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.

Whilst travelling, we got a free upgrade to first class because of this. Three men had taken our seats and were quite aggressive when we politely asked for our seats. The lovely member of staff took one look at them and suggested we might like an upgrade, she looked very relieved when we agreed

When people huff and puff It just means I enjoy making them move .

If they are nice and polite about it I feel a bit bad about it (I still do it though).

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

Single travellers have every right to a table seat. If I’m travelling on my own it normally means I’m travelling for work, which means I need a table for my laptop. So I book a table seat. If a parent wants four table seats, they can book four table seats.

I didn't know you could book specific seats at the cinema, I thought everyone just sat anywhere.

Is there a way of knowing which ones are booked and which ones are available? If there is then YANBU. If there isn't then YABU but they are being unreasonable not to be polite about moving when they are told.

Yes, @blameitonthecaffeine, many (if not all) cinemas book seats now. We book on line so you choose your seats but if you actually just pitch up at the cinema, the person at the counter will show you the seating plan and you choose your seats.

Happened to me and DS a couple of weeks ago OP. The couple weren't sitting in our seats but had piled their coats and bags on our seats. So I asked them to move their items as they were our seats. 'There are plenty of other seats dear' says the woman (who was probably late 60s). 'That's good' I said 'you won't have problems finding one when you get your stuff off our seats then will you'. She and her husband (I assume) huffed off to the other end of the seat row...only to be asked to move as they'd sat in someone else's seats! I don't understand how they did it. The seats are printed on tickets and they were right, there were plenty of seats, so it wasn't a case of not getting a 'good seat'. Very odd.

@Cakecakecheese

I was on a train recently and asked the guy in my seat to move, he did so but did point out that there were plenty of seats about, yes there are so you can sit in one of them and I'll sit in the seat I booked, thanks!

I find this odd.

I book seats on trains just incase they’re busy. But if they’re not busy then I sit anywhere.

Yes, he shouldn’t have sat there, but what difference would it have made if you had sat somewhere else?

Same with football matches. Loads of people just sit where they want and then look shocked when they’re asked to move. It’s as if it’s a surprise to them to see seat numbers printed on the ticket.

@blameitonthecaffeine

I didn't know you could book specific seats at the cinema, I thought everyone just sat anywhere.

Is there a way of knowing which ones are booked and which ones are available? If there is then YANBU. If there isn't then YABU but they are being unreasonable not to be polite about moving when they are told.

Seat numbers are printed on your tickets.

Ah ok, thanks. I haven't been to the cinema for a very long time. Didn't realise it was the norm now. Yes, YA def NBU then.

I want to sit where I’ve booked on trains, must be forward facing or I puke, must be in the quiet coach because I can’t cope with 3 hours of a child on a game with no headphones. Preferably a single seat so I can stretch my injured leg out otherwise I can’t walk after several hours if I’m squished. So yeah, I’m fussy about getting the seat I spent time booking.

Yanbu! I had this on a plane once, a woman in my window seat. When I told her she was sitting in my seat she said ‘oh that’s ok I don’t mind sitting here’

@Lampyshady and @MsWalterMitty I really don’t understand the logic in your posts. Why sit in someone’s reserved seats but then point out there are other unreserved sits they could sit in.

@MsWalterMitty why on earth wouldn’t you sit in a seat you'd reserved?

I have claustrophobia and I always pay extra for an aisle seat on planes. I’m also a very small 5’1 woman and have often been asked and pressurised to move into the middle seat or window to suit someone else. I always refuse

I don't know what trains some of you are getting but entire carriages are booked up with reserved seats on the ones I regularly get.
Equally, there is always an unreserved carriage. You just need to get on the right one.

One of the very few times I have travelled first class I got onto the very overcrowded train to find that the doorway to the half empty first class carriage I was booked onto was blocked by a big group of men.
Did they let me through? No. Not even when asked nicely! One said 'we're all standing love, you can too'.
I would never dream of barging into/past anyone usually but this time I just walked through them. I'm quite hefty and I think that they were a bit shocked to say the least.
I got the seat I had paid a small fortune for though.

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

Why shouldn't solo travellers have a table seat?

Especially on the trains where the tables are the only ones with plug sockets.

@betwixtlives

Yanbu! I had this on a plane once, a woman in my window seat. When I told her she was sitting in my seat she said ‘oh that’s ok I don’t mind sitting here’

Some years ago, I boarded a plane, to find a couple ensconced, him in my window seat for which I had paid extra.

To be fair, they moved as soon as I said it, but why was he sitting in my seat, in the first place?!

