Originally Posted by
mikew99
This thread has been interesting discussion about a question that the OP didn't ask. The OP asked, "Why the need to sit together?", but most people seem to be answering the question, "Why the desire to sit together?"
It's obvious why most people would want to sit together, but other than to give care to a seatmate with special needs, it's still not clear to me why they need to -- especially to the point of seat poaching, getting the FA involved, or having such a sense of entitlement that they raise a fuss when they don't get their way.
Not directed at you personally but based on the posts I'm seeing here, many people don't understand either the need nor the desire to sit together. And to them, the question should be asked - why do you sit next to your family, significant other, friends, etc. at all? Why do you sit by them at a restaurant? At a sporting event? In a movie theater? It has happened to me before where I was unable to sit next to my fiance on the plane. Last year my fiance and I were flying down to Florida for a long weekend. Since no two 757s on Delta has the same seating configuration, of course the 757 we were scheduled to get was "swapped" for another one with a different seating configuration and we found our seats moved around at check-in. My fiance and I were living in different states and didn't get to see each as often so yes, to us, those extra couples hours together on the plane during our weekend trip were a big deal.
Now yes, I fully agree that if you're going to swap with someone to sit next to a travel companion, the seat that you're giving up should be equal to or better than the seat you're going to be getting when you switch. Be polite and ASK, don't demand. That's a given. But if the seats are equal, why are people so hesitant and selfish to change? Is switching seats on an airplane really that big of a deal? In the case of where we asked someone to switch so my fiance and I could sit together, I had an aisle seat a few rows back, so the person we switched with was all too happy to give up his middle seat.
I've had it happen several times, especially on Delta MD-88s where the rows didn't align in the back up till recently, where someone would be in my seat instead of in the window seat one row in front or one row behind. As I was usually traveling alone I would just take their seat. Is it really worth making that person get up and move (and delaying the whole boarding process going on behind you) to make that person move to "their" seat? Apparently some on here would say "yes", as they make it seem like switching to seats on an airplane is the greatest inconvenience in their life.