be on board with.
“Do not take off your shoes or socks when you’re sitting in your seat you disgusting people,” he said.
“And, while we’re at it, I shouldn’t have to say this but I feel like it’s necessary for some of you … you are not going to change your baby’s diaper in this seat either. There’s a changing table in the bathroom for a reason.”
He added that passengers in the aisle seat must ensure all their body parts and belongings are out of the way when flight attendants come through the aircraft with food and drink carts.
When selecting your seat for a flight, Keenan says you should not choose an aisle seat if you want to sleep.
“When selecting your seat before the flight, go ahead and determine what type of flyer you are. Are you someone that sleeps or are you someone that’s awake?” he said.
“Because if you’re on an aisle seat, you need to be prepared to stand up and move out of the way multiple times during the flight – and I know this sucks but that truly means that you should not be a sleeper.”
He continued: “Speaking of sleeping on the plane, if you’re going to recline your seat to do that, go ahead and make sure the people behind you aren’t resting their head on your seat or using that tray table because do you know how many times I’ve been smashed in the head by somebody who just aggressively leans back.”
He went on to say odorous foods should not be brought on the flight, it should be mandatory for everyone to wear headphones, and when the plane lands there are two rules that must be followed (the first which was geared more towards his American audience).
“One: We are not clapping unless we’re on Spirit Airways. And, two: We are not standing immediately because guess what?” he said. “Even though your knees hurt, so do the rest of ours and we have to wait until we get to the actual gate.”
As expected Keenan was met with both praise and criticism over the list.
“Thank you so much. I’m taking my first flight next week so I really appreciate this,” one TikTok user wrote.
“Nope … definitely taking my shoes off! And I’m not turning back to check … I will recline gently though,” one traveler said.
“If it is a long flight shoes are allowed to come off (8+ hours),” another wrote.
“I think it’s fine to take shoes off as long as there isn’t any smell and you don’t put [your feet] on the seat in front of you,” a third said.
Others seemed to agree that shoes were allowed to come off but only with socks still on, and for flights of a significant length.
Some had even stricter rules than Keenan.
“Never recline!” one person wrote.
Others wanted the travel influencer’s take on commonly debated plane acts not mentioned.
“Does the person in the middle seat get both armrests?” one person asked.