Seat reservation tactics - Leaving middle seat empty
Jan 20, 2015, 5:44 am
#77
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I feel that a couple reserving seats A & C or D & F in economy on an A32X in the hope they get an empty seat next to them falls into that category because if EVERY couple on the flight behaved in that way it would be chaos. Couples and families who reserved seats later would be getting split up all over the place.
Jan 20, 2015, 5:46 am
#78
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Jan 20, 2015, 5:52 am
#79
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But why limit that to couples? If somebody that I do not know already sits in A and I choose C, then it will impact negatively on another person in exactly the same way as if I now the person sitting in A. If you follow this to its logical conclusion, it should push you as as solo traveler to always select a B seat whenever either A or C is occupied.
Again, no more chaos than if solo travelers select a C seat when A is occupied but not B.
Again, no more chaos than if solo travelers select a C seat when A is occupied but not B.
What I wrote was that I have a view when a couple choose A & C in the hope that B will remain empty which is an entirely different situation because remaining available seats is not based on luck of the draw.
Jan 20, 2015, 5:56 am
#80
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Hate this tactic. Seems to be very prevalent on Easyjet & Ryan air. Couple want to stretch out & have a bit more personal space so they sit window & aisle in a row of three in the hope surely no one would be "rude" enough to want to sit between them. A large bag is usually placed in the middle seat to further deter anyone from trying to disturbing them.
And I have noticed a few times on BA, particularly short haul/domestic economy.
We'd all love more space on flight and a free seat or two next to us to allow for more personal space, a bit of stretching out and for our personal belongings to make the flight more comfortable. Apart from domestic flights that extra space is available but you want it you have to pay for it. That's life.
And I have noticed a few times on BA, particularly short haul/domestic economy.
We'd all love more space on flight and a free seat or two next to us to allow for more personal space, a bit of stretching out and for our personal belongings to make the flight more comfortable. Apart from domestic flights that extra space is available but you want it you have to pay for it. That's life.
Jan 20, 2015, 6:43 am
#81
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But why limit that to couples? If somebody that I do not know already sits in A and I choose C, then it will impact negatively on another person in exactly the same way as if I now the person sitting in A. If you follow this to its logical conclusion, it should push you as as solo traveler to always select a B seat whenever either A or C is occupied.
The couple choosing A+C well in advance is more manufactured. Still fair game as long as they don't try and bully the B person into taking a seat of their choice rather than leaving it to that person to choose. If that happened to me I'd probably do a cws and stay in the middle seat and if they even dared to communicate between themselves I'd tell them to shut up.
Jan 20, 2015, 8:25 am
#82
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Let me tell you a story.
Mrs Bealine and I were trying to be clever a few years ago on a morning LHR to JFK flight for our holidays. Being "on the inside", I checked the flight the night before to find it half empty and selected 24A and 24C, secure in the knowledge 24B would be empty.
What I didn't forsee was Virgin and American Airlines cancelling their evening flights and BA's reservations being swamped with rebookings during the wee small hours.
Whist we were happily reading the newspaper, a small Geordie voice said "24B", that's my seat! Can I get in please?"
"Certainly," quoth I, "Actially, we are both travelling together. Would you prefer to sit by the window or on the aisle?"
"No thanks" he replied, "24B is my seat. I'll just make myself comfortable!"
I will never again try to take window and aisle unless it is freely given by the airline staff!
Mrs Bealine and I were trying to be clever a few years ago on a morning LHR to JFK flight for our holidays. Being "on the inside", I checked the flight the night before to find it half empty and selected 24A and 24C, secure in the knowledge 24B would be empty.
What I didn't forsee was Virgin and American Airlines cancelling their evening flights and BA's reservations being swamped with rebookings during the wee small hours.
Whist we were happily reading the newspaper, a small Geordie voice said "24B", that's my seat! Can I get in please?"
"Certainly," quoth I, "Actially, we are both travelling together. Would you prefer to sit by the window or on the aisle?"
"No thanks" he replied, "24B is my seat. I'll just make myself comfortable!"
I will never again try to take window and aisle unless it is freely given by the airline staff!
Jan 20, 2015, 10:19 am
#83
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Many of us have been trained to decline seat swap requests automatically.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...r-stories.html
Jan 20, 2015, 11:58 am
#84
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Jan 20, 2015, 1:06 pm
#85
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Jan 20, 2015, 1:46 pm
#86
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In a situation such as the one you describe, I agree. That's the luck of the draw and if the luck of the draw is that only B seats are available that's how it is (I see this situation often on early morning domestics when lots of people are travelling solo and select window or aisle).
What I wrote was that I have a view when a couple choose A & C in the hope that B will remain empty which is an entirely different situation because remaining available seats is not based on luck of the draw.
What I wrote was that I have a view when a couple choose A & C in the hope that B will remain empty which is an entirely different situation because remaining available seats is not based on luck of the draw.
Remaining seats are never the result of the luck of the draw: they are the result of choices made by earlier passengers: if the reason you consider that the reason why the would-be occupier of C, who is related to A, should sit in B is because it will inconvenience passenger X who have chosen their seat yet, then this would also be true of would-be occupier of C, who is unrelated to A: he or she will inconvenience X in exactly the same way.
And I suspect that occupier of seat C, even when they do not know A, would also wish B to remain vacant. But, again, their wish is irrelevant.
Let me put to you another example: on an ABC-DEF config, A, B and F are occupied whereas C, D and E are not. You are a solo traveler. Which seat would you choose: C, D or E?
I would choose D and, I suspect, most other solo travelers would as well. The reason why we do it is obvious: we hope that E will remain free. This may or may not happen but one can live in hope
. Yet, you could argue that this creates more inconvenience than in the case of the couple who choose A and C rather than B and C, since it takes away the pair of seats which are together and therefore leaves no room for a potential couple, whereas taking the C seat would have left D and E together. Does that mean that it is wrong to choose D and a solo traveler should not choose an aisle seat next to a free middle seat where there is elsewhere on the plane (or at least nearby rows) an aisle seat next to an occupied middle seat?
Jan 20, 2015, 1:52 pm
#87
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Still fair game as long as they don't try and bully the B person into taking a seat of their choice rather than leaving it to that person to choose. If that happened to me I'd probably do a cws and stay in the middle seat and if they even dared to communicate between themselves I'd tell them to shut up.
Jan 20, 2015, 2:06 pm
#88
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I suppose this whole discussion boils down to how you live your life. We all want to be as comfortable as possible, and if you can live your life thinking that if your comfort makes others life not so nice then tough on them, I would question what sort of person you are, thankfully not somebody I would ever rely on.
FP
Jan 20, 2015, 2:18 pm
#89
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Good chap. ^
Many of us have been trained to decline seat swap requests automatically.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...r-stories.html
Many of us have been trained to decline seat swap requests automatically.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...r-stories.html
So in the ABC configuration in our example, you would stay in the middle seat just to prove your point? I see this as crazy but completely within your rights indeed. And I would not mind the least, it is a risk and I fully accept it.
Jan 20, 2015, 2:22 pm
#90
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I suppose this whole discussion boils down to how you live your life. We all want to be as comfortable as possible, and if you can live your life thinking that if your comfort makes others life not so nice then tough on them, I would question what sort of person you are, thankfully not somebody I would ever rely on.