akonradi

I had something similar happen earlier this year between LAS and ATL. I had an odd itinerary and was connecting at LAS after coming in from LAX. The first flight arrived pretty late so I was among the last to board the 757-300 LAS-ATL flight. I was confirmed in 5B, but someone was sitting there. I walked up to the lady there and said "5B?" I was told that they figured nobody was sitting there since I was fairly late, and she offered me her "preferred exit row seat for elites." The husband was convinced that 5B to 40B (middle seat) was a fair trade.

After his wife got moved, the guy asked me, "Could you really not survive three hours in coach?"

I've walked into F countless times to find someone else sitting in my seat and asking me to switch to another F seat, to which I normally agree (though I'm often quite annoyed by this). Interestingly enough, I haven't been asked to switch after sitting down in over a year, but I've fallen victim to someone taking my seat before I arrive at least four times in 2011. BA request to switch from first to coach, however, is beyond reason.

PTravel

I can't believe the chutzpah of some people. Unbelievable!

Captain Flush

You should have called him on this one by asking why he stayed in F and sent his wife back to Y instead of vice versa.

Babu

akonradi, I am curious how you responded to such an obnoxious and inflammatory question.

Chrisinhouston

My wife do a fair number of overseas flights and it the cabin doesn't look too full we will pick seats that leaves the one between us empty. 9 out of 10 times we luck out and have the extra space to share for the long flight.

On a trip from CPT back to IAH we did that and a guy at the last minute decided to sit there between us because his girlfriend was in the seat in center in front of us there were plenty of other single seats around but so be it. He soon realized how cramped the middle seat was and when he realized we were married he looked at my wife and said, "Wouldn't you like to sit here next to your husband?"

My wife gave him a rather cold stare and replied, "well not particularly!"

He looked startled, wondering if we were at odds or something and soon got up and found another seat!

QueenOfCoach

I'm staring at my computer monitor in disbelief. Wow. What nerve!

Allan38103

There's nothing ridiculous or unreasonable about ther simple act of asking. If there was, no one except DYKWIA's would ever get miles reimbursed for their rolls bering cold.

Respond to a polite request with a polite "no, thank you". If you get an upgrade to F, act like you've been there before.

Fredd

Reading this thread reminds me that you can learn a lot about human nature (or at least some humans' nature) while sitting in an aluminum tube.

pinniped

I'm flabbergasted that anybody out there has the stones to try to seat-swap into F (or, even worse, assume that the person rightfully in F will be happy about downgrading). But I read about it here all the time, so obviously these cretins are out there.

My position on seat-swapping is pretty consistent: if I think the would-be swapper is following some basic courtesy and etiquette, I'm likely to oblige.

The #1 rule is that they've thought through their approach and are offering up their better seat in exchange for your worse one. At a minimum, offer up an even trade. Of course, the would-be swapper can't know what *my* favorite seats are, but if he's following common sense and offering like-for-like, I'll probably oblige. (For example, I like 6D better than 6A on a UA 757 but I'd accept the swap to help a fellow traveler out. I would be unlikely to do so for 1D.)

The #1A rule is to not assume "ownership" of the seat before asking for the swap. I've seen people board early and "nest", thinking that'll deter the swappee from saying no. When I see this, it makes me 10 times as likely to say "You're in my seat and I really want to sit here."

I can't imagine ever asking for a seat swap into a higher cabin. That just boggles my mind. Actually, the existence of self-centered people in this world doesn't surprise me: what surprises me is that someone out there has at some point said yes to this request.

I could see maybe offering to downgrade myself if I somehow got an operational upgrade while I was traveling with a young child. (I've had it happen where they upgrade you and your coach seat is almost instantly assigned to someone else.) My wife isn't afraid of flying or anything...we'd just sit apart (with her in F, naturally ).

PTravel

Sorry, I don't agree. The request is ludicrous on its face and, further, specifically seeks to disadvantage the person to whom it is made. I believe it was Foghorn Leghorn who defined the appropriate response to such a request: "Get away, boy, you bother me."

Amicus

At least some people ask, rather than demand, that you change seats . . . or worse, the person just gets to your assigned seat first, and then SITS in it, asking you from the sitting position, "would you mind taking my seat instead?"
It's happened to me twice.

On SWA, seating issues just become a brouhaha.

pinniped

+1. The person rightfully in F shouldn't have to be put in such an awkward and uncomfortable situation.

TrojanHorse

this is the automatic no, i don't care if your seat is next to a braless hottie on an ice cold plane

automatic No can do

akonradi

I told him that if I pay to sit in first, I'll sit in first. He remained pissy for quite a while, but I just ignored it and read my kindle. I was actually traveling on an unrestricted F fare, whereas this fool's boarding pass indicated that he was upgraded for free.

Yeah, I know that I could have had a better comeback, but I forgot to pack my wit that morning.

PTravel

Happens to me all the time. I have "hindsight wit." We can both relate to this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Comeback_(Seinfeld)