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How do you handle a seat change request? Do you ever feel like a jerk for saying no?

Old Jan 27, 2024, 10:41 pm
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How do you handle a seat change request? Do you ever feel like a jerk for saying no?

Old Apr 18, 2023, 7:05 am
  #151  
 
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it is not just the paying extra to get the E+ seats - it is also taking the initiatives to plan early with stuff like checking-in on time
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Old Jun 14, 2023, 9:02 pm
  #152  
 
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Sent my daughter (18) alone on a TATL flight. Picked an aisle seat closer forward - had to hunt for it since ticket was bought close in. Turns out, "a couple asked her to swap" and she ended up in the middle seat elsewhere, too afraid to refuse. Hate "couples" like that. Too cheap to pay and too lazy to work for a good seat, but def. not above taking advantage of someone else. Had to vent, thank you all for listening.
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Old Jun 15, 2023, 10:39 pm
  #153  
 
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tr3k - I would definitely complain to UA in writing about this... I have done it before and they recognized the issue and respond in a reasonable manner
-m
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Old Jun 15, 2023, 10:41 pm
  #154  
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Originally Posted by tr3k
Sent my daughter (18) alone on a TATL flight. Picked an aisle seat closer forward - had to hunt for it since ticket was bought close in. Turns out, "a couple asked her to swap" and she ended up in the middle seat elsewhere, too afraid to refuse. Hate "couples" like that. Too cheap to pay and too lazy to work for a good seat, but def. not above taking advantage of someone else. Had to vent, thank you all for listening.
Blech. That's some bad juju on the part of the couple.

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Old Jun 15, 2023, 10:48 pm
  #155  
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Originally Posted by mfirst
tr3k - I would definitely complain to UA in writing about this... I have done it before and they recognized the issue and respond in a reasonable manner
-m
Huh? The daughter's 18 - an adult. Sounds like she willingly gave up the seat. What exactly is the complaint? "Don't let our adult daughter make decisions?" I would have told the daughter she should have kept the seat she had reserved and treat it as a learning experience that she didn't. But now, the recommendation is for the parent to complain to United about someone asking to change seats?

Last edited by IAH-OIL-TRASH; Jun 15, 2023 at 11:01 pm
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Old Jun 15, 2023, 10:49 pm
  #156  
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Originally Posted by tr3k
Sent my daughter (18) alone on a TATL flight. Picked an aisle seat closer forward - had to hunt for it since ticket was bought close in. Turns out, "a couple asked her to swap" and she ended up in the middle seat elsewhere, too afraid to refuse. Hate "couples" like that. Too cheap to pay and too lazy to work for a good seat, but def. not above taking advantage of someone else. Had to vent, thank you all for listening.
Hopefully she learned from this experience to just say no next time.
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Old Jun 16, 2023, 5:50 am
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Originally Posted by IAH-OIL-TRASH
Huh? The daughter's 18 - an adult. Sounds like she willingly gave up the seat. What exactly is the complaint? "Don't let our adult daughter make decisions?" I would have told the daughter she should have kept the seat she had reserved and treat it as a learning experience that she didn't. But now, the recommendation is for the parent to complain to United about someone asking to change seats?
Even if its not true, this is where you say something like I had to pay $200 (or whatever) extra for this seat. Will gladly switch for $250.
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Old Jun 16, 2023, 6:13 am
  #158  
 
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Originally Posted by JimInOhio
Even if its not true, this is where you say something like I had to pay $200 (or whatever) extra for this seat. Will gladly switch for $250.
I got a $200 voucher from the flight attendant for switching seats on a jetBlue flight in Mint two weeks ago. Somebodys suite door would only close halfway so they decided that warranted a meltdown. I honestly would have done it for $50 just to not have to listen to her anymore.
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Old Jun 16, 2023, 6:34 am
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Originally Posted by bocastephen
Hopefully she learned from this experience to just say no next time.
Sounds like a great learning experience. We want our children to make mistakes that don't involve injury, financial cost, or forever-online embarrassment. We give them conflicting messages, like "be nice & considerate" and at the same time "don't get taken advantage of" (particularly our daughters). Spending all those hours fuming in a middle seat transatlantic will do more than any parental lecture to better prepare her for the next time. Perhaps a response to a request to move, like "I'd be glad to, as long as it's another aisle seat forward of the row I'm in now." That way, you're not actually saying no. If they insist, then there's always the fallback, "my Dad/Mom told me not to swap my seat, sorry." Who's going to argue with that?
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Old Jun 16, 2023, 2:19 pm
  #160  
 
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Originally Posted by JimInOhio
Even if its not true, this is where you say something like I had to pay $200 (or whatever) extra for this seat. Will gladly switch for $250.
I told her just that. Her answer was that she is "too ethical" to do that That child is way too honest. (So had to explain about basic economy and how some people buy cheap tickets that do not allow for seat selection, so her seat is still paid for and not to be given up).
I do think that no one should ask to change a middle seat for an aisle (unless, perhaps, they have some disability that makes middle seat untenable - and even then they should ask the airline for accommodation, not a random fellow passenger). "Couples" and anyone else that wants to sit together - should book those seats ahead of time and pay, if needed.
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Old Jun 17, 2023, 2:42 am
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Originally Posted by tarheelnj
Perhaps a response to a request to move, like "I'd be glad to, as long as it's another aisle seat forward of the row I'm in now." That way, you're not actually saying no. If they insist, then there's always the fallback, "my Dad/Mom told me not to swap my seat, sorry." Who's going to argue with that?
I recall getting asked to switch to a middle on a TATL in Y years ago, and while I was really tempted to say "Are you serious?!", my response was something like: "I'd really like to help, but I'm just not sitting in a middle seat".
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Old Jun 17, 2023, 5:58 am
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Originally Posted by tr3k
"Couples" and anyone else that wants to sit together - should book those seats ahead of time and pay, if needed.
You should recognize that pre-planning isn't always possible. As an example, a few weeks from now I'm flying TATL with my daughter, who is a minor. I'm traveling on business for an event, and booked my seat in E+ a long while ago. My daughter's plans changed, and she's now flying with me to visit friends. There were only single seats available in E+ at the time of booking her ticket. While we are both in E+, and in adjacent rows, it would be nice to sit together.
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Old Jun 17, 2023, 7:13 am
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Originally Posted by jpezaris
You should recognize that pre-planning isn't always possible. As an example, a few weeks from now I'm flying TATL with my daughter, who is a minor. I'm traveling on business for an event, and booked my seat in E+ a long while ago. My daughter's plans changed, and she's now flying with me to visit friends. There were only single seats available in E+ at the time of booking her ticket. While we are both in E+, and in adjacent rows, it would be nice to sit together.
Is that her view or your view? (j/k)
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Old Jun 17, 2023, 8:13 am
  #164  
 
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After being burned too many times, I now respond. "Thank you for the offer to change seats. I am happy with mine and will stay here."
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Old Jun 27, 2023, 8:41 pm
  #165  
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Seat change request - but opposite of usual.

Flying to TLV now. Husband and I are with our toddler twins. We chose Polaris middle seats in the odd rows, the ones where the seats are right next to each other. Husband with one kid, me with the other.

so we board and begin to settle in. Couple behind me asks if we will switch seats so they can be with one another.

I explained that I needed to be able to watch my child.

the male in the couple looks perturbed and says to his wife this guy doesnt want to help us.

kind of reverse of what we often see, where families often ask others to move.
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