BSBD

I had one back in 1997 that was so awful I still remember it vividly. I was going to a business conference in Hawaii (those were the days!), and the final leg of my outbound was DFW-HNL on AA. IIRC the plane was a completely full high-density DC-10 with a 2-5-2 seating arrangement in Y, and due to the group fare I was way toward the back with a "C" seat.

The boarding process was almost complete when a FA came up to me, and started telling me about an elderly couple with separate seats who really wanted to sit together, so would I mind moving? The FA said she would move me up about 10 rows and give me an "A" window seat. Being young and rather naive, it seemed to me that closer to the front/window seat/2-seat would be an improvement, so I agreed.

I got seated in my new seat, and then my new seatmate showed up. It slowly dawned on me that I had been completely hoodwinked by the FA - the whole story about the elderly couple was a lie. My seatmate, as I later learned, was an ex-NFL nose guard. He was about 6'7", and as wide as both seats. He turned out to be a colleague, traveling on the same (highly restrictive, non-upgradeable) group fare. He had been moved because his former seatmate(s) complained loudly. The FA decided to resolve the the situation by quickly searching the cabin for someone young, skinny, and stupid to put together with this guy, and she found me

By the time I realized what had been done to me, we had pushed back and were headed for the runway. Even though I wasn't very big, it was still a very bad match-up, as this guy needed both seats. I was smashed into the fuselage, bent like a pretzel. At one point we traded seats so I could get a break from kissing the window, and I ended up smashed against the aisle armrest, hit by every passing pax/FA/drink cart. It was the most miserable long-haul flight I've ever had.

I learned from that experience to NEVER, EVER agree to a same-cabin seat change request, especially if it comes from a FA. Like another poster in this thread, I refuse to be moved, even if the FA tries to order me to do so. If someone wants my seat, the crew will have to kick me off the plane.

OTOH, I have voluntarily, without being asked, swapped seats with passengers who appear to me to deserve the swap. But was my volition, not someone else's request.

Just don't ask, because the answer, regardless, will be, "No!"

TheTravelingJ

I found this site last night, and this thread was all it took to get me to register.

Mine was simple, but miserable. Redeye from Anchorage to...well, I forget. Minneapolis? Anyways, I'm seated on my aisle seat and there is a lady seated at the window. A younger guy walks up and says he has the middle, and asked the lady if she will swap with his wife-who is a few rows ahead of us in the middle. For some reason, she agrees.

Then the wife came back with the toddler, that sat with the dad, and cried the entire trip home. 0 minutes of sleep, and I had a 12 hour drive waiting for me when I made it home.

hawkxp

I have only changed seats once. Normally just give the person the old evil eye and say no!!
But one time years ago, on the day after the NBA all star game; I was going to MIA and riding in aisle F. A guy who was about 6'15" boarded with a Miami warm up jacket on. He tried to sit in a window across from me and he was bending over to keep his head from hitting bins. He looked over at me and asked if I would take his window. Felt sorry and agreed.

Never got his name or autograph.

flyernick

Not so much a horror story, but didn't leave a very good taste in my mouth:
LAX-ORD, totally full flight. I board and find someone in my aisle seat, a woman with a lap baby. She says she moved to sit with her ~3yr old daughter in the adjacent middle seat.
She had absolute last row (only one row back) middle.
I'm not real happy but what the heck, she did need to sit with the little daughter, so I'm fine with moving to her seat and chalk it up to bad luck. I have kids and realize it was sort of necessary.

But the part of it I didn't like was before take off, her husband comes back to say hello to her and he has a seat like 20 rows up, might have even been an exit row, I couldn't really tell, anyway much preferable to where I am. After he returns to his seat, I lean over and ask the woman if her husband would like to switch seats with me now so he could be closer to the rest of the family. She says, "no thanks."
Just sort of left me with a bad feeling.

IceTrojan

Wow. I would've taken my seat back. Her seating situation was not your problem.

Badenoch

No good deed goes unpunished.

Your story should be enough to convince anyone that unless the seats are equivalent don't agree to a change no matter what type of sob story is offered.

nrr

I was in bc on AA from zrh-jfk. When I got on the plane, my window seat was occupied by a man, a woman was seated next to him [it seems they were having a pleasant conversation]. He said he was seated in a window seat on the other side of the plane and wanted me to swap--as long as it was a window seat it was OK with me. I moved to what was supposed to be his seat, but someone showed up claiming that seat. I went back and told him I want my seat. It turns out he was seated next to me and the woman in a different row of the plane. Moral of the "story", check bps before changing seats.

thelark

so was he more like 7'2"?

yamaka

uh ... 7'3"

greggarious

I was on a flight from Madrid to Chicago once. This Italian guy asked me if I would switch seats his son so he could be next to him, because the son didn't like flying alone. The way he said it I thought the kid was like 6, so I was about to switch... but then I ask where his son is sitting, and see a "kid" ~13-14 years old waving at me from a middle seat. (I was in an aisle seat)

I stayed where I was, and the guy scowled the whole flight.

hawkxp

any attempt at humor is hard

mgcsinc

The irony of you not getting the humor of the reply...

tng11

Somewhat of a seat swap story:

This DYKWIA noticed I was occupying 1A when I was flying BA F LHR-DME. He was seated in 1K and also had a travel companion.

He protested to the attendant about me sitting in "his" seat as he was BA Gold, then made a few snarky comments to me, used racial epithets and stormed off to 2K where he talked loudly for the entire flight with his mate in 3K (and using some not-very-nice language to rant/describe me.) Keeping in mind, I hadn't said a word to this fella and just looked up at him once from my magazine.

exilencfc

That's horrific.

I'd have complained about the racial abuse if nothing else. Not sure where it would have got you though.

FlyDeltaJets87

The "Seat Swap Stories" (and they're hardly horror stories) I can recall from my experience

1) My mom, sister, and I were flying together and we had A/B/C on the 3-side of a DL MD-88. We get to our row (about Row 20 or so), and there's an old couple (in their 70s or 80s) sitting in the A and B seats. Knowing that duplicate seat assignments do sometimes happen, my mom simply asks them if we were assigned the same seats. The husband snaps back. "No, but the flight attendant sat us here, and we're not moving!" My mom rang the call button and the F/A came over, looked at their boarding passes, and moved them back. I think this couple just thought they could pull one over on someone rather than taking their seats further back in the aircraft. Ironic part is had they been nicer about it, we would have probably switched, especially since it was only a 90 minute flight. But since they wanted to be jerks, we didn't give in.

2) I was flying AirTran and bought one of the "Airport Upgrades" at check-in. I boarded late rather than with Business Class and when I got on board, found someone in my seat (Row 2, aisle). I asked him if the airline assigned us the same seat. He snaps back "Are you sure you're on the right flight?" I asked "this is Flight XXX to Atlanta, correct?" He said "Yea", then finally checked his boarding pass, and realized he was in the wrong seat, and that seat he was in was his seat for his next flight. I was going to make him move, but he had a window seat and since I prefer the window when up in First or Business Class, I decided to take his window. Looking back, I kinda wish I would have made him take the "Walk of Shame", even if only to his correct seat and not back to the Y cabin.