Did'nt Want To Change Seats In First Class
Dec 15, 2004, 2:53 pm
#167
Join Date: May 1998
Location: australia
Posts: 5,773
A couple of years ago in 1st JNB-PER on upper deck of SAA 747 -only 2 rows of 4 seats, bathroom at front of cabin and me assigned seat in row one.
Woman politely asks me if I'd mind moving to row two as her boss prefers to be closer to the bathroom. "Of course" I reply "For Mr Mandela I'd be happy to sit on the stairs"
Woman politely asks me if I'd mind moving to row two as her boss prefers to be closer to the bathroom. "Of course" I reply "For Mr Mandela I'd be happy to sit on the stairs"
Dec 15, 2004, 9:26 pm
#168
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Traveling the World
Posts: 6,090
I'm with you
Yes I could not agree more I would not give up my seat since I booked it a long time befoe. Luckily noone has asked to change. Another reason would be is if I am on a flight that is odd or even numbered I may not get my choice of melas very nerveraking. 
Dec 15, 2004, 10:55 pm
#169
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 17
I have been asked to switch seats, if it is an aisle seat I don't mind but if it is a window seat I always decline. I am surprised with the rude comments that people have said they have heard when they refuse to change seats. Noone has ever been impolite when I have said "no". I am 6'4 240lbs and perhaps unintentionally intimidate.
Dec 16, 2004, 1:14 pm
#170
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 2,388
Good story.
Originally Posted by 3544quebec
A couple of years ago in 1st JNB-PER on upper deck of SAA 747 -only 2 rows of 4 seats, bathroom at front of cabin and me assigned seat in row one.
Woman politely asks me if I'd mind moving to row two as her boss prefers to be closer to the bathroom. "Of course" I reply "For Mr Mandela I'd be happy to sit on the stairs"
Woman politely asks me if I'd mind moving to row two as her boss prefers to be closer to the bathroom. "Of course" I reply "For Mr Mandela I'd be happy to sit on the stairs"
Dec 16, 2004, 4:31 pm
#172
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 22,778
Mine are really good.
Originally Posted by BamaVol
Only true in Lake Wobegon. Where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking and all the children are above average. 
Dec 16, 2004, 6:33 pm
#173
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Gulf Coast/Ventura County/Somewhere in between
Programs: DL GM, Marriott PP, Avis Something or other
Posts: 4,431
Backhanded compliments
Originally Posted by Yaatri
Yes Mine are really good. I have a bottle of wine, given by an FA to prove that. Thanks for "being so nice" is what the FA said. My wife often travels with my two sons in F. Invariably one of them ends up sitting away from the other two. In every case the adult sitting next to my son has said "He is a very smart and can carry on an intelligent conversation".
Dec 17, 2004, 9:03 pm
#174
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 628
Originally Posted by GradGirl
?? In my description, all you'd have to forget is one sentence that was spoken to you. What the airline did to me was steal my seat. That's a more severe imposition than a single polite request. After all, if the airline had politely requested that I give up my seat next to my husband to accomodate an air marshal, I would just have refused politely and I wouldn't have found it difficult at all to forgot that imposition. Instead, the airline screwed me over and left me to clean up their mess.
The imposition of a single sentence isn't the same as the imposition of stealing someone's seat: notice everyone in this thread agrees that it's horribly rude to just take someone else's seat before asking them about it.
The imposition of a single sentence isn't the same as the imposition of stealing someone's seat: notice everyone in this thread agrees that it's horribly rude to just take someone else's seat before asking them about it.
I refer to your being re-assigned as an imposition and not a theft, i.e. the stealing of your seat, because at least by the conditions of carriage of the airlines I fly, that is what it was. To quote an example Conditions of Carriage:
Advance seat assignments are not guaranteed and may change without notice. If your pre-assigned seat is unavailable, we will try to accommodate you in a comparable seat in the same class of service and will refund any applicable fees.
There are two things to note here. First, the airline reserves the right to make seat reassignments, and presumably does not do so capriciously or without good cause. If they did not in your view reassign your seat with good reason, you have the opportunity to forward to them a complaint about their policy, although I suspect they will counter that they are subject to federal law where security matters are concerned. In any case a seat reassignment does not equate to the airlines refusal to grant you passage at all, thus, your seat wasnt stolen. I do agree that if you paid a fee to pre-select your seat (a few LCC do charge such a fee) then failure to refund such fee would be theft.
The issue of your being asked first is moot insofar as the airlines obligations are concerned. The whole point of clauses like the one above is to make it clear that the right is pre-reserved by the airline, or in other words, such right is not subject to the passengers approval. However, I acknowledge that while this is the case, for you not to have be asked first was an unpleasant surprise to you, hence my use of the term imposition. The airline could have, and perhaps should have, asked if there was any way to make this inconvenience a little more agreeable to you; this could have given you at least some feeling of the control I spoke about earlier. However, they were acting out of a position of legitimate authority in their case. In contrast, passengers have no such authority to administer or enforce seat reassignments, except such authority as the passenger in question voluntarily chooses to give (or not) to them. Which isnt to say some passengers dont try to act like they are the presiding authority.
Secondly, the only meaningful contract any of us has is with the airline. Any of us can attempt to negotiate agreements with our fellow passengers, but my point is that negotiating agreement does not consist of threatening someone with social embarrassment if they dont agree to the single alternative offered. Even Take it or leave it , while it doesn't involve social pressure, isn't a negotiation strategy.
Furthermore, as I said before, you might feel yours is a compelling case, i.e. you might wish it known that you would not ask but for your feeling truly at a disadvantage. However, remember that to make it known that you are asking only out of duress is a form of pressure, in that it implies that you would consider a refusal not just inconvenient but unreasonable. This is where I came in to the thread initially.
Last edited by simpleflyer; Dec 17, 2004 at 9:05 pm