wandering_persian

I look so serious - borderline scary onboard when flying coach that noone dare asking me to switch.

theddo

Buying a C ticket after boarding can't be cheap. I think I prefer your idea. It would also make people poaching Y+ easier to punish.

ladiflier

I had an opportunity to be on the upside of a switch. Flying SJU-JFK on Delta, I had the bulkhead extra leg room aisle seat. My son was about 4 rows back aisle seat. He is a teen and fine sitting by himself. As the flight is closing up, last minute a young girl about 18 maybe gets on and they tell her to take any seat and picks the middle next to me. Oh well, win for her with extra leg room but she didn't seem to speak much English and didn't seem to care one way or another. Meanwhile I can see into First and there is a commotion by a women who apparently had bulkhead window in first. Apparently her Fiancé was row 3 aisle in first so she was trying to get the respective seat mates to swap. Aisle bulkhead said no and window row 3 said no. Then she comes back to Y and apparently her mother was in a window behind me so she asked the aisle and middle if they would switch and amazingly they said no! They wanted to sit together rather than split in first.

Hearing all this, and watching the women get more and more worked up, I pulled over the FA and said I'd be more than happy to give them my seat and speaking for my middle seat mate I was sure she would be happy to switch as well. Sure enough this pleased everyone! My son didn't care, as he wasn't sitting with me anyway, late seater next to me didn't know any differently and was pleasantly surprised and I got the win of aisle in first!! And the couple was happy. Turns out they we're just newly engaged and just couldn't be apart from each other.

Wins all around. I did talk to the window guy that wouldn't move and he was quite worked up over it. I told him I get it, and not his problem.

Myyra

I once made a fellow passenger very happy: I was traveling together with a girlfriend and got bumped to J, but she didn't. She didn't want to sit on her own though, even if it meant taking the business seat. So I offered my J seat to the lady whose Y seat was next to my girlfriend's, and she gladly accepted.

Another time I was the chump, when a lady asked to swap my aisle seat for her aisle seat, so that she could sit together with her friend. So I did, and it turned out that my new seat is in the last row and literally 1 meter from the lavatory door. The door design was unusual too (B787), so every passenger spent a while shaking the door trying to open it.

On top of it all, the lady who took my seat ended up having an empty middle seat next to her.

MSPeconomist

Under what conditions can one renege on acceptance of a seat swap offer? If you accepted it to do someone a favor and it became much worse that you had anticipated, can you demand your original seat, assuming that you still have the boarding pass?

Tchiowa

Are you getting into a legal issue? IMO once you've make the trade you should be stuck with it. Unless, of course, the original person who approached you lied about something. Said it was an aisle when it fact it's a middle. Or they spilled something all over the seat and that was the real reason they wanted to trade.

I don't know what the FA would do, but IMO it's "bad form" to simply change your mind and renege.

IceTrojan

Forget bad form... obviously better if done within a very short time, but ultimately a) you have the BP with the seat number, and b) you'll likely never see this person ever again.

In Myyra's situation, I absolutely would have asked for my seat back, full stop.

AppleApe

people who even attempt self-upgrade usually don't have any shame... so getting caught means nothing to them.

in fact, I was on a LAX-HNL flight and someone self-upgraded. Just before meal service, he got caught. The FA made him go back to coach. While he was walking back, he received a hero's welcome home. People were cheering and clapping. The guy was yelling" hey, at least I tried! no guts no glory!" It was all very confusing... I think the guy must had a lot of friends in the coach section who were cheering him on to try to self-upgrade to begin with.

sunnyjl

I once made he mistake of boarding last on a red eye transcon, and when I did, found that a poacher had decided to help himself to my F seat (an aisle in mid cabin). He said I switched so my wife and I can hand our baby back and forth (who brings a baby in F on a red eye anyway?) I found it interesting that he didn't take his original seat and ask the guy next to him to change seats with his wife (aisle for aisle). Turns out his original window seat was next to a very large man with sleep apnea. Should have stuck to my guns but with a plane full of eyes on me and not wanting to embarrass my new seat mate, I sucked it up.

IceTrojan

I'm seeing a pattern of folks not wanting to embarrass the other party. My question is... why?

chris19992

My guess is shame. People get put on the spot and made to feel ashamed for wanting to use what they actually paid for through some sob story and they just "suck it up" then complain later when it's too late.

Badenoch

Simple passive aggressive behavior. They lack the personal strength to challenge a usurper in real life and then later come to sites like this to complain. The are often identifiable by phrases like "what I should have done was...."

They are doormats, loathe themselves for it but can't seem to break the cycle and stand up for themselves.

Tizzette

It is a matter of picking your battles. If you can see that the other seat you are asked to take is pretty much equal, you might choose to let it go. If you make half a couple move, you will have to sit by the the unhappy other half. But if you don't, you are going to feel a bit taken advantage of.

CarolynUK

I have the hide of a rhinoceros, and can easily put up with the grumpy half of a couple next to me..... I don't know them and will never see them again, and generally get stuck into my Kindle/ book once underway so am totally oblivious to glares/ sighs etc.

Had they not presumed to occupy my seat before I boarded, and waited to ask me, I MIGHT have considered it - but asking me to sit in THEIR seat next to a POS - no way Jose! I will put up with one of them and the baby over being squeezed any day

BadgerBoi

For me the balance tips that by letting them get away with it you are enabling their behaviour. I'd prefer not to let it go for that reasons.