Originally Posted by
Rebelyell
PTravel,
I don't know if you have ever booked a trip without having elite status, but if so, you are often able to see row after row of empty seats in the elite section while the non-status section is completely full. In fact, sometimes you won't even be given a seat number, but will be told that it will be assigned at the airport.
I've booked travel on airlines for which I don't have status. I don't fly airlines that won't give me a seat assignment. If I can't get my preferred seat (a window) on the specific flight I'm booking, I'll book a different flight or, if necessary, a different airline.
The airlines do nothing to warn these families that they need to get their seat assignments up front. They are simply not given seat numbers and told that seats will be assigned at the airport. OR, they are given seats all over the place and told by the airline agent that the gate agent will take care of seating the family together.
Poor planning on the part of the family. When I do an activity with which I'm unfamiliar, I research it enough to know whether it will meet my needs. Anyone who thinks this through would realize that, if they don't start with seats assigned together, it's very likely that some stranger would have to be imposed upon to accomplish it.
I guess I would make two points. First, in many instances these families are playing as much by the rules as the person who has had the firm seat assignment for 331 days. They have done exactly what the airline told them to do.
Yes, so? Though irregular ops and equipment changes aren't exactly rare, they're also not the norm (hence the name, "irregular"). I get the seat that I booked 99.9% of the time, and anyone who books sufficiently ahead of time will as well. Just because the airline may tell a family, "we'll assign seats at the airport" doesn't mean that the family is "playing by the rules." They may be playing by the
airline's rules, but they're not playing by the rules of courtesy or common sense.
Second, most of these families don't travel much, don't read FT and are unaware of how much it irritates people to ask them to move. So they book whatever seats they can assuming they will be able to switch and sit together.
And if they think it through, they will realize that the only way they will be able to switch is by asking strangers to move. This is entitlement-demanding: "Of course people will switch. I'm traveling with children. Having them sit next to me is more important than anything else to anyone else." I repeat: if you have a special need, it is
your obligation to ensure that it's met, and not the responsibility of anyone else. If you're traveling with children it is particularly important. Name one other activity where a family could get away this. Does this family tell people in restaurants, "You sit at that nasty table near the bathroom, because we need the larger one for our family." Do they move people around at movie theaters? How about plays and concerts that have reserved seats,
just like an airplane? Sorry, anyone who assumes that the airline will seat them together despite their not have seat reservations that so provide is either an entitlement demander, negligent or stupid, none of which merit accommodation.
With all that said, if a family holding four middle-seat tickets comes on board looking for people to switch seats, they aren't going to get very far with me in my aisle seat. But if I can make an equal swap and make their trip better, I'm more than happy to help.
I'll make an equal swap under most circumstances. I might for a family if I'm not already settled in. If the kid[s] is/are a nuisance, I wouldn't on principle.
However, the simple fact is, for me, there are very few equal swaps. On UA aircraft, there are a very limited number of E+ seats that (1) are window seats that have windows (and are not just in the window position with no window to look out of), (2) recline, (3) aren't the last row of E+, and (4) aren't a bulkhead seat. The odds of some infrequent-flying family have an equal seat for me to switch to are about nil.