To think if you've booked a seat you get a seat?

[monroeagogo]

Went to the cinema today. Standard Vue. Get there in plenty of time and someone's in our seats.

Politely did the 'oops you're in our seats' chat after furiously checking I was right beforehand. Lots of huffing and puffing from them and rolling eyes and they moved to, admittedly, worse seats further down.

But WTAF.

Surely if you've book a seat in the cinema, on a plane or train, then that's your seat.

I had a great wrong-ticket experience - full train from Edinburgh to London, we obviously reserved seats, 2 x forward facing table seats. Further down the line a young family of four boarded and wanted our seats, but we all seemed to have the right ones. Guard checked, was a ticketing system mix up none of our faults so as we were only two, the family of four got 'our' seats and we were upgraded to first class! Free wifi, free drinks, snacks and newspapers, and first off at our destination, plus a free dinner from the First class steward for the mix up. Result!!!

@Arsewangry

Was I being an arsehole on the train once, six months pregnant - very busy service back from Euston to bham new st. I'd booked a seat and paid a lot for the privilege but due to rail carnage the reservations were cancelled - I asked a guy to move from the seat I had booked because I was cold, wet, tired and in need of a seat. It all kicked off. I just wanted the seat I had paid for

As others have said all reservations were cancelled so you no longer had a reservation. Also, you don't pay extra to reserve a seat, reserving a seat on UK trains is free of charge.

Yes!! I had to do the same. Purposely booked a seat on the end for the extra leg room. Roidhead with his kids huffed and puffed and said for fuck sake a number of times. Prick.

@Lampyshady - the available seats aren’t always available though. People can book by text for example and it doesn’t always show up or not until later on in the journey so it makes sense to sit in the seat you’ve booked.

@RandomDent

I was on a plane when someone asked if I’d swap seats so he could sit next to his wife. I said fine and went to sit in her seat. Next thing I’m being asked to show my boarding card and got moved - she’d been sitting in the wrong bloody seat and I’d sat in it, she made me look like an entitled idiot. Last time I help out.

Surely they would have asked you to move to your original seat, and it would then be obvious it wasn't your fault?

Happened at a Vue the other night.

Got held up on the stairs getting to my seat by 4 women deciding where their seats were. They eventually sat down.
In come 2 people and inform 2 of the 4 that they are sitting in their (dearer) seats. The 4 shuffle along and all is well until more people come in and inform the 4 that they are in their seats. Cue lots of huffing and puffing and the 4 decide to move a few rows down...most likely to the seats they actually booked.

What a load of kerfuffle. If you want a better seat then pay for one.

This happened to me today. If the seats hadn’t been at the arse end of the aisle and, if it hadn’t been full and pitch black, I’d have been straight down there causing a scene. Fortunately, I didn’t choose that course of action and spoke to the staff. Turns out the cinema had double booked our seats for some strange reason and there were no other seats available. The cinema did give a refund and four free tickets for another film though so I can’t complain really. We went to the sandpit instead.

I had a snooty couple trying to shift some of my students at the theatre once, we were on a school trip. We were in "their" seats - but not only had they come on the wrong day it was for the completely wrong production!

@Cheeseandlobster

People chance it all the time at Vue. I saw a huge chain reaction one time where the people in the seats refused to move so the people who were supposed to be there sat elsewhere and refused to move when the correct people turned up etc. Vue ended up stopping the film, putting the lights on and insisted people sat in their correct seats or the film would not be going back on. It was bedlam and most people moved.

Ive also had this at vue! 10 mins into Frozen 2 there was massive drama, lights on and film started again from beginning 🙄

The worst I ever saw was in the cinema a few years ago. When we arrived there was a row going on in the back row but we couldn't tell what about because the trailers were very loud. Once the film started and they were still fighting I couldn't take my eyes off them. It was a middle aged couple fighting with two girls over seats.

Next thing one of the girls is stomping down the stairs, the man is following her and out of nowhere he pushed her down the stairs and knocked her out. The film had to be stopped and the police and an ambulance called.

It turned out that one set of tickets had been for a different night. Crazy shit

In future i'm going to tell someone sitting in my seat on a train/plane that i have to sit in my reserved seat so that when we crash my burnt body can go to my family crypt, otherwise they rather than i will get to spend eternity with my family.

It's my pet hate on trains. Especially if all four seats at a table have been booked from X station to Y station, which makes it quite likely the four people are going to be travelling together.

I got grief a few weeks ago for asking two women to move from two of the table seats. Apparently I should have just put two of my primary school age kids on their seats a good 6 rows away rather than allow "children to have better seats than adults".

