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9th November 2017
11:40am GMT

The ownership of an armrest was also up for debate, with 67 percent of all travellers surveyed saying that the proper etiquette is to take one armrest and leave the other for your neighbour. 47% of British travellers, meanwhile, are likely to try and claim both armrests if sat in the middle seat compared to 42% of American fliers.
As for the thorny issue of ‘the climb over’, most people (80%) were in agreement that it’s OK to wake your neighbour in order to go to the toilet, although 40% said it’s only OK to do so once per flight.
33% of those surveyed would have no problem stepping over a heavy sleeper to get to the jacks, although it was hard to reach a consensus over which way to climb across, with 54% of Americans, for example, saying that a face-to-face exit was the way to go.
Regarding small talk on a flight, more than eight in ten (83%) agreed that a quick hello and a smile to one’s neighbour is appropriate behaviour, with 42% of US travellers saying that it’s unacceptable to share personal stories and advocating putting headphones on as a polite way of avoiding small talk.
You can see the results of the survey in full here.