Agree 10C, whether he used up his goodwill or not in the earlier argument, would have been justified in demanding his sitting in the seat for which he paid.
When airlines started charging for seat assignments within the same 'cabin' like this, they opened a can of worms, and they need to deal with the attendant consequences.

If Delta is going to offer basic economy, the full-paying customer should never bear the burden. This goes for people flying with kids with basic economy. Delta should find a solution that benefits whoever moves or that is an equal move for that person. It isn't a full paying passenger's obligation to "be nice" to the parent. Delta created the problem with its offerings and should fix the problem, not the passenger. Even if the passenger was being unreasonable about another issue.

seat squatters
 

Simple problem to solve. Tell them they have to move back to their assigned seats. If they refuse remove them from the flight, place on the no fly list, and sue them civilly for any additional delays. About time the airlines developed a spine.

10C paid for C+, and was seated in C+. Seat changes happen all the time due to various issues, especially in row 10.
Now the fact that this was due to seat squatting means something. But not even sure if 10C knew they were squatters or if he just figured a family needed to be accommodated.

It doesn't matter that he got the same class, it is the fact that he didn't get the seat he paid for (or something equivalent in comfort). People understand that they may get moved for unusual circumstances, but nobody should be moved to a worse seat to accommodate two people who weren't willing to be pay to be seated together in the first place.

I am particularly sensitive about this after another airline gave away my premium seat when I had to go to the back to find overhead space, and wouldn't address it because they wanted to take off. I expect better from Delta. It's pretty simple - people should be required to sit in their assigned seat unless another passenger agrees to swap (without undue awkward social pressure from the crew, which I have also seen and isn't a good way to treat customers).

He knew they were squatters they showed him their tickets 3 in total (33A, 33B and INF) they tried to just show him the INF one only at first but he was smart enough to know what INF stood for and said that was for the baby.

If a jerk, provided he didn't break any rules, paid for a certain seat, the jerk should get that seat.

If this were a CLT-ATL flight, I'd tolerate it. But JFK-SDQ? No way.

Nothing gets me more annoyed than these seat poacher posts - the customer should have just stood in the aisle and refused to move until these poachers were sent back to their original seats. If he agreed to sit in the middle, at that point they only had themselves to blame - and insisting they have overhead space reserved for Y+ if that is a feature of the product, does not make them a DYKWIA - in fact, the crew should have asked everyone in the Y+ cabin to confirm their bags, and just pulled down the ones not identified and gate checked all of them.

I can't speak for the OP, but honestly if I was in 10A, I would have started screaming at them to get out. This crap really kicks off my temper.

:rolleyes:
why on earth would you insert yourself into someone else's argument about a third party occupying their seat(s)? once you start down that road, you're equally -- if not more -- likely to be asked to deplane along with them

and just sayin' ... that would probably get you more annoyed than these posts

I only fly with carry-on (= if I can't make this work I won't fly). After reading this thread, especially for INTERNATIONAL flights, I'd now consider checking a "throw-a-away" bag which contains only "my lucky paper-clip", if I'm in the predicament noted in this tread, if I'm not seated in my purchased cabin (especially if a seat thief is occupying my seat), I can always say "I'm not flying" causing DL to retrieve my checked luggage, guaranteeing a flight delay.:rolleyes::p:mad:--some or all of these.
On an AA flight from JFK ro CDG several years ago a woman (who wanted to sit in a bulkhead Y seat) feined that she felt ill and needed extra leg room, when a FA heard this, EMT personell were called to check her health--90 minutes later after threats of deplaning the woman permenantly--she was allowed to reboard (to join her husband and son) to a round of BOOS--AA had no qualms of delaying the flight.:confused: [PS: on the PA the FAs kept pax informed of the soap opera in progress.]

Because I don't like to see someone getting short changed by the unacceptable behavior of others - and I've injected myself into disputes before over the years, all without being asked to deplane. I've had at least a dozen first class poachers identified to the crew and thrown out over the years. There is right and wrong, and these seat poachers need to be thrown off the flight, not asked to take their original seats.

my reaction was more about "start screaming at them" ... I agree that it's a PITA to see it happening uncontested, but how far does one push when the FA is unwilling to engage and resolve the issue properly?

I was unaware there was a domestic/international distinction in pulling bags from planes when someone doesn't board or gets offloaded.

So if it were a domestic flight and he were offloaded would there be a good chance his bag flies without him, but if it's an international flight they CAN'T fly your bag without you? And is that only a rule for international flights from USA? It would be good to know this stuff in case I'm ever in that situation of daring a flight attendant to offload me from a domestic or international flight because I stand up to a poacher.

Thanks.

Depends on the circumstances, but my context was my sitting in the row in question, beside them, and would have no qualms yelling "Get out!" right at them, but if I was sitting somewhere else, I would not be yelling from a distance. When getting first class poachers evicted, I just pointed them out to the FA, not getting directly involved, and not one was allowed to remain. I've had poachers in my own seat a couple times over the years where I had to yell "get out!" when they ignored the FA, and that seemed to do the trick, and on one occasion I had someone try to sit in an extra/empty seat that I paid for, so I quickly slid over and physically blocked them from getting into the row. I just don't accept this kind of nonsense.

I also don't doubt that FA's can be swayed in their decisions by the chants of the peanut gallery.