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Seat Swapping, Seat Poaching and Seating Etiquette: The Definitive Thread

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Old Jul 14, 2015, 2:48 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: BadgerBoi
The Definitive Guide to Seat Poaching

1. Don't do it.
2. Alternatively to #1: Asking politely (and not demanding) to swap for an equal or better seat is acceptable by most (but the final decision always lays with the original seat holder)...but, be warned, some FT'ers may breathe fire at you.
3. Keep in mind that Point 2 is not seat poaching.
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Seat Swapping, Seat Poaching and Seating Etiquette: The Definitive Thread

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Old Jan 19, 2016, 7:36 am
  #706  
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Originally Posted by Howste
Whenever I have booked two aisle seats, I have never had someone sit in the middle. How would the FAs get the cart through if there was someone sitting there?
Sorry, meant on double aisle aircraft! On single aisles we book a window and aisle. If someone sits in the middle, oh well.
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 7:43 am
  #707  
 
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Originally Posted by Cher905
Good for Ms. 3B! Sounds like this wasn't her first rodeo.
Exactly. I admired the immediacy of the smack-down and her willingness to deploy it despite knowing she'd be sitting next to him for the duration of the flight.
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 12:18 pm
  #708  
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I sometimes stress that I picked the seat I wanted when I purchased the ticket, but Ms. 3B's response is much more direct. Bravo!
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 12:55 pm
  #709  
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Originally Posted by KevinDTW
The other day I was sitting in 1A and the following exchange took place in Row 3 so I didn't get to see it, but just listening to the dialog was enough for a smile.

Ms. 3B arrives to find Mr. 3A sitting in her aisle seat.
If I show up and the guy is ALREADY sitting in my seat, such a request would merit an AUTOMATIC rejection.

O/H
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 1:01 pm
  #710  
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Originally Posted by Occupationalhazard
If I show up and the guy is ALREADY sitting in my seat, such a request would merit an AUTOMATIC rejection.

O/H
That's been my rule too....just like when the request is made in the form of a rude demand that I trade seats.
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 1:28 pm
  #711  
 
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Originally Posted by Occupationalhazard
If I show up and the guy is ALREADY sitting in my seat, such a request would merit an AUTOMATIC rejection.

O/H
When I was a teenager I went to National Jamboree in Washington DC for Boy Scouts. On my flight home, I had a window seat, and when I board there is someone in my seat. Her traveling companion is in the aisle, and they look at me...in my full Boy Scout uniform....and ask if I really wanted the window or if I'd take the middle.

Being in full uniform, fortunately or unfortunately depending on your POV, tempered the teenage desire to say something snarky, and I dutifuly took the middle seat, only to have them speak directly across me in Spanish until the fasten seat belt sign turned off and I was mercifully able to move to another empty middle seat with a couple of other people who were on the trip with me.

This is one of those scenarios I still replay in my head about what I should have said!
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 1:30 pm
  #712  
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Originally Posted by kop84
When I was a teenager I went to National Jamboree in Washington DC for Boy Scouts. On my flight home, I had a window seat, and when I board there is someone in my seat. Her traveling companion is in the aisle, and they look at me...in my full Boy Scout uniform....and ask if I really wanted the window or if I'd take the middle.

Being in full uniform, fortunately or unfortunately depending on your POV, tempered the teenage desire to say something snarky, and I dutifuly took the middle seat, only to have them speak directly across me in Spanish until the fasten seat belt sign turned off and I was mercifully able to move to another empty middle seat with a couple of other people who were on the trip with me.

This is one of those scenarios I still replay in my head about what I should have said!
Be prepared... to boot usurpers out of your seat!
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 2:35 pm
  #713  
 
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Originally Posted by IceTrojan
Be prepared... to boot usurpers out of your seat!
Well played ^
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 3:02 pm
  #714  
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Be prepared....to stand up for yourself when necessary.
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 3:56 pm
  #715  
 
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On a recent cruise trip, Mrs. Paplover and I had aisle/window seats with the hope that the middle would be empty. Of course not, silly me. Anyway, there were no issues with trading our window with the person in the middle after asking if they wanted to switch. Much easier that way for all of us instead of keeping the original seats.
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 3:58 pm
  #716  
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Originally Posted by Paplover
On a recent cruise trip, Mrs. Paplover and I had aisle/window seats with the hope that the middle would be empty. Of course not, silly me. Anyway, there were no issues with trading our window with the person in the middle after asking if they wanted to switch. Much easier that way for all of us instead of keeping the original seats.
You were lucky that the middle person didn't demand the aisle seat as a condition for a trade.
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 4:27 pm
  #717  
 
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That was not going to happen. Either stay in middle or take the window was the unspoken part of the offer. My DW gets up several times during long flights so easy aisle access is essential. If no trade, I had window and she had aisle.
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 4:46 pm
  #718  
 
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Originally Posted by DrDiarrhea
Sorry, meant on double aisle aircraft! On single aisles we book a window and aisle. If someone sits in the middle, oh well.
I usually fly alone, but next week, I have a two hour flight with a coworker. She is flying XXX-ATL, and we are both on the same flight from ATL-ZZZ. There is something we need to work on, so I called and got her moved - with her permission - and DL was nice enough to allow her in C+. I was going to take the middle seat, to her aisle, when I remembered I'd been following this thread. Thanks, DrDiarrhea, for preventing my making a mistake. In this case, we can always ask the middle seat to switch with one of us should the seat not be empty.
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 5:41 pm
  #719  
 
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Originally Posted by kop84
When I was a teenager I went to National Jamboree in Washington DC for Boy Scouts. On my flight home, I had a window seat, and when I board there is someone in my seat. Her traveling companion is in the aisle, and they look at me...in my full Boy Scout uniform....and ask if I really wanted the window or if I'd take the middle.

Being in full uniform, fortunately or unfortunately depending on your POV, tempered the teenage desire to say something snarky, and I dutifuly took the middle seat, only to have them speak directly across me in Spanish until the fasten seat belt sign turned off and I was mercifully able to move to another empty middle seat with a couple of other people who were on the trip with me.

This is one of those scenarios I still replay in my head about what I should have said!
You earned your merrit badge in Being Suckered
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Old Jan 19, 2016, 6:35 pm
  #720  
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Originally Posted by IceTrojan
It would be fun to watch if you and your hubby continue to act like perfect strangers, but he "offers" to pay for you, without making the offer to the middle pax.
This past New Year's Eve, I proposed to Mrs. Lee at the stroke of midnight in a crowded bar/restaurant. She said no. Everyone (who didn't know us) was shocked.

About 5 minutes later we started conspicuously canoodling in a corner, and then we left together.

Was great fun to watch the reactions.

Back on topic, we always take the aisle/window as well, but if there is someone in the middle, I give them my aisle so Mrs. Lee can keep the window.
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