Best CF airplane stories

[BreadInCaptivity]

Inspired by another thread.

About 5 years ago we were flying back from the USA. We'd booked Premium Economy seats on Virgin. Configuration is 2-3-2.

Our two late teens were in front of us and we had the 2 seats directly behind. All settled in when a family of 4 embarked with 2 young children (around 5 and 7 at a guess).

They proceed to the 2 seats behind DH and I and start putting their bags down when the mother asked (politely to be fair) if we would mid swapping seats so they could sit together as a family.

Given our two were older (and once headphones were on were not going to be engaging with us) we decided to be nice and said ok.

Can you guess where this is going?

Asked where the other seats were, looking around the PE cabin a bit baffled as it appeared to be full....

Yep - they'd only booked 2 seats in PE and wanted us to take their 2 seats in economy 😂.

Clearly we said, no (with rather incredulous expressions on our face's) and sat back down. Parent then both start calling us selfish (oh the irony) and demanding we move. DH made the point that if sitting together was so important, then booking in the same cabin might be a good idea for the future, but as stands he was sure if they went down to economy the people in the seats next to those they'd booked would be very happy with a free upgrade 😀.

The response from the Father "I'm not giving up a better seat I've paid for"....to which DH deadpanned "I couldn't agree with you more"...at which point DH and I couldn't stop laughing enough to respond further.

Cabin crew eventually had to get involved as the parents had an argument over who was going to sit where. Mother won and spent the first 20 mins of the flight making loud passive aggressive comments to her child about "mean/selfish" people until crew got involved again and told her to pack it in or they'd be moved to economy if they didn't stop harassing us.

Thankfully the rest of the flight was uneventful but DH and I still chuckle about it now and again 😃.

Anyone got any others?

We were on a fairly late flight back from Majorca two weeks ago. I was working the next morning and was trying to sleep. The WHOLE flight, two boys of about 8 and 9 argued and shouting so loudly about who was the most annoying I could hear them through my ear plugs, repeatedly kicked the chairs and forcefully bounced the trays up and down, and kept bouncing around holding the back of my seat and trying to stick his foot through the gaps in our chairs.Turned round to say something to their mum and she was sat there with an eye mask on, headphones on, sound asleep the whole time.

Our teen and 11 year old were sat in the seats across the aisle from us quietly watching a film together on the ipad one air pod in each. Then slept the rest of the flight and the woman who was sat at the window seat beside them stood up at the end of the flight after landing and said to us loudly what great behaved children they were on the flight, then looked at the mother of the boys pointedly, who was totally oblivious.

When we were queuing in passport control low and behold there was actually a dad with them too who was nowhere to be seen during the flight. Likely sleeping like the mum and all of them were loudly joking and laughing. The boys still hyper and the parents rejuvenated from their 2.5 hour sleep.

The perfect time to dispose of your chewing gum. I wouldn’t hesitate.

I had the reverse once. It was a red eye across the Pacific - 14 hours. I usually book the window seat & just sleep, and disturb my row mates maybe once or twice - I usually pop to the loo when they get up, so it minimises disturbing them.

However, this flight had been booked by my employer and they put me on an aisle seat. OK, fine, I could be more free to walk up & down etc. But really, I needed to sleep as I was straight into work at my destination (my employer never pays for Business class!) I settled down & dozed off quite well.

Except that the man next to me (in the middle seat, poor guy) was interrupting me and waking me about once an hour. Apparently, he had a "bad back" and needed to move around every hour. His girlfriend was in the window seat.

In the end, I protested & said I really needed to sleep. They were going to our destination for a holiday - they said it was the first time they'd ever flown. In desperation, I suggested that he sit in my seat & I take the window seat so that he would not need to wake me every hour. THey agreed and I was very grateful.

I guess some PPs would say I was the cheeky one, but if you've got a bad back, book the effing aisle seat!!

I also find it extremely annoying when children are allowed to kick the seats. I always let it go for the first few times/minutes but if the parent doesn't intervene, I turn around and ask them politely but firmly to stop. Mine have done it too so I am not judging them for having a child who does it, but I do judge them for not making more effort to stop them.

Oh dear yes!!! I do long haul (London to Perth) fairly regularly, and mostly it's fine. Everyone knows it's a long flight, and most people just settle in & deal with the 12 hours as best they can. Helps that cabin lights go off for most of the flight.

I was comfortably dozing on one flight until the small boy in the seat behind me starting kicking my seat - so hard it woke me up and actually hurt. I turned around and glared a bit. Went back to dozing sleep. Woken again with a jolt by a kick. I then asked his mother could she please stop him from kicking my seat.

She refused "He's only 5, he can't help it." I endured that for the rest of the flight ...

I look back now and think that I should have suggested she & her son swap seats - I was in the window seat & there was (thankfully) no-one in the middle seat. He could have kicked away.

But what a shite bit of parenting that was. This was some time ago (but I still remember!) but I expect he's one of the entitled men that PPs have written about in this thread.

I have to say, though, that I've been flying longhaul for over 50 years, and I've really not experienced too much fuckery from other passengers. That's why I remember the few times when other passengers have been foul. Although please, let's not go back to when smoking was allowed on planes!

I used to be cabin crew. Nothing surprises me. My favourite story was when I was asked to change someone’s baby… I said “Uh, no… We’re not allowed to do that.”… this CF then pressed the call bell and asked one of our male cabin crew who grabbed the baby by the armpits and toddled up towards the front of the aircraft (away from the change table which was at the back.) we were watching, utterly baffled… He leaned over into a row towards the front of the plane and after chatting briefly with someone, winked and came back with a toddler of an entirely different sex and ethnicity and started to hand it over to this kid. The woman yelled out “Whaddaya doing? This isn’t my baby!!!” He said “You asked me to change it, darling!”

