AIBU to book these seats on a flight?

[Deekaytwo]

We've got row 7A&C seats booked on our upcoming 4hr flight, the middle seat is blocked off and we always use it to put our DS(nearly 2) in after take-off and before landing.

We often get the first row and it really makes a massive difference when travelling with DS: the extra space at the bulkhead is invaluable for him, and to keep him contained to not bother other passengers.

We didn't manage to book early enough this time, however according to the seat map 1C&F are empty (usually just blocked for the comfort of the Gold member seated in the other seat), these usually open up just before the flight.

So: am I being unreasonable to move us to the empty seats in the front row and hope/expect 1A or 1D to move so that we can sit together? They'll still have their aisle/window and won't have to sit next to a baby, so I think it's win-win..

Not to drip feed, I'm also 5 months pregnant, so anything to make things more comfortable really.

YABU: Stay in you're current seats and let the fancy Gold members keep the empty seat next to them!

YANBU: It doesn't make any difference to them and will make your journey more comfortable (and probably everyone elses as DS will have more room to be contained)

You are being unreasonable.

The people who booked and paid for row 1 want to be first off the plane and straight through customs.

Your family can cope with being seated apart for 4 hours. Get dad to do the childcare on board if you're pregnant.

And absolutely no one wants a pregnant woman and toddler blocking the exit door on landing.

Get more organised, pay for what you require, and stop inflicting your inconvenience on everyone else, who is not currently encumbered with both a toddler and a pregnancy.

I would never move seats for a person who is obviously taking advantage of my good and kind nature. This so so selfish and unreasonable.

I am really confused... Firstly, are you suggesting that an airline would be willing to not sell two premium seats in row 1, for the comfort of the people in seats booked beside them? That's madness!! Which airline is this?
Secondly, there is no 'B', or 'E'... where is the 'middle' seat that you're speaking of? Sorry, but I might have missed something.

OK, just saw what you said about the middle seat table coming off to allow 3rd seat. In my experience of Business Class it didn't have this, as it was different configuration for long haul - hadn't realised you'd done it many times before.

@WestEndWindy @stealthbanana i agree with you! I really don’t see the big deal and would happily swap like for like.

but I’m also fascinated by those (many) posters who don’t seem to have actually read the thread and are completely missing what the op has proposed

If you say no to them then how are they taking advantage of your “good and kind” nature?

The Short Haul seats do reconfigure but as I suspect it’s supposed to be a done on the ground, with maybe (defo not sure) restrictions on who can actually do it.

If is being done by the crew in flight then it’s probably slightly unofficial and certainly not something a passenger can rely on being done or demand is done, even if they do have the seats either side (e.g. A and C or D and F).

TBH I can almost imagine the Brand or Revenue Management people at BA have by now seen this thread and the notices to crew are being written.

I agree with a few other pps that maybe the best course of action for the OP is to stick with 7A and 7C and then hope they have helpful crew on the day. Playing a lottery by moving to forwards seats split across the aisle might well lead to disappointment.

This is painful. The people who paid for row 1 would still be in row 1. They would not de disadvantaged in any way.

God no. This is quite entitled. I appreciate you want the extra room but why should someone who is paying for their gold membership accommodate you?

Not really relevant but I’m sight impaired and once I’m seated I’m seated as it’s pretty hard to move. There’s gonna be people similar to me. Don’t be a CF

Total CF territory. I have a medical issue with one arm, I fly a lot and choose my seat so that I don’t have a neighbour next to the affected arm so I don’t risk getting jostled. You may not see what my issue is if I have long sleeves and I am dammed if I am explaining it to a stranger on a plane so I would give you a single answer, “no” if asked to move but would probably be then left feeling uncomfortable as you whined to the staff about how much easier it would be for you if I moved. The row doesn’t matter to me, the seat position does and there will be lots of people in a similar situation.

YABU to assume anyone will move to accommodate you. Your choice to have kids - pay extra if you’re fussy about seats. And they won’t let a child and pregnant person sit in the emergency exit row

If you pose your AIBU as 'meany fancy people' vs 'poor little me only thinking of everyone else's comfort' when you're already booked into Business Class then responses are liable to take a certain turn.

@Peonies12

And they won’t let a child and pregnant person sit in the emergency exit row

The OP, who I think is long gone, is we believe flying BA.

For info and AFAIK row one on the BA short haul Airbus fleet isn’t an emergency exit row, it’s a normal seat row with a bulkhead in front of it.

It is an exit/emergency exit row on some other operators who use a different cabin configuration

I think attitudes changed when people had to start paying for seat selection. Once you’ve done that - and other people have chosen not to - why should/would you move?

On a recent flight we had booked and paid for B and C. I hate having to clamber over strangers to go to the toilet. A couple got on who had been allocated A and D and asked us to move across so they could sit across from each other over the aisle. We politely said No, we had paid for the seats we wanted.

They were livid, argued that we were unreasonable and proceeded to make the flight a misery - shouting across us, standing in the aisle to chat, constantly asking us to let him in and out.

OP may not be as bad as that but refusal can make enforced proximity very uncomfortable. Don’t do it.

No one owes an explanation of their reasons to complete strangers, whether in situ on the plane or on the www.

The answer is 'no'. And this is one occasion where that is a complete sentence.

Noise-cancelling earphones tune out most of it. Those can't compensate for having someone constantly ask you to move, but if it becomes too extreme it could also be expedient not to hear. And if they touched me to garner my attention, I'd complain to the cabin crew.

No means no.

These days I never board public transport (especially trains) without earphones. They are a godsend.

YABU

This sort of behaviour is really out of order.

My brother recently flew long haul to Australia. He spent a fortune getting a particular seat.

The minute he got on the plane, people started lobbying him to swap with them, giving sob stories and reasons why they needed it more than he did.

CF-ery of the highest order.

I really wish EVERYONE would stop pandering to this nonsense.

If the answer was a default 'no', the CFs would stop asking. As a lone female traveller I'm tired of the expectation that I can be shunted around like cattle, or expected to justify my reasons as to why I need my booked seat, to suit the convenience of others who refuse to book in anticipation that others will accommodate their preferences.

This doesn't happen when I travel with family.

For the sake of your fellow travellers I implore you: please say no!

YANBU

As one of the "fancy gold members" i would have no problem moving - 1A and 1F are the same seat as far as I'm concerned.

Except that they are in row 7…

This is it.

It's just that it's become an awkward nightmare. Every time you fly now there is someone wanting to shuffle things round to their advantage.

It's just so cripplingly awkward as you then have to do the whole flight either slightly disgruntled or feeling like a pedantic mean arsehole.

When you're neither, you just want to fly without first having to enter into a negotiation with a bunch of aggressive entitled strangers.

I'm normally really obliging, but this seat shuffling has got out of hand.

Like my brother having to deal with saying g no to one after another CF trying to take his paid seat off him.

I was in this situation a year or so ago (I was also travelling with kids) and I said no, sorry and when the woman started getting loud and abrasive, a flight attendant came along and asked me and I repeated no. And then I started getting abrasive. Handed my business card to obnoxious woman and asked her to speak to my assistant next week if she wants to discuss it further. Sat back down put my earplugs in and my eyemask on. CFer!

If you had read the OP you would have discovered that she is not asking anyone to move to row 7, but rather 1A to 1F (or 1D to 1C)
Like I say, I would be fine with this - I know not everyone would be, so provided that the OP is willing to handle a "no" with grace I can't see the harm in asking.

They’re in row 1. That’s why they have the number 1 at the start.