Originally Posted by
Emma1420
The primary issue I see when a passenger raises the issue that their seat is being encroached on is to reseat the passenger who has raised the issue, and often they are reseating the passenger to a worse seat. While it's nice that the FA in this case offered to reseat the OP, I don't think it's appopriate to move them from an E+ seat which they have paid for either through status or in cash. I've only seen one situation which I though was handled well. There was a very large passenger who really needed two seats, and they upgraded the person sitting next to him. It was done carefully, and the passenger who was encroaching on the others person seat didn't seem to be aware that the other passenger was being reseated due to his size.
I feel for the FAs it's a very difficult situation, i think the airlines need to come up with another procedure for resolving these sorts of issues before its left in the FAs laps.
Yep agree completely. There has to be a better way, I just don't know what it is.. No idea how she got this E+ seat...if she bought it, had status, etc. On this flight, it was completely full. My mom and I had only changed over to it a day earlier and first unfortunately was already sold out.. I had used Global Premier upgrades for us and my 1K status plus the H fares we were traveling on earned us #4 and 5 on the waitlist with zero open F seats. And there were zero no -shows.
Originally Posted by
sincx
No excuse for the passenger to board knowing that she will significantly intrude on others' space. WN has the right policy on this. Proactive enforcement at the gate. Buy a second seat, or if the plane is full, do not board. The occasional media "outrage" is a price well worth paying, especially since it has a silver lining of showing everyone of normal size that WN will help them protect the personal space they paid for.
You know what I just read the Southwest policy on "Customers of Size"..and I'm astounded to find out that their policy great and there is no excuse for anyone IMO to not purchase 2 seats (or 3 even) on WN who may need it. A CoS can purchase 2 tickets at whatever the cheapest price available is..instructions are online in the CoS policy, at the gate they are given a card to put on the seat next to them stating it's occupied (and I guess some kind of note in the record that states they are indeed a CoS so they can't scam the system for a free extra seat). After the flight they can receive a full refund on the second ticket EVEN IF THE FLIGHT IS FULL OR OVERSOLD. So that means extra seats are always free on WN if they are needed for CoS. It says they've had this policy for 30 years.
I've also heard these scattered media reports about when a WN GA goes about it the wrong way..and I know that some people truly don't know that the last bowl of ice cream just pushed them over the edge. The woman on my flight absolutely had to have known... but perhaps not about the WN refund policy. WN even flies SEA-HOU!
Southwest's policy much clearer than United's in terms of "any encroachment" into another seat (plus the arm rests need to go down).. and the WN policy of offering these refunds encourages people who need the space to buy 2 in advance to at least inform them in advance and it's considerate to everyone. UA's policy is punitive... double the change fee, no refunds and discourages these people from buying two seats.
Originally Posted by
Vegasrider
SEA-IAH, considering it's one of the longer domestic flights, If it were me, I would have moved. Giving up a couple of inches in seat pitch for more elbow room is a no brainer in my opinion.
In this specific case, since I was able to lean towards my mom who fortunately is smaller than average it worked out fine. If I was with a stranger and had to sit up straight I would have moved. Row 7 also has the best leg room on that plane IMO..we bought a sandwich, had a couple cocktails, watched DirecTV and made the best of it... the FA that had initially gone and checked the woman out was the one serving the drinks.. I thought perhaps he might comp one cocktail for us which is quite common when something goes wrong (or right).. but I've learned well not to expect anything, and I certainly didn't ask.. I had my credit card out and ready, we were cheerful/friendly with him..but he didn't offer..I smiled and paid full price and that's fine.