The next time you are asked to trade you might want to ask way first....
 

At least the Gentlemans on our flight from Hong Kong had the guts to admit that maybe accepting my offer wasn't such a bad idea after all.

My mom, who does not fly well and I were spilt up after OLCI even though we were on the same booking. Mom in the middle seat 9 rows in front of me in an aisle. Knowing how bad she is and expecting turbulance over the Gorbi I asked the chap next to her to trade my aisle for his. Couldn't do it the other way around because I had a couple sitting next to me. Well the chap refused. About an hour into the flight guess who came down the aisle and asked to trade? He admited he had not believed me but seeing how stressed my mom was he thought it would be wiser to trade after all.

Ha have you flown on a domestic AA flight lately? Those FA's are SCARY!

I wouldn't be surprised is someone reported behavior like that, the crew would at best boot him, at worst boot him and have the police waiting in the jetway.

People people... No reason to defend your denial. A simple "No thanks" should suffice.

As a matter of fact I am no longer answering people anymore. As soon as someone mentions switching seats, without giving a chance to hear their reasoning, the headphones go back on and I don't say a word.

I agree. There's absolutely no need to argue or defend your position.

No need to be rude either. :td:

^
As soon as you do you are opening up the opportunity for them to negotiate with you. Personally I think a firm "no" is enough, you've acknowledged that you've heard them and given a response.

Who is being rude? Have you not witnessed the outrageous sense of entitlement people have these days?

I haven't had one person ask to swap seats and then be OK with me saying no. Just look at this thread. They should just say "Move, I want your seat" since that is obviously what they are thinking. After I told one guy no he said "well I hope you don't mind if my GF pukes on you", I said "of course I don't mind". I mean seriously, was that comment supposed to make me go "OH WELL in that case!".

Or the FA whom asked me to switch because one guy specifically wanted my seat so a separate party (family) could sit together and he won't sit in a middle... uhhh ... is this a three way kidney transplant? No! Then to sit there and stare as if time will change my mind....

Or the guy walking through FC - "$300 for any one of your seats" - no one responds to him (talking to someone else) "I guess no one needs 300, weird"..

Even if I was separated from my family, I would never ask someone to switch. It is rude. My problem isn't no one elses problem.

I was on a Southwest flight, and the FA asked if I'd switch to a little kid could sit next to her mom. Sure. Then I was asked to switch again (I forget what reason). And thus I end up in the middle between 2 large guys. Pretty miserable.

They knew you were an easy mark by that point http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...ile_tongue.gif

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished!

Well, just because people might be rude later doesn't mean you should start by completely ignore them ... in my view anyway. However given your stories there, it is rather forgivable! I am sorry your travelling experience is so bad. :(

At least he's offering to pay! The airlines often sell upgrades for less than this.

On a LCC where you pay $20 to get n aisle seat I was asked by. Middle seat mother if I would swap with her adult daughter ...when I told her it cost me $20, her counter was " OK, so you paid because you can afford it, but we cannot but would you just swap?" I politely declined.

This February; DL flight from DTW-ICN; I was in my preferred exit row seat on one of the pre-merger NW 747s (the row with only 2 seats port and starboard at the door). Just before takeoff, an enormous person (maybe 7 feet tall and >350 pounds) plops down in the seat next to me. He cannot fit in one seat, and spilled over well into mine. Since the FA jumpseat is right in front of me, the FA could see that I was struggling to give my seatmate enough room. The male FA comes over and says that I have to move since it wasn't safe for me to be such conditions (he did have to give a seatbelt extended to my seatmate). I said that he should move, not me. The FA said that I could fit into a normal (i.e., middle) seat whereas he could not. I got moved to a middle seat (actually second in of the four) near the rear for the flight. Hippo got no one beside him in an exit row. I complained to DL, but was told that I was moved for my own safety and that seats could be re-assigned by the FA. Not a fun 13 hour flight!

Maybe it is just the places I am sent to LOL!!