First Class Cabin Outraged By Passenger’s Foot Misconduct: ‘Gross Behavior Is Worse In Two Player Mode’

Two women flying American Airlines first class from Charlotte to Orlando did one of the worst things imaginable on a commercial flight. This mother and her adult daughter were propping up a bare foot in two player mode.

I understand doing whatever it takes to be comfortable when you’re stuck in coach, but not imposing on other passengers around you. But this was first class!

And anyone alive after 1982 should know the simple maxim: “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Dice”. Yet failing to keep shoes on, and failing to keep your bare feet inside your own seating area, is more common on planes which means in public than you’d think.

The person in front of me in an airplane
byu/ccrackacoldone inmildlyinfuriating

What do you do when this happens? Accidentally spill your coffee? Certainly not tickle. Yuck!

Bare feet on a plane is such an awful thing to do to the rest of the passengers in the cabin that a passenger with smelly feet once drove another so nuts that he got stabbed on arrival in the parking lot.

A United Airlines flight attendant reportedly once offered a passenger a $1000 voucher to take their feet off the tray table. I’m confident this was a bluff, that the airline wouldn’t have made good. But they were trying to creatively solve the problem.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Gary – another of your quirks. It is one thing if someone puts their foot on you or between the seats in your space but why in the hell do you care what people do otherwise? Does the sight of a foot offend you so much? Get a grip dude – it doesn’t hurt you in any way so let it go!!!!

  2. @AC: It’s uncivilized, disgusting, gauche and unhygienic. I’ve seen people on this board condone:

    1. Feet all over everything
    2. People cussing and swearing at the top of their lungs
    3. Drunken frivolity
    4. People parading down the aisle with their a@@ and boobs hanging out
    5. Watching porn on the plane

    If you cannot conduct yourself with some modicum of social standards you have no business being around other people…period. I am so tied of people think they can behave like trash in public and the rest of us just have to ignore.

  3. I’m ok with #4 lol – people can wear or not wear whatever is comfortable for them – unless they stink. Bare feet within their own space is perfectly fine as well – again, unless they stink.

  4. Filthy, rude, uncouth, and unsanitary….especially flying First, Business where people should know better (or any class of service, for that matter)!! Noticed a guy flying First walking around barefooted……ok, that’s bad…..what’s worse is that he trotted into the lavatory barefooted. Guess he didn’t realize the urine and feces remnants on the floor………then he proceeded back to his seat where he propped his feet up on the tray table after putting his foot on the seat. Yes, it’s offensive, and thanks for posting, Gary! (To all those who say to “get over it”, I’d like them to sit, eat, and touch a seat that has been previously contaminated/occupied by an uncivilized jerk, and then end up with staph, strep, or bacterial infection……..let us know when you “get over it???)

  5. I take my shoes off 100% of the time when in flight. Why? Because if I leave them on, my blood circulation causes a medical problem, and I may die. However, I keep my socks on 100% of the time, and I wear the slippers provided. Otherwise I put on shoes when walking for the brief visit to the bathroom. Bottom line: There is a difference between “shoes off” and “barefoot.” You can have your shoes off without being barefoot.

  6. I don’t mind if people take their shoes off if they are wearing socks, don’t smell and they are not visible to others. I am max grossed out when I see ppl go to the lavatory wearing just socks. That is too much. I am pretty grossed out by humanity.

  7. Everyone has a solution to the foot coming back into their area, barf. Clean out your things so you don’t barf on them and then tickle the back of your throat with a finger. Maybe give the flight attendants the chance to solve it first. The excuse is obvious, the foot grossed me out so much I barfed. I doubt the foot with the lump of flesh attached to it would continue with the behavior.

  8. Don’t want your feet in my space. Don’t want your hair in my space. Don’t want any body parts in my space.

    How hard is that?

  9. Well, the TSA allows a “BIC” type disposable lighter in carry-on. I’d flick my bic and toast some tootsies. Just a little health conscious sterilization!

  10. @Steve_YYZ: Lighting a passengers bare feet on fire is probably not the best conflict resolution solution as other passengers do not want their American Airlines flight to smell like a crematorium.

  11. The best part of this article was “But this was first class!” Domestic first class these days isn’t anything more than a slightly bigger seat, some extra legroom and a crappy meal. Now if we had a Time Machine and went back 20+ years, then yes I’d agree with “But this was first class!”

    I personally take my shoes off on every flight, but they stay in my space, on the floor and when I use the Lav, they 100% go back on. Side note: I want to scream when I see people with their shoes off before/during take off or haven’t put them on prior to landing. The two most critical stages of a flight are take off and landing, so it’s not a time you want to be barefoot and looking for your shoes in the event something goes wrong.

