Originally Posted by
Downunder girl
Ok PTravel - can I ask then what you do when you get the unexpected op-up or upgrade at the last minute, but the only seats avail to you and your family (or travelling companion) are scattered all over the C cabin????
My wife and I have been married for more than 12 years. We can manage a few hours seated apart just fine.
Do you forgo the upgrade because you didnt get your window seat and your family (who are young) are seated everywhere???? Or do you kindly ask if someone could help you out and swap?
I forgo the upgrade.
Please tell
I just did. When my wife and I get split up, I will ask, politely, if someone would switch -- I always offer to take the less desirable seat and I immediately and graciously accept "no" as an answer. I would never sit in someone else's seat, never argue, and always phrase the request as a request, i.e. "Would you possibly be willing . . . ?" Frankly, though, it's not that big a deal -- we'll just sit apart.
I have been in this exact scenario and I planned my trip 6 mths ahead, had my seats and everything organised! Viola, get to checkin, get given an op-up for a 14 HOUR flt. My child is in a completely different row to me by a window (lucky girl) - some rows are staggered in C class! She is anxious about flying! Thats her special need, so we need to sit together to keep her calm.
Then you shouldn't have accepted the op-up. Your special need is that you sit with her. You need to make that happen without imposing on other people.
We were told we could get the FA to sort out our seats once we boarded. Ok fair enough, I was none the wiser and hoping we wouldnt have any issues. Now I am on FT I realise what a BIG DEAL this is for some people!
If you got an op up (and you're here on FT) then you should know that seat location is a very big deal. Even if you didn't know, how could you assume that strangers wouldn't have to move to accommodate you.
We get on board, and sure enough the person seated next to my daughter, is split up from their partner. Although we didnt realise this, we hung around my seat which was 25F, without realising in fact that my daughter had the better seat (25H). The couple were only too pleased to swap my child out of her window, next to me in the middle seat of row 25, so they could sit together. In this case it worked, no one was inconvenienced and if anything, we got the less attractive seats out of the deal (ie middle row of C class). I have posted about this on another thread.
As you note, this time it worked out. What would you have done if the couple didn't want to switch?
But my point is - we had planned ahead, done our research etc etc for Y cabin, not for the unexpected (and very welcome) bump up to C CABIN! So sometimes people are in a situation they didnt plan for and may need to ask a "KIND" stranger if they would mind swapping so they can sit together.
You could have declined the op up. Which is more important -- sitting next to your daughter or sitting in C?
Sure its annoying when you have planned your perfect seat and some annoying stranger comes up and asks kindly to swap because of their situation, I totally understand that.
I really want to know -- what would have happened if you couldn't find someone willing to switch? Would you have started explaining how your daughter can't remain calm if you don't sit next to her? Would you have said something like, "So, if you want to deal with her when she gets upset, feel free . . ."?
It has happened to me on SQ where I was told by an FA basically, to move to the back row of the plane so a family/friends could sit together. We got the bum deal!
I would have refused. I would have invited the FA to tell the pilot, and I would not move unless he/she told me to. I would then tell the pilot, if he/she insisted I move, that I insist on being treated as an IDB.
But I do feel that each situation may be different, as the one I have just described and sometimes families CANT help it if they end up all over the cabin.
But you DID prevent being seated all over the cabin. The problem was, you wanted to accept the op up.
Sorry. Not my problem.
If no one could swap, and we were split up and my child ended up next to you, would you be calling Child Services??
How old is your child? If she's too young to tend to herself, yes I would. I wouldn't start there, of course -- I would tell you and the FA exactly what I planned to do first. It's not my goal to make trouble for you. I will not switch, however, to a lesser seat to accommodate you in a circumstance like this.
Why do you think it's appropriate to impose on someone else, forcing them to switch to a seat that, for them, is undesirable, so that you could accept an op up? That is the very meaning of entitlement demanding.
Luckily not everyone has the same attitude as you
.
Luckily for you. However, more and more people are having less and less patience with this kind of thing.
BTW, in our country, Child Services and the Police would laugh at you, and tell you to call when you had a real child protection issue! Just my humble opinion
I'm sure things are different in Oz. In the U.S. you'd be in for a most unpleasant time.