Who was unreasonable here? I'm not sure. A bit long.

[MythicalKings]

Yesterday DH and I went on a steam railway trip. Tickets from the DSs for Father's Day. They'd pushed the boat out and bought first class tickets, £20 each more than the regular tickets. The first class coach was full when the train set off, except for two seats. After about 10 minutes a couple came and took those seats and paid for the upgrade. They said it was crowded and uncomfortable in the other part. It was very hot.

There was a stop at a half way station and I went onto the platform to try and cool down a bit. An elderly man and his wife asked me if we were in first class and I said we were. He asked if there were any spare seats and I told him it was full.

We arrived at the destination and wandered about the town for an hour before taking our seats for the return. There were some different people there, including the elderly couple. You can book a return on a later train if you want to spend more time in the town. Then the couple who paid for the upgrade got on and the elderly couple were in their seats. They pointed this out and the man said it was too hot and uncomfortable for them in the other part and they would have to sit there. The couple pointed out that they'd paid extra for those seats and they wanted them. The elderly man didn't offer to pay the extra just said he was sorry but they would have to sit there. Awkward.

The ticket man got on at that point and the paying couple explained what was going on. He told the elderly couple they would have to vacate the seats but if they were prepared to pay the extra £40 he would find them first class seats on a later train. They got off and I'm not sure if they agreed to pay.

DH said that if they'd been in our seats he'd have probably let them have them but I don't think I would. It was very hot and I felt sick anyway and at least there was more room in the carriage we were in.

MN jury - who was unreasonable?

You don't get free upgrades to first class just for being elderly, especially at the expense of people who have paid a fair bit for those seats.

EVERYONE feels hot and bothered when it's hot. (because - doh! - it's hot)

Just because you're old/disabled/have an SEN/your cat died last week etc does NOT entitle you to special treatment.

I make an exception for pregnancy. Maybe I ABU!

I'm with you. They were BU.

Of course the elderly couple were BU. Having been told that there were no free first class seats, they couldn't expect to be allowed to wonder in and evict someone. They should have investigated the later train for themselves, and spent the intervening period sitting in a nice cool café.

I think they should have gotten train employee or even themselves to ask if anyone would sell them their upgrade as they were struggling with the heat. anything else is just rude. they wbu.

The elderly couple were VU and rude.
Forty pounds is a heck of a lot of money. For somebody on NMU that's about a days wage after tax, NI etc. the other couple had paid for the upgrade and the elderly couple were just chancing their arms in the first place and should have moved when asked with a polite apology for trying to wangle a free upgrade and putting someone else out of pocket

Older couple most certainly unreasonable. Yes, heat affects certain people more than others, but unfortunatly when you're in a position to be more affected you just have to make a rational choice. That may mean putting off a trip if it's going to make you really ill and/or uncomfortable. First class is that for a reason, you pay more for the nice extras you get. You don't get special treatment because you're old, pregnant, just feeling the heat a bit more (the only exception to this is very over crowded commuting trains, where there is litrally no more space). Obviously trying it on, but they were not entitled to a free upgrade.

Elderly couple were BVU and frankly, chancing it

The older couple were totally unreasonable. If the decided they need to travel back in first class because of the heat, they should have spoken to someone about booking a different time train or at least see of the staff could find anyone to willingly swop.

Just to park their behinds and refuse to move or reimburse the couple is not on regardless of age

Yanbu - the older couple were being rude, grabby and 'entitled' continues with MN bingo theme

They shouldn't have expected to just grab the seats. If they wanted them, they needed to pay for them, like other people did.
I saw a couple (not elderly) being asked by a younger couple one day, very politely, to vacate the younger couple's booked seats, on a train. They did so, with great reluctance, and passive aggressive 'enjoy your seats' comments. There were plenty of other seats, for them. They just fancied being in that particular row, at the back of the carriage, and helped themselves, despite a notice over the seats showing that they were booked.