Another plane one!

[Imale]

Just wondering what the opinion is here. Not a biggie but thought I'd throw it out here as I'm curious...hopefully won't be as controversial as a reclining thread 😅

We're flying as family (me, dh, 2 teen dc). 3 hour flight. Seats selected, check in online day before, digital boarding passes sent, all good. Booked 3 in a row and one aisle seat across the aisle in same row.

Get to airport (and we are there in good time - 3 hours before), go to desk to check in luggage and the agent hands us printed boarding passes. No mention of any seat change. My fault here that I didn't check the seats on new bps, but I didn't think of it as we'd already checked in online and had preselected seats ages ago.

So go to board plane and I look at seats on boarding passes and I realise they're not the seats we booked. We now have window and middle one behind the other. I'm pretty pissed off as I always book aisle due to a knee issue and needing to stretch my leg out. But cabin crew tell me its a full flight and nothing they can do.

So people come and sit in the 2 aisle seats and we realise they are a couple! We explain what happened and ask if they'd like to swap and sit together and they say no, they intentionally booked 2 aisle seats. So admittedly at this point we're not exactly delighted with our neighbours but their perogative.

Anyway, I have window, dh middle and teen dc both in front. The husband who is a big guy sits next to dh. He starts manspreading and also not giving dh the armrest. I always understood plane etiquette was that whoever gets screwed over with the middle seat at least gets the armrests.

So dh tells the guy to close his legs and let him use the armrest. The guy says that dh can't have it all. At which point dh told him that the rule is that the middle seat gets to use the armrest and is this the first time he has flown? Guy does grumpily concede inner armrest to DH for rest of flight.

Was Dh being unreasonable demanding the use of armrests as middle seat person? Especially given that they knew we had somehow been moved and they had intentionally kept both aisle seats?
Isn't that the plane rule? I know i always give the middle seater first dibs on armrest.

So you don’t take responsibility for booking yourself a suitable seat, you’re just ok that someone who has booked and paid according to their requirements will get bumped to accommodate you? You don’t even have to pay to select the seat for you and your companion if you’re using assistance.

The weird thing is OP saying she had thought it was an etiquette but has now googled it and it’s an actual rule. Batshit.

FWIW I would always give the armrest but it is 100 not a rule. What a lot of fuss over nothing.

Well, I just thought it was common courtesy until today as well. But, yep, there is a middle seat rule.
You're welcome 😊

You do know those sort of "rules" are not really rules? The same as holding a buttercup under your chin doesn't indicate if you like butter or not and eating the crusts won't give you curly hair? I'm a bit worried for you following all these "rules". You can even put your elbows on the table and nothing bad will happen.

Saying it repeatedly doesn’t make it true.

Show us the rule you are insisting exists. Oh. You can’t.

Listen to yourself. 🙄

Whys it weird? I didnt know it was indeed a rule. I have since been educated and I am now sharing my new found knowledge.
I always just thought i was courteous 😀

@Imale

But dh was right
Google it or ask chatgpt

If I started a thread on MN saying all cabin crew are issued with discrete cattle prods to help them deal with awkward passengers then a Google search or chatgpt would probably find it.

That doesn't mean it's true....mind you sometimes.........

There is not a rule. AI suggests there is an unwritten rule and we all know how unreliable AI is. Where do you think this rule is published?

Bloody hell. That took a nasty turn. This was just a light hearted aibu about an armrest....

OP, you have just found out that there is no middle seat rule.

I suppose you told them that you had paid for those specific sets. I wonder if they thought you were trying it on?

Stop using the word rule .. it’s not one! You do understand what an unwritten rule is don’t you? That’s all this is… an unwritten rule that no-one actually has to follow if they don’t want.

Up there with not reclining during meal service 🤣
We live in a society!!

Also, why didn't you get boarding passes when you checked in on line?

Is that a rule?

Asking is fine, and that’s what he intended to do. It wasn’t meant as a demand, just a request for some basic courtesy.thanks..

I did!!!! Totally different to the paper ones

What is the point kn booking seats if they get changed? Who changes them, or is ir just a free for all now? I thought the reason for having booked seats is for identification if something goes wrong?
Correct me if im wrong

Maybe they also had knees that needed stretching?
Where was your sympathy in swapping seats with your Dh?

He did ask but quite assertively. I think it was the manspreading that tripped him

If passengers recline during the meal the flight attendants ask them to put their seat up. I have never seen a flight attendant ask anyone to take their arms off the armrest.

Are you the OP? The OP said he demanded. How do you know what the OPs husband intended. There is a rule about sock puppetry you know.

I did offer but then I would have been having to stretch bad knee onto aisle seat. Thats also a rule that you don't spread into someone else's space 😀

Dh is a gentleman and took the middle seat bullet for me ❤️❤️❤️

Nah, they never stretched their legs out

I have never been given paper passes after checking in on line. Either something has seriously gone wrong here or you are making this all up.

Not really sure why I’m the devil incarnate. My husband is disabled, we use assistance when flying. We still manage to select suitable seats that don’t involve other people being moved at the last minute. Obviously if someone with additional needs was unexpectedly on a flight that would be different, but the poster said they never bother.