[Travel] Should you give up your pre booked seat on an aircraft so families can sit together?

[Weststander]

People kindly did it for us, when the kids were young.

They suggested it, attendants weren’t part of the conversation.

So I’d probably do the same.


Subject to I need decent legroom, I’m tall.

 

[cheshunt seagull]

My default would always be to be helpful but a lot would depend on their attitude. Some of my relatives turn up, usually late, and aggressively insist on people moving with a massive sense of entitlement. I wouldn't blame anyone for telling them where to go.

 

[BadFish]

If I am on my own then I won't have paid extra to book a seat so no worries, don't care where I sit.

If I am with the family and my neurodiverse kids I have booked seats carefully to cater for their sensory and social needs then, no I wouldn't move.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

By this time, everyone was getting pissed off as we were missing our flight slot. This little bloke came over and said something in his ear….he got up and walked off the plane with much muttering! Still don’t know what this little guy was, but whatever he said did the trick.

Was this the little guy ?

 

[Cotton Socks]

If I were split up from my kids, I'd kindly decline if anyone offered to swap seats so that I could be nearer to them!

 

[Deleted member 37369]

This.

Middle seat? Fack that.

I always book an aisle seat for myself. I have my reasons for doing so. On one flight back from a Greek Island a few years back I was effectively forced to move into a window seat by a chap who wanted to be on an aisle seat (my aisle seat) across from his other half. He had no 'good' reason for insisting on the move. It's the one time I've felt let down by easyJet cabin crew (who I've flown with countless times) who just didn't seem to want to get involved. I was making the point I'd booked and paid for my seat 9 months in advance. Then a chap in the row behind us aggressively told me to 'just f***ing move'!! It was all a bit bizarre ... and wrong that bullies can just get their own way!

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

The best plane scene in the world.

 

[Bold Seagull]

This is similar to the "but Ive got kids and need (insert date, holiday,etc) off from work argument that frequently means childless or single people get the raw end of the deal

It annoyed the hell out of me when the assumption was that people with children get prioroty when booking time off, and the expectation that others have to accomodate.

There is not need to avoid being helpful and not accomodating changes just to be awkward, but if i was asked to move, but said no, that should be it

It's called school holidays Nick.

Why anyone without kids would want to take holidays in the school holidays is way beyond my understanding.

 

[sydney]

a long time ago i was boarding a flight from Johannesburg to LHR , 13 hour flight from memory , i booked an exit seat and paid an extra $160.00 to do so , i'm 6ft 6 and 13 hrs in the foetal position is not for me , when i got to my seat there was an orthodox rabbi in the seat next to mine with a large black hold all in my seat , i said hello can you move your bag please mate its in my seat , he immediately went on the offensive and basically started ranting and raving that these were sacred scrolls and needed to be by his side , i maintained my position that unless he had paid for the seat {in which was the airline had sold it twice } then it was my seat and his bag had to go ...the **** was having none of it and we were basically nose to nose and i'm just sniggering at him { he was American} anyway the flight crew got involved , i explained the situation , a rather lovely trolley dolly asked for a few minutes to find me another seat possibly in business class.....at this point this goon starts saying fine , fine i'll move like he was doing me a favour , i just continued grinning at the twatt because he was annoying the f*** out of me and was also quite large and a bit aggro and it could have got out of hand quite easily.

Hosty came back , gave me the curly finger to follow her amid sqeals of indignant protest from the Rabbi and i was whisked off up to business class which was only half full.....she asked me if i wanted champagne and or brandy and i cheekily said both and back she came with a half bottle of bubbles and 4 little bottles of brandy , was one of the most pleasant flights i've ever had , she came and sat with me for a bit after take off and said the Rabbi was a regular on that route and a right pain in the arse , always trying it on.....i was completely plastered when i got off at Heathrow and my brother had to take me into town to drink myself sober...

in answer to the OP I think a lot of it depends on attitude , if there is an air of entitlement about them then not a chance , if its a long flight and i have leg room then not a chance , if i have paid for the seat probably not, if the people are nice , genuine and appreciative there sis every chance i'll move for them.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

No I wouldn’t. I get tendinitis quite easily in my left leg and hate anything with constricted leg room. I’ll either book an emergency exit or aisle seat for this reason. Once I’ve paid for it then it’s mine.

