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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that if a train seat has a ticket saying "reserved" on it...

140 replies

CalamityKate · 23/02/2013 15:28

.... that's a huge clue that someone's reserved it?

Two trips to London in the past 2 days and for 3 of the four journeys we booked seats.

On all 3 occasions, someone was sitting in the seats.

And you know, I wouldn't mind so much but on all 3 occasions the people in the seats rolled their eyes, tutted, huffed and puffed and made a great show of having to move seats in a way that made it clear that WE were being incredibly unreasonable to expect to sit in the seats WE had paid for!

One woman in particular was very put out and spent the remainder of the journey casting dirty looks our way. Her and her companion had clearly been in the seats for a while, since the table was covered with litter. There were plenty of unreserved seats nearby.

Honestly, I started to wonder if there's some sort of etiquette I don't know about. Like "If you don't manage to sit in your seat before someone else then tough shit" or something?

OP posts:
DowntonTrout · 23/02/2013 17:46

With one train company we use the guard comes along and removes the reservations from stations we have passed through that haven't been used, so freeing up the seats for passengers getting on later in the journey.

Furrybiscuit · 23/02/2013 17:47

YADNBU

I travel north to south and back in a day every week. I hate it when people sit an a reserved seat (apart from when it is obvious that the person who it is reserved for hasn't arrived to sit in it-then it's fair game!)

The reason I insist on sitting in my reserved seat is that one of the train companies offers the option to book a seat right up until you board. So if I allowed someone to stay in my reserved seat and moved to a free one, the free one can then become reserved! I could end up moving seat at every stop and why should I when I have gone to the effort of reserving a seat.

Soooo YADDDBBU

diddl · 23/02/2013 17:55

But if you book in advance, the seat number is on your ticket?

So surely you can still sit there even if the system is down?

Remotecontrolduck · 23/02/2013 18:03

YADDDDNBU. This enrages me.

Check ticket on seat, if it is reserved for the station you are at or will be near soon, don't sit on it, find another seat. No other seats? Stand until you are sure no one is coming to sit on it. It just baffles me why some people think they are above following the basic rules. Where does this attitude even come from? Confused

diddl · 23/02/2013 18:07

"if it is reserved for the station you are at or will be near soon, don't sit on it"

That´s great if it´s a journey that you do often & know the route!

DowntonTrout · 23/02/2013 18:13

Even if you have the reservation part of your ticket it does not actually guarantee you that seat if the reservations are down. They announce if this is the case on the train, it can happen for various reasons. It states this in the booking conditions. It's happened to us during the bad weather when there was a knock on effect and trains were running late. Then it's a free for all and some people do try and claim their seats even though they've been told the reservations don't stand. I've seen it get quite nasty.

bionic77 · 23/02/2013 18:14

On East Coast Mainline trains it actually says on the back of the reservation ticket stuck in the seat that is is an offence to remove the ticket and you can be fined for doing so. Just in case you don't have a copy of the byelaws handy!

FriendlyLadybird · 23/02/2013 18:18

Recently I gave up my seat on a crowded train to an obviously pregnant woman. She told me (quietly) that she had in fact reserved a seat but that someone else was sitting in it and would not get out. I would almost say I can't believe that anyone would behave as badly as that -- except for the fact that, unfortunately, I can.

diddl · 23/02/2013 18:20

Oh I see what you mean Downton-so for example you might have one train with 2 trains worth of passengers & therefore more than ticket with the same seat number.

CalamityJ · 23/02/2013 18:32

There are two train companies who can get me to Birmingham: Chiltern and Virgin. If I'm going at peak time I always go on Virgin because you can book and get a reserved seat. I regularly have to kick people out of my seat but commuters are incredibly polite and happy to move. Unlike day trippers when I go to Manchester on Virgin. 2 teenage girls were sitting in my seat and the seat next to it. I asked them to move and their mum said 'can't you sit somewhere else? We're only going to be 2 stops' I was doing a 3 hour journey 6 months pregnant and as I had a reserved seat I couldn't be arsed to move. The teenage girls to be fair got up when I repeated my 'please can I sit in my seat' and as I took off my coat the lady (not the mum who was sitting nearby but not at the table) clocked my massive bump and from her apologetic look I got the impression she was embarrassed she hadn't stood up for me. But you don't have to be pregnant to deserve to sit in the seat you've reserved. And how many times do I hear 'well someone's sitting in my seat'? If I was asked to move the other people like a poster earlier I would say 'I'm asking the person sitting in my seat to move. Feel free to do the same to the person sitting in your seat'

The saddest/most angry moment was when an old man and his wife had reservations and the young men in their seats wouldn't move. It clearly upset the old man that he couldn't sit with his wife who fortunately someone else gave up their seat for. A middle aged man tried to give up his seat for the elderly man but the older man bless him clearly had too much pride to allow that. It was so sad watching him upset that he had been separated from his wife. If I hadn't been heavily pregnant in a window seat I'd have given the young lads a talking to about respect for your elders and reserved means reserved. Made my blood boil!!

