caseminole

To the guy in E+ 32C
Your row mates in 32A and 32B are good travelers. We understand travel can be rough for some people, esp those who are overweight, and just our luck, you "sat" next to us yesterday, and by sat, I mean you did spill over from 32C to 32B

Good hygiene is generally important to everyone. Wasn't sure why you didn't feel the need to scrub up before flying. Doesn't anyone tell you to bathe daily?

Also,. IAH-EZE is a ten hour flight. I'm really sorry after 4 hours we needed to use the restroom. Although you never spoke (and just grunted when I politely asked you to stand up so we could get out of our seats) the horrific face of inconvenience you made was incredulous given the circumstances

We both could have waited for the flight to end before needing to pee one final time, but at this point, I decided it would please me more to make you stand up for us one final time.

Oh the horror.

Rant over flyertalk, thanks for listening

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mfirst

case - but did bring back memories of a window seat upstairs on 747 TATL years ago (I think I was in college) - not sure if it was even a "business class" at the time (and clearly not lay flat) - but to say I was stuck in my seat for the entire flight would be an understatement...... you have my sympathy

nomad420

Stories like this are just one of several reasons why I take an aisle seat, particularly on long flights.

halls120

This. If I’m in the back of the bus, I’m sitting in an aisle seat.

bmwe92fan

OP - we all feel your pain! My worst flights in this regard:

3) CDG - EWR -- stuck in the back of the bus next to the sniffer while all row mates were unaware of the existence of deodorant (this was when smoking was allowed as well)
2) DME - CEK -- I can't possibly describe the odor of this flight -- livestock was allowed in the primary cabin (honestly -- I'm not kidding -- imagine being downwind of a Tyson chicken plant in Arkansas that is sitting next to a newly fertilized with manure farmers field). I didn't eat for a day...
1) PIT - DEN -- hit incredibly awful turbulence and we missed 2 landings -- the "vomit comet" eventually landed but with so many people getting sick the plane was literally a biohazard -- and smelled like one... This is the only flight in my life where I felt like it might not end well -- in 40+ years of travel.

BO is one of the most foul orders on the planet -- unfortunately there are worse... I can only imagine what the recent flight with a burst Gastro bag was like....

1k-all-the-way

Fra to somewhere a few years back. TOTALLY sold out flight next to super stinky guy. Flight crew kept giving me wet towels with some kind of perfume someone had to breath through.

returnoftheyeti

With me and the Mrs, I have taken to choosing the middle section of seats in the back of the bus. I am in the center, she on the aisle. That way I only ever have to ask her to get up.

narvik

Well, I've been guilty of being Mr. Stinky on a flight or two many, many years ago.
Working in rendering plants in Iowa for days on end, then catching a plane back home.
No, a shower doesn't get rid of the smell.

I've since learned to 'excuse' someone's odor, as circumstances are not always such, that one can board the plane in 'pristine condition'.
What's much more appalling to me in OP's story is the person's attitude.

jburns513

For TATL flights I always take an aisle seat in the center section.
Early in the flight I always tell the person in the center explicitly to not hesitate to awaken me any time they want out, for whatever reason.

Doppy

Many years ago I am pretty sure I was on a transcon seated next to a homeless person. At the time I couldn't figure how how someone in that state was on a plane, but now I'm aware that certain cities have policies of sending homeless people around between them, so I guess I can see how it would happen but it would be nice if they provided a shower and change of clothes.

JNelson113

My husband, young daughter and I once flew on a budget carrier from Bangkok to Langkawi. Two 20ish guys in the row right in front of us had an absolutely horrible odor. My very proper husband who never swears hissed to me "these guys smell like cat sh!t" and appeared to be gagging. We all reseated ourselves.

jpezaris

I've been guilty as well, despite my best intentions and starting the day off scrubbed clean. There are parts of the world where you just can't avoid sweat-inducing heat during the summer. I even washed as best as I could and changed shirts once onboard, but, alas, I fear my new shirt was only a bit fresher than the old one.

That experience taught me tolerance.

gmt4

SFO to ORD a few months back on a 753, boarding nearly completed. I'm seated in front of E Cabin, near the exits and Lav between First and Econ. People behind me think they will have an empty middle seat then right before the door closes some guy gets on wearing a puffer jacket (its quite warm outside) and smells like he just smoked the entire inventory of a dispensary. It was an unbelievable stench. 4+ hours followed of this guy getting up and out that middle seat over and over and leaving a skunk trail of stench to that Y/J Lav. Everyone was utterly disgusted in the area. Some children in the area breathing it too. Crew did nothing.

zombietooth

This reminded me that my last flight from HND had a major vomit incident. I was in the aft Polaris cabin and a young lady, seated just behind me, suddenly bolted up towards the galley during landing. The FA tried to help her open the lav door but didn't make it in time, and she explosively puked all over the galley. The FAs gamely tried to clean up, but it was everywhere. After they cleaned up what they could, they opened coffee bags and dumped them on the vomit, which literally covered the entire floor on the starboard side of the galley. I was seated in 9L, and they had to close the galley access to the exit from our side, so we had to walk forward through the front cabin and back down to the exit. The coffee did a pretty good job of covering the smell, but there were plenty of people retching as they passed the galley.

AndyPatterson

Up until about 5 (?) years ago, the FAs would hang a coffee bag from the coat hook inside the F lavatory, to help with the odors. Presumably and hopefully, the coffee bag was discarded upon arrival. But, I believe a directive came out of Willis that passenger food products could not be used for any purpose other than food. At least the FAs on that HND flight knew what to do!