Travel
Kindly.
The rules for how we treat one another in transit: the armrest, the overhead bin, the hotel corridor, the rental counter. Guided by a former airline purser of twenty-four years, and quoted by USA Today and Travel Weekly. Jetiquette has become a global conversation, one on which travelers, and now the airlines themselves, are taking firmer stands.
6 stages. 47 rules. Where travelers and airlines have landed on each.
Pack a carry-on you can lift into the overhead bin by yourself. If you cannot, check it. The person behind you in the aisle is not there to lift it for you.
Bring one bag for the overhead bin and one small bag for under the seat in front of you. Decide which is which at home, not in the aisle.
DOT, Sept. 2025. The Department of Transportation's family-seating dashboard lists four airlines that guarantee a child under 14 sits beside an adu…Empty your pockets while you are in line, not when you reach the belt. The security bin is not the place to start looking for your keys.
Stand on the right side of the moving walkway. The left side is for people walking to make a connection.
Ryanair, Jan. 13, 2025. Europe's largest airline called on EU authorities to cap passengers at two drinks at airport bars, sold against the boarding pass…Board with your group, and stay out of the boarding lane until your group is called. Crowding the podium early has a nickname now, and it is not a flattering one.
Use the overhead bin above your own seat. Put your bag in wheels first, handle out, and on its side if the airline asks. A bin packed with care holds a third more bags than a bin packed in a hurry.
American Airlines, Oct. 2024. American began testing a gate system that sounds an audible alert when a passenger scans in before their group is called, then exp…The middle seat gets both armrests. The aisle passenger can lean into the aisle and the window passenger can lean into the wall. The middle passenger has nowhere to go, so the two armrests are theirs.
The armrest marks the edge of your space. Nothing of yours crosses it: not an elbow, not a knee, not a bag strap. Sitting with your knees spread into the next seat is the same offense as an elbow, and it happens more often.
United Airlines, Feb. 27, 2026. United rewrote its contract of carriage to require headphones for any audio or video on a personal device, and placed the clause i…Stay seated until the seatbelt sign goes off. Then stand up when the row two ahead of you starts to leave. That is your cue, and it keeps the aisle moving instead of packed.
The plane empties from the front, one row at a time. Two thirds of Americans say so, and the other third is the reason the rule needs saying.
Turkey, May 2025. The Turkish civil aviation authority ordered airlines to report passengers who unbuckle, stand, or open overhead bins before the a…Hallway voices carry after ten at night. So do doors that slam on their own, so catch yours.
Housekeeping is a person. If you tip, leave it each morning on the pillow, because the person who cleaned your room on Tuesday may not be the one there on Friday.
A hotel corridor at midnight carries sound the way an airplane cabin does.- USA Today
- Travel Weekly
- Modern Luxury
- Suncoast View
The person in the middle, and both of them. The aisle passenger can lean into the aisle and the window passenger can lean into the wall. The middle passenger has nowhere to go, so the two armrests are theirs. I never had a passenger argue the point once it was explained, and most of them looked relieved that somebody had a rule. The armrest is also a boundary. Whatever seat you are in, nothing of yours crosses it, and that includes your knees. If you are in the aisle or window seat and would like a turn on the armrest, ask. The middle-seat passenger will usually share, because they were asked. That is the whole difference.
A former airline purser, then the book, the award, and the column. The person guiding the conversation.
Read his story →Fast comment on passenger behavior and airline policy, with a bio and photographs ready to download.
Request a quote →The Jetiquette® name, the Travel Kindly mark, and the programs that carry them into cabins, terminals, and campaigns.
How it works →