NYTs Etiquette - "I Refused to Switch Seats on a Plane. Twice. Was I Wrong?"
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Anonymous
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What do you think?
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/03/style/airplane-seat-etiquette-social-qs.html Personally, as a parent, I now realize that families really do need the bulkhead. If the guy wants to prioritize leg-room, he should book an exit row seat. That said, I don't think he was wrong for refusing to give up his seat. He paid extra for it and those seats are not cheap (usually $50-100 extra)! |
Anonymous
| It’s behind a paywall so I can’t read the article and comment. Please remember not everyone has a subscription to NYT. These posts with links that people can’t see are annoying. |
Anonymous
| He is not wrong. The families had an opportunity to reserve and pay for those seats. |
Anonymous
If you're already hitting the paywall, it means you've read your articles for the month. Subscribe you cheap f#ck. Good journalism isn't free. |
Anonymous
Agreed. You can’t cheap out and then expect those who haven’t to shift around for your convenience. |
Anonymous
| If people are paying for particular seats, I think asking them to move isn’t reasonable. I am a parent and it’s been awhile since I’ve flown but I would absolutely pay to make sure my family was seated together. Now, if this is a case where the family reserved seats together and the airline changed things, then that’s on airline staff to make right. |
Anonymous
Wrong. I have never clicked a NYT article and still cant read it. You are lame. and your post is pathetically annoying. |
Anonymous
Search for the article title on Google. You can find other websites that we reprint the article. No, I won't send you a link. Because aside from being cheap, you're likely also lazy. |
Anonymous
Yes! Pay extra if you want to guarantee to sit together or have extra room. Why should people who have paid for this feature need to switch seats? |
Anonymous
| I can't read the article but I have seen the issue come up on various boards. In my opinion, being a family or traveling with kids doesn't entitle you to special treatment. When I travel with my family I pay to pick seats, early check-in, extra space - whatever I think we might need. If you're not willing to pay for that then you can't afford the trip. Other travelers have also paid for those services and they don't owe you anything. |
Anonymous
| Sometimes the airlines make it very hard, you book seats together and then when you show up at the airport your young child gets a seat rows away. I think this should be on the airline to deal with, why do their systems even allow a young child to be seated away from the adult they are flying with? I get why this guy was annoyed and completely empathize with the parent. |
Anonymous
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It seems strange to me that a flight attendant would first be asking people who paid for premium seats to move, why not ask people in the back of the plane? Presumably moving those people would also allow the family to sit together.
I would say that the person asking the question does seem a bit smug. You can be organized and still end up in a pickle if your flight is delayed and then you miss a (long) connection or your original flight is cancelled and you have to rebook or you are flying at the last minute to visit a sick relative or for some other emergency. In general I think it is nice to move but I would not expect that of someone who paid for premium seats. If airlines want those people to move, they should go back to the days of not charging more for bulkhead. |
Anonymous
Families do not need the bulkhead. I have flown with my kids a lot, including transatlantic in coach, and we have never book the bulkhead. He was not wrong at all. He paid and selected his seat ahead of time he has every right to stay in the seat he booked. If a family wants to sit in a certain seat they should book it ahead of time. If they were asking for an equal swap like move to a different aisle bulkhead seat then maybe he should say yes, but if they want to you trade a good seat for a less desirable seat when you paid for the other one one then heck no. |
Anonymous
Not everyone can afford it. First PP, you might want to try accessing it through your public library. When the pandemic started, our library (PG County) started making NYTimes, WaPo, and WSJ available online from home. Prior to the pandemic, you could only access it from inside the actual library branches. If you have a library card, you go through the library's website to create an account at whatever paper you want to read, and then you will have digital access for a week. After a week, you have to go back into the library's website and do it again. No limit, just have to reactivate weekly. |
Anonymous
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I think airlines should help families sit together. But it does not HAVE the be in the bulkhead seat. So they can ask him, and if he says no, they should ask someone else in another row if they are willing to move. I have an extremely tall DH, who chooses his seats carefully as well. I also have young kids. I want to sit with them, but I would never ask the tallest person on the plane to move to make that happen.
If airlines actually cared (they don't) they should leave the bulkhead open for families on board. But they prefer to shame customers into this type of thing. |