    Since “first class” is just a hair above greyhound bus service domestically, this doesn’t surprise me and frankly doesn’t phase me anymore. I just shake my head and go on with my days

  12. Unfortunately manners require explanation these days.

    I think they matter, but that’s just my view.

    I also agree, if you don’t drink, don’t bother anyone, don’t invade their space and don’t put on unseemly displays, then it’s not as offensive.

    Unfortunately most people that stink don’t know that they do. And, and the limits of what is offensive are subjective.

    We all should just try not to be slobs in public, anywhere, not just on a plane.

  13. My God what a bunch of self righteous prudes! We don’t live in the 50s or 60s any more. People act the way they want and things are very informal. If it bugs you so much don’t travel! You are obviously stuck in a time warp that isn’t coming back. My view is unless someone touches me or assaults me verbally I could frankly not care less what they do.

    So many “Karens”. Worry about your own self and not others

  14. Two thoughts come to mind, first, you are just flying around in a big petri dish and number two, just because someone gets in first class doesn’t mean that they have any class.

  15. @AC 1000000000% agree with “So many “Karens”. Worry about your own self and not others”

    Sadly, we live in a Mrs. Kravtiz (Leave it to Beaver show) society where everyone is worried about what someone else is doing and then has to find some fool to post about it acting like the world is coming to an end.

  16. @AC- go back to your farm and stay off planes. Your barnyard manners aren’t appreciated or wanted.

  17. @JimC – retired senior corporate executive w 8 million miles over 40 years and, trust me, I got in among society better than you ever will (how many billionaires have invited you to their home). I’m not saying I put bare feet up or otherwise do anything that would likely offend you just that it is really sad that so many get caught up in what others do that has ZERO impact on their lives! If someone wants to walk to the airplane bathroom barefooted I couldn’t care less. Sure it is gross but I’m not the one doing it so it doesn’t impact me.

    This self righteous fake outrage over others’ behavior is so pathetic!

  18. You could try talking in a perverted tone about your foot fetish and pretend to be getting overly excited. In seriousness though, it is a bit beyond rude. I generally take my shoes off on trips over 3 or 4 hours, but I carry a pair of washable house slippers in a ziplock bag. I get a little swelling in my feet from sitting too long, so it helps.

  19. This is mostly about folks who have paid what is to them, serious money for a couple of hours in first class; in some cases, hundreds of dollars per hour. They’re living a dream– and then this. Of course they’re not going to like it! I’ll bet most of the get-over-it types have never flown first class.

  20. I have a foot fetish, as long as it’s a nice foot. No, you have to remember travelling in an airplane is being in a public place. It’s not private. Just get me from point A to B fast and I’ll be happy.

  21. I observed a young woman with her shoes off and her feet prominently displayed on a flight. I thought it was a little gauche until we disembarked. As she slipped her feet into a loose fitting pair of shoes to leave the plane, I realized she had no arms. She had to use her feet as hands except when walking about. Compassion!

  22. Once again, sitting in an airplane for a couple of hours without misbehaving is simply not achievable for some people. They have to act out even in-flight.

  23. @JimC:
    > @JimC – retired senior corporate executive w 8 million miles over 40 years and, trust me, I got in among society better than you ever will

    I think you confused VFTW.com with “Here’s my resume.com”. Nobody cares, Karen.

  24. Thank you, Jim C, for your perfect barnyard mentality comments (@AC). Oink, oink in slop. He/she bragged about having a zillion miles over the course of 40 yrs……so what?? Yes, I love myself too. This “corporate executive” should “get over it” and take his/her own pathetic advice.

  25. @JimC – I obviously had no confusion in that you are a tired old boring “Karen”. God the things that irritate some people – SMFH!!!!

  26. And for the record, Mrs. Kravtiz was from Bewitched, not Leave it to Beaver. Let’s not drag Wally and the Beav into it. I’m sure Ward would have given them a good lecture had they acted like a troglodyte on an airplane and they never would have done it again.

  27. @AC- I can only imagine what “society” you fit in with so well. Probably the one that also claims the 45th President as a member. The “society” of filth. Who’s Karen ??? Your ex?

  28. @JimC – LOL how dense. So you really don’t know what a Karen is? Maybe you want to ask for my manager so they can explain.

    No need to get politics into it. Not heavily involved. BTW not saying I act inappropriately (I know EXACTLY how to act in any situation) but that it amazes me people get so worked up over things that have zero impact on them.

  29. Bare feet on a seatback or on a bulkhead have a MAJOR offensive impact on me and most others. Barnyard behavior needs to stay in the barnyard.

