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.

Nope, I do not take responsibility for booking myself suitable seat.

the reason why is because the means to get me on the aircraft will usually only be sorted half an hour or so before the aircraft actually boards, because if you can’t walk up the steps and need help getting to your seat most airports have limited ambilifts.

they’ve moved a Ryanair flight from the apron to a air bridge before now for me because it was either that or wait for an ambilift to become free. I saw them do it and heard the duscusssions.

airports have a responsibility to get disabled passengers on board. If there are limited ambilifts (there always are) then sometimes rather than delay the whole flight by half an hour f they are all in use thry’ll change gate which means moving my seat from the front to the back.

i have on occasion (Stansted on a busy bank holiday weekend) been carried on the plane by evac chair (and they were apologising profusely about how unpleasant it was).

so no, I don’t bother trying to choose a seat when airport management considerations mean that it gets swooped from back to front six times in two hours.

Yes but is that the definition of a rule?

I would say a rule is something that the air crew would enforce, yes.

Oh, and you ABSOLUTELY have to pay to book a seat for you and a companion if you are using assistance. I used to do this until it got moved on me and the airline (fuckers) refused to refund me.

I’m confused, what difference does it make if they’re flying together why would they have to move for your needs?

It is indeed not a rule. Nor is the seat reclining thing.

He can be quite direct sometimes, but there was no bad intention behind it. It was simply about space and comfort.

Nope, someone else said it has to be written down. I've had people have their seats reclined in front of me during meal service so....
And I'm pretty sure cabin crew would have a ton of sympathy for those stuck in the middle seat. I might have to test this rule now 😅

Who can be direct? My dh?????
I mean, its true but....

@mumlong who are you and how do you know OPs DH?

Google and chatgpt beg to disagree..I'm with them now!

🤣

For heavens sake why can't people be friendly and talk nicely to each other.
Life's much easier when you do.

Me and DH always book the 2 aisle seats, I thought most couples did as increases the chance on a flight that isn't full of getting the whole row or at least the middle seat free

Because its kinda normal to sit next to the person you're traveling with....

But if it had ended there, no controversy. Their perogative not to move for whatever their reasons. We took it no further than asking and explaining our situation

Yabu to be angry at the people with your seats however if you paid for your seat selection with the airline then at the bare minimum they should be refunding you. I’ve had my seat allocation changed and managed to get it switched to what I had booked. They may state aircraft change but seems more likely someone messed up following an aircraft change!

So, if someone lets the door go when you are right there about to walk through, doesn't hold the door on a lift, or say thank you after you've given something you're fine with it?
There are little courtesies that make society run a little bit smoother in day to day interactions with relative strangers. You don't have to follow these unwritten rules, but it does make you the asshole when you don't.

We were once ‘moved’ from our paid seats on a TUI flight….complained to cabin manager…she got us to fill in something on her iPad & we were paid £20 each into our bank within a few days. Now that’s service!

I agree with the middle seat arm rest etiquette. Actually I was in the middle seat yesterday and whispered to my bf that I should get the armrests when the guy next to me was taking the space 😅
Same with manspreading. And don't get me started with reclining.

But hope you will get your money back if you payed for your seats. Also I would never change seats if I had prebooked something unless I got compensation.

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.

I have several times. Either at a luggage drop if I've had luggage or at the gate if only carry on. Sometimes it is because if aircraft change and they don't have same rows or someone who needs a specific seat has cheked in etc.

You put that rule on here and I’ll admit I’m wrong. Unwritten rules aren’t rules. They’re etiquettes which people should follow but if people don’t you shouldn’t tell them they are breaking rules.

I would love to see this rule you keep telling us about OP… waiting….

Well, yes. And why can't people not manspread too? Dh wasn't rude to him. Just told him not to spread into his space and educated him on the middle seat rule 😅
Manspreading is the ultimate rudeness actually. It causes discomfort to others.

Of course I wouldn't be fine with it but I wouldn't demand they did it because I'm not the boss of them and I can't make them do something they don't want to and for which there is no actual rule.

Unwritten rules are just that 🤣
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/unofficial-rules-for-the-planes-middle-seat/YSN7XELQTE2KCLB2RL4MUVVDKY/
https://thepointsguy.com/airline/unwritten-rules-middle-seat-airplane/

It is apparently an ongoing debate 😂
https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/plane-passenger-says-people-must-36700272

Direct maybe, but never rude It was just one of those travel moments.

Indeed!