helvetic

Keep standing in the aisle and waiting for the guy to vacate your seat. Eventually the FA will come and deal with the situation and get everyone in their correct seat.

polarbears

Yeah, that really sucks (in particular the gender dynamics at display...).

I had someone sit in my seat on boarding a recent (17h!) flight. I noticed when going through the door and mentioned it to the FA who looked at my BP and confirmed "yeah, he's in the wrong spot" which made the following (paraphrased) easier:

Me: "I'm sorry, I think you are in my seat."
Seat Swapper: "Oh, I got them mixed up. Do you mind?"
M: "Yes, I like this one"
SS: "Really, it makes a difference to you?" (and he points to his unpacked stuff)
M: "Yes, I'm particular".

He seemed irritated with me that I made him move over (we were in 6 D/E on a 789), but not half as irritated as I'd have been if I'd let him take my obsessively carefully chosen seat.

onthesam

Not all GS are frequent flyers. Just sayin'

AugustusM

It's like the FT Miranda Rights.

gold23

So I had almost this exact situation occur on a flight from EWR-TLV a few months back. Poacher was sitting in my seat (I was pulled out for random check upon boarding and ended up with the end of BG1- I am fairly certain poacher was not GS). He claimed "religious reasons" for his need to sit there. I explained I shared his religion, and though I was considerably less observant, I was well aware that there were no valid religious reasons for him to move. He became belligerent, threatening to make my flight unpleasant if he were forced to cede my seat to me. Luckily a FA was close by, and he came over as he saw a brewing confrontation. After another thirty seconds of a standoff, I looked over to FA. He asked to seat BPs, told the poacher he was in the wrong seat and needed to move immediately so as not to hold up boarding. Poacher tried to make his original argument, and FA said that if that were the case he needed to have fixed that prior to boarding and that he could "either move or I'll have to radio to the gate to see what they recommend we do....it's possible that tomorrow's flight can better accomodate your needs if that is necessary". He moved. A few hours in I thanked the FA, and he said that his crew has gotten pretty good at handling those situations. He doesn't escalate, stays calm, and informs them that UA can take care of them.....but it's not going to be on this plane at this time.

lincolnjkc

^^^

I'm not observant of any particular religion, but I do get a little claustrophobic, especially on longer flights, if I can't see outside of the small metal tube, so I always book a window, and watch the assignments with some frequency to ensure no aircraft swap, etc. But this doesn't mean if I wind up in an aisle (IROPS, battlefield upgrade, whatever) that I'll just poach the windowee's seat. I'll board early, take my assigned seat, and when Mr./Ms. Window arrives just ask if they may prefer the aisle. So far I'm at 99%+ success [Out of 827 flights logged, only 1 middle and 18 aisles actually flown], with most people happy, even enthusiastic, to swap and I don't feel like I've walked over someone to get what I desired. Of course, I reciprocate when it comes to swapping rows for couples, etc. as long as they're polite and ask. Poach or start demanding, no thanks.

A little courtesy, especially when asking for a favor, goes a long way

beachmouse

Or what's supposed to the the old Emily Post- "I'm sorry but that doesn't work for me" because traditional manners don't require that one justify or explain their actions in high detail and any explanation on your part gives the other person leverage in trying to change your mind and accept a solution that is not as good for your needs.

Aussienarelle

I have seen gender dynamics work both ways.

An arrogant German male who expected my female cousin to sit in his middle (2-4-2 configuration) to accommodate his demand to sit in the aisle seat and not his assigned middle seat and took a FA intervening.

A young female who sat in 6D next to me in 6E and commented to me it was a very nice seat (and I agreed). When Mr 6D turned up she tried to persuade him to sit in her window seat a few seats back and then when her female "wiles" did not work asked me (a female) to convince him it would be the gentlemanly thing to do. My response was she should sit in her assigned seat. The FA needed to intervene to ensure Mr 6D got his assigned seat.

I detest seat poachers - irrespective of their gender.

perkele

these situations are, unfortunately, all too common on this route. i've observed the same magic by FAs several times - they somehow always manage to calmly find a solution that works for everyone.

gold23

I fly it 2-3 times per year, primarily for business, and it's a very difficult route for FA. I actually have switched seats a bunch of times, almost always for a family that is splurging on that huge trip and have some separation between them in J. With Polaris now, I don't much care if its for a good reason. But I'll hold my ground if it is an entitled individual trying to improve their seating assignment at my expense.

There also seems to be a LOT of DYKWIA on this route and many of the summer EWR-Europe routes, with folks assuming expensive tickets=special treatment.

ExplorerWannabe

No but if you start off by assuming their status implies a level of experience, you put the monkey on their back of explaining why, as an ultra-elite status flyer, they don't know how to get to the right seat. IMO, take their elite status and turn it into a detriment in this situation because they're CLEARLY being rude and arrogant by taking your seat if they do know better. They can always respond saying they've been up a long time or traveling a while and had a brain fart on which seat they had -- or that they just miscounted rows. It's happened to me a few times so it may even be true.

nomad420

This is a joke right? I am not religious but would someone please explain what "religious reasons" there is for a seat selection?! What is this some "Church of Creative Seat Selection"! I typically board last for reasons previously posted and only rarely run into seat poaching. I typically don't even hassle with speaking to the "poacher" I leave it up to the FAs who always are happy to intervene.

ajGoes

Note the destination: TLV. .... some Haredim (ultra-Orthodox Jews) refuse to sit next to a person of the opposite sex.

PTahCha

Considering the origin of the flight is TPE, I would have made the speech in both English and Mandarin Chinese just to drive the point home.

Not necessarily. Back when UA flew barbie turboprops, I had pre-reserved the wing exit row aisle seat. When I boarded, I found a lady sitting in my seat, and claimed that she was in the correct row, even though she was supposed to sit one row behind. The FA came over and told me that I should just take any open seat instead of helping.

Fast forward an hour later, the same lady was spotting at my company's office checking in as a visitor. The look on her face, when she saw me, was priceless.

That actually happened to me ex-PDX, where two monks were traveling and they could not seat next to a woman, nor would they respond to the female flight attendant nor the female first officer. Also, they have to have their own row and cannot sit next to each other. It was only when the captain threatened to deplane them before they would accept their seats as is, with the female passengers swapped seats with another male passenger. I believe these same monks were on another UA flight, where the female passenger filed a complaint and it hit national news.

WineCountryUA

We were getting far off-topic (DYKWIA) and far beyond the UA related issues, perhaps into OMNI land, so removed some of the OT discisson. -- Hoever, there plenty of FT threads on this topic for those interested in pursuing this farther

ultra-Orthodox Jewish pax refuse to sit next to women on El Al flight JFK-Tel Aviv
El Al Under Fire After Re-Seating Women Away From Orthodox Men
NY-Israel flight delayed by ultra-Orthodox men’s refusal to sit next to women
Passengers Cause Chaos by Refusing to Sit Next to Women on Easyjet Flight
Florida woman sues El Al over gender segregation
Female Traveler Removed from Seat at Request of Pakistani "Monks" (UA forum)

Let's return to our regularly schedule DYKWIA discussion

WineCountryUA
UA coModerator