Sydfly

I am potentially in a bad situation because I'm flying with Mrs. Sydfly on LH and I am booked in C but it doesn't look too promising for her upgrade from Y to C to clear (MUC-SFO) as the flight is heavily booked and she only uses a paper SWU at the gate. For the sake of maintaining peace within the family I would like her to sit in C and swap the seats with me. I don't see why there should be a problem but then again this is LH and they might have their own rules which prohibit anyone from swapping seats with someone in a different cabin. Does anyone know whether this is possible? And if so, do we just tell the purser on board of our intention or would we have to do this at the gate once it becomes clear that the upgrade will not clear?

marcydarcy

i don't know the rules but i've done it once on a flight JFK-FRA beeing in the same situation as you're now. i had no problems - maybe it depends on the crew...

divjan

I have done it twice on LH JFK-MUC and FRA-JFK routes and I had no problems though the best way would be to approach the pursuer onboard and ask them politely...I have actually gone from F class to Y for my mother on these trips...the most interesting part(on the JFK-MUC flight) was that the stewardess from first class cabin came to see me in Y(i had a bulkhead seat) and offered to bring me full first class breakfast on the tray...she did two rounds of serving....I gladly accepted it though I did get many weird looks from the people around me..........
Again you never know what to expect from LH staff but certainly they can go out of their way to assist you....
AD

totti

I don't see why this should be a problem. I'd ask the purser but I wouldn't ask the gate agent for this.

LHWolf

Just swap the seats in the plane and tell the crew that you did it.
It’s very much straight forward.
I have made the same experience as the others:
Mrs. LHWolf (what a name!) in F got comments like: “You have a very generous husband. Please enjoy our excellent service here” (whilst I enjoyed narrow Y).

jplenny

Speaking from personal experiance, I had something like this happen about 6 months ago on a Frankfurt to Dubai flight. I was in coach and the flight was not full. A gentleman in C decided to sit next to his traveling companion and the seat next to his companion was open.

He offered his C seat to me, since he wasn't going to use it. We spoke with the purser and it was no problem. He even kept the ticket stub, wanting to make sure he would get the mileage credit.

CBBG

I will swap seats with my father later in November on NRT-FRA (I am booked in O and he is booked in X). Since our last names are the same and since we are both male is it still necessary to ask at all? Do they check the paxes age?

Sydfly

Thank you everyone that was very helpful. I hope we will both be able to sit in C but at least I've got a plan B now ... although I will probably re-think this smiley once I realise that I sit in Y in a normal row (because MrsSydfly doesn't have SEN status and probably won't get an exit row in advance) ah well, things you do for love

totti

At least you can call SEN hotline 24h before departure and check in for both of you. Doing this you should have the possibility to get her an exit row seat. But I hope everything works out for you and your wife and you can use your SUW's.

Cheers
totti

LHWolf

Be more positive! It’s possible.
In the same situation (me in C, my wife in Y), I called the SEN Service, and got for my wife the -blocked- emergency exit seat months in advance.

Sometimes it is still of value to be a second class client of LH.

Oldthinker

I am planning to swap with Oldthinker the Junior. If everything goes as planned, Mrs Oldthinker and I will have award tickets in F and he will be travelling on a paid ticket in Y, possibly upgraded to business. Would you recommend telling the crew that we have swapped (and running the risk of being asked to swap back) or keeping quiet about this (and running the risk of being found out)?

Sydfly

Thanks, totti, , I will, of course, give it a try. However, on all my recent trips in LH Y I could never get the exit row over the phone by calling the SEN hotline e.g. 32 A/K on the 747. They always insisted that they only allocate those at check-in. So, I always drove to the airport to check-in the night before. But this time we won't be anywhere near an airport 24 hours before the flight. I'm wondering whether I always had misinformed agents when I called...

bnebased

I thought a LH SEN could do so. As a UA 1P I have failed by phone, but sometimes lucked out at the airport. My problem is starting in Australia I am nowhere near an airport with real LH staff. By the time I get to LAX or SFO the exit rows tend to gone Same when I am coming back from the UK. Too late by the time I get to something like EDI or BHX (even there the BD staff tell me to wait till FRA or MUC). Any suggestions?

totti

It looks like you always had the wrong agents. I never had any problems doing this. But our fellow FTer weero reported form problems with LH cc agents down under as well IIRC. So you should try to call Kassel next time. It's the best LH CC I am aware of, IMHO.

Cheers
totti

LHWolf

My experience (several times) is, that there is no problem at all to swap seats (why should it be?). For the crew it is the same. Just inform them.
I do not see any reason why they should swap you back.