spd476

I posted something about this in the C+ thread but this may be a better place. On one of my flights, there are no seats together on the seat map and the open ones are scattered around the plane. I'm travelling with my wife and 5 year old. I would buy C+ but they want $287 per person for an ATL-PUJ flight. I would gladly pay $287 total but not per person.

I'm trying to be proactive so I'm not that guy trying to get people to swap on the plane. Will Delta assign seats so at least one of us is with our son? Should I call them in case they are holding back seats? Should I pick the best remaining aisle and window seats to try to trade on the plane? Should I wait and see if people get upgraded freeing up seats? I have no status with Delta so I doubt we would get put in C+.

GatorBlues

Lighten up, Francis. I had already read your prior post about Karma being a silly superstition, and thus was making a joke. In case it wasn't obvious that the comment was in jest, I even added the winking smiley face. I'm surprised you can walk with the size of the chip on your shoulder.

flyerCO

Call now. It's easier for DL to do swaps in advance then day of. In this case a 5 yo needs a responsible parent next to them. No issue there.

DeltaDunce

+1 for the Stripes reference

You just made the list, buddy.

PTravel

Just my opinion:

Are you traveling for an emergency? If so, if Delta won't help you, then definitely ask other passengers to swap but be sure they know that it's an emergency. It's hard to imagine someone turning you down -- I wouldn't under such circumstances.

However, if you're not traveling for an emergency, book another flight, book another airline, book earlier next time, or pay the extra money. You can certainly call Delta to see if they can release adjacent seats for you, and my understanding is they hold back some seats for this purpose. However, just speaking for myself, I wouldn't switch. Others, no doubt, might feel differently.

fliesdelta

Yes, I agree with what you just said.

However, I'd hate to be thought of as a jerk.

PTravel

And THAT is why I almost never swap.

Not granting a favor doesn't make one a jerk. However, THINKING that someone is a jerk for not granting a favor tends to be the hallmark of jerk.

Paplover

If you are booking travel that is non-emergency but even two weeks out there is often nothing but middle seats available on some flights. Moving to another flight/airline might not be possible if you are starting or headed to/from a small airport with limited service. Short notice trips happen, please don't blame the traveler for issues that may be out of their control.

PTravel

Yes, so? Why does that mean that other passengers have to inconvenience themselves for you? I try to avoid middle seats like plague. If it's a discretionary flight and only middle seats are available, I book a different flight or airline.

Yes, so? Pay the extra fare for E+ or F. Book earlier. What does that have to do with other passengers?

None of what you've listed is beyond the traveler's control. If there is a non-emergency short term trip and you can't get seats together, then don't go (or drive or take the train). Modern commercial air travel means dealing with limited seat availability, equipment changes, delays and cancellations. Everyone has to deal with them. If you can't when traveling with your child, then don't travel with your child. I didn't take my first flight until I was 8 years old, more than old enough to sit by myself if necessary.

ALL of these problems are YOUR problems that result from your special need, which is to travel with your young child by air. These aren't my problems, and I simply don't care (unless, as I said, it's an emergency trip, in which case you'll have any and all assistance I can give you). Your special needs are no different than anyone else's. I will not share my seat with a COS (unless it's an emergency). I won't volunteer for a later flight (absent a generous VDB) so someone else can take my seat (unless it's an emergency). The expectation that your situation somehow entitles you to special consideration from strangers is, to put it charitably, unrealistic.

This is just my view. As I said, undoubtedly, there are others with a different view.

pvn

Cool story, literally nobody thinks you should be forced to move, glad we're all in agreement.

pgh234

Wow dude.

spd476

I agree that no one should be forced to move and I hate when people get upset when someone won't switch. I will generally swap for an equal seat. I would gladly pay for C+ if it was more reasonable. I paid $109 per seat for a ATL-LHR segment a couple of months ago, so the $287 per seat for about a three hour flight seems ridiculous. $287 total would be fine. The C+ section is mostly empty too.

I'll give Delta a call. If it comes down to it, I can offer to buy people drinks on the flight to switch.

Paplover

Which brings up the issue - how do you know what the other person's situation is? Do you start asking personal questions about their situation to determine if in your mind it is an emergency? What if you think not but others think it is? What about people with disability issues that might not be obvious? Do you require they share personal medical issues with you before you decide if you judge it sufficiently serious to grant their request? Yes, modern air travel can put people in unfortunate situations regarding seating with the irony that the most expensive fares (last minute) get the worst seats.

Clearly situations that are purely for convenience (healthy adults/teengers) warrant little consideration for changing seats and situations that are clearly due to significant issues (medical, emergency, etc.) should be accommodated. But there is a large grey area with issues not always obvious. What if they choose to travel with a 6 yo, you refuse to move and they put a very annoying, demanding 6 yo next to you? This is now your problem even it you say it is their issue for booking late and not getting adjacent seats.

IMHO, while we all have the right to not change seats for frivolous reasons (but may choose to anyway), there are situations where flexibility is the best option for all involved esp. in ambiguous cases, even if sometimes we end up "losing" in the seat exchange.

pvn

"I'll switch with you, but only if you provide a death certificate and your brat kid's birth certificate"

PTravel

I don't. My answer, generally, will be, "Sorry, no." That's why you should tell someone if you're flying in an emergency. The only time I've switched seats without asking was when a pax came on with an obvious disability (leg in a cast and on crutches). I was aisle, he was window. It was clear he couldn't easily manage with his leg in a cast, so I asked him if he would be more comfortable in the aisle seat. He gave me a big smile and a thank you and said yes. As I said, in an emergency I will always help. None emergency? Not my problem.


Nope. Not my problem.

I couldn't care less what others think. If THEY think it's an emergency and I don't, then they can switch.

It depends. I'll never switch to accommodate someone with an emotional support animal. I'll always switch to accommodate someone with a service dog.

Pretty much, yes. If you're going to impose on me, you should tell me why. If you just ask to switch, my answer is almost always, "Sorry, no," and the headphones go back on.

Yep. And almost all of my business is travel is last minute on expensive fares. And I never ask to switch.

First of all, I find that any parent who put a young child like that next to a stranger to be an incredibly negligent parent. Regards, I would make it clear to the FA that I was not going to be responsible for the child and, if the child looked like it was going to be a nuisance, I would treat the situation as I would any unruly and obnoxious pax, which is to say, I would make it the problem of the FA.

That's like the previous poster who stated, incorrectly, that I would be legally responsible for the child if it was sat next to me. I have another name for this: extortion, and I've seen it many times: "Okay, if you won't switch with me, then you'll have to change his diaper/take him to the bathroom/see that he's fed/entertain him." No, I won't. Your kid. Your responsibility.

NO. We all have the right to refuse a request to change seats for ANY reason or NO reason.

No, it is not best "for all involved." It's best for you, and only you, because you decided to fly with your young child and not pay better, or fly an airline with reserved seats, or make plans in case you lost seats, and you just assumed you could impose on any stranger. The best option for me is that you both sit somewhere else, or that you don't fly on that flight at all. It mystifies me that you would think otherwise. Why would you think I have any obligation at all to accommodate, to my detriment, the fact that you want to engage in discretionary air travel with your children?

Since I get to determine whether the basis for the request is compelling or not, there's absolutely nothing ambiguous about it. I help people who are truly in need. However, as I've said a number of times, I couldn't care less whether you are forced to take the next flight, or travel the next day, or not fly at all (unless there is what I consider an emergency that demands that you be on the plane).

Why in the world would you think it's appropriate for me to move to a lesser seat so that you could sit with your young child? Why should I end up "losing"?