Not to have given up my seat on plane

Yes, I think I probably am! I think OP and her friend were being selfish, and instead of just owning it, she comes on here to complain about the other woman to try and garner our sympathy.

While, I doubt every pair will try and do this, it could become more common and be a problem for the airlines. Although, as a PP posted, the TUI website would not allow her to take this option.

To add to my post…YANBU to not want to give up your seat

YANBU, you booked and paid for a seat. The only time I have ever moved was for a brother and sister who were returning from a family funeral. She was obviously distraught and it was better all round if her brother was next to her. Anything like that and I would move, otherwise no.

DH works for easyJet, seating booking is a fucking pain in the arse. Inevitably you always end up with a handful of people who don’t book, prime example is people with young kids. They can’t sit on their own and no one ever volunteers to move so at least one parent is with them, so the flight gets delayed until people are forced to swap. Was far simpler when you got assigned a seat on check in or when you had to leg it to the plane from the gate as there was no allocated seating!!

If she had a dodgy bladder she could have swapped with the family she knew in the aisle seat and one of them could have had her middle seat

@Rainbowgoldover She was an entitled cow, and getting her mates to say "what about your bladder?" Well she should have paid then shouldn't she?!

Nah, sod the tight entitled cow

"What if every pair of travellers chooses to do that?"

And what if every traveller decides to put headphones on and sing along loudly to Chas and Dave? That's as likely a 'what if' as yours!

It's very clear that the majority of people choose to sit together (if possible). So your 'what if' is meaningless, nothing more than a poor attempt to make the FEW people who choose not to sit together feel bad about their choices. Are you always so intolerant of people who make different choices to yourself, Cecily?

I hope BA refunded your seat if you were forced to swap!! Did you tell the flight attendant you specifically paid £24 to have the aisle seat? And did you also mention this to the person who wanted to swap?

I'm going to try this the next time I fly. Buy the cheapest seat possible. And insist that I need to be in first class because I don't like the people seated around me. I'm sure it will make me very popular!!!

I recently booked with TUI and tried to book window for me and aisle for DP and it didn’t allow me.
The booking system said you couldn’t leave an empty seat between you.

Last year we booked the day before we flew (different airline) and the plane wasn’t very full so I booked window and aisle because those are our preferred seats. As the plane was nowhere near capacity I expected that we would probably have the row to ourselves as there were plenty of other seats available.
If in that situation someone had been placed between us then DP would offer to swap to the middle so we aren’t really inconveniencing anyone except ourselves as we lose a seat we paid for.

I book and pay for seats as close to the front row as possible so I’m booking for location in the plane as well as seat preference, my DP just sits where I’m happiest, if he ends up in the middle then he does it for me so I can be next to him and have the window seat.
I was absolutely terrified of flying and found sitting at the front of the plane by a window helps with my anxiety, I make sure I book and pay for seats as soon as I can.
Last time we flew was pricey as there were only the extra leg room seats free as it was so last minute but we did get the whole row to ourselves so it was worth paying the extra £100. It’s unlikely the aisle seat will be free this time but as long as we are at the front I don’t mind, it makes sense TUI have the system so you can’t leave a seat between you, it must make it difficult to fill the seats.

Before you could book and pay for selected seating the cabin crew would always try to find me a front window seat because I was so scared of flying. I quite often was allowed to board first so I could find a suitable seat.
I hated feeling like I was being difficult and having special treatment especially if I didn’t get the option to board first and if anyone was asked to switch seats for me. I would never ask myself and if anyone refused I would accept it with complete understanding and try to cope.

I think it makes sense you need to book and pay if you have a preference to avoid having to decide who “deserves” the more desirable seats. If someone is that desperate for the seat you have booked then they would have paid for it at the earliest opportunity.

I’m pretty sure at one point in the past you were not allowed to move seats. I think it was in case of a crash and identifying passengers etc.

I was flying home from Italy with my nine year old. I paid extra for the child to have window seat and me to have the middle seat. Flight about 1.5 hours.

Man comes along who had the aisle seat and asks me if I would move to his mother's seat about four rows down so he and his mother can sit together because she likes him to rub cream in her legs.

I was so astonished that he was asking me to move and me to separate from my nine year old child. I refused and then someone else moved so mum could sit in front of him.

At no point did he rub any cream!

@InTheRainOnATrain no it’s not. One wanted a window and the other wanted an aisle. If you’re sleeping, listening to music etc you do t need your friend right next to you. They said comfort was key on return flight.

Well done op!

When you check in on line if you don’t pay you are just allocated a random seat,the ones no one else wants.you don’t know who is in them, as it is irrelevant.

airline flying is menu pricing. The base level is ticket only, you can then pay for bags if you wish. Or a seat , if not you take the random seats that no one else wants. But you fly for less.

How does it work that if you book an aisle and a window you get more space? Others booking online don't know the occupiers of the seats around them know each other. And even if it wasn't pre booked, it would end up being allocated regardless if the flight is full

This
Looks pretty odd to book an aisle and a window

no she wasn't she was sat seperately from me, but within the same group of people. she was 2 rows behind me...

@jac12 Thank you.

Thank you so much for this.

But that’s exactly what they got when the flight attendant moved the other woman.

Yanbu

So many cheeky fuckers not realising that if you want to swap, you need to offer something equally good (aisle seat for an aisle seat) or better and the person offered can still say no. Didn’t they learn that lesson when swapping stuff as a kid ?

Yes I thought the same.
However you would only be unreasonable if you conducted conversation over the person in the middle seat or were passing each other things.
My first thought was sounds like a tactic, albeit failed, to get an entire row to yourselves.
However I always pay to reserve seats so I wouldnt move.

I have booked an "extra comfort" seat on Ryanair. I paid the same as my other seat.

I booked two seats opposite each other in a first class train carriage so that my 7 year old dgs was sat with me and wouldn’t disturb anyone.
When we boarded a couple about my age were sat in our seats.
I asked them to move and they nodded towards the table opposite with 4 seats (obviously 2 were their seats) and said you can sit over there.
I told them that my dgs and I would be sitting in our allocated seats thank you and they reluctantly moved and shared a table with another passenger.
Entitled idiots.