So OP YANBU. Reserved means if a person had a valid reservation they are entitled to sit in their seat. I do sit in reserved seats if there are no others but yes as another poster said never get comfortable and as soon as someone hovers near by I say 'am I in your seat?' in case they're nervous about kicking me out. I appreciate some people aren't as assertive as me (love the assertiveness story earlier!) so I make the first move to get out of their seat.

BreconBeBuggered · 23/02/2013 18:32

On trains where the reservations are indicated by a digital display above the seats rather than cards, I can never decide whether people are really good at acting confused or genuinely don't understand that they're sitting in MY seat. But somebody settles themselves and their bags in the seats reserved for me and the DC around 80% of the time, and they always look completely blank when I ask them to move, as though the notion of a reservation was a completely alien concept.

TravelinColour · 23/02/2013 18:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

sadlovedgirl · 23/02/2013 18:51

I'm going on my first train journey for a while in a few weeks time and I've booked a seat!
I'm trying to make up my mind now if I want someone to be in my seat or not!

IAmLouisWalsh · 23/02/2013 18:53

I once asked someone to move a little snippily as I was knackered. I didn't look at her properly until she started to stand up - I then realised she was a very elderly nun with a huge bag.

I let her have my seat. I don't want to go to hell.

EndoplasmicReticulum · 23/02/2013 18:58

Yes, this almost always happens to us. Most recent time the bloke was happy to move when my noisy children sat down opposite him...

I always ask them to shift, even if there are other seats I could sit in, because that's not the point. Not ever had a refusal, but have had eye rolling.

EndoplasmicReticulum · 23/02/2013 19:02

Best one was a grumpy couple sat in our seats at the theatre. This was with a school trip, they seemed to think they had seats in the middle of the row with all the children. Got most indignant at me when I showed them our tickets and asked them to move - turned out they had tickets for the the same seats. But their play was next week. Hah!

TravelinColour · 23/02/2013 19:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ElliesWellies · 23/02/2013 19:21

Thanks for info regarding removing my own reservation ticket... strange to think that it is technically an offence. Thought I was doing a good thing! Actually come to think of it I have done it in full view of the conductor, but it must have been obvious I was checking my travel ticket, then removing the right reservation card and moving into the next carriage. He didn't say anything to me at any rate.

spg1983 · 23/02/2013 19:24

He probably said an internal "thank you" for freeing up the seat!

ElliesWellies · 23/02/2013 19:28

I hope so. It is a complete mystery to me how seat reservations work... if I book online and request a table seat, I am typically given a rear-facing seat, without a table, and with hardly any window to look out of. Whilst there are tons of free table seats throughout the train...

YouTheCat · 23/02/2013 19:30

There is a little plan of the seating you can access to change where you have been allocated if booking online.

I, mostly, get a table seat. Grin

EuroShaggleton · 23/02/2013 19:31

Endo I had the same thing at the theatre recently - a couple came up and tried to get us to move, saying we were in their seats. We showed them our tickets. They went to get a staff member. When they came back opened up their tickets I pointed out they were for last week...

ElliesWellies · 23/02/2013 19:34

YouTheCat. Ah, I see. I will look out for it, thank you!

Although it still doesn't explain why they ask for preferences and then give you the opposite... they must just have an odd sense of humour!

YouTheCat · 23/02/2013 19:35

Indeed Grin

belfastbigmillie · 23/02/2013 19:39

We went to the Lake District by train for our honeymoon. Two Chinese girls sat in our reserved seats and pretended they couldn't speak English (they could as they were later reading the paper) and wouldn't move. The train was totally packed. I pushed all the way down to the front to get a conductor who came back and moved them. A few stops down the line I discovered that my purse had been stolen out of my bag (open topped) as I had pushed through the crowds.Of course the CCTV was not in operation that day. We had to get off the train to cancel my cards (which contained all out wedding and honeymoon money) and go back home until DH could borrow the money to pay for our holiday (he didn't have enough in his account on the day). It still makes me really angry when I think about those bloody bitches (and the thief of course). GRRRRRRR!