Not to have given up my seat on plane

had the same coming home from holiday family with kids ..one was in my seat with is mom and other baby ..so he asked to seat the seat behind next to him ..my wife was in a end seat and next to her was other family member with is kid.. but talking to the dad many in is party of 20+was in there wrong seating this is easy to stop cabin crew just say you must be in your own seat from the start from the plane thanking off ....

But that's what I mentioned earlier - has anyone ever heard of someone offering whatever's already been paid for the seat they're requesting?

I haven't myself and when I asked a pal who works as cabin crew she just laughed and said it works in three stages:

Ask "could you possibly ..." with a winsome smile, a short sob story and usually a baby voice
Embroider sob story and insist how important their "need" is
Get nasty

I’d have swapped. For £30 cash 🤣

You weren’t being unreasonable to refuse and she was allowed to ask but I would rather sit next to my friend than have a stranger between us.

Although if you booking those particular seats were in the hope that no one would book the middle seat then that’s the risk you take.

They started charging years ago. It’s only free if you have elite status

I absolutely would not move from an aisle seat in the theatre

Fair enough, you probably have a reason for booking one! And presumably if going with a friend, she doesn’t go for seat 3 in! But theatres are different; seats in the middle are dearer than seats at the edge (at least in mine where there’s no middle aisle either).

It is annoying when you’re trying to book tickets for a show and all that’s left is single seats miles apart from each other.

No me neither.

I am very claustrophobic though, so that might colour my opinion.

Flying was a lot more expensive then. As somebody up thread has already stated, now you pay less for a flight but more for the extras including sitting next to the people you are travelling with.

We’ve done that! For some reason our 2 seats were bang in the middle of a larger group, so we moved so they could all sit together. However theatres don’t charge extra to book specific seats, only charge more or less depending on section of the theatre. As others have pointed out, some theatres booking systems, do not allow you to leave single vacant seats.

I absolutely would not move from an aisle seat in the theatre

A few times when I've tried to book certain theatres it won't let you book if you leave a one seat gap.
And to be fair if I was in seats 20 and 21, and 2 friends could only book 19 and 22, I would happily shift down one so they could sit together. The aisle/window issue wouldn't really occur in a theatre. Plus you SHOULDN'T be talking in a theatre anyway so being next to your friend isn't a huge deal like it might be on a plane when you want to pass the time talking/ sharing snacks or gripping their hand for deal life on take off and landing.
(I am actually on the side of not moving from your paid for seats on planes. However I also don't agree with people leaving the middle seat free.)

Not this again.
You pay for your seat, you sit in your seat. This is your seat now.
Would you switch seats with somebody at at theatre, if that somebody asks for a better seat (yours, fully paid by you)?

Really our ire should be directed at the airlines who have introduced this system as a money spinner. There is no other reason for it. Just like charging for bags.

Back in the day, you checked in at the airport and you were seated next to your travelling companion.

But somehow progress means we now have to pay for the privilege. It's just bullshit

Hopefully @CoffeeBeansGalore others may have answered. Massively depends on the airline, you are best calling them. If it is long haul, you are probably best going up a class so sitting together and just the two of you is guaranteed or paying for a two together seat (KLM defo do this) and if you go to Seatguru there are a few planes that have 2 seats together on shorthaul (although rare - and there is no window on these seats either) If it is a budget short haul, you have more issues. You can chance your arm and book 3 seats on the flight together, with a third "fictitious" person in Seat 3 who simply does not turn up, plenty of passengers do not turn up for their flights and this is not a problem in itself, and you might be lucky, but there is no guarantee. If it is a longhaul, they can cancel your returning journey. My experience of cabin crew is they try and do the best by everyone once they are on the plane, but this can mean you have to compromise, and they do not care what you have booked or paid for. I had an empty seat next to me on a long haul (2 seat), but a larger lady that had disabilities could not / did not want to sit in the seat she was given so they moved her into the seat next to me so she could stretch her leg out and have more room. Don't get me wrong, she was lovely and a bit apologetic, but I definitely had a very cramped flight against the window to put up with as a result. Also, if you need extra leg room the emergency exit aisles are always a good option, but not if you are disabled, they will not let you sit there. HTH x

Well, we both like aisle seats and we book early, either across the aisle from each other or in different rows.

Then Air Canada comes along and screws it up. No refunds.

TUI airlines is an outlier on this front - reflecting their overwhelming family / couples customer profile

They were! Whereas it would be perfectly normal to take an aisle and a middle or a window and a middle - probably what 99% of what fellow travellers do!

Or not play pass the parcel on a very short flight

How can you not have an idea? You said they were selfish for taking the window and aisle?

I think when you travel with family you should pay to sit together. Or be prepared to pay onboard if you want to swap.

I would have offered to move.

No idea! I was just responding to your scenario where OP and her friend could have left the window seat!

Why did you have to keep passing your baby over on a 2 hour flight over the man in the middle?

Totally standard on some airlines for there to be a rejigging of seats on boarding so women don't have to sit next to men they're unrelated to (appreciate thought that's not your culture or your frame of reference). Passengers fine with that as that was the societal expectation