Originally Posted by
orbitmic
That’s laudable in principle but of course the devil is in the detail, precisely because you say they tend to be equivalent in your eyes which suggests you are not like most people as most people do value some seats more than others.
I’d say for most people based what we read here and on what airlines charge for different seats when they sell them which is a good approximation of market value, I’d say typically:
- window for window aisle for aisle middle for middle as you’ve already said -and
- emergency or bulkhead is typically valued more than non emergency - and
- people typically prefer seats forward to seats backwards (so not all “neither first nor last” toes are created equal
Do you agree with all of the above?
im also genuinely curious (no passive aggressive intention here) how you came to find yourself over 20 times in situations when you needed to ask for a seat swap over the years? I think I may have found myself maybe wanting one in principle twice in many years of flying and over 200 flights a year some years, closer to 150 some others. I can imagine the situation you describe earlier (book 3 months in, no seats together) happening as a one off but 20 times sounds genuinely enormous to me. Do you book/change your flights at the last minute most of the time? Or do you have an idea of any factor that has led you to not be able to be able to pick or pay for seats together so many times as to want swaps? Again just curious as it may also give us a better sense of specific scenarios when people might not be able to sit together.
pretty much agree, with the exception that I find bulkhead less desirable as US planes often have less legroom, even in domestic F. So I don’t ask if I’m in the bulkhead as I regard it as inferior. (Might be different if in lie flat business class but hasn’t happened to me).
And there are other considerations such as lack of windows. I have favorite seats, but not wedded to 8D vs 10C as the reason for my preference is not something I feel deprived if I don’t get.
20 times in 50 years of flying, usually plane swaps, schedule changes , weather related cancellations, that require rebooking, etc. We book far ahead and that happens frequently here in the US. Maybe 5% maximum of our flights so doesn’t seem often to me.
Early in, it used to be due to upgrades occurring at different times, but that was 15 years ago or more.
Except for the window/aisle issue , which I suppose the feeling here is don’t ask for a swap even though most would welcome it. (We often don’t have to ask because it remains empty - we usually pick seats far in the back)