Killian_S

So last night I was flying back to London from JFK with a window seat in the Club cabin on the upper deck. I found the behaviour of one passenger quite unnecessary: We boarded, she came and sat down in the aisle seat. Her husband came upstairs shortly thereafter and they both asked if I could swap with the husband. The tone was very much a "demand" rather than a polite request. I said OK, happy to move if it's a window seat, but no, it was one of the middle two on the lower deck. I said unfortunately I can't move as I would like a window. "Ridiculous", said the husband. I chose not to reply.

"You're being very unreasonable and not very nice", said the lady passenger to me. I again kept my counsel. She then mentioned to the cabin crew who was nearby that "We are both Gold card holders". He said "we can't make passengers move Madam unless it's for operational reasons, and this is quite clearly not an operational reason". She then mentioned that she was a nervous flyer and needed her husband nearby for "emotional support", which was clearly BS, and which he saw through almost immediately.

Anyway, things settled down, we took off and hit cruising. The lady kept throwing daggers towards me, like I had committed some incredible human rights abuses. The husband kept coming up throughout the flight to talk to his wife, often throwing in barbed comments like "don't worry, we won't encounter such people in First when we next fly" and "don't know what the world is coming to nowadays". I found this utterly unnecessary and it contributed to a somewhat tense atmosphere. But thanks to the guy sitting in front of me, who told her in a very abrasive way that if they were truly Gold card holders, "then take the time to book your bloody seats in advance and don't look to upset other passengers by demanding things". Husband went back downstairs in a strop and the lady chuntered for a while before nodding off.

I know some of the more frequent flyers here would probably shrug it off, but I found the experience rather disturbing.

LondonElite

...is more like it. Good for you for not giving in to such insufferable behaviour. You might have suggested to Mrs that she asks the husband's neighbour downstairs if they would like to swap with her seat upstairs.

newyorklondon

Gosh, that all sounds a bit grim. I suppose it's one of the drawbacks with the yin yang CW seats - prime dagger-throwing susceptibility (ocular and actual).

origin

I cant quite find the words needed to say some cant travel its been a long hot summer which appears to have affected many people.

I am sure you will laugh about this in time, I do appreciate its upsetting at the moment. Not everyone should be allowed to travel .

My main point if you felt uncomfortable at the time, maybe next time, if this terrible thing happens, mention to crew. Most of the crew I find pleasant and approachable.

But you did the right things at the time, others wont be as nice to them. Glass water hand slip.

lost_in_translation

Best advice I can give you is to invest in a decent pair of noise cancelling headphones and then it's really quite easy to block out idiots like this / make it clear to them that the conversation is well and truly over...

windowontheAside

Horrible situation and I too would have been uncomfortable. Thankfully I find the divider and noise-cancelling headphones isolates me from that sort of nastiness.

Wonder why they didn't select seats if they are both GCH? Idiots.

V10

Give that man a medal. Chapeau.

flygirl68

Flexible preferences

Bad luck, this bullying really was unfortunate for you. As always, the seat swap request is in the favour of the requester - ie they didn't ask if someone downstairs would swap...

Very good intervention by your neighbour ^

Andriyko

Most people would be uncomfortable in a situation like this. I would have told both of them after the second comment that surely the passenger on the lower deck would gladly change seats with the wife. They were expecting you to cave in as obviously they thought that their needs (and desire to sit on the upper deck together) were more important. Not the first time I am reading on FT this week that some people think that everything should revolve around them...

Good that you remained calm and sorry that these people somewhat spoilt your flight.

catandmouse

That's rather interesting. I was on a 747 with a colleague who was downstairs, whilst I was upstairs. No question of asking for seat swaps, but after the meal he came up to see me, but was asked fairly quickly by the cabin crew to go back downstairs, which he did. Apparently visitors aren't welcome on UD.

TWCLAM

I echo @V10 's , and the fellow passengers, words. If they are GCH then they can book seats foc at time of booking. Their laziness in not doing so is nobody's fault except their own imho. They may have had a flight change for whatever reason but a call to the GL surely would've acquired the seats they preferred OR have let them know in advance at which point deal with it.

The fact that you were happy to move decks let alone seats if it was for another window seat ( I myself don't really like non window seats either) showed you were more than a reasonable person. Have to say I can imagine myself being the other gentlemen and even getting out of my seat to squat down( use of body language to show im not a threat) and quietly but firmly pointing out the above and that the preferred level of behaviour for GCH or anybody else with any form of status for that matter is to know the rules of the game better and not to disturb others.

Of course as with all walks of life being a GCH doesn't, I imagine, suddenly make you of better breeding but I bet we'd all love to know if they actually were or not.

ThatT1Feeling

You've absolutely put my experience yesterday afternoon into context.

I was in 1F CE and some guy from an aisle seat a few rows back told me that he had to sit next to his work partner who was in 1D. I responded politely that I wasn't inclined to move.

Guy from a few rows back tells the CSM that he needs to move me so that he and his work colleague could sit together, again by saying loudly "we're both Gold Card holders".

The CSM is great and says that I don't need to move. Guy from a few rows back then moves to 2C and proceeds to talk very loudly at 1D for the entire 90-minute flight. I don't think 1D even got more than 10% of the conversation but it meant that me, 2F and probably most of the cabin were treated to a nearly 90-minute loud monologue about some very tedious work subjects, interspersed now and again with "this would be easier if we were sitting together" comments.

I thought I was annoyed about this, but having read your story, I was reminded that my flight was only 90 minutes and mine didn't involve a husband who felt he was being slighted...

chistery

Safety briefing done, divider up, end of problem.

EuropeanPete

Indeed, it's generally not allowed for security reasons. I would have done the same as you but then honestly would have felt pretty uncomfortable afterwards so would probably have seen to it that the woman stayed downstairs, ideally with her lovely husband.