scracer14

I was recently on a TA flight from FRA to IAD and I had the isle bulkhead seat. Probably about 40 minutes into the flight and after the first round of drink services a guy came up and asked if I minded if he "took that seat" and pointed to the middle seat. I wasn't in the mood for confrontation so I moved my things off the seat, and he sat down.

The FA had already done drink service once so they likely knew he didn't pay for the seat. Although I suppose he could have been in the bathroom. I am sure they see it a lot and probably don't like dealing with it.

To me its not so much of a big deal. Its nice to have the open middle on a 9 hour flight, but nothing worth a confrontation to me I guess. It seems sometimes half these seats are open on takeoff, and if everyone got in the habit of "squatting" them, it could become a mad dash when the seat belt sign turns off. Or even as simple as keeping an eye on the mobile app and taking one before takeoff.

Miles Ahead

If you didn't want him in that seat, you should have told him you minded.

Often1

The poacher's question ought to have been directed to the FA, not to you (unless you bought the empty seat next to you). If it bothered you that he poached, you should have reported it to the FA on the spot. If it didn't, it doesn't matter.

MSPeconomist

What's wrong with the answer, "thank you but yes I DO mind very much"?

scracer14

I guess this is probably the best answer, or letting the flight attendant know. It may not be a big deal, especially because I got my seat for free. But it becomes a big deal the more people start doing it. If flyers make common practice to poach, then UA sees less demand for E+ sales, and responds to compensate.

PV_Premier

the FA's dont pay much attention to who is sitting where, i doubt that they even realized the seat went from open to occupied.

this is a tough one, for me i'd probably make discreet mention of it to the FA by making a trip to the galley. if they chose not to do anything about it, i'd let it go and report it later via email. part of my benefits that i pay a lot of money for is comp E+, and a fringe benefit of that is often having an open middle seat next to me. my inclination is that i would defend that benefit, particularly on a flight this long if i found myself in coach.

jag932

My question would have been: "Is that your assigned seat?" If no, then I would have said,
"You need to work that out with the flight attendant."

emcampbe

It depends on the crew, and the flight, and probably how full E+ is. Not that this would help with the specific OPs situation, but also, I've seen GAs do a specific run through to ensure the seats occupied in E+ match with the manifest, and have watched folks been sent back to E- a few times. I'd also suspect they are more strict about this long-haul where the buy ups can bring in a lot of revenue, $100-$150 per pop.

I would think this is pretty much the correct answer. I would probably just simply say something like "if you want to move, you should probably check with the FA first." Most FAs probably understand the difference between E+ and E-, and they can be the ones to tell the pax to go back to their assigned seat.

5khours

Precisely!

PV_Premier

yes, my experience with GAs has been that they are E+ dragons. flight crews, at the point after which the door is closed, not so much but ymmv. i agree when E+ is quite empty it's more likely that poachers will be called out.

Kacee

Do we care if someone poaches an E+ in an otherwise empty row, or only if it's the E+ directly next to us?

Silver Fox

Don't they give out an announcement saying you have to stay in your assigned cabin? I fly them often enough so should know the answer to this but I guess I am not paying much attention.

bmwe92fan

I have noticed that they announce more regularly on long haul flights - but not very often on short haul...

bmwe92fan

I was thinking the same thing and while both bother me - taking the seat next to me bothers me much more and would likely end up with me doing something about it - but likely not in the other the row....

I know what's coming - it's all about ME....

Kacee

Well I think if most people are honest, they would admit they would only say something in the "next to me" situation.

I'm letting it slide if it doesn't affect ME

And btw, I'm also not complaining if she's cute. In fact, I'm probably buying drinks . . . .