Never Store Things in Your Seat Back Pocket on Airplanes
The coronavirus has made air travel something that many people are rethinking now. When boarding a plane, more and more people are also considering wiping their personal space a little to try and catch any germs that might have been left behind by the last passenger. One place you might not consider: a pocket on the back of the seat.
The seatback pocket is one of the most popular places for economy class passengers to fit everything from a water bottle to cell phones, books and laptops. Plus, it can be one of the dirtiest places on the plane.
An insider recently discovered a thread on Reddit asking flight attendants which of the most disturbing air travel secrets passengers should know.
One thing I already knew: short-haul flights are usually just flipped rather than deep-cleaned. While it might be a little different right now due to the coronavirus, on average your short-haul flight just flies by, picking up obvious debris and folding up the seat belts. They don’t wipe every table or armrest. The last person who sat in your place could catch a cold or even change the child on this tray.
We should all bring antibacterial wipes to cleanse the space in general, and not just when the virus is spreading around the world.
She also noted that never, ever put anything in a seat pocket.
While the plane ends up being deeply cleaned, the only thing that happens to that pocket on the back of the seat is the trash being taken out. This means that if the person in front of you shoves their dirty wipes in there, these germs will potentially get on your iPad when you put it in your pocket before take off.
As a flight attendant, she also saw people putting their feet in those pockets. So if the fabric doesn’t reach you, it is possible that someone’s dirty toes will suffer.
While cleaning up an airplane seat is absolutely good advice at the moment, it is also something you should keep in mind when traveling on a line, even if there is no virus threat to fight.