Seat switch request: What would you have done?
Mar 4, 2011, 8:29 pm
#16
Join Date: Dec 2010
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 232
Only a 3 hour flight, and to me, Window/Aisle, I like either one. I would have moved, however, it is your friends right to stay if he wants to. As long as the seat request is somewhat comparable, I will move for most people. Good deeds usually get returned sometime later in life. If some one is wanting me to trade my Aisle or Window on a long haul 8-14 hours for a middle seat though, It would take the Captain of the plane to pry me out of my assigned seat.
Mar 4, 2011, 9:30 pm
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: ORD
Posts: 14,231
If I saw that it was a mother who clearly didn't speak much English, I would probably have switched.
If it were a mother who spoke English, I'd probably have asked if she wanted to switch.
If the mother approached me and announced imperiously that I had to switch so she could sit with her offspring, I would have told her to take a hike. Your reproductive choices are not my concern.
If it were a mother who spoke English, I'd probably have asked if she wanted to switch.
If the mother approached me and announced imperiously that I had to switch so she could sit with her offspring, I would have told her to take a hike. Your reproductive choices are not my concern.
Mar 4, 2011, 10:32 pm
#19
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Only polite to make the switch.. maybe there was a bit of a language barrier and your friend would have switched if he fully understood the full extent of the situation.
Mar 5, 2011, 12:34 am
#20
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: PDX
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[QUOTE=trooper;15976852A topic that currently fascinates me... because I personally do the whole door opening/helping with bags/holding umbrellas/helping with strollers etc thing routinely (and for anyone seemingly needing a hand.. not just the ladies).... and yet object to assumptions that such conduct "must" be forthcoming! 
In other words I do it because I want to... not because I have been "expected" to... there IS a difference...[/QUOTE]
+1^
My thoughts exactly.
In other words I do it because I want to... not because I have been "expected" to... there IS a difference...[/QUOTE]
+1^
My thoughts exactly.
Mar 5, 2011, 1:00 am
#21
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: SFO
Posts: 384
In these days of equality I am fascinated by the continued playing of the "if you were a gentleman" card....
So.. just curious... a gentleman should switch aisle for window... right?
How about aisle to middle?
Exit row for non-exit row?
How about J to Y?
If you answer NO to one or more of the above then just where is the line beyond which the demand is unreasonable and "gentlemanliness" does not require acceding to it?
A topic that currently fascinates me... because I personally do the whole door opening/helping with bags/holding umbrellas/helping with strollers etc thing routinely (and for anyone seemingly needing a hand.. not just the ladies).... and yet object to assumptions that such conduct "must" be forthcoming!
In other words I do it because I want to... not because I have been "expected" to... there IS a difference...
So.. just curious... a gentleman should switch aisle for window... right?
How about aisle to middle?
Exit row for non-exit row?
How about J to Y?
If you answer NO to one or more of the above then just where is the line beyond which the demand is unreasonable and "gentlemanliness" does not require acceding to it?
A topic that currently fascinates me... because I personally do the whole door opening/helping with bags/holding umbrellas/helping with strollers etc thing routinely (and for anyone seemingly needing a hand.. not just the ladies).... and yet object to assumptions that such conduct "must" be forthcoming!
In other words I do it because I want to... not because I have been "expected" to... there IS a difference...
Mar 5, 2011, 3:37 am
#22
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 413
I would told an FA that the mother could have my seat if i could go into business class
It was the airline's responsbility to seat families together. It's not other passengers responsibility. Families dont pay more than the rest of us so don't get more rights
I hate being guilted into things
It was the airline's responsbility to seat families together. It's not other passengers responsibility. Families dont pay more than the rest of us so don't get more rights
I hate being guilted into things
Mar 5, 2011, 7:53 am
#23
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 698
I would told an FA that the mother could have my seat if i could go into business class
It was the airline's responsbility to seat families together. It's not other passengers responsibility. Families dont pay more than the rest of us so don't get more rights
I hate being guilted into things
It was the airline's responsbility to seat families together. It's not other passengers responsibility. Families dont pay more than the rest of us so don't get more rights
I hate being guilted into things
Someone mentioned that they got no help with this from an FA. In that case, the FAs weren't doing their job. I can see how that might be a problem for the passenger wanting help changing seats, but I don't see why it should therefore become my problem.
Mar 5, 2011, 10:17 am
#25
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: MCO
Programs: UA Gold, AirBerlin Gold, Hilton Gold, Club Carlson Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 163
A friend who is an infrequent flyer recently traveled from Florida to Colorado for a weekend get-together. The plane was a 757 with three-seat rows in economy. He reserved an aisle seat.
When he took his seat, he noted that two little girls of Asian descent, perhaps 6 and 8, occupied the middle and window seats in his row. Sometime before takeoff, the older girl asked my friend if he would mind switching seats with their mother, who was seated a couple of rows back in a window seat on the other side of the plane.