I don't think children are meant to sit in the emergency exit seats anyway.
As an aside, the only plane journey I've ever been on where one of my friends sat in a different seat to the one they'd been allocated, was also the only flight I've ever heard the pilot ask everybody to sit in their allocated seat to avoid unbalancing the plane and killing everybody.

 

[Audax]

Seen a few articles about this recently, what are your thoughts?

Of course there will be exceptions due to families being bumped off an earlier flight or emergency trips but in the main would you willingly give up your seat for a family who couldn't afford pre seating or were just too bloody idle to do it and work on the basis that others will need to move to accommodate them?

I wouldn't, I don't like flying and always pre book a window seat to avoid being disturbed by other passengers going to the loo or for a walkabout

In fact unless there were extraordinary circumstances I'd refuse and put up a fight about it, why should I be inconvenienced because a family haven't planned things properly. If you want to be guaranteed to be seated together, pay the supplement and pre book

Would have to treat each request on a case-by-case basis, really. For example:

1) How long is the flight?
2) Does the airline charge extra to choose seats?
3) How young is the family concerned?
4) Is it a large family group with multiple adults?

And a few other questions would cross my mind before making a decision. However: as a dad with a younger child (recently turned 7), if I found my family in a situation where we have been allocated separate seats I would be making a request for a seat swap. And as such I would also err on the side of accepting such a request from another family if I was travelling alone.

 

[happypig]

To accommodate people who didn't plan ahead or pay to sit together, no.
Once, though, I was on a flight in the emergency exit extra leg room seats and the bloke next to me was about 6 foot 8 and even in these seats he couldnt get his knees in. The cabin crew moved him to one of the up front seats and moved the passenger there into his seat.

 

[Bold Seagull]

I always book an aisle seat for myself. I have my reasons for doing so. On one flight back from a Greek Island a few years back I was effectively forced to move into a window seat by a chap who wanted to be on an aisle seat (my aisle seat) across from his other half. He had no 'good' reason for insisting on the move. It's the one time I've felt let down by easyJet cabin crew (who I've flown with countless times) who just didn't seem to want to get involved. I was making the point I'd booked and paid for my seat 9 months in advance. Then a chap in the row behind us aggressively told me to 'just f***ing move'!! It was all a bit bizarre ... and wrong that bullies can just get their own way!

Why didn't you just swap with her aisle seat?

 

[papajaff]

I always book a seat in the emergency rows as the scabby little brats aren't allowed to sit there.

 

[Rodney Thomas]

If you don't want to move and sit next to me and my 3 year old.... be my f***ing guest!

 

[LamieRobertson]

Depends if they keep the seats neat and tidy with no litter etc

 

[rool]

You are Pritti Patel and I claim my £10

There's the cost of living crisis right there, it used to be a fiver.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I have had a couple opportunities to help out folk who want to sit together and have always offered. But in general there are caveats.

If I could move further away from annoying fuckers (noisy seat-kicking kids, shouty women, or people who want to plant their elbow or big fat arm across my chest) then certainly.

However I rarely fly for tourism or on the cheap so this isn't normally a problem I face. If I can, I will book early and select a seat that suits.

There is no excuse for leaving it late to book the cheapest possible seats when you have a family of young kids unless you have been invited to a hastily arranged funeral.

 

[BBassic]

If they're nice about asking then sure. If they're dicks about it then no.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Ryanair should be treated like a bus service, normally cheaper than everyone else, expect nothing in the way of service because you won’t be getting it. Fly with somebody else if you don’t like it. I have never set foot on a Ryanair flight for this reason

Provided you know what is on offer and have other airline options then sure, pay for what you want.

However, sometimes Ryanair etc. are the only option. If so then one should check the rules.