nkedel

Possible, but not ideal because they're too far away to be taking care of the younger one -- across the aisle isn't optimal already. I've actually switched to 7ABC-F now, and will probably just have my wife sit in F and then switch into C and treat the younger one as a lap child once we're in the air if he acts up.

Suitable, but not comparable -- well back beyond the extra room seats, let alone bulkheads. Having selected specific flights to get non-exit bulkheads to have more room -- including to let the kids get up and stretch a bit -- I'm not going to give that up just to help avoid some inconvenience to a neighbor.

It could be worse -- there could be no bulkheads on that flight and we could jut take one row BCDE or two rows middle-aisle and trap two people in window seats in rows with kids.

sethb

Are those goalposts heavy?

I corrected your claim that the J pax just assumed the swap.

Dodge DeBoulet

Wouldn't know how heavy the goalposts are, I haven't touched them.

You just keep on assuming they're where they aren't.

Let's review:

1. J pax discovers a Y pax with 3 adjacent seats all to herself and requests swap.
   
2. FA agrees (why wouldn't she/he?), and Y pax scoots up front.
   
3. Erstwhile J pax takes window seat, against the advice of busybody in the next row.
   
4. Another Y pax, presumably from 78B (same class of service, a bit further back), makes a beeline for the aisle seat in ex-J's row.
   
5. Ex-J makes a mild fuss, but doesn't press the issue.
   
6. FA ignores the situation completely.
   
7. Busybody makes a fuss and shames erstwhile 78B passenger back to the bowels of the vessel.
   
8. D. DeBoulet claims he wouldn't have put up with Busybody's shenanigans.
   
9. Sethb claims D. DeBoulet better plan to be met by LE on arrival, claiming failure to follow FA's instructions (the FA ignored the situation) and theft of services (again, none in evidence, same class of service).

So tell me, what goalposts were moved, and by whom?

StartinSanDiego

Moderator Note: There are a large number of posts drifting off to sub topics. Some of these posts have just been deleted. Please stay on topic and keep it civil. Otherwise we will have to make another round of deletions that include the borderline posts. Thank you.

sethb

7a. DeBoulet claims that J pax arbitrarily did the swap, and sethb made the correction that the FA approved of it.

okbookgirl

I've been watching my seat assignments like a hawk (still like 5 months out HAHA but I bought the tickets over a month ago). Because I want to keep telling myself it was totally worth paying the extra $126 to pick my seats. Both my flights, I was the only one in the section except for the exit row and bulkheads and I was like 'I'm the newb who actually paid for assigned seating' when no one else does. After looking today I've decided it's worth it.

Flying to London on a Saturday, I'm still in an empty section (well the bulkhead and exit are blocked out but that might be normal) but flying home on a Monday and there is only one window seat left and that is part of the only pair of seats left in the 2 seat sections on the side. There is also one whole row of the middle four blocked out.

I'm a little mystified as to how flying over it's empty and flying back it's picked over, but since I really wanted a window seat I'm now glad I paid for choice. Hopefully I don't have a story to tell when I get back.

On the fuller flight I have no seat mate as of yet.

DeepUnderground

Mods, this thing getting way off topic.

Pulley

+1 - What happened to seat swap stories?? It is now whether families should be able to select seats first. Mods start a new thread.

StartinSanDiego

Agreed. Please continue the lively discussion on group seating in this new thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...travelers.html

This thread is specifically for seat swap stories.

o mikros

In the hopes of reviving this lovely thread, and getting us back on track:

A few years back, I was on an early morning SAT-IAH-??? and got on board to find a guy in my aisle seat with the middle open. I politely said, "I think that's my seat" and waited for him to move over. Instead, he looked me up and down and said, "You don't look too big, you won't mind sitting there." He nodded towards the middle seat and swung his legs out into the aisle so I could squeeze past.

