Good! :)

Happy seat-swap story. Last week I was flying ZHR-EWR in BF. I had an aisle seat booked and was planning to ask my seatmate if s/he would mind if I took the window. I had entirely too much to drink the night before and almost no sleep and all I wanted to do was to pass-out on wheels-up. When I got to my seat, my seatmate asked if I wouldn't mind switching seats with his wife so they could sit together. Turns out she was in a window seat so I said "no problem." Slept like a baby for a solid 6 hours. :-)

Imagine that. You both handle the situation politely and you both end up with what you want. Shocker!;)

once was flying bom -zrh on lx had the exit row, this lady comes up to me & says is this ur seat, I reply yes & show her my boarding pass. Then she says do u want to sit in the front to which I politely refuse. 2 minutes later she comes back & says I have a knee problem & a heart problem can we switch. Again I refused.
I actually admire her courage for trying so many times, she took me for being stupid or what!! she wanted to sit next to her husband in a cramped sit .

Another time was flying bom - zrh had the exit row(mostly had exit when i used to fly lx/lh) lx changed the metal from a 330 to a 340. I politely requested the checkin staff to accommodate me & co - pax in the exit row . They were very rude, then I freaked & gave them a earful. while boarding the ga gave us 2 new bp both op-up to j.

with lufthansa group its a war never give in or compromise & be firm .

I was traveling solo from LAX to GMP, Korea one summer.
Because I was a solo travler, a korean girl apporached me if I'm willing to trade the seat with her.
I had the aisle seat, so told her I would trade if her seat is also the aisle seat.
Turned out, hers is also the aisle seat so I grabbed my stuff and headed off to her seat.
BAAAADD IDEA.
On the three-seats section, a gigantic large woman was sitting in the middle seat invading my traded aisle seat.
This was a 10hr+ trans-pacific flight and I am forced to sit next to this woman?!
Then, this large woman asked me if I would trade seat with her so she can sit in the aisle seat.
That request I refused. No offense to her, but size matters in such a tiny space!!!
It was an even-trade per se, but I did not expect the size of my seatmate be that large.
It was the most uncomfortable 10hr+ trip I ever made.

What to do now, that you got a a bad trade!
 

Would it be unreasonable to ask the person wanting to trade why they wanted to trade aisle seats before accepting or passing? :confused:

Would it be unreasonable to go back and ask the person who lucked out getting your seat and asking for it back? :(

^
There is no obligation to offer an explanation for refusing when asked, but it's absolutely fine to ask why someone is requesting a change of you. At the very least I'd look at the seat on offer before I considered changing.

I would also think that it's perfectly acceptable under those circumstances to return to your own seat and say "sorry, the trade is off" if you've been duped. Face it, someone asking you for a trade is rarely going to offer you the better end of the deal.

+1

Flying ORD-MiA-SSA, and was asked to give up my aisle seat for the upgraded couple ( of course) on the Chicago-Miami leg, and I did take the window, which I hate. Board the SSA leg and get the same request. Sorry. No! DONE. I pay for my seats and select them when booked.

You were wrong and you were lucky you weren't bounced off the plane. You are obligated to obey all legal instructions from a Flight Attendant. You be removed from the plane for refusing their instructions. You can also be removed if the pilot has to come back to deal with it.

Yeah, the lady was rude. But you were worse. I think your post belongs in the DYKWIA thread.

I boarded a plane and some please were like hey you wanna change seats and I'm naw I'm good and they were all like oh that's cool.

^^^ I'm not sure I bought the original story. There may have been some embellishment involved. Not that anyone ever embellishes anything here.

After many years of flying, waiting up until midnight so I can be "certain" to get the FF seats I want and all the rest if the "rationales" I have finally decided there is rarely more than one "correct" answer to these requests and that answer is, "Sorry, no." And you know what? It works for me.

I've done the same recently, felt like a proper Herbert! :(

I was on a flight from GRU to IAH, I had a bulkhead seat in E+, as soon as the aircraft took off and the seat belt sign was off I noticed that the last row middle seats in E+ were empty, I went back there hoping that I would be able to lay down and sleep. There were two persons of size sitting in the middle bulkhead seats with the seat between them empty. I noticed the woman saying something to the purser, he came back to me and asked me if I would trade the seat I was sitting in for one of their bulkhead seats, guess he did not realize that my original seat was bulkhead and was, he empty he suggested that I would have more room there. I politely refused saying I was more than happy where I was. He went back to the two sitting in the bulkhead and said loudly, "he refuses to change with you" and as he said it he looked back at me. A few minutes later on of the person of size came back and took the aisle seat in the last row, so much for laying down and sleeping, he did have a perfect right to come back and sit there, but then so did I.