Sitting next to a smelly seatmate on a flight is a delicate issue, but if your seatmate fails the basic hygiene test, you should feel free to speak up and either move or have the offending passenger (re)moved.
How To Delicately Deal With A Smelly Seatmate On Your Flight
A story on FlyerTalk caught my eye that occurred on a United flight from Houston (IAH) to Buenos Aires (EZE):
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, especially 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 four 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.
I do feel sorry for the folks in 32A and 32B on this flight. No one should have deal with the smell of body odor, pot, strong perfume or cologne, any other unpleasant smell in a confined space like an airline cabin.
But life happens. What about the morbidly obese passenger who may have bathed in the morning but works up a sweat walking from the gate to his seat onboard? What about the guy who is battling a marijuana addiction and just got high ahead of a long flight? Or how about someone suffering from Trimethylaminuria?
In the story above, there’s an added layer of complexity in that the smelly guy was a total jerk (grunting in disgust as he was asked to let his trapped seatmates out). But even if your seatmate is a saint, you do not have to tolerate a smelly saint.
Most carriers have rules about smelly passengers. For example, the United Contract of Carriage reserves the right to remove you if you are deemed “unsanitary” or “offensive” without defining those terms.
What To Do When Your Seatmate Smells Intolerably
I’m not sure it helps at all to let your seatmate know that he stinks. It’s not like this is Emirates First Class and he can just shower onboard. I would not say anything at all to the offending passenger.
Instead, I would discreetly let a flight attendant know about the problem. You must realize that since airlines are given broad discretion in handling offensive odors and odors themselves can be somewhat subjective, you may not always get the resolution you are hoping for.
But ideally, a flight attendant would walk by to verify the odor and then take appropriate action, including re-seating or removing the smelly passenger. Embarrassing? Oh yes. But you do not have to tolerate a situation like the folks in 32A and 32B did above.
It may be that you are asked to move to an inferior seat instead of the offending passenger…you can weigh that option accordingly versus pushing back or taking a different flight. In any case, I would approach the flight attendant in a sensitive and empathetic way, not in anger and not demeaning vindication.
But whatever the reason for the stench, you and the people around you on a plane should not have to endure it.
CONCLUSION
A smelly seatmate is a sensitive matter but you don’t have to just grin and bear it. Carriers are given wide discretion via their Contract of Carriage (which every passenger, including smelly ones, agrees to when booking a ticket) to remove such passengers. Ultimately, a smelly passenger is just another disruptive passenger and that is not fair to the people seated around him. Do not be afraid to speak up, but do so gently and to the flight attendant.
Oh boy!!! Here just for the comments. I bet they will stink.
Happened to me twice, so e years ago.
Once on Turkish Airlines Business class from Almaty to Istanbul, a B737 so not a lot of space. The guy next to me was giving off a really strong unpleasant snell. Unwashed clothes, body, don’t know what else. The cabin crew came to give my my welcome drink, paused, gave me a knowing look and said there were a couple of empty seats two rows back if I would like more space. I accepted and moved.
Another time on Emirates business Moscow to Dubai, I think an A330,. I was in the window seat and there were 3 guys from Central Asia, perhaps Uzbekistan, one next to me and the other two in the two central seats. The three were talking and laughing a lot. After take off the one next to me went to the washroom and when he came back he stank, as if he had crapped his pants. The cabin crew came through with drinks and she noticed and told me there was space a few rows back if I would like to move so we all had space. The three of them were laughing as I moved back but I could not care less.
Both times well handled by the crew but I was lucky there were seats available.
I particularly get annoyed with people whose clothes stink of cigarette smoke. I have alerted flight attendants to this twice and both time have been reseated because free seats made it possible. I would have sooner deplaned than have had to sit by them. One was a JAL flight in business from AMS-NRT and the other a SYD AKL flight in Y……
I had an unaccompanied minor tween in the middle seat. The boy, maybe 12 had eye watering body odor ( hormones, stress and curry sweat). Didn’t say a word because you don’t want to upset a child but I did hand him a Ziploc with a sliver of soap & disposable wash cloth when I got up to use the lav. He was pleased after he washed, but once that type of smell is on your clothes it’s difficult to remove.
Do you carry that with you just in case?
Yes. I like my French milled unscented soap ends and bamboo cloth generally to wash up when needed. And also it’s a hangover habit from the kids. In my purse now.
Here’s a travel tip I received from someone who worked at the coroner’s office and who had to pick up dead bodies—some of them not so fresh: Bring on board a small size Tiger Balm or Vicks Vaporub. If you are seated next to a smelly person and can’t relocate, place a tiny dab inside each nostril. It will mask the smell and also prevent nausea. The coroner’s staff and many police carry it around just in case.
That is amazing. I had a coroner offer me use of his Vick’s Vapor Rub at a particularly smelly scene today. I didn’t know that was ‘a thing’ until he offered it, and he said he keeps it in his van for situations like this. It worked for a most horrendous situation today, so I imagine it could work for any situation encountered on a plane.
You beat me to it. I’m a 30 year plus traveler in Africa. Was taught that early on.
P.S. In case you yourself develop BO on one of those long days with many connections, carry Wet Ones disposable wipes, or other similar brand that contains benzylkonium chloride. It’s a painless anti-bacterial and you can wipe your pits and arrest the oder. The effect is lasting. The wipes also double as the best fabric spot removers we have ever used for travel stains and spills. They are also great for disinfecting scrapes and cuts on the go and do not sting.
InLA, while I am a big fan of the ” bird bath ” for those with leftover mini Purell, you also can use it to wipe the pits. I think it is more effective than deodorant. First wipe to remove sweat, second wipe kills bacteria that causes odor
Many years ago my wife and I took a New York to Hong Kong flight on Cathay Pacific and we were sitting in coach in a row with 5 seats. As we took our seats, a couple from an Asian country that eats lots of curry came carrying a baby and sat next to my wife. As soon as they sat next to us we immediately realized they probably never took a shower in their lives. They really stunk very bad. To make things worse, they started playing with the baby and raising him in the air which made them raise their arms. It was absolutely awful and my wife started to nauseate. I noticed she was going to throw up so I asked her to go to the bathroom. I went to talk to the FA and explained her the situation and shared that there was no way we could stand that long of a flight next to that family. She fully understood and found us new seats. If the plane was full we would have probably got out of the plane and took another flight.
Note how these things always involve foreigners on trips to and from 3rd world sh#tholes where they eat things normal humans never would.
Aaron’s c#ck might smell better after f##king an 18 year old hairless boy than these curry eating Gandhi’s.
LOL
Damn, I really do live rent free inside your head, don’t I? And that’s in addition to your obsession with both gay sex and people from non-White parts of the world…anyone seeing a pattern here?
Fat AND smelly? God these people should just stay home. Gross.
I recently travelled on a transcontinental flight in business class seated next to a man who had intolerable body odor (it was the kind where he clearly either forgot or didn’t want to use deodorant). Am not sure it is the flight attendant’s job to address the issue. I ended up just taking out my lavender scented hand sanitizer and accompanying moisturizer and used it liberally throughout the flight. My seat mate got the message.
I occasionally suffer from vaginitis and the oder can be quite unpleasant.