celticanvil

Flew AC YYZ-YVR couple of weeks ago.
Fellow pax in my row sat in window seat and motioning to the empty seat between us said something like "don't worry, i had the gate attendant block this off for me"
She was connecting from a long flight back from Turkey and didn't want to have to go shoulder to shoulder with someone apparently.
Says she does it all the time, hangs at the gate late at boarding and then asks for an empty row or something.
Is this something that (infomred) people regularly do?
Would be great if i could block off my grumpy/entitled/knowitall teens next time I jet them somewhere they don't deserve to go.

Wpgjetse

Yes, flight can not be full, and AC will not block seat if SE request to sit there. I have had this done for me. This is for the middle seat, Y cabin only.

celticanvil

Do i do this at the gate? Can u walk me thru how the conversation goes?
thx

Wpgjetse

Check in agent, concierge. Usually to late at the gate. I just ask, easier if you know the agent.

krayZpaving

There seems to be two different things being discussed here. OP's fellow pax said the seat was blocked, but then said that she had asked for an empty row / seat beside an empty seat after everyone else had boarded.
There's a difference between the two.

canadiancow

I had a GA block a J seat beside me once. It was done manually. I asked if J would be full after upgrades, and he said no. He said he'd make sure no one ended up beside me.

But I'm SE.

I was once promised a whole exit row (ABC) because of a serious screwup, and then an FA came and plopped someone down in C.

So also consider that because it's not an official process, am FA can "unblock" it pretty easily.

flyquiet

I have so rarely been on a flight with any empty seats that I can't even imagine asking, but on the LHR-YYZ, a woman in C put her purse in the foot space of B and I (in A) thought "that's interesting". It turned out B remained empty. Also the FA had protracted conversations with her every time she passed, to the point of forgetting to serve me the beverage I'd ordered. I inferred from all my observations that my row-mate was off-duty crew and knew how to work the system. As a civilian, I don't think I'd have a prayer.
I don't think there is "a conversation" that makes it happen; I think you have to be a certain person or category of person to have that conversation.

canopus27

One time, a couple of years ago, I flew to Beijing and my upgrade didn't clear. The concierge in the lounge was the one who told me that I hadn't made it ... and then she phoned to the gate, said she had an SE who's upgrade had not cleared, and asked that they block a row of three (Y) seats for me.

Obviously there had to be space available - as I recall, there were a decent number of economy seats open on that flight - but I didn't get the impression that there was anything within the system to formally block seats, it was more along the lines of "as you manually move people around, please don't put anyone else in these seats".

pych

Nothing works better than a baby to aid in this process. Have had this happen to me several times. Including once when travelling with a 16 day old baby. Only one Y seat in the whole plane stayed open and was originally across them aisle from us (A320). We sat down and then at the end of the boarding process the GA came into the airplane found us (we were sitting towards the back) and told us: "This lady(pointing to another pax) agreed to switch seats so you have the row to yourself." Crazy thing was: we were not the only parents with children on the flight. I always chalk it up to being real nice to people that gets you good things.

Here is the other deal though: I don't expect this kind of treatment and I understand its unfair. All I do as some others of you do, is ask nicely. If the answer is no, then nothing is lost. If the answer is yes, however, it was worth asking!

bingocallerb22

I was told that AC can no longer block seats. system won't allow it now. But then, I have been told a lot of things from AC.

D582

A few years ago, I was on a YVR-YYZ red-eye that was booked on 321 and then down-gauged to a 320 at the last minute. I lost my aisle exit row seat on the 321 and the same row on the 320 did not have extra legroom. Exit row seats on the 320 were all full.

The GA said she would block the middle seat for me because it was empty. I saw her do something in the computer and she showed me on the screen that the seat showed blocked with some comments about it being for me.

During the flight, the pax in the window seat wanted her friend to come and sit in the middle seat. I told her that the seat was blocked for me. She did not understand and then complained to the FA. The SD came around with some printouts and said that yes, that seat is also mine

Wpgjetse

You were Lucy. A agent my block a seat for you, but that seat does not belong to you. If a FA wants to move someone to that seat, they can.

D582

In this case, there were some comments on the manifest that indicated that the seat was mine also. I'm not sure what the GA did specifically. Again this was a few years ago so I don't remember all the details. This was not the FA wanting to move someone here, it was a pax wanting to move here and the SD told them they could not because the seat was for me.

yyznomad

Who is "u"? What is a "u"?

Is it a "tu"?

YOWgary

Don't call me Shirley.