Asking someone to move seats on a flight? Aibu ?

[wearejustfriends]

Last week I was travelling to Gran Canaria with TUI.
I had booked mine and boyfriends seats when we booked and paid £22 for both.
I had the window and he had the middle.

A lady sat on the end and her daughter was in front.
She asked could they have our two seats and we have hers /daughters or my boyfriend switch with her daughter.
I politely said no.
Which she wasn't happy about.
We got "what difference does it make"
"Your adults,my daughter is sacred of flying and is a minor"

Anyway we wouldn't move.

Was I in the wrong ?
Surely if she was that bothered she could have paid like us.

@MrPeacock

Sure, you were within your rights. But you had a wonderful and rare opportunity to show kindness through sacrifice, which is the greatest kindness. And you blew it.

...

LOL 😂

Alright, Mother Teresa

@StaceysmomandIhavegotitgoinon

Well if you (hopefully) avoid a showdown, we can all say our work here is done 😂

I dunno, I am riled up now here about it. I might NEED a showdown by Friday 😂

They paid to get their seats. You asked and they refused. What you should have done was be prepared and book your seats, especially as you had a child with you. I get why your posting this but feel annoyed that as adults the 2 people. Ext to you were prepared and wanted to sit together and didn't want to chance their seats. You were not prepared.

Did you read the OP?

she is one of the two adults being asked to move.

Who are you replying to?

Read the original post

I've quite recently been in this situation, as the mum who was seated apart from my children. I would have paid for us to sit together, but there was an issue with my son's online check in. The flight was Ryanair, but through eDreams, and I had a really fraught week before our flight because neither company seemed to be able to help
me with the admin problem. I was unable to check him in and get a seat booked. I called both companies and was told we had to check him in at the airport, which we did and I arrived early for check in to try to sort it, at which point we were told there were no seats left next to me and my other son (who is under 11 and not allowed to travel without an adult next to him). Check in told me to speak to flight attendants, flight attendants told me to speak to the passengers around me. I did ask the man sat next to me and my U11 to swap with my son, but he said no.

I was really upset about the whole situation. It was not my fault, it was an admin issue with check in. I was not a chancer, I was unable to book seats. My son was sat 10 rows ahead, I couldn't even see him from my seat.

You were not in the same situation

1. In the given situation the child was in front of the CF.

2. When the OP mentioned that she had booked the seats the CF said "what difference does that make" not "there was an admin error so I couldn't."

Most people would be willing to help you but people like the CF are the reason why they wouldn't. You should be cross with her not defending her.

I'm not cross with her. I don't know her circumstances. I'm just pointing out that it's entirely possible to be in that situation without being a CF chancer.

Except… if you’re accidentally in that position, then you would approach people in a much more reasonable manner. Wouldn’t you?

and you wouldn’t have a go when they said no.

tbh, I’d have been far bolshier with the airline staff. If I’d allowed the check in desk to palm me of with a seating situation that brakes CAA rules, I certainly wouldn’t be letting the cabin crew make it my problem to solve on the plane.

ryanair had already broken their own rules, by not letting you book a seat reservation - it’s compulsory for all bookings with children under 12 for at least 1 adult (per 4 children) to have a seat reservation (then the kids get ‘free’ reservations next to them).

so even if the seating situation didn’t break CAA rules, I would not have been happy being palmed off to the cabin crew at check in. Certainly, I’d have been insisting that the cabin crew find people willing to move (and incentivise them where necessary) so I was sitting with my child. But only because it was entirely the airline’s fault that I wasn’t able to reserve seats properly.

You are missing my point.

She did not have a genuine reason, you did.

I think in general we are less likely to help people with genuine reasons because of people like this woman.
I think people like her are the reason no would help you but yet you are trying to defend her.

I'm not trying to defend her. I have absolutely no feelings towards her at all. I was just reading the thread feeling a bit sick at all the posts talking about chancers and CF mothers who don't pay for booked seats and then expect everyone else to move. Because probably the passengers thought that about me, but I had no control over the situation, tried so hard to sort it beforehand and had zero help from the airline, who create this situation.

I'm fondly remembering the days before online check in. Possibly with rose tinted glasses.

It’s a known thing, though - the pisstakers ruin it for everyone else. All of us here know that people can be genuinely stuck (and I bet most of us would help in that situation regardless of how we’ve posted here) but parents deliberately not booking seats is now so common that anyone genuinely in need of the kindness of strangers is more likely to be given short shrift.

As others have said, you need to be angry at the chancers, not those here who’ve had to put up with them.

Parenting group on Facebook the other day was full of people saying not to bother booking, just get people to move... while others pointing out its not worth the stress and that in school holidays there will be lots of families...

Some people do genuinely think they have to be sat next to their kids by the airline.... andnext to means directly next to, not across aisles etc.

And even the guidelines are full of the word should be near, not must. And they are guidelines in the first place, not legislation! It doesn’t even define the age to which the guidance applies to. But it doesn’t surprise me, even in this thread posters have confidently asserted their legal right to be seated next to their child. I genuinely don’t know how these parents are so entitled they think anyone else would be willing to inconvenience themselves for their child, when they clearly don’t want to.

Parenting group on Facebook the other day was full of people saying not to bother booking, just get people to move..

and the more parents do this, the less likely it will be that others will move voluntarily.

Maybe other airlines should go with a Ryanair style policy and force parents to book seat reservations if there are any children on the booking.

That would make it clear that it’s not ok to plan to inconvenience the other passengers.

Maybe you should have offered them your in flight meal as well as the seat OP, just in case they forgot to book one of those too..

We're regular travellers and always reserve a seat, free with membership status or pay if package type airlines. I've never been asked and wouldn't move, husky has. He paid for extra legroom and a couple asked my husband and passenger next to him to swap for middle of middle row seats. My husband burst out laughter and declined, they couldn't understand why he wouldn't swap???
If you don't book and play the seat gamble, then don't expect others who have to move.

Hubby, not husky lol

And your suitcase! What if they forgot to pack one or theirs gets lost?

Why stop with the flight

There’s no end of good you can do by giving up holiday stuff. Don’t blow it now ;

Oh. Absolutely.

You might have paid a considerable amount more to book a mini suite thing with a terrace with easy access to the pool. But there are families there who may have paid for an absolutely basic room but they’d totally benefit from being on the ground floor, having easy access to the pool (indeed, being able to sit on their terrace on a personal sun bed and supervise the kids). And that living room space and terrace would be really useful for relaxing after the kids are in bed.

The kind thing to do would be to swap with them. You don’t need any of that stuff and it’s uncharitable and selfish to expect to get what you paid for when there’s someone with children and an enormous sense of entitlement who feels they need it more.

Better still, why not offer your holiday to someone who didn't book one? It would be such a wonderful opportunity to be kind.