Originally Posted by
ChaseTheMiles
I actually witnessed 2 cases in one trip recently. In both cases, the passenger who was asked was kind and gave up an aisle or window seat to sit in the middle in another row.
I'll trade for a similar seat, but never for something worse. I traded aisle for aisle in first class on an ORD-SFO on AA in November so a child could sit with a parent. I would not have traded aisle for a middle if I was back in coach for this 4.5 hour flight.
One trade request I do recall was years ago on the upper deck emergency exit row of a UA 747 to Australia. This row had double the legroom of any other row in that cabin. The passenger next to me asked me to swap with his wife a few rows ahead. I declined and noted I had booked this seat months out. I noticed he did not ask the person sitting next to his wife to swap with him - clearly he did not want to give up his premium seat.