Asked to move under false pretences...
 

So, this is a slightly unusual one but I thought I'd see if anybody has had similar experiences. I was happily settled in 64A on a JFK>LHR flight recently when a rather grumpy fellow passenger plonked themselves down in 64B having glowered at me on their way. They then got up and went to speak to the crew, I thought little of it (I was in jeans and hoodie that day which seems to provoke disapproval in some) so ignored them and 5 minutes later a member of the crew came by and said they wanted to let me know that the divider on that seat pair was broken and would have to be left up or down, then said they had a window seat available downstairs and suggested I might want to move (suggested quite strongly too).

I declined given I had 64A and planned on sleeping the entire flight so didn't care much about the divider. During the flight it transpired that my grumpy seatmate had a friend downstairs who they were unhappy about not being able to sit next to. It also transpired that the divider could be raised or lowered manually with some poking and was only really semi-broken (I've seen worse in CW).

I am 99% certain, but obviously can't prove, that the crew asked (indeed, rather pushed) me to move because this passenger wanted to sit next to their friend. While they left it alone after I'd declined I'm a little perturbed about the subterfuge involved, I wouldn't mind an honest request at all and if the passenger had asked politely I'd likely have said yes (as it was, they said not a single word to me all flight). Also, with my DYKWIA hat on, trying to get a GGL to move from one of the best CW seats so somebody can sit next to their friend seems out of character?

Anybody had similar or am I just imagining it and the suggestion I might like to move was purely due to the seat fault?

I was asked to move from a window seat in F once so ‘a family could sit together’

It didn’t make sense to me at the time as it wouldn’t really help in f anyway and I refused, not wanting a middle on a 747.

Upon boarding there there was no family in the cabin. I suspect someone had asked for a window and the agent was chancing their arm at getting it done knowing they’d never see me again

in your case could the other person not have easily gone down stairs instead?!

He may have asked the crew but they only told you what they knew which was there was a problem with the divider which you admit was true, they didn’t make the fault up, I think you are being a little too sensitive.

I think you're probably imagining things here. Half the GGLs I know would dress in a similar way to you, as would half of CW and half of Flounge. I have no doubt that the reason the cabin crew offered the other seat was the combination of the couple split up and half functioning screen, but in my let's say extensive experience is that while cabin crew are happy to make requests like this to passengers with or without status, it's absolutely no skin off their nose if someone declines. Why on earth would the worry about that? It's just a passenger swap, they are not trying to resolve the Holstein-Schleswig Question. After your decline at least they don't have a passenger upset that the cabin crew didn't ask you. And who knows, that passenger could have been a Prem. Or a Blue. Though it hardly matters, they probably paid a similar amount as you.

When this sort of thing happens, say no, and move your thought processes on to something more productive, would be my view. If you are unable to do that, then you would be best to move downstairs.

Perfectly in your rights to stay where you are.

The CC asked, you declined, end of story ... surely?

?? Schleswig-Holstein, surely ??

Um, depends on where you sit on this vital matter. Have we got time for this here?

Surely either Schleswig-Holsteinische Frage or Spørgsmålet om Sønderjylland, but yes a little OT.

to the Op I’d agree, life is too short and doesn’t sound like false pretences; this thread could have easily been on divider not working and sat with disgruntled man who didn’t say a word to me all flight....

I don't know, but there was one occasion when I said no to moving from 64K to an UD aisle. For whatever reason, the cabin crew member came again; this time the offer was a UD aisle plus a full-size bottle of champagne. That was fine with me. :)

But I agree that if you've said no and you've been allowed to keep your seat, there's no point wondering any more about it!

OP I think you’d do well to take the Lord Palmerston approach to this.

Alls well and ends well and in the future you might even ask crew for a seat swap yourself, and you’ll be glad they went to that effort.

I was asked to move so a family could be seated together at check on a flight back from BKK in club last year. I had the ‘prize’ (least bad?) no step over window seat that i’d snagged about nine months earlier... and my family who were with me were not at all surprised when I firmly declined stating it was the best seat on the plane.

“oh that’s OK” said the agent “I can put you in the matching window seat on the other side”. Absolutely fine by me! I did also ask, as we were leaving check-in, if the family who we were helping was a no-show, could they give my son the seat I’d vacated?

When we reach the gate my son gets “the bleep” and the slightly nicer seat I’d previously had. No idea how the agents ended up shuffling everything but it seems sometimes it pays to say yes to a move...

I gave up a window seat in J for another passenger checking in ahead of me at the CW check-in line at MIA a few months ago. The passenger was irate that he did not get a window seat, and in the interest of making sure I checked in before the deadline (I was late arriving at the airport) I offered my seat. The check-in staff were NOT pleased to swap seats, and actually tried to dissuade me from giving up my seat, but I insisted. Whilst waiting at the gate the Station Manager came over to me (I am a regular traveller on this route) and asked to see by boarding pass and giving me another, telling me that I would "be more comfortable in my new seat" which was in F!

This is not the first time I have been rewarded for giving up my seat; it pays to be nice sometimes (although to the OP I agree that you were well within your rights to decline, but be prepared for a grumpy travelling companion!).

It sounds like they were doing their best to keep everyone happy and that the other passenger has a much more serious case of DYKWIA. ;)

"Please rearrange the rest of the cabin so that my entitled friend and I, both of whom neglected to pay a fee to pre-select seats but expect our choice anyway, can sit together," is not reasonable. The FA was merely translating this unreasonable request into a series of words that might compel you to move.

I wonder how the chap would have reacted if the crew said they had a seat for him
on the lower deck next to his friend??