Not to have given up my seat on plane

[Rainbowgoldover]

Just wondering ....

I flew home last night from holiday with a friend.

BA flights , flight out was dreadful, cramped seats , allocated at check in so we had last row next to the toilets ...

On the way back we learnt our lesson so paid to book seats, I booked an aisle seat, friend booked a window seat, flight about 70 per cent full.

The person in the middle seat , asked me if I would move so she could have the aisle seat.

I refused and said no I booked aisle and don't want to sit in middle seat. She said but I want to be near my family in the row opposite. I still politely refued to move.

Cue lots of aggro, she finally got the flight attendants to move her accusing me and my friend of talking over her , we absolutely were not, both had headphones on watching netflix.

If you really want to sit somewhere why can't you pay 23.99 and pre reserve a seat, don't make others feel bad for not giving up theirs ?

Why wouldn't they want to be in the same row? Help each other with bags on boarding/disembarking, getting off at the same time etc. why would they go out of their way to be seated in two totally different parts of the plane?

Of course YWNBU. She just didn't like the middle seat.

Two single travelers wanting a window and aisle seat could travel in different rows. They don’t have to be in the same row. They can be more flexible.

Why should tickets be more expensive to allow people to pick their preferred seats without charge?
I don’t care where I sit, and I don’t need to sit with DH or my friends on a flight.
Why should I pay more so you can pick & choose?

I don't want to pay extra to pre book a seat or to take a wheelie bag on board or hold luggage!

@Bushwhacked20 you can choose your seats for free on check-in, which opens 24 hours before your flight, unless you've booked a basic fare - it'sto make basic pricing competitive to easyjet.

Or you can choose seats further in advance if you're Exec Club member higher than Blue.

Families get allocated together as much as possible for free, but only where child is under 12, and if you've got 2 adults and 2 children, that could include 1 adult and 1 child sat together, and the other pair sat together somewhere else. And together can be across the aisle.

So if the flight is full of families, EC members, people who've paid, then by the time check-in opens, there's not much left to choose from.

Easyjet is the same or worse though - if you don't pay, you don't stand a hope of being sat together.

We kind of brought it on ourselves. When Easyjet launched as "no frills", you got a number when you checked in and boarding was done by that number. So the earlier you checked in, the more chance you had of getting your preferred seat. But people complained when they were last to check in and weren't sat together. So priority boarding at a charge was introduced. And people liked that. So much so, that airlines looked for what else they could charge for. And here we are. Your fare is literally getting you from A to B, anything else is extra. Whereas 30 years ago, everything was included - meals, drinks, luggage, seating, seat back TVs on short-haul.

Agreed. There’s so much sexism on this thread. It’s accepted that men book the aisle seat for more flex to stretch their legs but a woman doing the same is unthinkable, the only reason she booked the aisle is she wanted the middle too. All that matters is OP paid extra to book her seat. It’s not her job to accommodate others just because she’s a woman.

Perhaps because they got on together and helped each other with their bags? Or one said to the other 'Sarah, I think this is seat 20A'? Does t mean they were speak8 g across the (non paying) middle seat passenger

This old chestnut again.

We prebooked premium economy flying BA with a window and middle seat, and the lady on the aisle wanted my window seat. I said no thanks, I booked these 3 months ago when we booked the flight. She explained that she hadn't slept in over 24 hours due to work and travel and just wanted to be able to sleep without being asked to keep moving. In hindsight, as she then slept for most of the flight, I should have moved because for most of those 9 hours we were trapped in our seats. And sods law I had a view at take off but we landed in thick fog and saw fuck all..........

No one is saying one needs to book row 1 and the other row 51.
You can still help each other and get off at the same time if one is in the window of row 10 and one the aisle of row 11. Or in fact they could both book row 10. But on opposite sides. Thus leaving 2 seats on each side free. That would only mean instead of having 1 person in the middle it would only be 2 people and an aisle. That's it.

Edited because I'm an idiot and can't count

Some airlines permit that - and you don't have to pay a full fare, it's just an added extra like luggage

Tickets should be more expensive to cover that so that people have the freedom and choice to pick their seats.

Well then if I got stuck with a middle seat, I'd want a discount! My preference is a window seat & I'm generally happy to add that to the cost of my flight, if I'm going economy on a cheap airline.

@MyrtlethePurpleTurtle Thank you

It might also be worth discussing with the airline. EasyJet could not have been more helpful when I phoned to discuss my (temporary) health issues and allocated me an appropriate seat at no extra charge

Oh fgs, don’t be ridiculous. People can pay to choose seats and if they do, they can sit where they like and there will be people flying solo who don’t care. She wanted to sit with her friends, sat on a row near them on the expectation she’d get someone to swap.

op and her friend should book where they want, they’re under no obligation to seat themselves to accommodate couples or people who want to sit together but who won’t pay to ensure that.

Except they weren’t single travellers. They were 2 friends booking and paying for 2 separate seats in the same row in the hope that one would stay empty so they’d have more room. I doubt either wanted to sit next to a random stranger than to sit next to their friend.

I wouldn't swop. And I'm always in the middle because DH is, frankly,too ample to sit anywhere except the aisle. I dream about an aisle seat..

I would have swapped from the aisle to the middle if my friend was in the window seat so a parent could be close to their children. I would warn them that I like to get up a lot. I wouldn't have moved near the toilets though.

I guess my experience of other people has mostly been generous and kind. Or maybe those are the sorts of people I look up to. It's nice to be nice people!

I like a pp pointed out am really disappointed that airlines don't seat groups together as standard, what a useless system.

@Barney16 Barney16 · Today 15:27
I wouldn't swop. And I'm always in the middle because DH is, frankly,too ample to sit anywhere except the aisle. I dream about an aisle seat..

If you want an aisle seat and you are pre-booking seats anyway, why don't you have one across the aisle from you husband? easy to chat across the aisle and then you get your wish.

You’re all saying this that the op and her friend were hoping the seat next to them would be empty- who doesn’t?! But that doesn’t mean they have to book to accommodate anyone, they just booked what they wanted. It would have been a bonus to get the space, but the flight was only 70% full so there were plenty of options for the middle seat madam and her friends. SHE chose her seat expecting someone to move for her.

Being 70% full was there another aisle seat you could have taken? I'd have moved to another one.
Either way YANBU.

Good to know. Thank you.

I don’t think anyone was thinking different parts of the plane. Perhaps just different sides of the aisle in the same row or one behind the other. Just a more considerate option if one wants a window and the other an aisle.

You can always tell summer's rolling round when these threads start

FWIW I'm in the "if she wants a particular seat let her pay" crowd, but here's the funny thing ... has anyone ever heard of one of these entitled types offering to cough up whatever's been paid for the seat they want?

Because I haven't ...

Didn’t they even offer to refund your booking fee? CF!!