Travel News: Should Reclining Seats Be Banned from Planes?

In a week that saw Scotland vote to remain as part of Great Britain, we’ve put together our weekly round-up of everything else going on in the world of travel.

Read on for all the latest news (with a few holiday deals thrown in at the bottom).

Recline and Whine

Reclining seats are one of the most debated things about flying, so it’s no surprise that three out of four Brits would like to see them banned from planes. There are few things worse than the passenger sitting in front of you deciding they need that extra inch of comfort by tipping their seat back, with 27 per cent of those asked admitting to getting into a confrontation about it. Despite this though, 64 per cent of people who find it annoying actually owned up to reclining their own seat – tut tut!

A Weight Off Your Mind

Do you sometimes feel a bit nervous when your suitcase is being weighed at the check-in desk? Well worry no more. Excess baggage fees could soon be a thing of the past with the new TUL self-weighing suitcase. The innovative case will cost from £123 and works by weighing items as they are put into it, allowing you to keep track of how much your case weighs as you go along. We don’t know why this has never been invented before!

Heathrow Picnic Service

In-flight food can often be a bit hit or miss, but the new Heathrow Picnic Service could be about to change this forever. Passengers at the London airport will be able to buy a bespoke hamper from one of the food outlets across all of its five terminals including those owned by Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal. Some of the hampers – designed to fit under the seat or in the overhead locker – even have insulated bags for hot and cold food and are sure to become a more appetising in-flight food option.

The Central Perks of NYC

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of US sitcom Friends this week, a replica of the show’s famous coffee shop, Central Perk has been created in New York. Fans of the series will only have until the 18th October though to visit the pop-up shop based on Lafayette Street in Soho. Visitors will be able to sit on the shop’s iconic orange sofa and check out a whole host of other memorabilia on display, while there are even weekly performances of Phoebe’s favourite song, Smelly Cat.

The Most Accentuating Accent

Wherever you are in the world, there’s a good chance you’ll hear a wide selection of different dialects from all across the globe. But which accent is the sexiest? According to a recent poll by CNN, it’s the Trinidadian twang that makes us swoon more than any other thanks to its soft Caribbean tones. The French and the Spanish accents make up the top three on the list while the Queen’s English is just behind in fourth place.