Originally Posted by
cbn42
I don't see how it could be illegal, but the airlines might now allow it. Remember that the airline has the right to re-seat you at will. So if you pay someone for a seat and then the FA makes you move for whatever reason, you have no recourse.
It's similar to subletting an apartment from someone in violation of their lease. If management finds out and kicks you out, you can't do much.
However, I will say that I find anyone who accepts money for their seat to be pathetically cheap and asocial. I have switched seats with people several times, sometimes to an inferior seat if the person requesting it is elderly or handicapped, and I have never even considered asking for money. Why does everything have to be reduced to an economic transaction?
Elderly and/or disabled people aside, are you suggesting that one should always accept a seat change request, regardless of the class of service or seat location? You ask why everything has to be reduced to an economic transaction. I'd ask why people feel the need to ask people to change seats. If they cared enough to not try and make it someone else's problem they would have got the seats they wanted in the first place.