MSPeconomist

henry999

Oh, good. If the topic has broadened out enough to include other airlines, I'll tell my story.

Once upon a time I was flying on another airline, in Y, where the configuration was 3-3-3. If the middle cluster was D-E-F, I was in 10F. Whilst boarding was still underway, a young fella comes up to me and asks if I'll switch so he can be with his girlfriend, who is in 10E. He says he's one row back, in the aisle seat on the other side, i.e., 11D. Fine. All smiles. A few minutes after I'm in the new seat, a chap comes up and says 'Excuse me, are you sure you're in the right place?' -- and he's got the BP for 11D. Turns out the kid was trying it on. His original place was actually 11E, which is where he ended up sitting, about two minutes later.

ChrisMcP

As someone that’s paid £400 to book 2 CW seats (LHR-LAX and return, yes it’s a lot) to hopefully ensure that my wife and I are able to sit together , maybe BA should just provisionally bill us for the seats. Almost like a car rental, block the money on my card but only take it if o actually get to sit in said seat. I know from experience, getting a refund after being moved from paid for seats is an arduous task.

Lucanesque

I doubt they'd do that ChrisMcP, because I would expect that the vast majority of people who pay for seat selection get the seats they want and don't get moved.

simons1

Wozza2404

I was in row 2 on a QR 787 a few years ago and offered to move for a family with small child who had been split up. My new seat turned out to be on of the two in Row 5 between the toilets. Since then I've always been very thorough in finding out exactly where I'm agreeing to move to before I actually give up my current seat.

I also recently moved on a flight from HKG so a chap could sit by his wife. Polite request and although it involved me moving to that weird window seat with two of the windows missing, as it was a night flight and I was hungover it really didn't matter to me so I had no issue shifting.

Sealink

No, I wouldn't have swapped... But would probably have made something up to justify my decision because British.

cosmo74

I'm a firm believer in only asking someone to switch seats if you are offering them the better deal. There's a lot of talk on here about people not being willing to pay for seats and then asking others to move (which I don't agree with), but it is worth remembering that some people may not have a reserved seat due to an IRROP - and indeed may have had a seat reserved on their original flight.

I've certainly been in the situation in the past where delays have meant I've missed my connection along with my carefully reserved seat next to my travelling companion, and I've asked someone if they wouldn't mind swapping, but so that they would move from the back row of economy by the toilets to the same position seat much further forward, rather than the other way round. If they hadn't wanted to, it's not the end of the world, and I certainly wouldn't have begrudged them.

emma69

It's a while since anyone has asked me to swop on BA, except for a flight a couple of months ago, when I was asked by staff at bag drop if I would consider moving so they could accommodate someone in a wheelchair (I was in an aisle seat with a movable arm rest and travelling by myself, which most of the Y cabin did not seem to be). I am usually dead set against moving seats, but figured this was an exception, so agreed, provided I could remain in an aisle somewhere (I am a touch claustrophobic, and get up and down at least a dozen times on a transatlantic, so it would be in everyone's interests!) They gave me the emergency exit row aisle, so I was a very happy bunny.

PAL62V

To my knowledge, Qantas does not charge for seat allocation, much like Virgin. BA is the odd one out here.

PAL62V

Some years back an American family came aboard - Mom, Dad and two late-teen kids. When Mom discovered that the two kids were a couple of rows apart from her and her husband she quite loudly said that it would be such a shame not to be all sitting together as a family and we won't be able to talk. The two kids did the sort of eye-roll thing and said "Don't worry Mom, we will have PLENTY of time during the holiday" and hurriedly made their way to their sanctuary.

rpjs

I've never been asked to swap, but one time I boarded a (pre-CEUK) domestic at MAN and found someone in my seat, 4F I think, and that was because he was supposed to be in 4D and there was an older couple already in 4D/E (so why didn't he sort it?). Turns out they were supposed to be in 6B/C so barely worse seats. They moved without protest, or saying anything in fact. I honestly think they were very infrequent fliers that hadn't realised they were in the wrong seats.

And the one time I was "that guy" was one Christmas about a decade ago. We were going to Rome for a week. My wife is a very nervous flier and planned a rail journey from London to Rome and back (with stopovers) but due to work I had to fly one-way to get there, the day after she would have set off. Weather killed the trains in northern France including Eurostar so we had to book her a last minute on the BA flight I was on. It was almost full and we couldn't get seats together at booking, or check-in or at the gate. Thankfully I was able to offer my window seat at the front of ET to her neighbour in 30-something middle which he was very happy to accept.

I think my wife would have deplaned herself if he hadn't as she is such a poor flier. Her original plan B when Eurostar cancelled was to get a local train to Dover and ferry to Calais and play it by ear from there, but the ferries cancelled too, while she was waiting to board at Dover.

Dave Noble

it does in economy

Flexible preferences

Virgin do charge for seat selection

theddo

The T&C are very clear about Dr. Dao's situation, too, and that airlines are free to offload anyone they'd like for a small compensation - but there was a lot of arguments about that when he refused to step off the plane.

Rules aren't always correct, nor do they excuse anything.