In some short haul flights by the major operators (not the charter ones, I think), they make an area of ordinary seats into Business Class, by not booking passengers into the middle seat. So Business class passengers are paying for extra space. I think in this case, maybe the other passenger was probably in the right, and got screwed by the airline.

We flew PE to San Francisco last month. We were seated in the middle isle right at the front of the PE section on BA airbus 380. During the flight two women from the rear somewhere obviously decided to use the upper deck as a sort of running track and started doing circuits using our seats as the cut through. I eventually laid a trap and tripped one of them up using my headphones cable. They stopped after that. Weird!

it was far cheaper to book the flight through a different airline, than direct with the airline we were flying with. Which also meant we couldn't choose our own seats. Fortunately, it was only one flight out of the four flights we were sat separately, but we were not even close together and it was 14 hours.

That wasn't Scoot, the cheapo subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, was it @Fourmagpies ? I had an appalling experience on Scoot - unknowingly booked as one leg of the 4 leg return flight to Sydney. Seat wouldn't recline, no back seat entertainment system, and surrounded by a large family who intruded on my space All.The.Time while I tried to sleep. Cabin crew useless to stop it when I complained.

It's stopped me flying with Singapore ever ever again. It's how they cut the price of the London-Sydney flights.

Erm, she has, as PPs have explained. Business class in Europe works this way.

Being bumped off a flight was the best thing that ever happened to me!!

Late 1990’s, returning home after a year away, in my late teens. My flight back from the US was overbooked & only 3 of us were flying alone. We were called up at the gate and asked to wait overnight for the next flight. We were offered $1,000 in flight vouchers. Me and the other girl couldn’t believe it. It was a fortune.

The other single passenger, an Australian man, said no, took us aside and said look, this is a negotiation. I don’t know who wanted to get on that flight but the airline were desperate for our seats.

20 minutes later we were all in possession of $5,000 of flight vouchers in $50 denominations which could be used on the airline (Northwest) and its sister airline (KLM). The vouchers were transferable so we could gift them to people and all came with an automatic upgrade to first class. We were sent to a very fancy hotel for the night and the next day flew home first class. It was INCREDIBLE.

Months later I went to use my first voucher and found out that the vouchers charged the employee rate!! So I flew to Chicago for $123 return and I flew first class. Those vouchers lasted me 8 years and I wish I could thank that lovely Aussie man who negotiated for us all.

Feet sliding onto armrests is a new one for me. It happened to me and I turned around immediately, looked at the woman and told her to take it down, and she did, but I was taken aback - when did that become a thing.

It also happened to my son, the man behind him put his smelly foot on my son's armrest and went to sleep. Son told husband who woke him up and said get your foot down now, which he did.

But how is that acceptable? You have so little space on a flight, why on earth would you give any of it to someone's smelly foot?

I also remember watching an older man who had the middle seat telling two younger people he would need the aisle as he was going to be up and down all night going to the loo. Making it sound like they had no choice in the matter, they needed to accommodate him or the flight would be a nightmare for them.

They told him no, politely but firmly, and there was nothing he could do.

No, she wasn’t as she breast fed the infant and the other children looked like siblings.

Amazing story @AgathaMystery - a pity airlines aren't so generous nowadays!

I hope you had lots of wonderful adventures.

No, Korean. Actual flight wasn't too bad but I wouldn't fly with them again. We've flown Asiana a couple of times before and they were much better overall.

😂😂

LettyToretto · Yesterday 16:43
The woman that had booked Business class started to complain because we had been given the middle seats and we were messing up their family. They had 4 seats from the 6 and expected the middle seats to be free. She went on and on for the whole flight, I booked business class the middle seat should be free.

Tbf, I see her point. She's paid for the middle seat to be free and thus have more space. The airline should have reimbursed her the difference between business and economy, because that's now what's she's sitting in
I think she assumed that by booking four of six seats leaving the middle seats empty, they would remain that way. Not that she had paid for the middle seats to remain empty. Pure CF entitlement.
Quote
Thanks

When I have flown business class in Europe. I have been advised that the middle seats are blocked out/kept free and that this is part of the deal/price. Otherwise there would be no difference between business and economy apart from maybe some extra food or drink.
But I have only flown business class in Europe when changing flights on a long distance flight or on the odd occasion when I have been upgraded.TBH I don't think it's worth paying to upgrade on short haul flights, but reading this thread has just confirmed to me why I would never choose to fly long haul in economy. I would rather stay at home.😂

Oh my god
yes she has, indirectly, because having the middle seat empty is literally what businesses class IS on those short flights. you pay extra to have nobody sit in the middle seat. So yes, she did pay for it.

OK another one to put on my “avoid” list!

This getting like

”Cancel the cheque “
😂😂

Mind you the biggest CF behaviour is the airline industry standard policy of making available for sale more seats than their aircraft has, then trying to bump some people off that flight.

I was bumped off a BA 13 hour flight. Booked business but was unable to check in and then told at airport that business was full but a seat available in economy. I refused, was offered an alternative flight that was two hours later with another airline and later given £500 compensation. With what I know now, I should have declined the £500 as then they offer an enhanced package.

That’s called rawdogging, it’s a trend. Quite why anyone would want to do it, I don’t know.

I work in aviation. I would say that approximately 5-10% of all passengers on any given flights are CFs. There are some destinations (which I will be discrete and not name) where the percentage is higher than that, they are well known to the crews that fly them. I’d fill the entire thread if I were to list my top CF stories!

Whitney?

Oh, go on, you can't leave us hanging - name names and give us your top 5 CF stories 😂