to ask someone to move their child out of my plane seat

[kipperssippers]

more of a WWYD then AIBU but...
i booked the seat by the window as i always do and when i got to my seat a child around 8 was in my seat with her mum beside her.
When i got there i told the mother that the window seat is my seat and she said her child wanted the window seat to look out, i then replied then you should of booked one.
I didnt want to cause a scene but the women made out i'm an arsehole for asking her kid to move as she had never been on a flight and wanted to look outside.
I did give in and stayed pissed off for 7 hours in my non window seat.

what would you of done in this situation?

[LalaLyra]

I don't turn into an arsehole on transport, I just don't believe in rewarding rudeness. I don't do it with my children so I'm sure as hell not doing it with an adult on a plane.

What's wrong with a simple "Did you choose a window seat specifically? If not is there any chance you'd mind swapping, it's her first time on a plane?" Rather than taking a 'my kid wants a window seat and you're an arsehole' if you don't move type attitude.

[whois]

I might swap the aisle seat for the window seat... if I was feeling like it. I don't have a huge preference for aisle or window, just not middle.

However I probably wouldn't on a night flight where the kid and mother would want to go to the toilet and stuff more time than me and so disturb me.

Also would depend on how I was asked and how the mother and child were acting.

[Brewdolph]

If I paid extra for it I would take it, then again I would inform them that unless I look out of the window during take off and landing I puke like a fountain. Their choice...

[manamanah]

soup brilliant. OP I'd have made them move. I hate travelling, still get nauseated in my 30s and always book a window seat because I find it helps. If it was that important for her child to sit by the window she should have booked it.

[expatinscotland]

'These threads just show people become selfish and don't consider others particularly those with kids.'

And how many people with kids don't consider anyone else and believe everyone else should cater to their kids and their kids' desires and if they don't then they are 'miserable twats'.

[CMOTDibbler]

I wouldn't have given up my window seat as I choose that seat for a reason - long haul I'm off to sleep asap and stay that way for the flight.

Short haul (up to 3 hours prob) I would swap

[TheCatsMeow]

So you'd all punish the child because you disapprove of the mothers lack of planning

Lovely people

[Meeep]

I would let a child look out of the window if they wanted to. Why do I give a shit which seat I'm in?
It doesn't matter to me in the slightest.

[madsaz76]

have done this in the past (child in teens) and would do again

I paid for privilege of the seat - you don't get it for free by guilting someone. THere's also plenty of reasons people may choose to book a window seat that are frankly none of any one else's business.

I find it amazing people would give up the seat to be honest.

[NotMeNotYouNotAnyone]

I would've said well I want to look out too and I paid to book the window seat in advance so please move her.

If someone asked nicely I might agree to a swap for part of the flight if I was feeling kind, but not necessarily

[ExitPursuedByABear]

My seat. Fuck off.

[CountryRoadTakeMeHome]

They had seat numbers so they should have sat in their allocated seats. They were out of order sitting in someone elses seat. End Of!

[Veterinari]

Dear god! Let's not have another thread where theCatsMeow goads us all into thinking any of these situations actually happened with her 'people with children take priority over everyone else in any kind of transport no matter how rude and entitled they are' attitude.

We all know that pushing a sprog out doesn't suddenly make you a special snowflake unless you're *TheCatsMeow' and these threads are repetitive and boring

[ilovesooty]

I don't think booking a specific seat and not giving it up would make me a miserable twat. I suggest you stop throwing insults around.

[Optimist1]

CAA regs require passengers to sit in the seats shown on their boarding passes during takeoff and landing, so that takes care of the legalities. It's clear that people have differing preferences for window/aisle seats, and some of us book early or pay extra to ensure that our preferences are met. She would have got short shrift from me, OP!

[expatinscotland]

PMSL! Yep, right on par with a life sentence in Gulag, wanting to sit in your pre-booked/paid for seat.

Meep some people care a lot which seat they sit in. Several people have explained they are claustrophobic, so book an aisle seat. Others have said they go to sleep on long flights, so they book a window seat.

My son has ASD and prefers the window. His 'joy' is my responsibility, not the other passengers', so I book him a window seat. I don't expect others to give theirs up.

[user7755]

The nice thing to do is not nick seats that aren't yours.

If it was an adult I would probably not move.

If a child wanted to look out of the window I would rise above the issue of a pre booked seat. It would just feel a bit petty to stop a child being able to really enjoy the excitement of flying on a point of principle. It's just all a bit - well she started it. The suggestion from the cabin crew person upthread was a good one.

[IoraRua]

It is not punishing the child. The child does not get what they want in life all the time, it's an important lesson to learn.
If you want a window seat, you prebook it.

[Itscliffmas]

I wouldn't have swapped, I book a window seat when I book my flights. If It was an hour flight and she was nice about it I probably would but a seven hour flight no way.

[expatinscotland]

'My seat. Fuck off.'

Especially as I went to the trouble of pre-booking it and sometimes even paying for it.

[AnotherTimeMaybe]

TheCats I personally see where you're coming from I was actually fuming no one helped you yesterday when you were trying to feed your baby, or noone offered you a seat but it does depend how someone asks! I can give my soul if someone asks nicely, but I don't think that was the case here !

[expatinscotland]

'If a child wanted to look out of the window I would rise above the issue of a pre booked seat. It would just feel a bit petty to stop a child being able to really enjoy the excitement of flying on a point of principle. It's just all a bit - well she started it. The suggestion from the cabin crew person upthread was a good one.'

Well, here you go. Here's your . Would you like a halo to go with it?

[Savagebeauty]

"A child's joy"
Bollocks to that.
I wouldn't have moved.

[Dafspunk]

tootired that really made me laugh!