Not to have given up my seat on plane

I was on a flight from Melbourne to Heathrow via Singapore……no amount of the cabin staff (and other passengers) pointing out that there no such thing as 5 seats together because that did not actually exist made any difference.

It does exist in economy class on an A380 Super Jumbo jet which does regularly fly the Heathrow to Singapore to Melbourne route - ie on Singapore Air.

Economy class is 11 abreast 3-5-3.

The A380 is largest passenger plane flying today, it is a double decker. I have flown that myself. So it isn’t unlikely they were promised that.

"social norm"

if youre worrie about your bladder pay for a seat cant stand entitled people

No one is 'stuck' between them, that middle seat passenger chose not to pre book seats and took a chance of as to where they would be seated. The other passengers chose their seating to suit them ahead of the flight.

The price of the flight also reflects that, they paid less, so did not have a choice of as to where they sat. You pays your money and takes your choice

So what would of to have done as per my question above?

You paid extra to book a seat, I know but you still would have had the advantage of being seated together rather than in the middle of a couple of strangers.

But @msbevvy I fly a bit for work, almost always on my own, and always sit alone “in the middle/next to/surrounded by strangers”

even when my boss is on the plane, I leave him to it, I just want to watch stuff and chill.

I don’t like the window or the middle, only ever aisle. Only if I’m travelling with my OH will I sit in middle. Then he won’t bother me on his frequent wee trips, and I won’t feel weird stepping over him

if you are seated in middle and ask if ok to swap and get told no, that’s it. You asked, they declined. That’s absolutely fine. Guilt tripping is stupid and far more likely to be counter productive than anything else.

Flight a few weeks ago where four extremely loud and drunken women sat across two rows spent the entire flight on their knees hanging over the seats loudly talking to each other. The poor folks sat around them looked like they wanted to throw themselves out the doors.

But that’s different if it’s just you and means a couple can sit together in the other 2 seats. I usually book a window seat as that’s what I like, but my worst flight (thankfully short, was where a couple had booked the 2 aisle seats and the one on my side used the middle seat to unpack their extremely smelly packed lunch which they proceeded to share across the aisle. And to think I’d initially been pleased that nobody was sitting next to me!

This annoys me just as much as people whining when they are forced to check a bag. Just fucking pay for a checked bag and a seat.

flights should NOT be cheap.

If I paid and selected my seat, then I am sitting in that seat. I would not give it up - and I’ll have the email confirmation at hand for any flight attendant trying to move me. She can speak to her family when they come off the plane or they should plan better next time and ensure that they are together.

When I travel with family and we are split up, we just sit in our separate seats - we spend most of travel time napping or reading or headphones in anyway - there is plenty of time to chat when we get off the plane/train.

YANBU

You're complaining that it's selfish and inconsiderate to pay for the seats you want. It's far more selfish and inconsiderate not to pay and then expect people who have to move for you!

They shouldn't have talked over and reached over you, but they didn't pay to do that. That's a completely separate issue.

If you do book the aisle & window seats & end up with someone between you though, the least you can do is to not spend the flight chatting or passing things to each other.

Well that's your assumption, not fact. But let's say it's true. They didn't get that third seat; they accepted it without issue.

Rude woman also hoped for good fortune; she could have guaranteed it for around £20. She didn't think it was worth that much so she took a chance instead. Whose fault is that?

Don't really understand your point - what should I have done in that scenario? Is it Ok for two friends to book seats either side of me and talk over my head for 9 hours, just because they paid for it? I don't think so. And I didn't actually ask anyone to swap seats with me, just quietly seethed 😂

Absolutely you shouldn't have changed seats. Unless she was offering to give you £23 there and then, but even then you would have been well within your rights to refuse. People think they can make someone feel awkward enough to give them what they want. You have to stand your ground. You're never going to see her again.

If you’re a BA exec club member (blue/basic) you get to reserve your seats FOC 24 hours ahead of check in, so 48hrs before the flight. I think you need to book checked bag rate, but that’s then in effect you paying to reserve a seat.

of course it doesn’t mean you and your mate can sit together but it does mean you can choose your seat for free.

so if you book a BA flight, join the club, it’s worth it for that alone.

Next level up (bronze) you can reserve your seat a week before.

"Lesson ," indeed

Let me put it this way. On this thread re a person sat in the middle seat between two friends was a tad upset for them talking across her. You, also stated you had experience that. Why would you post about it if not bothers

As about would you pay to reserve as seat, I don't know only you can decide

YANBU. As you learned on your outbound flight, if you don't book, you end up sitting where you don't want to sit. Hopefully this person will now have learned that lesson, too.

I was on a flight from Melbourne to Heathrow via Singapore and there was a family of 5. The mother and 3 kids were in the middle row of 4 and the husband was across the aisle, I( was next to him in the middle and DS1 aged 2 was in his own seat on the window.

The husband kicked off big time saying that his wife was terrified of flying and the airline had promised they would be all seated together. No amount of the cabin staff saying they were same row, but separated by the aisle made a difference- and no amount of the cabin staff (and other passengers) pointing out that there no such thing as 5 seats together because that did not actually exist made any difference. Finally the husband said they would be getting OFF the plane and would catch another one. Cheering when they left- but of course we had to wait for their luggage to leave as well and missed connecting flights etc.

I did wonder though- for a start they were English, so how had they come to Australia in the first place and clearly flown okay- and secondly- how was it apparently impossible to understand that the plane did not have 5 seats in a row. very very bizarre.

It did mean that DS1 and I could spread out for the entire flight.

Is it OK to expect someone else to pay money for you to be selfish and inconsiderate?

Let me put it another way - I don't care if I'm in the aisle, window or middle, or whether I'm at the front or back of the plane. Why would I pay money to choose a seat?

Quite right I pre book and pay for seats for myself and my family and will not be moving for someone else who hasn't bothered to. It staggers me the amount of people that expect others to move to accommodate them. If you want certain seats pay for them end of

I always book an aisle seat because I have IBS and often have to make a hasty dash to the loo. I also intensely dislike crawling out over people when I do so because it's embarrassing.

I'd have said no.

YAnBU to refuse to change seats.

But YABU to assume the only reason people end up in a middle seat split off from family is by failing to prebook a seat.
Several times I had prebooked and paid for a seat on a flight that gets cancelled. When I am re-booked by the airline on a later flight it’s like that never happened and I am stuck with whatever they give me.
This happened last month and even though my daughter and I had booked a two seat row of a window & aisle seat, because our flight was cancelled we ended up on the next flight in two middle seats, her the row behind me.
I didn’t dare ask anyone to swap seats because the attitude is always- you should have prebooked and paid.

When I did….

Because in the OP's scenario, there wasn't one seat, there were two. They booked the aisle and the window on the same row knowing that someone would be stuck between them.