Plane seat drama

[itstoohotnow]

Just returned from a European break, booked 4 plane tickets for DH and 2 DS (19 &16) and I, eldest DS decided too old to go away with mum and dad so stayed at home. I contacted the airline as cheap non refundable ticket but said I can use it as a spare seat between DH and I so all good.

On return flight, only 2 hours long and we have seats A (me) B (spare) C (DH) and D (DS) then a couple with a baby in E & F

Couple with baby realised we were together and pretty much demanded DS moved to seat B - I politely pointed out it wasn't a random spare seat but a booked and paid for one, now I have 2 kids so appreciate it's hard to travel with a little one and would have offered the seat but they were so bloody rude and entitled. I pointed out we had paid for 4 seats and they had only paid for 2 - so asked for a contribution towards cost £30 (by this point they are just demanding the seat because they have a child)

They got pretty rude and offensive (called me a fat b**ch) so I said no, stewardess said was up to me

Should I have given them the seat?

What an unpleasant post.

On short haul routes BA business class is in the same seats as economy but with the middle seat blocked out so that people have a free seat between them. Having the middle seat free is definitely an advantage regardless of whether you are a “fat bitch” or not. I’d always take a bit of extra space if I could, especially if I’d paid for it like the OP.

Would it come as a surprise to the namby pamby, 'it's nice to be nice' brigade that they are not being quite so nice as they imagine?

People book seats for a reason. I don't owe CFs who are total strangers to me an explanation of the medical circumstances meaning I need an aisle seat, nor do I appreciate a constant beeline made for me when I travel as a solo female flyer. It doesn't happen so frequently when I travel with family.

The folk who declaim it's nice to be nice and hand over the service they bought and paid for for free, just because someone's seen fit to demand it, are making a rod for everyone's backs. Not everyone is as robust as I am in telling CFs where to go and what to do with themselves when they get there.

If 'no' was the default response, the CFs would stop asking.

Nope

NOPE! Copy editor here. When using a pronoun after a preposition (in this case "between"), the pronoun is the object of the preposition, which calls for the objective pronoun "me," so "a spare seat between DH and me" is the correct grammar, NOT "between DH and I." Your example is of subjective pronouns, which is completely different from the sentence to which the other commenter was referring. People incorrectly use "X and I," with "I" as an objective pronoun all the time these days as a hyper-correction response to being told that "me" as a subjective pronoun (as in "Fred and me went to the store").

NOPE! Copy editor here. When using a pronoun after a preposition (in this case "between"), the pronoun is the object of the preposition, which calls for the objective pronoun "me," so "a spare seat between DH and me" is the correct grammar, NOT "between DH and I." Your example is of subjective pronouns, which is completely different from the sentence to which the other commenter was referring. People incorrectly use "X and I," with "I" as an objective pronoun all the time these days as a hyper-correction response to being told that "me" as a subjective pronoun (as in "Fred and me went to the store").

YES! Thank you!

A quick way to remember it is to isolate yourself in the sentence and use a very common preposition - would you say
"On me" or On I"?
"Between I and DH?"
"Between DH and I" is just as wrong.

Exactly!

This

Hell no. If they'd been polite and implored your mercy, then maaaayyybe.

How did they demand it?

Absolutely not!!

I would say that 'DH and I' sounds correct in this case...

If you don’t take the seat you have paid for then it goes back to the airline and buy they could have seated somebody in it. However the couple with a baby are not the airline and you are within your rights to say no you don’t want to move across. I am very specific with the seat I want on a plane. I like aisle or window , not middle
They could have bought an extra seat, but didn’t so not your fault
can’t stand people like that. You should have just told them. I bought it as an extra seat so nobody will sit there.

Btw what’s a CF I read it a lot in here lol

How about "between I and DH" - does that also sound right?

The asking for money part is to make the point: it's not a random seat, OP PAID FOR the seat. If you want an extra seat, you should expect to pay for it too.

Err no, but that's not what is being discussed is it?! I don't understand what you're trying to do with your comment.

I would have offered the seat - you seem rude and uncaring for someone with two kids. Have you forgotten how hard it was?

They sound rude and entitled

You are both AH in this.

"DH" and "I" are both objects of the sentence following the preposition "between" and therefore the object form should be used - i.e. "me". They perform the same function within the sentence, therefore swapping them around shouldn't make any difference. "Between I and DH" is every bit as incorrect as "between DH and I". The correct formulation, as explained by OP above, is "between DH and me".

I think the use of phrases such as ‘dh and I’ when they are not the subject of the sentence, has been normalised. This is how people on reality TV speak and they clearly think they are being ‘proper’ with their use of language. Poor old ‘me’ has become redundant. It’s a losing battle.

It’s not. You cannot use ‘I’ as the object of the sentence. You would not say, ‘please give the book to I’ would you? You would use ‘me’.

Yes, it's like people who use "whom" incorrectly for emphasis, or "yourself" and "myself" instead of simply "you" and "me". You're right, it's a losing battle. Still drives me nuts, though!

Oh god yes, it's like the unnecessary myself to sound posh. As in, perhaps you could call myself to discuss this further. This causes me actual physical pain.

Shout out to @TheFifthTellytubby! My people.

If the person for whom the seat was booked then the seat reverts to the airline. They could have put someone in standby in it.

If you want a 2nd seat them some airlines allow you to specifically book this but it can be more expensive than just booking 2 seats with the 2nd in a different name (even allowing for APD). But just booking and then the person not turning up doesn't make it you seat-it makes it an empty seat on the inventory.

The OP didnt pay for extra space. They booked a seat for a person who didnt board. It is not the OPs seat- it reverts to the airline.