Not to have given up my seat on plane

Yeh not sure about this one

So you don’t agree with paying but think that other people who have paid should be made to swap with you? Ok then.

So what! They paid for their seats. If they pay, they choose whichever seats they prefer.
If someone wants to sit in an aisle, they should book an aisle seat (as I always do, as I hate being boxed in).

For my sins, I fly fairly regularly for work and l agree with the above. I always opt for an aisle seat. For starters, l can get up and go for a wee, without almost having sex with a total stranger getting past them.

YANBU as you have paid for your seats. But l cannot for the life of me understand why 2 people would want someone they don’t know stuck between them.

Some people book window and isle seats in the hope of securing an empty seat between them, l get that, but if the seat is occupied, personally, l would want to change.

@Bushwhacked20 I booked flights with Emirates for later this year and was surprised to find that on the way back, we had to pay to reserve seats. Weirdly, on the way out choosing our seats did not cost extra but the airline described this as 'complimentary' I think we paid about £80 on the way back. 😬

I'm used to the budget airlines like Ryanair charging for every possible thing and never pay to book specific seats with them. The Emirates flights are with my daughter and it's a bit of a holiday off a lifetime which we've saved a couple of years for so we wanted to sit together.

I think you and your friend were actually quite mean to book an aisle seat and a window seat so some other poor soul would have to sit between you. Friends usually book seats so they can sit together! There must have been some way that she knew that you were together, rather than two random strangers. You probably weren’t as reasonable as you like to think you were! No wonder she asked to be moved!

Yanbu.

You paid for the seat. She had the same option.

I am against this paying though as you didn't use to have to.

I refuse to pay. I travel with my disabled son and so if they don't want to piss off other passengers to being an unpaid carer for him then put me there!

We did once get out in the 2 emergency exit seats. Apart from the fact he was too young (15) he also has a physical disability so can't sit there.
The flight attendant said she'd find seat and swap us. Sat behind us in 3 seats were a mother and her DD. Really nice ladies. They offered to swap with me and it would benefit ds and I to have 3 seats. I told flight attendant.
She wasn't so accommodating and was still looking and looked like she was doing to swap 2 people from a row of 3 with us (2 blokes who were sharing a row with a family of 4 and the dad was in the aisle seat on their side).
I did on that one be firm but assertive that as it was their mistake I didn't think it was really too much to ask we didn't get a bum deal in correction when there was an easy and suitable solution of us just swapping with the people behind.
She agreed begrudgingly and the woman we swapped with brought me a drink. Win win!

Yanbu I book the seat too

Middle seats are shit whether people know each other on either side or not. If people don't want to sit in them, they should book a window or aisle instead.

I insist on sitting in an aisle seat wherever possible. I really don't like sitting anywhere else because I hate feeling boxed in. My 18yo dd always wants to be by the window. Dh doesn't care so he normally goes in the middle between us, but if dd and I were travelling together without dh, we might well book an aisle and a window with one in between. We absolutely wouldn't talk over the poor sod stuck in the middle, as that would be very inconsiderate, but equally, I don't see why we should be forced to book seats in different parts of the plane simply because a stranger is too tight to pay for a seat booking that suits them.

Yes, as I said, the shitty pricing structure drives uncomfortable interactions.

Booking two seats with a gap between is also excruciating IMO, although allowable.

I didn't pay for a seat because I'm not bothered about being sat in the middle seat. What bothered me was being sat in the middle of two people chatting and passing pringles back and forth. No way to pay to avoid this at check in sadly 😂Booking a window and an aisle if you are travelling together is not cool. Curious how the other passenger knew they were travelling together if they really were just watching netflix
😂

If they'd hoped to get the whole row, presumably OP would have moved when asked when it became apparent that that hadn't worked. She isn't bothered that there was someone with them in between them.

Nobody likes the middle seat. Everyone prefers window or aisle.

They were quietly watching Netflix.
Poor stranger needs to pay £23.99!

I never swap airplane seats.
I always sit in the aisle.

@Rainbowgoldover and what about your bladder? I have a very fit and health relative with a stoma, she’s very discreet and very private but she would have felt guilty in that situation despite needing to empty it frequently. I’m petty enough to have said “yes I empathise, I have severe incontinence which is why I booked the seat” (I do actually have incontinence). The question is: did your neighbour get up during the flight?

Yes...
The last time I flew back from the US, I was between a couple who'd done this - but it was them who asked me if I'd like to swap and whether I'd prefer aisle or window. So that was fine!

In the OPs case, if she really preferred aisle, which many do, then she was under no obligation to swap. She and her friend might have asked the CF if she'd like the window so she wasn't between them, though obviously that's not what the woman wanted. If we'd booked including an aisle, no way would we relinquish it, makes a huge difference to DH.

The person driving the unhelpful interaction is the person who won’t pay twenty quid to book their preferred seat but is quite happy to dictate where other people sit. The level of entitlement is excruciating.

If you’re travelling in a pair and don’t want the middle then I would book aisle seats opposite each other. It’s really weird, and super awkward to book the aisle and window and expect some poor stranger to sit between you.

Totally not your fault!!! I would consider swapping if it was like for like (aisle seat to aisle seat) but not the middle seat - their fault for not paying and sorting themselves out. Even if you know each other doesn’t mean you have to swap

My friend has this situation except it was worse as her company had paid exit row for her and someone wanted her seat cos they wanted to sit with family. She refused (and quite rightly so) as the family member only had a normal
seat with no extra leg room but she was made to feel like the villain for the whole 14 hour flight as the family members kept on giving her death stares when they could have bought the seats also but didn’t want to pay!! Some people are so entitled seriously these days.

I was flying to Italy and I had booked the window seat . An elderly couple sat next me and the lady asked if we could swap as she had a bad shoulder. I obliged and sat in the middle. I spent the next 2 hours with them bickering across me and even dropping food all over me, it was a nightmare. No good deed goes unpunished.

Last flight I was on- me in the window seat with 15 month old in lap, partner next to me. A woman on the end in the aisle seat and her husband in the aisle seat opposite, but two empty seats next to him as the flight wasn't full. Of course we wished the woman would move over to sit with her husband and leave us an empty seat for our family of 3. But was clear she wasn't going to and it was completely her right. Personally I really like having a window seat and will book one when there is the option.Some people like having aisle seats, they they can book whatever seats they like and so can you and your friend. It's fine to ask someone if the would mind swapping, totally unreasonable to act so entitled when they want to keep the seat they paid for.

I agree with this. It forces someone to be gooseberry and creates social discomfort.

I also assume it was an attempt to keep the middle seat empty, which indicates to anyone sitting there they are not welcome.

@Bushwhacked20 I’ve found BA significantly cheaper than EasyJet depending on the route. Unless travelling in business BA charge for seat allocation and luggage allowance.

Your seat booking was manipulative, hoping for the middle seat to remain free, but I wouldn’t swap a seat I’d paid extra to book unless it was for a better seat so you both were and were not unreasonable.

HTH 😂

Why would you want to be that close to them though. You can't talk across the person in the middle that would be so rude