^

I've heard about seat-jackers on buses but not planes before.

I took a chartered Virgin Blue flight last month. All of the passengers were booked on the same cruise ship out of Cairns. He and his wife were randomly assigned a middle and window seat. Since there were no "status" issues, it truly was a random thing-- nobody was more entitled than anyone else.

When my wife & I boarded, he was sitting on the aisle in one of our assigned seats. When I showed him my boarding pass, he huffed and puffed about how he had requested an aisle seat. He couldn't stop complaining... to us, to the FAs, to the other passengers. I had my wife sit next to him because I knew I couldn't put up with hearing it. He complained for 20 solid minutes until the FA offered to sit him up front. Maybe he was claustrophobic or something, but I've never seen such a display of entitlement in my life.

I know that situation well. A couple of years ago, my wife and I were flying to BVI. On the DFW-SJU segment, we sat in exit row aisles across from each other in a AA757. There was an older couple in the middles next to us. Once the woman figured out that we were a couple, she "volunteered" to switch to my wife's aisle seat. I politely said "no thank you, we asked for these seats", she glared at me and started to rave about how she had booked this flight months ago, and that it was wrong and unfair of the airline to assign her to a middle seat. I reminded her that she should have requested an aisle, which only infuriated her more. Then she started to mumble that I should have the courtesy to "give up a better seat to a poor old lady". I ignored her, and soon she used the blanket as a burqua for the rest of the flight.

Hard to believe that people are too stupid to ask for decent seats.

Airlines have these level thingys you attain after flying so many miles. For example I am Diamond on Delta and he is Gold. Which means I get my upgrade 3 days before him and I can therefore choose my first class seat before he can.

Sorry to be a smart a$$ but seriously?

Saw a good one yesterday flying AA from DFW to ORD.

A woman had befriended a male passenger and upon boarding plopped down into the window seat next to him. When the person who had a boarding pass showed up and said "you're in my seat" the women threw a fit and then said "I don't have my BP they took it at the gate now I don't know what seat I'm in." Well, I boarded right behind her and watched the GA scan her BP and hand it back to her.

So, she proceeds to stand in the middle of the aisle with a scowl on her face sort of pouting. A FA checked the manifest and pointed her to her correct seat somewhere behind us and she crawled on back.
As soon as the seat belt sign went off she then came forward and crouched in the aisle chatting up her new friend for most of the flight.

Oh boy, I think there are more of us in this group. I just had a Eureka moment myself here too. I have "my" seat on each of the aircraft types ...