uppereastsider

Since the other thread has been locked for over 2 years... thought it'd be nice to have a thread about positive seat swap experiences.

Was flying on CDG-JFK in C+ when a man from the front came over and asked "I'd like to sit next to my wife, would you like to swap with me - I'm in first class"

I immediately jumped and said YES! I've heard and seen horror stories with seat swapping, but the first time I experience it, it happened to be on the positive end of it. The FAs in D1 all said they've never seen that happen before

JTE458

That's crazy. The only swap in this situation would've been my wife taking my D1 seat and me being "happy" about it!

3furballs

Once, flying with miss furball who was like 4 at the time we somehow got separated with her a row or two behind me (so I was like 10A and she was 12C). I asked the guy who would have been sitting next to her if he’d like my C+ seat, no issue with that switch. (I suspect some well meaning airline employee separated us so I got upgraded, without realizing that my companion was 4)

ryw

When I was in college I was on a red eye flight from the west to east coast, seated in an aisle seat near the back of the plane. I’m on the shorter side, and a rather tall gentleman in the same row who had the window seat asked if I wanted to trade. Worked out well - he got a little extra leg space and I was able to sleep with my head on the wall without being disturbed by someone wanting to get up to use the restroom.

gregsfortytwo

I was in an exit row seat on an AF flight from Bangalore when a woman asked if I’d swap with her husband, and he’s in Premium Economy. I actually don’t like their PE much because of how the seats slide and there isn’t much leg room so I wasn’t sure, but I decided it was probably neutral for me and would make them happy so I said yes. Then when he took me forward it was a bulkhead PE seat that had plenty of leg space! Unmitigated win for me. ��

Bogwoppit

I offered my, paid for, exit row seat to the middle seat dude who was sitting next to my young daughter. He looked a bit doubtful, until he saw the legroom. Always nice to offer something nice.

tville

Family in C+ via reward ticket from ATL to SEA. Due to company policy I had to book regular coach ticket. They have a middle seat between them and I'm assigned aisle on exit row- I would hope person stuck in middle seat for 5 hours would prefer non-C+ aisle on exit row. We will see.

FC flyer

Had a flight where we asked a gentleman to change seats so we could sit together. He was grumpy about it (told him it was ok to say no) but he switched. After the flight, he thanked us. He made a good business contact with his new seatmate.

Tine Rod

Boarded a flight in C+ to find my aisle Seat on the right occupied by a young lady. In that row a gentleman holding a rather large dog and a kid. She said she was left aisle and if I wouldn’t mind sitting there.

Usually I would be miffed by the preemptive poach but , I’m not a fan of dogs, especially other people’s dogs, and especially sat next to me on a plane. Additionally, I prefer left aisle as my right hand has more freedom of movement. And the big plus, window and middle went unoccupied!

MSPeconomist

Excuse me, but why would you pay extra for an exit row seat when you're traveling with your daughter? Unless "young" means 15+, DL forbids you to sit in an exit row in this case (even with separate PNRs).

ATOBTTR

Maybe, maybe not. Keep in mind C+ comes with free booze and a better snack basket and 2 drink services on a route like ATL-SEA is pretty standard. So I’d say that may be a toss-up.

Zorak

Are you possibly conflating two things? I know 14 and under can't sit in the exit row. I also know children 5-14 must be in the same cabin as an accompanying adult else be booked as unaccompanied minor. But I was unaware that merely traveling in the same cabin with someone 14 and under prevented the adult from sitting in the exit row. It's not one of the prohibitions listed here:

https://pro.delta.com/content/agency...tion.html#exit

Gig103

I'd politely decline the trade too. If I found myself between a kid and a parent, I'd hold out for one of their seats already in C+ so I could keep the legroom (like if mom offered me the aisle to sit with the kid). And if I'm going to stay in the middle, at least young kid on one side of me won't feel as claustrophobic. The other thing is that the fixed-armrests in the exit row are a dealbreaker for many people.

Bogwoppit

A little convoluted, but here you go.

We reserved seats ahead of time, we had boarding passes in hand for seats together, not in an exit row.

But when we got to the airport the next day there was an equipment change and we were scattered all over the cabin. No amount of persuading would get the agent to reseat us together.

I managed to convince the agent to give me an exit row seat, considering it's value in the onboard trading game, I was told was now my problem, if I wanted to sit with my child.

So holding the boarding card for this very decent seat I boarded with my child and began my offer of a better seat to sit next to my child.

I did manage to get a refund of the seat fees later, but this is one of those times when, as a parent, I did all the right things to make sure my family was seated together, only to be knocked down by basic airline shenanigans.

As I said, convoluted. But I did make one guy very happy.

SDQBound

I've done this type of swaps a few times on a relatively short flight (JFK-SDQ) where I don't mind to sit in C+ with my spouse. Usually FAs are nice when they see me giving up my seat upfront so they make sure my glass is always filled up.