flying_donkeys12

And now we have gone political. Let's make this very simple and then return to our normally scheduled programming. Everyone has the right to ask for someone to swap with them, and everyone also has the right to say no, or yes, or my personal favorite "let me think about it, I will get back to you when we land"

Proudelitist

If we don't stand by our principles, they are not principles. I have yet to be offered a better seat in a swap. Rare exceptions a few here experienced only prove the rule. If we make our issues so important to us that we would displace others and feel we have a right to impose on others, we will live in the world you fear Trump is causing.

MW147

I respect the fact that you live by the same ethics in both directions; so many people don't these days. Therefore I don't have a problem with your stance.

However, in my view if there is no downside to me and an obvious upside to the other person, I think it just makes the world a better place to help people out. Lord knows we can use a little friendly compassion in today's world. Plus you never know when that good deed comes back to you.

I had short flights round trip earlier this month between LGA and DTW. Both in Comfort. And in both cases when I got to my aisle seat there was someone sitting in it. In both cases I said "excuse me, that is my seat". In both cases the person sitting there had the window in the same row. And in both cases they made a weak reference to thinking that A was the aisle, but they immediately moved. No argument. I strongly prefer the aisle and was not going to switch if asked, fortunately I was not asked so no argument.

CJKatl

Somewhere upthread I posted the exact same scenario, where the other passenger tried to explain that 6D was the aisle and 6C the window. The other passenger was former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield. Yep, I was willing to pick this fight with a former championship fighter!

Fleck

In Ear Monitors. Stick them in your ears.

If anyone but an employee attempts to engage, one simply dismisses with a shoo-fly gesture of the hand and a grunt. The grunt should say,"move on." There need not be annoyance in your grunt. Grunt with no malice. An insulting grunt is not your goal. Practice in the mirror. Strive for a grunt that kills hope but no more.

KevinDTW

MSPeconomist

I suspect that people sitting in C+ on DL flights between LGA and DTW travel often by airplane and therefore are perfectly aware that A is a window seat. Those people knew perfectly well that they did not have an aisle seat and yet they deliberately tried to sit in your seat, hoping that you would allow them to stay there. Disgusting!

MW147

One was a young lady, probably in her mid 20s. My guess is that she did not know. But the other was a middle aged man wearing a shirt and tie. No doubt a frequent traveler. Oh yeah, he knew! But fortunately he also knew not to try and BS his way into keeping the seat. He moved pretty quickly.

MSPeconomist

When this happened to me, the poacher in my seat was assigned to something like 24E versus my 3C seat. He pretended to be confused.

Another time a poacher tired to grab my 7A on a 777 TPAC, knowing full well that it wasn't his 4C or something. It was not an innocent mistake, and then he had the audacity to insist that I was being unreasonable in making him move as all seats arrive at the same time.

captaink

That is perhaps the most grating excuse for trying to take someone's seat. I've only witnessed it on WN to date (in regard to boarding position), but it's arrogant nonetheless. Hearing "Oh, I don't think the order matters, we all get there at the same time" from a mom with two kids trying to weasel her way into A30-60 boarding would have sent me over if the GA didn't tell them to stand aside and wait for family boarding.

My response is usually "If it doesn't matter, why are you trying to weasel your way into a better seat?"

jrl767

yes, we know about both of those incidents too

Proudelitist

Does it really make the world a better place? Or does it contribute one more bit of self entitlement being rewarded? One more bad behavior encouraged.

As to good deeds coming back...lets not assume some magical universal providence that operates behind the scenes. That's superstitious talk. There is no evidence, nor is there any rational reason, nor any science, that points to on subjectively moral act influencing another unrelated one in the future. A guy can beat a child and win the lottery the next day. Another can save a child and die in agony in a car wreck. This isn't the movies, and invisible karmic justice isn't operating as a function of the universe.

Proudelitist

It's definitely flawed reasoning. The version I get is usually the short one: "It doesn't matter, the seats are all the same".

Sooo..if it doesn't matter..why did you poach someone else's seat? Clearly it matters to you.

One "gentleman" who used this line on me responded to that with "Don't give me back talk..". Like I was his teenaged kid instead of a 38 year old man at the time. The FA moved him to his middle and I had to put up with him muttering and elbowing me the whole flight.

But I enjoyed it. I really did. The knowledge that the poacher is steaming and uncomfortable is very very satisfying. I am not afraid of awkwardness, the evil eye or any of the discomfort people fear after a conflict

sethb

A couple of months ago, on a TATL flight (1-2-1), I was in 6B and my wife in 7C. We boarded, I turned to her and said "See you in $DESTINATION". The person in 7B then offered to switch with me; I accepted and thanked him.

ATOBTTR

Had a first. Flying with my wife today. We were upgraded via RUC a few days ago. We were initially upgraded to 1A and 1B (the only set of two together), but my wife hates bulkheads so I moved her to 3A and me to 2B. When I checked in last night, that's what we had. When we got to the gate and my wife pulled up her boarding pass via the Delta App, it showed 2A (and the machine spit out a receipt for 2A when she scanned her phone as she boarded.)

Wonder what happened. We didn't ask anyone to swap us. Did a GA notice we were traveling together and move the original occupant of 2A to 3A and put her beside me? Or perhaps 2A misconnected or switched to another flight and the GA saw 2A was open and moved her beside me? Odd that it happened without us even being asked or is inquiring about it.