Originally Posted by
hockeyguy
This is a good point. I hadn't thought of it this way before and I'm not sure I completely agree, but it's a useful perspective in any case.
I definitely agree that people should, in general, consider the consequences of their actions and decisions (including the decision not to plan) on others.
However, I'm not so certain that your average, infrequent traveler should be expected to understand how airline seating works and to know what's actually possible and/or customary.
The infrequent flier doesn't have to know what's customary. However, if sitting together is important, then they should find out if it's possible.
I don't think most infrequent travelers understand how much of a difference there is between many seats on the plane, and thus they don't appreciate how much of an imposition it may be for people to change seats.
They don't need to understand the difference or appreciate the extent of the imposition. However naive they may be about flying, they certainly know that there are seats on the plane. They also know they need to sit together. If I'd never flown before and was booking my first flight, I'd tell the phone agent, "I'm traveling with my children. Will we be able to sit together?" If the rep said something like, "We don't have seats together now, but the agent will sort it out at the airport," I would understand that it would involve asking strangers to switch seats. I don't have to appreciate the extent of the imposition -- I only have to know that I have now made my problem the problem of strangers. If the rep said, "Seats are assigned at the airport," my question would be, "How do I guarantee that I'll be sitting with my children?" If the answer was, "You can't on this flight because it is fully booked," I'd know to book another flight. If the answer was, "Get there early," I'd ask, "How early to guarantee seats together?" If the agent said, "We can't guarantee that on this flight, but if you get there 2 hours ahead of time you'll have a pretty good chance of getting seats together because we always hold seats for airport checkin," I'd say, "What's the earliest I could checkin to ensure getting seats together?" The agent would say, "24 hours before if you do it on-line," and that's what I would do.
Either sitting together is important or it is not. If it is, I'd ensure that it was going to happen. This doesn't require familiarity with flying. It just requires a little common sense and some planning.
Since you don't pay anything extra for particular seats within a given section, I can certainly see how a novice traveler would assume that they're all essentially equal.
Why? The concept of "reserved seats" is certainly not unique to flying. Do you ask people to switch seats at the ball game? The opera? A play? A concert?
That said, if you care that much about being seated together, you should at least call the airline to see what they can do for you, rather than putting the burden on others on the plane to help you out.
^
However, IMO it's not reasonable to expect people not to travel unless they can be guaranteed the seats they want.
Why? What's not reasonable is to assume you can impose on a stranger as a matter of right. As I've mentioned in a couple of other posts, I
must have a window seat when I fly. If one isn't available on the flight that I want, I book another flight. If another flight isn't available, I book another airline. It's
my problem, and my problem only. I have no right to impose on some stranger to accommodate my special need.
After all, the airlines don't guarantee the seats in the first place, so it would seem a bit foolish to consider this as a major factor in your travel planning, particularly for a GM.
Then I guess it's not that important that families sit together. Getting a window seat is a major factor in my travel planning. If it's not for a family, then they'll just have to cope (though if someone sticks a very young child next to me and expects me to babysit, as I indicated previously, I'll ask the FA to call Child Protective Services or the police).