Trip Reports - Four People in hree Seats

Make that title four people in three seats.

I check in for my weekly trip home, DEN to ORD. The Admirals Club quickly checks me in. I am told FC is full and Coach is wide open, I have the entire row! Fine by me. I was not planning on upgrading anyway. I board, grab a pillow and blanket and visualize my upcoming nap.

Imagine my suprise after I am in my seat that a mother with two children claims the two seats next to me. I left my seat while they settled in (a very long adventure). (I am not sure if people who travel with more kids than adults should be given medals or shot on sight.) I figure I can score another seat. WRONG!

The plane is pretty full. A few empty center seats. Some aisle seats way in the back. I bite my lip. I figure I am Platinum the seat next to me should be empty. Or if not empty, then not filled with two people.

During the flight (about 2 hours), no less than three diapers were changed. Right there on the seat. (Watch out for 11F.) And you thought nothing could ruin the meal service!!!!

Now on top of this, the three seats in front of us were occupied by two uniformed pilots that boarded at the very end.

I still think everyone should have a seat. The one kid stood on the floor in front of 11F. That is an injury waiting to happen. I don't fault the mother (too much), but AA should not have assigned her those seats. I don't know how the system is programed, but there should be a line of code that states that Comicwoman wants either an empty seat next to her or only one person in the seat.

Back at ORD on the way back to DEN. I'll chat with my pal at the AC and make sure she blocks off the seat next to me in the future.

Oh, and by the way, I did not get my nap. But I did have a lovely weekend at home.

[This message has been edited by Comicwoman (edited 02-06-2000).]

I've been on not-so-full flights where the FA has announced that passengers are free to spread out and take an open seat if they like. I've taken advantage of this myself at times, but it does seem to defeat the purpose of giving elites seats next to empty ones. Now with premier zones on planes I wonder if there will be any attempt to prevent passengers from moving up to the empty seats.

When travelling with my child, I always take him into the lavatory to change a diaper. This is almost an impossible feat as I am 5' 11" and a solid 200 pounds on a big frame. The Airbus planes have a fold-down changing table and the DC-10 has a roomier space. The comical and/or amazing trick is for to do this in a smaller lav such as the narrow body Boeings. I close the door, push my back against the door and slide down into a squatting position. I lay the changing pad over my knees and the folded-down toilet seat and place a squirmy two-year old who is curious about the surroundings down for the dirty deed. Oh, lots of fun!

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The trick to changing diapers in an airplane lav: Don't close the door...(no charge for this hard-learned lesson)!

I would never think of changing a diaper in the cabin. When my son was still in diapers I changed him in a back lav of an MD-80. He was a hefty nine-month-old, and I am 6-foot-plus and 200 pounds, and between us back there we made the Mercury astronauts look spoiled for space. But you just can't change a diaper in the cabin. You just can't, can't, can't.

While I've never had to change a diaper onboard, I have changed my kids while they were standing up. A viable solution, providing they hold on to something in case of turbulence.


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"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

Solution for elites...

I have often borded the plane and found myself without an empty seat next to me, but upon takeoff, many people were were lucky to have empty seats and I doubted that they all of them were elites.(I am GM on DL).

I have inquired if it is possible to put a block on the seat next to me, but have always been told that it is not possible.
Although, if you are ask nicely, the gate agent will try to not assign your empty side seat unless they have to.

How about inventing a soft-hold? This would mean that elites would get the empty side seat unless the cabin is so full that the had to remove the "soft-hold" and assign the seat. This would insure that if there were any empty seats on the plane, the elites would have them next to them.

An empty seat next to me makes a long flight soooo much nicer!

I don't know about all airlines, but I do that AA can and does block seats for elite members. Whenever I get a seat assignment in coach, prior to my upgrade threshold, I ask the agent to block the seat next to me. On the AA website, if I choose a seat in coach the system automatically blocks the one next to me. Even in C or F, if the cabin isn't full the agents will generally put a block on the adjacent seat if I ask them to. I don't make a habit of it, but sometimes it's nice to spread out!

Aubie, United does that automatically.