PamHarwood

Recently I had an exit aisle seat. When I arrived at my seat a gentleman was stood by the seat with his computer bag on my seat. I politely said "this is my seat". He said "no, you're in the middle". I showed him my boarding pass. He then asked if I would switch seats with his wife who was several rows back in the middle. I politely told him I really wanted the exit row, so no. He continued to stand by my seat and did not move his bag. I then asked him to please move his bag so I could sit down. Finally he sat in the middle seat.
If he had really wanted to sit with his wife he could have asked one of the people on either side of her if they would like to switch with him. Either one of them would have preferred the exit row I am sure.
He did not do so.
It really annoyed me to have to "push" to get my seat.

BambooTom

I hate folks like that.
Just the line "no, your in the middle" is ignorant in itself.
Their is not a whole lot I would give up an exit aisle seat for, It would have to be a real special circumstance.

hnechets

While people like this "gentleman" are in the minority, if you fly enough, you are for sure going to encounter them.

You handled the situation just right. ^

go go girl

I was assigned an aisle seat on a one hour flight. When I boarded, a woman was in my seat and loudly declared that that was her seat--that she had asked for an aisle seat, even though her boarding pass indicated the window seat of a 3 configuration. If she had been polite about it and indicated a need for an aisle seat(she was quite short, so leg room wasn't a factor), I would have graciously given her my seat. But her confrontational attitude(and lying about it) made me decide to keep my assigned seat. I went to the FA and explained that someone was being territorial about my seat--FA sent her out to Gate Agent to be reassigned.

So I was seated next to her husband, who was a kind, gentle soul, and she didn't like that one bit. She wanted him to move as well. He said that she didn't need an aisle seat--just wanted one--and was being difficult.

StudentExplorer

Do people ever actually get away with stuff like this? The times I've found someone in my seat, it's always been a mixup in aisle number or something like that. Something I've done myself - thinking I'm sitting down in Row 15, when I am really sitting down in 16.

SkeptiCallie

Congratulations on your well-mannered response. Don't know about the use of the term "gentleman" above. I can think of several terms that would be more appropriate.
Interesting how his "logic" changed. First, he said that you were in the middle, even though he hadn't even seen your boarding pass yet! (Maybe he thought he was psychic?) Then when he had seen your boarding pass, now he wants you to switch seats with his wife several rows back!
You did the poor lady a good turn, gave her a few hours of respite from what must be chronic embarrassment.

tinkybelle

mr tinky and I were on a flight lima to santiago on lan chile. we got to the "economy" seat(I almost cant say the word but it actually wasnt too bad)
there was someone in one of them with a BP so we went to the FA who said.
oh mr tinky you are in business class!!(OW sapphire-at the time I was nil)
he asked if I could take the seat and they said no only him so I insisted he take it. better for on eto be upgraded than none!!

milcrat

heheh awww reminds me of the days when i went on swa. People lying and cheating their way to empty middle seats and such.

My worst experience was when someone told me i was wrong and had me put all my stuff down in the aisle and get my ticket stub out and tell them yo you are in my seat. and the guy has the nerve saying it's his seat and if i wanted to see his ticket as if i'm going around stealing seats

good job in handling that gentleman

CApreppie

Glad you put that fellow in his proper place. The rudeness. I've never had anything like that before, but I wouldn't trade.

I did have a person with the same assigned seat as me. I was in the seat and the other person looked like he was going to make a stink and hold up the flight. I just took a seat a row or two back that was similar.

Liam0s

Same assigned seat as you is a different situation. I would probably not care too much, unless it was a double-booked exit row, then I'm sorry, it's mine! I barely fit anywhere else on the Qantas sardine cans (6"4' and above weren't meant to fly QF comfortably :P). Either way, if someone was in my seat (and I expect something like this to happen when I go to the USA) I'll be demanding my seat. If you don't like yours, get it changed. You could almost argue it amounted to theft :P

civicmon

i do that all the time.. usually with seat letters, like sitting in D instead of C.

I woulda lost it if he didn't move. It's your seat - the airline assigned it to you.

I would have been shouting telling him to get out of my seat and that he needs to sit in his correct seat NOW.

SJC1K

Me too. The mistake I usually make is to remember that I'm in row n on the aisle, but mistakenly sit on the wrong side of the aisle. When called on it, I say "Oh, my mistake, I'm in 2C", kind of in the hope that the person in whose seat I'm sitting will say "Oh, that's just as good, I'll just take your seat." But if (s)he doesn't, I switch seats immediately.

If someone is in my seat, and I believe it's a mistake, and I really don't mind, I'll volunteer to take their seat. If I do prefer my assigned seat, or if it's clearly not a mistake, I politely ask them to take their own seat. If I get any flak, I go to the FA.

Coathanger

I have had people in my seat on a Malaysian Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney, this couple were assigned the two middle seats in the middle section on a 744 (3-4-3 config) and the woman had her bags on my seat and removed them reluctantly when asked politely. Shortly after sitting down she asked if I wanted to change seats with her husband and when I declined gave me a dirty look. Fortunately the FA's found them other seats (they had 3 bags each so there was no space in the overheads anymore and had to store their stuff around their seat) so I got 3 seats for myself

PamHarwood

Glad to hear I'm not the only one. I am short, but the exit row is still nice to have. I also prefer the aisle. Of course when traveling with DH he gets the aisle! One thing about being a US preferred is you can book the exit row up front.

rhwbullhead

I'm sure they do. Some people are too timid to stick up for themselves. I used to be like that. Now, I'd stand up to the guy.

Sidenote: Why are you using the term "gentleman" to describe this guy? As other people have pointed out, he was far from being a gentleman. He is a jerk. I hate it even more when I hear the police or media misuse that term. Sometime you'll hear about some rape or murder suspect, they'll describe him as a gentleman: The gentleman pulled out a .357 and shot the victim in the head. I happy when I don't hear that and instead hear something like: The suspect/man/person of interest/ did xxxx....

Edit: I've only had someone sit in my seat once. I've mentioned this before in other threads. On a leg of my return trip from Hawaii, we got on board the plane late and found a couple in our window/aisle seats (on a 777 with a 2-5-2 configuration). We looked at our BP's and said "I'm sorry, but you're in our seats." The couple then feigned ingnorance and apologized for making a mistake. I'm sure they had just been trying to "upgrade" themselves as they were one row ahead in the aisle and next seat in the 5 seat middle. How could they confuse the window/aisle of the row behind them as being their seats?