Plane seat drama

No. Plus I rather like your suggestion about paying towards the cost.

There is no guarantee anyway. If there is a very frequent flyer who wants your seat, like the emergency row, you will likely be moved.
My DH is usually upgraded, but if he is not then he sometimes get the entire row om both sides if possible to himself. A couple of times on Emirates he has had three rows to himself. So noone sitting on the row in front or back of him either. But he is a very frequent flyer, and they know which his favourite wine and cognac is etc (written down). It’s madness.

Absolutely not! With you on this 100%

Hell no.

You had me at 'pretty much demanded'. What a pair of entitled arseholes and then to turn around and abuse you. No, no, no, no, no. You absolutely did the right thing.

Why on earth wasn’t she removed.. but even if she was you would probably be delayed because of her anyway.

No. If I want a certain seat, I book and pay for that seat. End of, they can demand all they like, they’re getting nowhere.

Last week I booked an emergency seat (extra room). But there was a man already sitting there when I got there. Told him this was my seat, he just said No. Showed him my boarding card but he just turned away. Had to call staff who told him to move. I saw that he then sat in another window seat at the front, and he had to be moved again because once again it wasn’t his seat. Some people are just rude.

Reminds me of the mother who created merry hell on my flight back from majorca demanding that she wanted the front row seats for her and her son because of [insert random reasons here]. Kicked off and despite causing the flight to be delayed by 2 hours (after missing our slot) was not removed from the plane. In the meantime the front row passengers had thrown in the towel and given over their paid-for seats.

My dd flew with dgs just before his 2nd birthday, she paid for an extra seat as she knew it would make life easier.
She wouldn’t have dreamt of demanding someone else’s seat.

If I was in your situation I probably would have offered them the seat if I saw they had a baby.
If I had been travelling with a baby I would not have asked you for the seat but would have been very grateful if you offered it.
It sounds like they were very rude to you so would not have given them the seat in that instance. I would not have engaged with them and definitely not offered the seat for money.

@PointsSouth - rare for me to be accused of knowing what I'm talking about, so I will take your comment as a win, thank you!

Oh, and OP: you were completely reasonable to say no to the rude co-passengers. If I saw an empty seat between a family party in one block/aisle, I would assume it had been paid for, and would not ask, so they were quite - let's call it 'bold' - to begin with. If they found travelling with an infant in arms uncomfortable, why not pay for a seat with whatever adaptation is needed for that child to sit safely?

You've paid for and chosen the seats that suit your family. Even if you had agreed to move, if it was a very young child, airline probably wouldn't have been happy. Some airlines will let children under two travel in a plane seat, but I think has to be on an approved seat - if the airline you used allows this, then the couple should have paid for the seat.

They got pretty rude and offensive (called me a fat bch) so I said no, stewardess said was up to me.

Should I have given them the seat?

Apparently not!! I'd have been tempted to tell them that I'd just discovered that I needed the extra seat after all, now that I know I'm fat.

No, definitely not. Rudeness shouldn’t be rewarded.
Doubt they’ll learn though.

I really don’t know why people are so bloody entitled - seems to be an epidemic of it. They knew you’d paid for the seat, didn’t want to make a contribution and then got nasty and abusive. No chance. Like you l’d have offered the seat if they were polite and reasonable, and mindful of the fact that it wasn’t something they were entitled to as you had booked and paid for it. But rude and arsey - most definitely not.

I said I would have offered the seat when I saw they had a baby (on boarding), not once they called me a fat bitch.

I just don’t see the big deal for a two hour flight, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion )and their own paid/for seat.)

.....don't come in here knowing what you're talking about. Are you trying to undermine the entire ethos of AIBU?

Isn't 'I' the object, not the subject, in that sentence, so it should be 'me'?

Nor do you get guaranteed a specific seat even if you paid for it in case of equipment change/ defect seats / accomodating people who
by law have to sit together or close by ( kids under 12 have to be within reach of parents in adjacent seats/behind/across aisle ) to put on oxgygen masks in emergency.

I presume you don't get the money back either. To be honest I'd refuse to fly. I'm a nervous flier and pay to sit next to DH. I'm sure no one would want me digging my fingers in their hand and arm as hard as I can on take off...

This

Yes, it’s only a two hour flight. I don’t mind sitting next to my husband and son.

I always pre book an aisle seat. In late April when I flew up to Canada, the man beside me in the middle seat asked if i would change with his girlfriend. I asked where her seat was, it was three in front of us and also aisle. I need aisle. So no problem. Coming back home I was sitting with a woman and a man, they asked if I could change with their child. asked where the childs seat was, window a few aisles away. I politely said no, I am sorry I need aisle. said child was in his 20's lol. they were not happy. I pay to sit on the aisle as I have had major bowel reconstruction, and the altitude sometimes makes me have major cramps and sometimes vomit. I NEED to be able to get up and into the toilet at any given minute. I fly tomorrow to Canada. It was supposed to be in 7 weeks, but my doctor has called and there is an issue he wants to explore. I now leave tomorrow and paid for aisle. Not giving aisle up but will gladly change aisle for aisle if it makes someones life easier. If I were travelling with my husband and we PAID for that middle seat, not a shot in hell are we giving it up. When we travel together we purposely book window and aisle and hope that the middle is free. LOL

Yes that’s sort of what I’m saying in a round about way.