He turned to the mother and said he'd agree to a switch only if she could engineer a three-way swap that would give him another aisle seat. He did not want to give up sitting on the aisle. There was no response.
Midway through the flight, he discerned that the mother did not have a firm grasp of English and probably had not understood his three-way swap offer. And although he was slightly irritated by the girls' frequent trips to the lavatory, he stayed in his aisle seat for the duration of the 3+-hour journey.
When asked, I told him I would have changed seats with the mother to unite her with her little children, and said I found his behavior to be insensitive at best.
How would other FTers have handled this situation?
When he took his seat, he noted that two little girls of Asian descent, perhaps 6 and 8, occupied the middle and window seats in his row. Sometime before takeoff, the older girl asked my friend if he would mind switching seats with their mother, who was seated a couple of rows back in a window seat on the other side of the plane.
He turned to the mother and said he'd agree to a switch only if she could engineer a three-way swap that would give him another aisle seat. He did not want to give up sitting on the aisle. There was no response.
Midway through the flight, he discerned that the mother did not have a firm grasp of English and probably had not understood his three-way swap offer. And although he was slightly irritated by the girls' frequent trips to the lavatory, he stayed in his aisle seat for the duration of the 3+-hour journey.
When asked, I told him I would have changed seats with the mother to unite her with her little children, and said I found his behavior to be insensitive at best.
How would other FTers have handled this situation?
Personally I would have switched. Letting a parent sit next to a pre-teenage child, is a good reason for me to switch; especially on a relatively short flight.
In my opinion your friend should not be irritated by the kid's trips to the bathroom. That is exactly what he gets by selecting and isle seat, regardless of whether it is two kids or adults who have frequent needs to go.
Mar 5, 2011, 11:53 am
#26
Join Date: May 2007
Location: ORD, DEL
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Posts: 6,185
For a 3 hour flight, and considering other details, I would have switched.
However, for a true long haul to Europe or Asia, I would gladly switch if offered a broadly equivalent seat ("front" "aisle" and "not too close to lavs" for me), but not otherwise.
However, for a true long haul to Europe or Asia, I would gladly switch if offered a broadly equivalent seat ("front" "aisle" and "not too close to lavs" for me), but not otherwise.
Mar 5, 2011, 12:24 pm
#27
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Join Date: Mar 2004
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I prefer window seats, so I would have switched from aisle to window, unless it was one of those window seats that doesn't have a window. If the switch was to a middle or a less preferable aisle, I would not. If the girls needed the lavatory a lot well, that's life -- if pax, regardless of age, have to go, they have to go and the passenger in the aisle seat needs to let them by. That's one of the reasons I prefer a window seat.
Mar 5, 2011, 12:55 pm
#28
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When small children are involved, and when the request is polite, yes.
Mar 5, 2011, 1:21 pm
#29
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: LAX
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Posts: 4,439
I would have switched just because it's the polite thing to do. For a three hour flight, I can sit next to a window, and little kids like to sit with their mom.
I actually did switch when asked, some years ago. Grandma and Grandpa had been murdered, and their son, daughter-in-law and pre-teen granddaughter was going to deal with the issue. All three had last-minute tickets and were all in middle seats.
The granddaughter was in tears. Mom asked, in general, not specifically to me, if anyone would switch so the kid could sit next to her mom. I volunteered, switching an aisle seat for a middle seat. It was just the right thing to do. So what if I spend a few hours in a middle seat? I'll survive, and the family will remember the kindness of a stranger.
Having said that... if I were a man I would absolutely have swapped with the mom in the OP. I would not have wanted to be in any kind of a situation where I might be suspected of any inappropriate touching or language with two little girls. If I were a man in that situation, I might have even talked to a FA to get some other seat, proactively looking out for my own best interests.
I actually did switch when asked, some years ago. Grandma and Grandpa had been murdered, and their son, daughter-in-law and pre-teen granddaughter was going to deal with the issue. All three had last-minute tickets and were all in middle seats.
The granddaughter was in tears. Mom asked, in general, not specifically to me, if anyone would switch so the kid could sit next to her mom. I volunteered, switching an aisle seat for a middle seat. It was just the right thing to do. So what if I spend a few hours in a middle seat? I'll survive, and the family will remember the kindness of a stranger.
Having said that... if I were a man I would absolutely have swapped with the mom in the OP. I would not have wanted to be in any kind of a situation where I might be suspected of any inappropriate touching or language with two little girls. If I were a man in that situation, I might have even talked to a FA to get some other seat, proactively looking out for my own best interests.
Mar 5, 2011, 1:51 pm
#30
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Because I travel with my two kids, i'd do it too
but I'm curious where do you guys come up with these rules that kids this age can't sit together?
my kids sat alone or away from me in the past at ages younger than 6 & 8; at least on AA thats not a policy that I've ever heard of
but I'm curious where do you guys come up with these rules that kids this age can't sit together?
my kids sat alone or away from me in the past at ages younger than 6 & 8; at least on AA thats not a policy that I've ever heard of