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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

So, who's seat is it ?

123 replies

Trifle · 02/11/2013 01:41

We booked a package holiday for a week but dp's work wanted him to return a day early to attend a conference so his work paid for him to fly back on his own.

As we had paid for 4 allocated seats (2 seats in one row and two in the row behind), was I within my rights to insist on using dp's allocated seat so that I got more room to spread out?

The aisle seat also happened to be free so it appeared that there were 2 seats free in the row. Several people seemed to think his 'spare' seat was theirs for the taking until I politely informed them that only the aisle seat was available.

Am I right or wrong ?

OP posts:

Giyadas · 02/11/2013 01:48

Aren't all plane seats allocated? Why would people try to sit in your allocated seats? Am I missing something?
If you've paid for the seat it's yours.

LoopaDaLoopa · 02/11/2013 01:49

You may be right but you are also selfish.

Strumpetron · 02/11/2013 01:53

If you've paid it's yours but you must have more money than sense. And if it's allocated why would they try to take it?

Strumpetron · 02/11/2013 01:54

Sorry ignore more money than sense, for some reason I thought you'd bought two seats each!

Original poster

Trifle · 02/11/2013 01:59

The people who tried to take it were a family with an infant who had 2 seats between the 3 of them. Taking my 'paid for but unused seat' plus the spare aisle seat would give them all a seat each.

OP posts:

Giyadas · 02/11/2013 02:05

Well that changes things a bit. The seat's still yours but to let them use it would have been the decent thing imo.

Strumpetron · 02/11/2013 02:11

Well as a poster made me aware of in the last post, parents aren't allowed to buy a seat for a child under a certain age. It would have been decent of you to let them have the seat. You weren't going to use it originally so it doesn't make much difference.

Strumpetron · 02/11/2013 02:12

I honestly don't know how I'd go about explaining why I didn't want them to have the seat.

MidniteScribbler · 02/11/2013 02:23

So there were three of you, but you insisted on sitting two in one row and then taking up two seats in a second row, while a couple with a toddler had to sit in separate rows? Well that's a particularly special brand of selfish.

Why didn't you sit in one row with your children and let them have a row to themselves?

AngusAndElspethsThistleWhistle · 02/11/2013 02:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Strumpetron · 02/11/2013 02:28

Not only would I have given them the spare seat, I'd have moved so they could all sit together.

What happened to helping people :(

I do appreciate you paid for it, but seriously?

cafecito · 02/11/2013 02:33

whose seat is it?

depends where your moral compass lies. I'd argue that one person's irritation is outweighed by the discomfort and distress faced by 2 + a toddler.

DropYourSword · 02/11/2013 02:36

One of them could have say in the spare aisle seat and the other could have stayed in their original seats with their DC and you still could have had your own and your DPs seat to spread out in! Everyone's a winner.

HicDraconis · 02/11/2013 03:08

2+ toddler don't need to face discomfort and distress if they book and pay for a child's seat for their toddler. You don't need to pay the 2-12yo fare for an under 2 but if you pay the lower under 2 fare, you should expect to have the infant on someone's lap the entire flight. If you pay the higher fare, the toddler gets his or her own seat.

People pay the lower fare and then hope for an empty seat or that people will move to accommodate them so their child can have it's own seat without them having had to pay for it.

OP, the seat was yours. However I don't see why one of the 3 couldn't have sat in your spare aisle seat and the other one plus toddler in their original seats - so everyone has a seat without encroaching on your spare paid-for one.

mayorquimby · 02/11/2013 03:52

You're dead right

livinginwonderland · 02/11/2013 07:55

Not all airlines LET you book seats for toddlers under a certain age, Hic. Sometimes you can only book a seat if the child is over a certain age.

handcream · 02/11/2013 08:20

How would the family with the toddler know that the seat had been paid for by you. When you get on a plane and the plane is seated LOTS of people look around and see if there are empty seats. Unlike trains they aren't marked 'reserved'

Finola1step · 02/11/2013 08:26

Yes, how would other people know? Did you tell them or expect them to work it out?

You may not be wrong in that you had paid for two seats so should be able to use them both. But in this situation, it would have been nice to give up your spare seat to the other family.

MrsDarylDixon · 02/11/2013 08:27

Well there's no doubt it was your seat since you paid for it but I think you were a teensy bit selfish by not letting the other people with a toddler use it.

I think the world would be a much nicer place if more people had a bit more consideration for others. What goes around comes around and all that.

howmuchwouldyoutake · 02/11/2013 08:29

Yes, it was 'your seat' but you were incredibly selfish not to let them use it.

FannyFifer · 02/11/2013 08:33

Seriously?

Stravy · 02/11/2013 08:41

You are technically right. Whether you want to be decent or whether you want to be right is the question I'd be asking myself if I were you.

londonrach · 02/11/2013 08:42

I always thought airplanes over booked seats. I think its in the terms and conditions that the air staff reserve the right to move you. You bought a ticket to fly not the seat. Your husband waived that right by flying another day. It was mean of you not to let someone sit in it that needed it. Or maybe im been flying easy jet too much.....

nennypops · 02/11/2013 08:43

From what you say, the couple with the toddler had two seats, plus there was a spare aisle seat they could use. Why therefore did they want a fourth seat?

nicename · 02/11/2013 08:44

They do overbook! That's why it's a nightmare at Christmas and new year, when far fewer people drop a flight.

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