Yanbu. I book seats at the top back in Cineworld where there are no seats in front of me as I’m tall. We went to the cinema last week, someone was in my dds seat, they moved up, no issue —could be because I’m tall and scary—

I have two of these.... once there was I assume a family who were late or on a connecting flight or something because all our seats were moved to accommodate them and muggins was left on her own because my name doesn't match my families to their DELIGHT. Proof at last that changing your name is important and does matter. I was livid. We had booked seats for the babies even though they were on our laps and those seats were reallocated to the back of the plane and us to the front.

The second is when I was a child we had the pants booked and it had started to snow and my dad crawled into town in the car, we left so early not to disappoint. And we arrived and I don't know were we in the seats first or second but we were the wrong night. And the staff were sooooo nice, they felt so sorry for us and bracing the weather that they gave us a box. It was hands down the best night ever.

Had this once when going to a cinema with a friend. Two older ladies were adamant that they were in the correct seats. Turns out they were - just in the wrong screen!

That wouldn't happen if the booking system didn't let single travellers book a seat at a table for four.

Most of the trains I travel on only have tables of four. Why shouldn't I be able to book a table seat if I'm travelling on my own?

@RobotValkyrie

Why not just sit in one of the available ones-does it really make a difference on a train if you are in seat 34 or 32 for example? If you booked a table seat and there are no other available tables then fair enough ask them to move but otherwise what’s the point?

That can be a risky move if someone else has booked one of the other seats. I'd recommend only ever swapping your booked seat with another person's booked seat, not a random seat which may or may not be booked by someone else. Also all these available seats may soon be taken after a particularly busy stop.

Exactly. I once booked a seat during rush hour from Bristol to London. When I got on, someone was already in my seat. He argued for 5 mins that 'I have a season ticket, so am entitled to a seat'. I got my seat after I threatened him with a guard.

I went to the theatre several years ago and found someone in our seats in the front row. They really did not want to move. In the end I had to get the manager to sort it out (who politely informed me I was at the wrong theatre). I then broke the land speed record to get to the correct theatre before curtain up ...

YANBU - happened to me once on a plane - I'd paid extra to have an aisle seat so I could have a bit extra space to move my legs about - hasten to add I'm usually not picky about barging to the front when they announce boarding certain seats and will wait til the mele has died down (I'm at the gate and I know that plane is not leaving without me - I'm not in the gift shop and they're having to call me). Get to my seat with plenty of time before take off and there is an old dear sat in it and she clearly thought I wouldn't turf her out where she had claimed... She was very wrong. I was very polite and and after her commenting along the lines of I hadn't boarded at the same time as her, she thought it was free (yada yada yada) she eventually moved over. Sorry, couldn't give two shiny's - I booked it and paid extra for the pleasure. Get the f* out of my seat.

This is one of my hypothetical nightmares, that I will turn up to the theatre or concert and someone is in my seat, and they try to persuade me to move because it’s little Johnnys favourite band, or Tarquin suffers from x, y, z so needs a good view ( so making me look the bad guy)..

Tough s..t! I don’t suffer from any diagnosed anxiety, but I do like aisle seats as I hate being further in (get over hot/feel trapped), and they/should have booked sooner and chosen their sear, not tried to Nick someone else’s. (Nb.This situation has never happened in real life).

We once had a man and young son come up to us , while watching a film in the cinema , and say quite politely, that we were in his seats, he looked at his tickets and our seat numbers, we didn’t actually see his tickets. The film wasn’t full and there was plenty of space.

I checked our tickets and seat numbers, they were correct, and there was four of us, the kids happily munching and sipping on their drinks

I did say to him, that the film had already been on for over an hour at the time, and that he had come in over half way through.

Anyway he went away, and came back again, with a member of staff this time, who looked at our tickets, disrupting us again, and he explained to the man, that he was in the wrong and too early, his film started at least another hour, after the one we were watching now.

You think he would have realised when he entered the dark cinema, and I told him, we had been watching the film for at least an hour already.

Plonker.

Although slightly different scenario - once was on a train from London to Preston and all seat bookings were cancelled due to delays - me and my ex managed to grab seats with a table - cue a very passive aggressive woman complaining within ear shot how it was so unfair (I don't even think we were in what would have been her seats) but her two kids (about 10 & 12) were sat opposite us and they were on the drop down disable seats the other side. She was down right horrible. Not once did she actually politely ask of we'd mind giving up our seats. She complained to the guard who did ask us and we obliged - oh her smug face was a complete Kodak moment. What she didn't know was that we were then placed in first class with free food and drink for the entire journey 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Airlines overbook all the time. There was case the other week of a Barrister being removed from a flight with his family. Had bought 5 business class tickets, 4 for the family, 1 for the nanny. Cabin crew tried to move the nanny to economy but the barrister refused. Supposedly there was a spare seat in business but the family were removed. Prob the wrong customer to pick a fight with.

When someone has been in my pre booked table train seat and won't move when politely asked. I just take my coat off, put my headphones in and sit on the table.😃