heh, the exact same thing happened - an FA wanted to move someone next to me. she asked me if it was okay, and i told i told her it wasn't as i had blocked it. i was not in a good mood that day (who would be on long haul Y ...), and i guess she sensed it and went somewhere else with the pax.

Jeez, is MPC some sort of caste system now?

"I must not sit next to an untouchable"

Well if you can get a spare seat next to you, why not?

I had an experience on an overnight Y class flight on another airline where the airline had blocked the seat next to me. It turned out to be virtually the only spare seat on the plane. The FA came and said he would have to put someone there because the couple had a baby and there was no room for the baby. I didn't argue but I was pretty peeved - when the guy came and took the spare seat, I realised he had left a screaming crying baby with his wife in the front row of the cabin. Why should I lose a seat because he doesn't want to sit with his wife and screaming baby?

The FA came later and apologised after he realised I was a top-tier passenger on that airline.

Dont' turn this into something that it isn't. This is about having seats blocked on flights where there is ample space. It is a gesture of kindness shown to top tier flyers, and giving them more space for a comfortable journey.

I have no issue with the idea of seat blocking, and airlines do of course need to take care of their premier pax.

However, in this day and age where people are frequently complaining about the demise of service standards on airlines, how does telling an FA with an unseated passenger that it's not ok to seat someone next to you help anyone?

I don't know why you are confused with the issue. Seat blocking happens if the flight is not full. We are not talking about a passenger who is in need of a seat. Everyone has their assigned seats on the plane, nobody is losing a seat or not being seated.

I am not confused about the issue; what I am pointing out is that sometimes people will need to be moved from their allocated seats (I myself was moved once when the FA spilled food on my seat), and saying "no" when asked by the FA if you mind someone taking the seat next to you strikes me as being rather disrespectful to the FA and your fellow passenger.

Seat blocking is a pleasant perk of higher tiers on flights that aren't full; but it seems that when an FA needs to use a blocked seat, some misplaced sense of entitlement arises.

Haha I think it's a matter of relativity, really. I understand your feelings...rude pax can be a pain, especially if you're on a plane once a month. However, I'm sure I can attest to many's travel schedules on here. Flying is basically half of my life I have no choice for my job. I've done over 200k club miles since November 2007 on OW alone, and 25k on SA since then. Addtl flights on China Southern, Air France and Northwestern where I'm not even in their club. I am on a plane almost every day. To someone else, I may seem like an a@# when I tell them that's my seat block...which is exactly what I did two days ago. But to me, the other people are the ones that just don't understand, and would probably do the exact same if they were in my situation. So I guess it just matters from the perspective of the person.

I certainly see things from your perspective - travelling that much must lead to the travel bug being extinguished pretty damn quickly :)

That said, the FAs often have a pretty crappy time (esp in Y) and I'm one those people who tries to make their jobs a little bit easier rather than a little bit harder

Normal I will be a very polite pax. I heard and read from some FA and blogs.If you are a rude pax....FA may add some extra thing to your beverage.

are we talking those local cafe in HK now? (I heard...) let's not scare us