Proudelitist

Then why should I have to solve it for someone by giving up my seat?

Proudelitist

I didn't say otherwise.

And Ma Kettle is unlikely to be able to offer me a refund on the seat assignment fee. Unless she gives me 100 dollars out of her wallet...actually, 200 for the trouble. In that case, I may make out better than with the airline. She should also gift me points..but if she knew about points in the first place she wouldn't be panhandling my seat from me.

Fact is though, if an airline rep asks me to move, I am more obligated to do it and they will play by the rules whereas Ma Kettle simply covets and either begs or demands. So I still say, if you really want to force someone out of their paid for seat, get an airline rep to do it. Don't approach another pax yourself.

Segments

pvn

literally not one person has said that you should have to solve it for them or give up your seat. Not a single one.

evergrn

I usually fly in coach, but I too have had people give me attitude (sometimes not from the person whose request I declined, but rather from some bystander). Unlike you, I probably agree to a swap more often that I decline. The only thing I ever gain from a seat swap, though, is that I'm avoiding confrontation or bad taste in my mouth.


The problem with saying no to the above example is that, had Lrtalk given the second reason to say no the second time, he/she would've come across as being difficult, FA might've taken notice and perhaps affecting the subsequent on-board service, and it might've led to an uncomfortable vibe (or at least the perception of) for the entire flight.


If you're the one asking, sure you've got nothing to lose. If you're the one being asked, you've got nothing to gain and potentially something to lose (even if it's something that may seem trivial to the person asking).
I've had aisle for aisle swap result in going from sitting next to a scrawy kid to a broad-shouldered person doing the manspread thing with legs the whole flight.
I'm a bit of a germaphobe and do the wipedown of my traytable etc while sometimes weathering odd stares from others... have to do it all over again if a seat swap occurs.
In the above Lrtalk example, you're talking about possibility of pasta rather than steak.
You're slowing the boarding process. I've gotta move my stuff in the overhead bin.
I don't like to say no, because I guess I'm sensitive and don't feel comfortable dealing with after-effects of saying no. If I feel there's an obviously justifiable reason to decline (like aisle for non-aisle or go 20 rows back), then I don't feel bad about declining. Otherwise, I will agree to it reluctantly. And then sometimes it works out completely fine. Other times there turns out to be a little something that make me wish I was back in my original seat.

When folks ask to swap seats, I just wish they recognize all these factors. But the reality is, most don't. And that sort of ticks me off and makes me wish the airlines would start banning seat swaps altogether. I know that's not going to happen, but I just think seat swaps lead to so many problems because different human beings have different dispositions, different take on things. The simplest solution to avoid problems is to make people sit where they're assigned.

TheHorta

Tell them you're just getting over the flu and you wouldn't want your worst enemy to sit anywhere near you, or where you've sat or touched, but you'd be happy to switch if they want to risk it.

ESPECIALROB

Perhaps a better solution would be to buy a few surgical-type masks from a medical supply store, and wear one on your plane. I'm certain there would be very few people that would ask you to change seats after seeing you wearing the surgical mask!

flyerCO

FA hears that and next thing you're being taken off the plane and told to get medical clearance before traveling.

dalehill

I pretty much hate this story, but I'll tell it anyway because why not? Is there anything more to say about seat swapping that hasn't already been said?

Years ago, circa 1991, when Northwest Airlines was a thing, as I'd done many times before, I made summer vacation reservations for seats months in advance for my family. That year my family included an 18-month-old for whom I'd purchased a seat, plus a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old and my spouse. Fast forward. NW decides we don't need those seats after all and splatters the 5 of us all over coach, nobody is sitting next to anybody. I phone NW and am told it is what it is and to confer with the gate agent about this, which I do. The GA, clearly feeling she has better things to do than deal with my petty problems, shrugs and tells me to take it up with the FA on board and dismisses me.

We have no status with the airline and the plane is filling up quickly by the time we board. The 2 FA's greeting us onboard are unmoved and not inclined to get involved. This problem is not theirs. The FA spokesperson says I should go back to where our seats are and ask around to see if some other passengers might be willing to swap seats.

She wants me to make a problem her airline created some other passenger's problem. I am holding a large, 18-month-old toddler in my arms, and this normally well-behaved child is now squirming because she has been a babe in arms for far too long. I say to the FA that I am not going to do that, and that my kids will sit in the seats that NW arbitrarily assigned to them and whatever unfortunate soul ends up stuck next to them is going to be that passenger's problem and woe to whoever gets stuck next to the 18-month-old. Panic ensued, and like magic, my daughter and I were seated together. The boys were still on their own, but by that time, they understood how to behave on a plane and there was no trouble. I think my spouse maybe sort of was okay with that arrangement (LOL), but we never, ever, flew NW again. The next year we bought a Ford Club Wagon and drove that trip for the next 10 years. So I thank NW for being the catalyst for forcing extended quality time on my young family. We have many fond (and some not so fond but still valuable) memories of those long road trips to the Midwest from California.

hotturnip

I'm not married, so maybe I just don't get it. But it seems bizarre to me, too. You see each other every day--don't you want a vacation for a few hours?

I was on a WN flight from LAS once. A young woman was in the middle seat next to me. A young man asked me to move so he could be next to her. I said, "Sure, if it's another aisle seat." Nope. Middle. I told him if he could find an aisle, I'd move. He just looked longingly at her during the first part of the flight, then came up and said he'd found an aisle. "Sure," I said. Turns out it was an aisle next to a POS. And I mean SIZE. Probably 6-4 and 300 lbs. But I have to say--he was a super-polite seat-neighbor. He kept himself as contracted as possible, with his arms on his stomach. I don't know how he did it for so long--I'd have gotten cramps. I was really appreciative of his self-awareness, and thought of how uncomfortable it must be for him squashed into that middle seat.

ATOBTTR

pvn

"I don't want X so it's insane that anyone else would want X"

give me a break

flyerCO

Not everyone gets to see their loved one everyday. Sometimes the plane is the only place I get to meet up with loved ones/friends due to work travel schedule. Labor Day weekend I got to see my mother for three whole days for first time in two months. We booked on same flight out of town we meet up in, in order to have a few more hours together. I've done a SDC to get on flight husband was flying, not having seen him in a month. Etc, etc...

TheHorta

flyerCO

Neither of you made a comment about being "so sick wouldn't want worst enemy to come in contact with anything I've touched."

There's a liability difference between them hearing you say, and thus knowing, and you coughing and them not knowing.