I believe your actions were correct. I usually specifically request the seat I want and do so for a particular reason (aisles for ingress/egress - windows for when I know I will be exhausted and just want to sleep with something to lean on). If someone is sitting in my seat, I ask them to move. On one or two ocassions, I have gotten a load of lip from the seat purloiner and have had to get an FA to move them. I felt no remorse in doing so.

With that being said, I have gladly accomodated requests from folks who want to sit together if the request was reasonable and it was asked for nicely.

Here's another way to consider it. Would you do the same thing at the theatre or a sporting event? Granted it's a slightly different example but you did pay for and pick the seat right?

The correct procedure should really be to go to your assigned seat, wait for them to start to close the doors, then move to an available seat. (There's sometime a slim window with this).

Jeff

The flight was a very light flight (read plenty of open seats).
But two items:
First I board with the medallions and usually do not pay attention to how many people are in the waiting are (SLC is always packed) so at the time I did not know how many people were coming.
Second its all about approach...If he would have been polite about it I would have given him the seat. It's that first impression of rudeness that makes me set in my ways and once there I would not have backed down for any reason..unless a FA got involved and found me in the wrong.

I've given my seat up plenty of times and do so gladly if the person is polite...that's all I ask.
annerj

And sorry about the Topic...It is not very well suited for the topic.



annerj

Though I have often given up a seat to help someone, or taken another seat when mine was taken.... all bets are off if the poacher has an attitude. Once he decides he is the King of @ssholes, then I will stand my ground.

Each situation is different. As discussed on another thread, if the POACHER is one of the worthless Air Marshalls taking my seat, then I get really mad. But, that is another story.

Something tells me annerj and I would get along fine in dealing with interlopers.

JWHITE hit the nail on the head. I've taken my assigned seat and then only after the door has closed I have felt fine to move to another seat.

The poacher in this example is a bully, you did the right thing.

The MCO/PBI flight friday morning 3/19 was another example of the door closing and then everyone moving to an empty row of seats.

Makes sense if the plane is wide open.

RC

I like when couples play the "We are on our honeymoon" card.

One time a woman asked if I would mind switching seats with her husband so they could sit together. It was their "honeymoon." I said sure and asked where he was. Her reply was "somewhere near the back." I nearly choked and instead said no. I wasn't going to give up my FC seat and move to the back of the plane. I told her if she could find anyone else in FC willing to move back, I would take their seat and her husband could then have mine. She didn't ask any other pax but when the FA came around, the woman spoke up. The FA sided with me and said the coach section was fairly open and the woman could move back there to sit with her husband. The woman refused and stayed in FC by herself the entire flight. I found it interesting to learn that she ranked her FC seat on DL higher than sitting next to her husband on their "honeymoon."

I think it's pretty amazing that anytime a couple/family wants to sit together, they always seem to need to have to move forward. I've read other posts where maybe the mother is in a bulkhead seat right behind FC, and they ask 1 or 2 people to move, so their spouse/family that's typically in next to the last row of the plane can sit with them. I always think, "If you really want people to move, you'll have a much better chance of staying in the back, and asking others to move forward." Doesn't seem to happen too much though.

Jeff

She had the gall to ask you to move to Y from F? That absolutely blows me away. I can't imagine that anybody would accept that arrangement. Her husband would have to be on the verge of death or stricken with some horrendous disease for me to even think of swapping with him.

I agree. It amazes me how many times people put others in a very sticky situation by making outrageous seat changing requests. It is very difficult to refuse because you don't want to be the "bad guy" in front of a plane full of passengers. I've even seen some parents send their "cute" kids in to do the dirty work. Who wants to be the monster that wouldn't let little Suzy sit in the aisle with her parents during the flight?

I agree with most here-I ask for my assigned seat, though if I'm in C or F, i usually just tell the FA that there seems to be someone in my seat, and let him/her handle the eviction.

Of course, if someone asks me to switch to a comparable seat to allow folks to sit together, I usually do it. Why not?