How to get someone to swap seats, in Business on long haul?
 

hey all

I'm travelling to the UK today with my recently pregnant wife, who is afraid to fly.
We just upgraded to business but I don't think we will have seats together. I wondered if anyone could offer me some advice on how is the best way to ask someone if they would swap seats with me.
I think it'll be an aisle seat to swap with the middle of 3, all in business.

I thought I could get $100 cash out of the atm and offer that, and of course ask really nicely. I don't want to give anyone a sob story, but the reality is she is really afraid to fly and we've always been together, which helps her a lot.

any advice would be greatly appreciated.
thanks so much

ask nicely and point at your pregnant wife. that works almost every time.

The opposite to ask nicely is to make it look like your wife has a severe case of morning sickness and is about to barf (repeatedly)...you will find the would-be-neighbor to be very happy to swap! :p :D

You worry too much!

Have you tried this before?

Asking nicely does go a long way. People are usually nice enough to accommodate. If one person doesn't, be flexible and ask another person. And start by offering to take the worse seat, i.e., offer to sit further back (move your wife or yourself so that you both are in the back).

haha she's only 6 weeks pregnant so no bump, otherwise that's a great idea :p

Normally she gets drunk but obviously that's not an option. yeah, her freaking out is making me a little bit stressed out! :)

Yes... although I usually talk to the gate agent to see if they can do anything. Many times Ive seen them call the admirals club to talk to EXPs to see if they will switch.

Most people are nice and will switch.... plus many people have a resistance to look like a jack*** when someone requests this type of change.

Couple months ago, I saw my former CEO move back 8 rows to a middle seat in coach... slumming it with the rest of us plebians. Someone requested he move and he reluctantly did.

If I were to ask for a seat change, under the circumstances provided, it seems more logical to play up the scared flyer card than the (not yet visibly) pregnant card IMO.

Ok, thanks for the replies everyone. I appreciate the info. I'm going to ask really nicely and offer the incentive, it's not like an aisle seat in business buys you much anyway. If all fails, it is what it is.
thanks so much :)

Oh, and I'll be in the admirals club before so will go see if they can do anything about it. hopefully I'll befriend a fellow traveller in advance, buy them a beer and we can do the swap :)

What makes you think the check-in staff will not seat you together?

As I often travel solo, I am frequently asked to change seats. I often do unless the seat offered is an awful one in economy.

I don't mind if the Gate Agent makes the request.

It pays to be civil and smile a great deal when trying to work this out.

A cash bribe would be an insult to me. I'm willing to play fair for free.

I only see two available seats in there, so I assumed that everyone else has theirs assigned.

Ok, well, I guess I won't offer the incentive then, I don't want to insult anyone!

When I travel alone, I'm frequently asked by flight attendants if I'd consider moving from one biz seat to another to reunite couples. Seems to happen with some regularity to or from Japan. The FA will ask, point to the (typically) elderly Japanese man sitting a few rows ahead or back and then to the very grateful (typically) elderly Japanese woman sitting beside me.

While I'm certain that some people would say no, I have no reason to decline their reasonable request.

That said, it looks to me like the FAs are frequently willing to help arrange the move, so I recommend asking them once you board.

Try to get any aisle seats or even window seats to exchange middle seats.
I think OP has a good chance to get at least one.

You can ask the Admirals Club staff to try paging folks on your flight to see if they will switch.

Ok, awesome. thank you everyone!