<br><div><aside class="gnt_em gnt_em__fp gnt_em_vp__tp gnt_em__el" aria-label="Video - What to know about consequences for unruly passengers on flights"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">How can so many of you be so wrong?</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">I’ve written about <a target="_blank" href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/2024/03/13/airplane-music-noises-cruising-altitude/72523346007/" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a" rel="noopener">airplane etiquette</a> before, and I always thought the rules were pretty obvious, but it turns out, not so. Etiquette depends on a shared understanding of right and wrong, and apparently, we can’t even all agree on airplane armrests.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">I’ve always thought it was an unwritten but absolute rule that the person in the middle seat gets access to both armrests as a courtesy. However, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kayak.com/c/rules/" data-t-l=":b|e|k|${u}" class="gnt_ar_b_a" rel="noopener">2023 survey</a> by online booking platform Kayak polled more than 1,000 adults and found that more than half of you (57%) disagree with the idea that if you’re in the middle seat, you get to claim both armrests – which is honestly crazy because, in matters of decency, I am always right.</p><aside aria-label="advertisement" class="gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al"/><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">“Obviously we travel a bunch ourselves at Kayak and one of the things that we had noticed increasingly is the airport has always been one of the places where rules are super strictly enforced, but then rules are also out the window,” Matthew Clarke, vice president of North American marketing for Kayak told me. “You can have a margarita at 6:30 in the morning,” but you can’t bring more than 3.4 ounces of liquid through security.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">So what’s the deal? Who gets the armrests and what are the other unwritten and unenforceable rules of air travel?</p><figure class="gnt_em gnt_em_img"><img class="gnt_em_img_i" style="height:385px" fetchpriority="high" data-g-r="lazy" src="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/04/16/USAT/73341500007-20240416-153154476-i-os.jpg?width=660&height=385&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp" srcset="https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/04/16/USAT/73341500007-20240416-153154476-i-os.jpg?width=1320&height=770&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp 2x" decoding="async" alt="If you think the middle seat person doesn't get both middle armrests, I think you're wrong."/></figure><h2 class="gnt_ar_b_mt">Who gets the armrests?</h2><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">There’s no definite answer.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Disclaimer: I don’t care about the survey results. I will stick by the adage that the window seat person gets to control the shade, the middle seat person gets...</p></div> <style> .wrapper { text-align: center; } </style> <div class="wrapper"> <a class="button" href ="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/2024/04/17/who-gets-center-armrests-plane/73131836007/">Read more <span>➤</span></a> </div>
