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some of these people with kids that feel entitled infuriate me and sometimes the flight attendants are complicit in encouraging this because they don't want a child separation incident.
The best thing to do is to say you need to sit on the window or aisle due to claustrophobia and fear of flying. So then it becomes your medical issue vs the BS the parents are trying to pull. If they still insist you move then say you suffered and sue the living daylights out of the airline.
If you have kids there is no reason to not plan accordingly so that all are seated together.
But when you book a flight, you get a screen that asks you to book your seats. At least on American Airlines, it has different colors that denote whether the seat is a free seat or has a price. Sometimes, a fairly HEFTY price! Surely these infrequent flyers realize that seats aren't all free. They've been charging for seats for years now.
Personally, I wonder whether these "infrequent", supposedly naive new flyers, aren't running a scam where they reckon they can just guilt people out of their paid seats coz "I has kids!". Or because they want to sit together, but in the meantime they both plug themselves into their phones and tablets and don't utter a word to each other the whole flight, but get the nicer seats that others have booked months in advance and paid for. I don't buy this innocence. Not for everyone.
Or they're just cheap and want free upgrades that they're not entitled to. When you buy your ticket you see how much the seats cost. It varies quite a bit on some airlines and some flights. Even in economy the costs can be significantly different - hundreds of dollars. If you want to sit together then pay for those tickets and don't expect others to give into your demands. They paid for their seats too. Why should they give up what they paid for? I don't understand why people expect others to move because they want them to. I mean I would love to be 5' 4" but that's not going to happen.....I'm not even 5' tall!
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Okey Dokie
I thought the poster was asking the passenger who wanted the “better” seat to pay him.
Sees reasonable to at least be compensated for the extra fee that the displaced passenger had already invested to assure(?) their priority seat.
But, as a very frequent flier, you would not be OBLIGATED to switch seats for passengers who did not take the necessary steps to make their reservations suitable for themselves.
I have switched many times, but I'm not the 'entitled' type, and a couple hours of my inconvenience is not worth a serious episode for someone else.
Are you obliged to let someone with two items go aheaad of you full cart in the grocery line? Of course not. But is it nice to live in a world where people do?? Your call.
Are you obliged to let someone with two items go aheaad of you full cart in the grocery line? Of course not. But is it nice to live in a world where people do?? Your call.
I’ve worked my way to mid-level elite status with Delta in part because it makes it easier to get exactly the seat I want. Don’t ask me to swap unless you’re offering me something better. Which is at this point, a swap from the Comfort+ seat I got at booking due to said status to a first class seat.
Regular flyer note- if you slap big over the ear noise-cancelling headphones on your head as soon as you sit down, it reduces the seat swap requests by about 80-90% because people are actually reluctant to try to scream at you over whatever they assume you’re listening to on the headphones.
(I figure I earn my airplane karma by being willing to fling carry on bags into overhead bins for little old ladies)
One time, we paid extra to get in the first boarding group so that we could obtain seats together. A whole lot of good that did us when the previous flight was delayed (their fault) and they had to hold the flight so we could make it onto the next plane.
I'd love to have ditched my 3yo with total strangers for hours so that I could play rest and chill rather than keep him and my other two kids entertained and tolerable to the other passengers. But dangit, I resorted to begging strangers to spare them the misery. Oh well, lesson learned too late.
some of these people with kids that feel entitled infuriate me and sometimes the flight attendants are complicit in encouraging this because they don't want a child separation incident.
The best thing to do is to say you need to sit on the window or aisle due to claustrophobia and fear of flying. So then it becomes your medical issue vs the BS the parents are trying to pull. If they still insist you move then say you suffered and sue the living daylights out of the airline.
If you have kids there is no reason to not plan accordingly so that all are seated together.
This. It's not the refusing to give up your seat, but how you do it and what you say, so as not to appear callous and a real jerk. It doesn't matter what the reason is, and you don't have to state the reason. Just a simple, "I'm so sorry, but there's a reason I chose this seat and paid extra for it, so I can't. I'm sorry." It softens the blow. There's a difference between that response and a shaking no of the head or a simple "sorry" while turning your head away, which comes off as anti-social and uncaring, IMO. It's never a mistake to be kind.
I travel alone usually (in the past...I haven't flown in a while). I don't recall being asked to switch seats, but maybe I was and don't remember. I do remember my friend next to me changed seats because she'd injured her leg. She was replaced with a woman with a crying infant. I was miserable the entire flight and ended up with a horrible cold since the woman aimed her vent at me the entire flight (can't get the baby chilled).
But that's part of traveling, I guess. Bad things happen.
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