BA235

As CIHY has demonstrated it's really a very simple matter if handled properly which this clearly wasn't. It's understandable you feel aggrieved, responsibility for which rests with the CSM for not doing her or his job properly. In your shoes I'd claim your Ł88 back and then chalk it up to experience. Better luck next time!

se17

I had an issue where a family had just decided to take our exit row seats (we were late to board on an incoming connection, so they just took them) - they subsequently refused to move with 'we've got children' (they already had adjoining seats further back in the cabin however)... the crew found us seats elsewhere in the end, but were quite resistant to moving the self-upgraders.

I really think the line should be 'you're in the seat you're in - so swaps, no exchanges' and the extent of the crew involvement should just be to police this. Fair enough if people want to switch 'under the radar' but I don't think the crew should be involved in the organisation of a swap, as it understandably makes some people feel under pressure.

missdimeaner

I was in the 'other passeger's' position last month.
Op up to WTP (out of exit row seat -doh!) MrD was not.
Long story short : MrD brought up by CC after doors closed and my seat neighbour was asked to move, from middle to middle- I didn't feel any guilt at all.
In my opinion if you want to move 'to be together ' then the movee should get the better seat.

orbitmic

I think that's exactly right. It is ok to ask but it is absolutely not ok to make a person feel awkward/mean/the bad guy/gal for saying no, which is clearly what happened there.

I have already explained what my rule of thumb is about seat chance but will repeat it again. I think it is ok to ask as long as:

1) This is ask as a favour and not a right, and the person is made to feel as comfortable to say no as possible and no insistence if he/she does;

2) The request is to move to a similar seat (ie window for window, aisle for aisle, etc)

3) The request is to move to a better and not a worse seat. That is best achieved when, of the two people who wish to sit together, the one with the better seat is offering it to the person next to the worse seat.

I think that the insistence of the passenger was totally out of place and that the crew member handled that poorly because if they were told that the passenger initially refused, the next move should not have been to insist.

Conversely, I think that Ratypus being insisted out of 64K is totally out of order because it breaches my third rule of thumb. In effect, the passenger in 64J should have offered their seat to whoever was next to that loo seat passenger friend.

IanAsiaTraveller

I don't fly long-haul with BA any more because so many other airlines, especially the ME3, offer a better product than CW. However, in this case I would have been very tempted to refuse absolutely to move. BA state that no seat allocation is definitive and may have to be changed for "operational reasons" but is this an operational reason? No I don't think so. My alternative response would have been to say, as other members have responded, that I'd move if they gave me the cash amount I'd paid for the seat. I suspect the other passengers would have soon decided that in that case sitting apart was actually OK.

CHCflyer

My heart sinks when I head to my seat to see two people hovering over my allocated seat - I just know what is coming next. I would say this happens quite a lot to me - about once every six weeks (I fly several times a week). It is useless telling the CC that I feel I am being picked on because it happens to me disproportionately - but flying so often gets me to platinum on QF and Elite on Star and Skyteam.
But I do think that people are skimping on the paid seating option then hoping emotional blackmail will sort them out once on board.

subject2load

The more I think about this scenario, the less convinced I am by the merits of the "I will gladly move if you give me the money I paid to select the seat ..." strategy.

I appreciate that the idea is to bring the overly-pushy 'request' to a swift conclusion. However, there is just a possibility (albeit a fairly slim one, true) that the other pax might actually agree to cough up. In which case I end up swapping a perfectly good seat for a markedly poorer one - in return for just Ł80 or so. If I didn't believe it was worth me paying the special charge, then why did I do so in the first place .....

orbitmic

Good point!

Buster

Indeed. My husband and I never pay up to ensure seat selection...but we're also completely prepared to sit apart should there not be seats together. I wouldn't dream of even attempting to shift someone out of their seat unless I had a better seat to offer in the swap.

Doccykins

OT but if the children were under 12 the family would have been in contravention of PINCODE [Pregnant/Infant/Nervous/Children/Obese/Disabled/English deficient] passengers who shouldn't be allowed to sit in exit seats for safety reasons. I'm surprised the cabin crew didn't take your side and enforce this.

tony flynn

catandmouse

I was once politely invited to swap seats from 10B on 777, one of the few seats where no-one climbs over you and you don't have to climb over anyone.
The request came from the CSD who came with the passenger in question. I explained why I had chosen the seat and that was the end of the discussion.
I have no problem in being asked politely. I also expect my response to be respected.

TravellerFrequently

^

Although not having much personal experience, it seems your approach is not the norm based on reports in this and other threads.

The agenda is not only to sit together, which was not planned or paid for in advance, but also to get the best possible options, often to the detriment of those being asked (intimidated) to move.

HarryHolden68

I have moved on request in the past and will continue to consider any polite request based on the circumstances.

However, if the answer is a polite no (and 64K is a no, unless the passenger requesting is in F), being a stubborn Yorkshireman, passengers get short shrift if I have to start explaining what no means.

If sitting together is so important, almost everyone has an option to arrange this. If they leave it to chance, that is not my problem. The philosophy from Buster above is first class.

Silver Fox

Indeed. Same here. Except for the Yorkshireman bit!

The old adage of "a lack of planning on your part, does not constitute an emergency on my part" applies.