I had a teenager do this to me once. I pulled the bag out and handed it to him. He proceeds to put it back under the seat in my space.

I rang the call button and told the FA there was a bag under my seat that was not mine and she should report it to the captain for security purposes.

Bag was moved instantly.



[QUOTE=drummingcraig;8244215]

Why change your seat due to some idiot being inconsiderate. If someone in a bulkhead places a bag under their seat in my legroom they will find it in the aisle waiting for them and be given a choice of two places they can place it.

Yeah, I always take those bulkhead seats despite the fact that the idiot behind me frequently wants to stow his luggage under my seat.

Okay, I know one is the overhead bin? What's the other? (Oh, those pesky TOS )

I'm guess you've figured out the second location, hopefully they're adhering to the carry-on size limits

That one's even more fun.

I tossed the bag back 1 row and was kind enough to tell the person wondering about its whereabouts that I'd 'sent it back'.

SIN to HKG (747) today left the gate with many empty rows in E+ (BigE switched from 36D to a open HJK, where he slept restfully). Meanwhile the forward and rear E- cabins were relatively full. During a mechanical delay, I could see many heads sneaking jealous peeks into the E+ cabin. Sure enough, mass poaching soon followed. I noticed 3 or 4 different groups.

Fortunately, the flight attendants were on top of the situation and forced them to move back. One chinese lady insisted that there was a mistake with her booking and said "Sorry, I'm staying here." She held out a long time but eventually lost the battle of wills with the purser. It could have ended ugly, but the purser kept her cool.

I have read a parent purposely let the child run wild before boarding knowing that would tire him out and fall asleep once boarded the plane.

Actually, when I've found myself in similar situations, I find it advantageous to ask an FA to help out. They know the lay of the land and can target the right person for a request. In any case, I find it's less confrontational for the FA to ask than for me to do it.

Whether you're traveling alone or with a group / family, the increasingly frequent irregular operations (requiring rebooking after you misconnect) can randomize the best laid seat selection plans.

When I'm planning travel for my family, I do whatever I can to avoid connections anyways, since I don't want any family members to have an unexpected overnight stop.

I totally agree with you. I certainly wouldn't cooperate with someone like that. Second, there's a reason I sit where I sit. I generally book early and I pick my seats for a specific reason.

I've had similar experiences but there are two slightly-off point situations I would like to share:

1. This is not a seat change, but I was in a 737 between SFO-SEA on a full flight. Even all the overheads were stuffed. A man boards with a large carry-on but there is nowhere to store it--the flight attendants try to help him since he says he needs it as a carry-on to make his international connection. Did I mention the flight was late, too? So, after seeing their perplexed looks I offer to take my bag out of the overhead and check it so the other man can use the space. The flight attendants and the man thanked me very much. At the end of the flight, the purser asks me to see her. She gives me two 500 mile upgrades and arranges for 5000 miles to be placed in my account. I never expected anything, but this was great.

2. I am in a 737 SFO-SEA (again) in an exit row, aisle seat behind the two-seat row. A young couple boards at the last minute and they are seated in the middle seats of my row. I vaguely remember young love, so I offer my aisle seat in exchange for one of their middle seats. I figure this is my good deed for the day. But when I take the middle seat I find my foot area under the seat ahead is stuffed with carry-on. I ask the couple and they say it is not theirs. I learn it belongs to the young woman in the window seat--remember, she has no seat in the row in front of her. I ask her to remove the items but she ignores me since she is on the phone. I tell her she can either have the middle seat I am in or remove her carry-on from my area and place it under the seat two rows ahead of her. No response, so I dig it out and place it on floor ahead of her. That makes her hang up the cell phone and reprimand me. But, she grudgingly places her stuff under the seat way ahead of her. Maybe I was too quick in expecting her to get off the phone, but the plane was getting ready to go. So, she was mad the whole flight and took over the adjoining armrest. It was her problem. I stretched out and slept.

I remember one flight where I was in the window seat of that row, with the empty space in front of me. I went to store my luggage under the seat two rows in front of me, only to find that the pax in the middle seat in the row in front had already put his stuff there so that he would have more leg room.

Fortunately, he moved his bag without much discussion, but I'm not particularly fond of this kind of "storage poaching". Maybe he was just oblivious, but I still find it annoying.

This sounds to me like a blackmail
It is like... let us sit together or enjoy four hours of screaming kids...

Would be a tough one to me because I am not kid-friendly.
But just to get to him, maybe I will say, "I may not want to sit elsewhere. I bought this seat. It is mine. If you want me to switch, find me a seat with equal quality"...

Nevertheless, it would be hard for me to run into that situation since I usually sit in the exit row AKA no-kid row... @:-)

I'm a nerd when it comes to seat assignments. I have a whole system for buying tickets to maximize chances of having a couple of seats to myself, check seatguru.com for the best seat, etc.

It annoys me to no end when someone just tries to take my seat and give me their seat...which is a window in E-. I'm more than happy to accomodate but I believe in asking first as it's the courtious thing to do. I'm much more standoffish if someone takes my seat and just assumes I'll be OK with it.