Now, if the guy had been polite about it instead of just demanding that I take the middle, I'd probably have been ok with it. Sure, I was exhausted because I was only on the flight because of MX issues and reroute problems, but the guy was probably 30+ years my senior (I was in my mid-20s), it's a short flight, and I am a pretty skinny guy. (I'm tall, but this was in an E+ row so nbd either way.)

However, his attitude and especially the way he just demanded what would be best irked me, and I said, "No thank you, sir, that is my seat." He harrumphed and snorted and slowly and irritably moved into the middle seat while I took the aisle.

What followed was a 45 minute flight that this guy was determined to make miserable for me for not switching with him. He stuck his knees into my space, leaned across the armrest, tried to dig his elbows into my arms, and generally tried to encroach as much as possible. However, two can play at that game, and I am not beneath giving as good as I get. As I mentioned, I'm skinny = angular frame = bony, so if we end up pushing back and forth you'll probably end up in more discomfort than I will.

His elbow came into my arm, so I angled my elbow to push into his. His leg came over, out went my knee. His shoulder leaned onto my side, I pushed right back. The entire time I had my head slumped forward on my chest with my eyes closed because I was still really tired, but I could hear him grunting with exasperation. Eventually after 20 minutes or so of this (with me enjoying the fight, since it was clear who was "winning" and also because I was a bit of a young punk), he actually called me out for pushing into him. I calmly pointed out the dividing line between the seats and said that I was staying completely within my seat's boundaries, and if he did the same we wouldn't come into any contact; then I returned to my slumped forward position.

He tried a few more times to angle behind/into my side, and each time I met him (fully on my side of the armrest) with far bonier appendages. Eventually he gave up somewhere around final descent into Houston and just sat there. When we landed, I grabbed my backpack and never looked back but could still hear him muttering behind me.

onobond

Deeply impressed of the mature solution of a harassing problem.

No call button available?

LondonElite

I think you will find that the seatmap as displayed and the reality once you get on the plane are two completely different things. Most people don't select their seats until checkin and many people are assigned seats randomly. That's why you're not seeing anyone next to you. My guess is that if you look at the seatmap shortly before boarding you'll be a little shocked.

zitsky

What is he going to say? This old guy is in my space? I get your point, but it could come across as childish to complain about it.

o mikros

Eh, I toyed with the idea of calling the FA but thought it would be rather petulant and I didn't want to escalate anything formally. You call an FA who's having a bad day, you're as likely to get reprimanded as the other guy.

Perhaps my solution was even more puerile, but I kept completely on my side of the armrest the entire time, so any pain or discomfort on his part was entirely self-inflected from his impaling himself on my bony elbows and shoulders. I have a problem with bullies (of any age) and wasn't going to back down to this guy who was simply being a jerk. I've moved aside for someone who can't help him/herself (wide frame, POS, mother with a lap infant) to give a bit more space, but I am not one to acquiesce to someone who's trying to push me around.

Proudelitist

I must have met the same man back in 2009 on a US Airways flight from PHX to MCI. A poach story more than a swap request..but still.

Same set up. I get to my aisle seat only to find a 60+ guy sitting in it, next to an empty middle. I am polite at first, and say something along the lines of "17D? I believe that's my seat". His response was to not look up, but tilt his head toward the middle. "Just sit there, it's all the same".

Irked now, I told him that if it was "all the same", he shouldn't mind sitting in his own seat.

What came next floored me: He said "Don't give me backtalk"....as if I was his 13 year old kid instead of a 36 year old man. Outside of an airplane, such talk would have brought me closer to fisticuffs..but inside a plane it's a different story.

I got the FA and she made him move. He moaned and complained for the next 2 hours until the woman in the window seat told him to "shut up already". It was not just the complaining, but the constant getting up, the passive aggressive elbows, and the snide remarks.

From my perspective though, I love watching the poachers steam and suffer. I can take a few elbows because it means they are having an unpleasant flight and a difficult time. It's schadenfreude.