  30. @ Thing 1. You win! Your facts and good manners prevail . . . as those with class usually do.

  31. The pair in the first photo aren’t intruding on the space of the passenger who photographed them. That person could have ignored them, but perhaps like an automobile accident, their behavior attracted a voyeur.

    A friend reports having flown seated behind a woman with very long straight hair who tossed her hair over the back of her seat, thus blocking my friend’s view of the TV screen and dangling so as easily to fall into a drink cup on the tray table in front of her. She politely asked the offending passenger to remove her hair, which she did, only to toss it back over the seat when she seated herself after visiting the WC.

    My friend is a Southerner with a pronounced accent and a sense of what’s acceptable behavior, what’s not. This time she spoke loud enough for the offending passenger to hear quite easily, saying, “Honey, please remove yo’ hauh, or I’m gonna snip it off. Youah no longer on the fahm.” The woman removed her hair and put her seatback in the upright position.

  32. @AC if the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that, just because you claim to be a billionaire, it does not mean that you are educated, civilized, refined or even worthy of licking most folks’ boots.

    But, hey, if you think you’re better than others because of how much time you’ve spent on a plane and also think that it gives you the right to parade around a plane with your nasty hooves on full display, you do you.

    I may have grown up in a lower-income working class family but I was raised with enough social etiquette and parental discipline to know how to conduct myself in public.

  33. @SOBE ER DOC – first of all I do not put my bare feet up in a plane for do anything else inappropriate (not sure how many times I need to say this) but my concern is that people are so damn triggered by things that don’t directly impact them.

    As for your first comment, if someone is a billionaire they have won and can frankly do whatever they want. Those that accuse them of not acting the way you want them to frankly are in a different world. Enjoy your view of morals or actions while others run circles around you in the game of life.

  34. We’ve already seen what supposed “billionaires” do, a la Jeffrey Epstein, Trump, Bezos, Gates, and more. Total creeps who have lacked any moral fortidude. These are the kind of people who have no moral standards and do whatever satisfies them while brushing off others. But then there are those such as AC who say there really are no moral standards (other than those set by himself and creeps like those mentioned above). Well, AC, 95% of the American public do have moral standards (which include not putting your bare feet on a seatback or bulkhead) and are disgusted by your ilk. Just hope I never have to be on a flight with you. Please use private jets where only the poor flight attendants have to put up with your boorish behavior.

  35. This. There is absolutely no reason to take your shoes off in a plane. If your feet swell, you should be wearing compression stockings. You should even if they don’t swell but a higher compressions set of socks (knee-high) if they do. If your shoes are uncomfortable to wear for the duration of a flight, get better shoes. Literally takes one visit to an orthopaedic shoe shop to get properly sized for shoes. Buy the most comfortable recommended shoes and wear that when traveling. I absolutely love that people now dress more comfortably in planes as opposed to before but there are definitely lines that we shouldn’t cross as a society and bare feet on planes is one of them.

  36. @Barb – your name screams old Karen. I’m sure a lot offends you and you usually want to talk w a manager.

    My God to be triggered by all the micro aggressions – you people must live very sheltered lives if you let things that don’t directly impact you bother you so much.

  37. @AC how sad for you that you think succeeding in life is all about money. That must be very lonely.

  38. @SOBE ER DOC – not lonely at all – have an amazing life. Money isn’t everything but there has to be some way to keep score and that is the most important IMHO.

    Money may not make you happy but it sure can buy the things that will.

  39. @SOBE ER DOC: “If you cannot conduct yourself with some modicum of social standards you have no business being around other people…period.”

    Whose social standards? Yours or mine?????

  40. @1KBrad “social” standards by definition implies the standards of the group…not “yours” or “mine”

    @AC I guess we all get to determine how we “keep score” for ourselves. My score it not about how I compare to others, but rather the positive impact I have on the world around me. As for money buying you happiness, perhaps. But a lot of people I know with obscene amounts of money have told me all money does is buy the “perception” of happiness and “distractions” that temporarily make them “think” they are happy.

  41. @SOBE ER DOC: When someone says the standards of the group, they mean their group.

    Not everyone agrees with the standards of a group of which they are not a member.

    You’re in a public place. Learn to deal with it.

  42. No 1KBrad. It’s the social standards of the CULTURE in which we live, not yours not mine. For one who claims to have traveled extensively, I read that perhaps you are oblivious to other cultures thus the epitome of the “ugly American.”
    @ SOBE ER DOC. Well sir . . . perhaps the exuberance of youth is responsible for his ignorance? I’m really too old to care what 1KBrad and AC think should be condoned public behavior . . . theirs isn’t.

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