kop84

There isn't anything wrong with asking...as long as you're not trying to give someone a middle for an aisle or window. There is no way for the asker to know if you have a window or aisle preference...it could have been the last seat available, could have been an equipment swap, IROP, SDC, etc. The person asking doesn't have a way of knowing that you have personally selected this exact seat several months ago and have watched like a hawk, and you feel ownership and protective of the seat, like it's your newest family member.

If both parties have some decency and common respect for other humans it should be more than a 15 second interaction if declined, or a 90 second interaction if accepted....and if you can't be bothered to listen to a request from another human for 15-90 seconds then I feel bad for you.

DarcyMae

My two cents ….. I don’t mind being asked to swap locations to an equivalent or better seat. However, please don’t ask (and certainly don’t demand!) that I move while there are people still boarding the plane and trying get past to the seats further back. I’m not going to even consider it until the aisle is clear. I have been one of those people waiting behind in line as a couple of people in C+ did their location negotiation, packed up their stuff, and swapped locations. Sorry, I won’t inconvenience others and delay boarding to do an immediate swap just because someone can’t be separated from their spouse/SO for an extra five minutes

Spanish

I cannot telling you just how hard I laugh when reading that!

I may consider a switch...just do not offer me bulkhead seat! Not enough space for stretching the legs on many airlines, and I like having the laptop with me at all times.

zitsky

I also like to get up about every hour or so for bathroom breaks and to stretch my legs. I always try to get an aisle seat if I can. I suspect there are many other people like yourself that don't want to swap.

I am married and lately travel in coach more than business or first. I try to get planes with a 2-3-2 coach configuration. If we end up on a 3-4-3, I get both of us aisle seats so we can get up when we want.

rucksack

Perhaps, but that sounds more like a personal problem rather than a problem with seat swapping in general.

Do you really think the rude person you described is going to stop asking people to swap just because it might upset someone?

dzflyer

I actually witnessed yesterday out in the wild someone departing MSP actually ask to trade his aisle for a window to sit next his son in first class and guess what because he offered a better seat it was accepted. Novel idea. ^

theddo

For most people 23C, 24C, 25C is irrelevant. If it isn't to you it is possible to say "no, thank you" and move on with your life.

CJKatl

I've posted this before. It's happened to me twice. The parent asks if I'll switch F seats with the kid, I agree and the kid doesn't want to switch. The first time the mother was hurt. She went on about paying for her young adult daughter to sit in F so that they could spend the time together. Had she known she would have left the kid in coach. The daughter was guilted into switching. The second time, it was a high school aged kid who obviously wanted to feel a little independent. He said something like, "I don't need to sit next to my mommy." We did not switch, he seemed very happy to be sitting by himself like an adult and his mother and I had a lovely conversation during the flight. I was in the aisle seat. He was a row behind on the other side. The mom did ask me to look back at him a few times during the flight to make sure he was doing well.

SFCav

Last night JFk - LHR was only about 40% full, so people were switching and swapping all over the place to arrange to sit in rows with no one else in them. During boarding, one such woman let the FA know she was ill and asked if she could sit in the second row of C+ seats in the middle of the 767 (row of 3) which was empty at the time, presumably so she "wouldn't get anyone else sick." The FA said "You can, but if someone with a confirmed seat is sitting there, you'll have to move." Sure enough, a passenger boarded and attempted to sit in his assigned C+ seat in the row she had commandeered. She said to him "oh, the FA said I could sit here. Just so you know, i have the stomach flu, so I'm not sure if you want to sit next to me...There are plenty of exit rows free a few rows back" to which the passanger who was trying to claim his rightful seat replied "they don't recline all they way..." He eventually ended up moving, but I felt so bad for him! I don't know where this woman was originally sitting (based on her convo with the FA about needing to move if someone had a reservation to sit in that row, I would guess Y), but it sounded to me like she moved from Y to W and tried to kick this guy out of his seat! Once we took off I looked around and there were PLENTY of empty rows in Y, so I'm not sure why she didn't offer to move since the passenger who had booked his seat in advance surely didn't look like he wanted to.

dzflyer

I would have informed said passenger and said FA of the situation. YMMV

Rossp1

If its a true "like for like" swap (FC window for FC window, Comfort Aisle for Comfort Aisle etc) and I am traveling alone, I will swap 9 times out of 10. Not a big deal to me and feels good to help someone else out. That's assuming they ask me nicely after I have boarded and taken my seat!

It does bother me though that some people think they can just force/bully/command/pressure someone else into changing seats.

jamesteroh

I'm surprised the FA even allowed it. Usually they tell the passenger if they want to sit in C+ they have to pay the additional fee.

I would have been furious if I were the passenger in C+ seeing he either was a PM+ or paid to be up there. I would have also checked the app and if it was showing the entire row empty said something to the FA that the entire row was to be empty.

jrl767

going on 5 years ago, but isn't that (or the aggrieved individual's "waaaaaah") what started this thread ?

MEMLawGuy

I'm on a roll. Happened to me again. This time on a flight yesterday between ATL and MEM. I missed the upgrade and was 1 of 45 for 0 seats. (Irrelevant, I know -- but, man, are there a lot of medallions out there.) I waited to board last just to make sure first had boarded full (you never know!), so I was one of the last few people on the plane.

I had opted out of the C+ upgrade because only middles were available when I booked, so I had the exit row -- 25E on an MD88. I get back there and someone is already settled in my seat, headphones on, eyes closed.

(Why is this? Do seat poachers think that if they just put on headphones and pretend to be asleep they can just do whatever they want or the rightful owner of the seat will just go away so as not to disturb their blissful slumber. But I digress...)

I tapped him on the leg to "wake him up" and let him know that he had my seat. He responded immediately with a "oh, yeah, I've got 24E right there." So in my opinion, he knew exactly what he had done/was doing. Was a little curt for my taste, and I briefly considered saying "no, I would like my original seat" just to make a point. However, we were already delayed, it's only a 45 min. flight, and given that they were both exit windows on the 2 seat side, I said no problem and took 24E. No difference, right?

So I'm sitting there during the flight, and it just kind of irritates me that (again, IMO) the guy just did it on purpose with no regard for anyone else. But then I second guess myself and try to give him the benefit of the doubt --- maybe it was an honest mistake. What did he have to gain from it? There's no difference in the seats, and he didn't appear to know the person next to him.

Then it hit me: 25E reclines and 24E doesn't.

I don't usually recline, especially on flights that short, so in the end it really made no actual difference to me. But now that I had a motive, I'm kicking myself for not making him move. Hell, I thought about getting up and making him move during flight out of spite. But that would have probably been even more of an a**hole move than what he did -- or it at least would have appeared to the other passengers that way.

If I had thought of the recline aspect of it at the time I boarded, I would have absolutely made him move.

Some people are such entitled jerks it simply baffles me.

Rant over.

Occupationalhazard

This, exactly.

"Then I guess it shouldn't matter to you, and if all seats are the same then your original seat should suit you just fine."

"You mean like by rudely trying to bully them into a switch they don't want?"

. . . . .

I don't mind a polite ask, and sometimes I will switch, but if I don't want to and I've said no, then no amount of petulant nagging is going to change my mind.

O/H