Originally Posted by
DJ_Iceman
This is not on-topic, but one of my best friends today is someone I randomly sat next to on an IAH-MCO flight almost 30 years ago.
One of my best friends met his now-husband who was seated next to him in first class. It happens!
Originally Posted by
fumje
I think on the whole taking-before-asking question, there's a potentially meaningful distinction being lost, namely whether you settle in, or you simply position. And this seems like it might be a part of the divide between your "real life me" vs "internet me", lincolnjkc.
Speaking for myself only, of course, I find it totally reasonable to position (alluded to doing so myself, above), which indicates that you are ready for a "no" on your request. However, I suspect most of the anti-preemption comments are assuming settling, which is of course much more presumptive.
Yes, for sure, the internet me flat out refuses lol. But in real life it's sometimes not practical to wait, if you want to grab the person to ask for a swap before
they settle in. I'll usually try to just stand in front of the seat if I'm boarding with FC, until it's clear that coach has started and the rightful occupant may be a while. Then I'll sit, but with my bag on my lap, indicating that I have NOT made any attempt to settle in. It's really the presumptiveness that someone would settle in before even getting agreement that is such a turn-off. So at the end of the day, when I'm on the receiving end of a swap request, I weigh the equivalency of the new seat along with the demeanor of the requestor. There really are times where I don't care. I once swapped 3 times before departure - a 1x daily flight was canceled the day before and so families were all separated. It was like playing Tetris but ultimately we got most kids back with their parents.