@LondonJax

Yes, *@blameitonthecaffeine*, many (if not all) cinemas book seats now. We book on line so you choose your seats but if you actually just pitch up at the cinema, the person at the counter will show you the seating plan and you choose your seats.

Happened to me and DS a couple of weeks ago OP. The couple weren't sitting in our seats but had piled their coats and bags on our seats. So I asked them to move their items as they were our seats. 'There are plenty of other seats dear' says the woman (who was probably late 60s). 'That's good' I said 'you won't have problems finding one when you get your stuff off our seats then will you'. She and her husband (I assume) huffed off to the other end of the seat row...only to be asked to move as they'd sat in someone else's seats! I don't understand how they did it. The seats are printed on tickets and they were right, there were plenty of seats, so it wasn't a case of not getting a 'good seat'. Very odd.

Saw something a bit similar on a train journey, some years ago. A young couple asked politely for their seats. The pair who had settled themselves in, left with much huffing and puffing and 'enjoy your seats' sarky comments. If it was me, I would have said cheerfully, yes I will enjoy the seat I booked. But the young couple were much nicer than me. They got their booked seats though.

It's a chew on further down the journey though if you end up being in someone else's seat.

I want the 1 I've booked so I know I've not got to shift later or stress at every station that I'm in someone's seat

We went to a football match at the San Siro. There had been a lot of rain and our seats were flooded. The stewards said we could sit anywhere else so we sat in nearby seats only for the original seat holders to object (rightly) so we moved again. By this time they had sorted the problem with our original seats but there were now people sitting in them and stewards refused to move them for us to sit down. So we were not allowed to sit in our own seats or any others! Typical Italian organisation!

Just depends on the cinema and the screening. The cinema I go to generally only does allocated seating for screenings that start after 6pm

Went on a coach trip once, there were 4 of us so booked the row at the very back of the bus so we could sit together. We were second pick-up location so by the time we got on folk were in our seats (bunch of young folk making loads of noise, clearly wanting to have a carry on up the back like a school trip!). Driver refused to ask them to move so we had to sit elsewhere. Complete chaos for the pick-ups thereafter because people were sitting in the wrong seats! Luckily we stopped at services and the driver changed, new driver was not happy that families who had booked tickets together had been split up so he ordered everyone off the bus and we all had to get on one group at a time back in our allocated seats which he ticked off on the clipboard....received dirty looks from the 'young team' for the rest of the trip..

I will always shift someone out of my booked train seat, because I'm a cheapskate, and on a longer journey my ticket always comes with the obligation to occupy the seat I've been allocated. I personally don't have a particular preference, other than needing to sit down.

At concerts, I've often seen people get the wrong seats because of the idiosyncratic nature of venue seating plans. In some, Row A will be the front row. In others, they bump up the numbers of premium priced seats by starting rows with AA, then A, BB, B and so on. People don't always check this before they book, and make assumptions based on what they're familiar with, resulting in unhappy encounters when the rightful ticketholders show up. Last concert I went to, I saw a whole family who'd been happily settled in the front row for twenty minutes get shifted off to the back, because that very large venue's seating plan went from the front in the normal way - A,B,C etc - then started back up with AA again towards the rear. This must happen a lot.

I booked table seats on a train for me and my DDs. Three women were sitting in them and pretended not to understand when I politely asked them to move. We ended up standing for the first few minutes of the journey.

A lovely ticket inspector came along. I explained what had happened and he gave us an upgrade to the First Class carriage. It was as that point that one of the CF women stood up and said, "You can have these seats and we'll move there instead."

The ticket inspector told them no and led us off to First Class himself.:o

I hate this, had it at a Robbie Williams concert once in really good seats we got reallocated to. The spineless stewards wouldn't kick the people out who had taken occupation of our new seats before we got there, so we sat down in some empty seats and then when those seats rightful occupants appeared, I explained the situation to them, refused to budge, and between them getting cross and us refusing to move until our allocated seats were vacated, we forced the stewards to do their job and kick out the CF's in our seats. It was all very stressful, people can be arseholes and it just causes all sorts of problems.

As a treat myself and my DD booked 'gallery' seats at the cinema ,for extra ££ you get a comfy armchair type seat and food n drink in with the price. Next to this seat is ample space for my DD to manoeuvre her large electric wheelchair and we're close if she needs support etc during film. There stretching there legs out and feet on the rail was a young couple in the seats! Thankfully steward was wiv us who then told them to go to their seats so they went back under the rope to the ordinary seats CF! Still gave an eye roll though