Would you mind switching seats with me...
 

... erm, no, I’m good thanks, booked this seat (64A), and really quite happy where I am.

“I only want to sit with my wife”

Wife and him start to have a hushed domestic about finding someone else to swap.

Eventually someone else moves so they can sit together, and the lovely couple have thrown me daggers a couple of times when either one of us have got up :rollseyes:

So, what would you have done? Should I have moved and am I just being an arse by wanting a nice window seat without climbing over someone? Or if people want to sit together should they just either pony up the cash to reserve the seats or pick seats together (there were some together downstairs just before we boarded btw, as I’d checked the seat maps out of interest to see how busy the flight was).

btw, Wi-fi on planes - amazing :)

I think I'd apply the rule of them giving up a better seat for a worse one if they want to make that swap. Since you are already in the better seat that's unfortunate for them.

100% with you Lucanesque, at least it’s given you some entertainment!

No you are not being an arse, tell them to get lost and ask the person in the less desirable seat opposite the wife to swap instead. I really hate these requests, particularly on BA where seating is technically charged for in J so you are literally giving them something of tangible value for free.

I've only agreed to these requests once (not on BA) out of charity and it resulted in me being sat next to the nanny with a screaming child for the entire 7 hour flight - not falling for that one again!

Popcorn time again :)

If there were two seats together downstairs then that would be the logical place for them to have sat if it was so important to sit together. If there were seats available together then on check-in if they were that fussed about sitting together they could have chosen those. As it is, I'm assuming they checked into non-adjacent seats and the situation played out as you described.

And no - you weren't being an arse.

Surely it's the job of the cabin crew to make these requests rather than passengers? I would only move for a child, but it really depends on the circumstances. In the case you have cited, I would not move; no special reason given.

@EsherFlyer - I like that rule. Had it been a straight swap (eg 64A to K) then I’d have probably done it!

@krispy84 - yup, it’s helping me pass the time ;)

@lost_in_translation - that sounds horrific :eek: in the end it was the guy in the aisle seat who swapped and sat next to me, which has turned out to be good as he’s a nice bloke ^

@David_Doyle - I reckon they wanted upper deck seats (fair enough), but weren’t prepared to shell out money to reserve

@BrianWBrazil - agree with you there, if it was a childcare issue then I’d switch, their need greater than mine etc

If they asked politely I would have obliged.

Ii'd have said no as well - unless

(a) the seat they were offering was the same or significantly better than the one I had. I'm not going into a middle pair for no one for example

or

(b) offered to pay me the cost it would have been to select the seat so say £70

or

(c) the CC indicated the seat was in F!

Seriously? I wonder what discussion H&W had before getting on the flight (or after)!

You're clearly a much nicer person than me :)
If I'm traveling long haul it is for leisure and as non status types we do our upmost to enjoy the experience (pay for seat selection etc), so as stated by others above, unless the seat swap involved an improvement from our current seats I don't think I would be accommodating the request.
To be honest, I am generally relieved when BA haven't seat shifted us due to equipment changes etc (which, to be fair, has not happened to us yet) so am reluctant to shift myself.

I wouldn't usually - especially not from 64A/K, but I did a few weeks ago on an AA Transcon where all seats in F are pretty much the same and I really didn't want requesting man's wife to be staring daggers at me all flight. In the end I convinced myself I was in a better seat as I was further from the galley. Sadly no different ("thank you") service from the cabin crew but they were very good to everyone anyway!

We generally wouldn't, as we book seats in advance so that we can sit together, I'm an anxious flyer and hate to be separated from my husband, on the one occasion in recent years we ended up with separated seats (due to our teens being between us in aisle seats on a Canadian air domestic) the landing was bumpy and the very nice man next to me ended up with the fright of his life as I grabbed his hand!

However, our very first flight together, and my first ever, was the day of the Madrid bombings, I was incredibly anxious to the point of crying. The bombing had spooked me, I'm claustrophobic and I was leaving 2 small children for the first time. On arrival at check in we were advised the system? had gone down and all seating had been generated randomly and there was nothing they could do, we were separated by about 8 rows I think. More tears, but I took my seat, it was a short hop to Germany to pick up on the flight to Dubai (Pre BA days for us) so I was trying to suck it up. My husband asked the person next to him if they would consider a swap so we could sit together and as it turned out my seat neighbour was actually travelling with the guy he asked, so it worked out all round. But I will never forget the relief of regaining his hand to death grip for the entire flight ;) Very grateful to the people who swapped.

I do think if you want seats together you should pay the cost if the airline has one, for prebooking, otherwise I tend to have the view it can't matter THAT much to you. Also, much more polite maybe to ask the crew rather than directly, so people don't feel obliged. Plus have some dignity if turned down!