Families booking middle seats and then expecting others to switch with them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a vent. This happened the last two times we flew. A family will book middle seats and then expect others to move for them. We have small kids and are sympathetic to not being separated with young kids but in both cases we found it wasn't an issue with the airline screwing up and double booking a seat or moving people who had paid for pre-arranged seating, it was people who just paid for middle seats or got on a flight stand by and knowingly accepted all middle seats.

The last family was incredibly obnoxious and delayed the entire flight. They seemed shocked that everyone was not giving up their seats to accommodate them. The worst part was the mother who felt like she needed to sit next the 12 year boy rather than be two rows behind him a middle seat. If they didn't feel that they could sit apart then they should have waited for a later flight. We did this when one of our flights was cancelled. Rather than fly stand by and end up all over the plane with little kids, we waited until a later flight even though this was very inconvenient for us.

I just booked a flight and had not choice on one leg but to select several middle seats that scatters my family around the plane. I wasn't given the option of something else.

When I get on the plane, I don't expect you to change seats so my family can sit together. But I do expect you to tolerate my 3 yo sitting next to you.

[Anonymous]

I'm always amazed on these threads how many nasty people are out there. I prefer a window seat, but there was a need to switch, I'd be happy to do so (and have done so many times). Really, showing a little kindness never hurt anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This freaks me out that airlines would switch seats and think it's OK to let a 3 year old fly alone. We booked months ago for a flight in a few weeks, and no hell way is my 3 year old sitting alone. I would be asking everyone to help me if that happened. Sorry that would piss you off OP.

Really? I'd be overjoyed to foist my 3 yo on someone else for a few hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two small ones, and never "expect" anyone to give up their seats so that we can all sit together. That said, most people willingly switch when asked with kindness and respect and so that they don't have to sit next to your child! You never know what to expect from a child who is without their parent.

Also, any time I do see people unwilling to switch seats, it's always a fat, sweaty, bitchy woman. Very rarely is it a man.

Women can be such bitches....but we all know that! [/quote

How is the fat jab relevant? I'm fat, and as such, prefer aisle or window seats. What's it to you? I have switched before, out of kindness, but might not always be in the mood to do so.

I didn't say all fat people are like this but the ones who ARE like this are almost always FAT! get over it. if you feel badly about your weight, do something about it.

[Anonymous]

I couldn't care less where I sit if the flight is less than two hours long. Over two hours, I might have to pee, so again, as long as you're OK with getting up and letting me out, I don't care where I sit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This freaks me out that airlines would switch seats and think it's OK to let a 3 year old fly alone. We booked months ago for a flight in a few weeks, and no hell way is my 3 year old sitting alone. I would be asking everyone to help me if that happened. Sorry that would piss you off OP.

Really? I'd be overjoyed to foist my 3 yo on someone else for a few hours.

You know what, you make a good point.

[Anonymous]

The airline actually suggested to me to do something similar with my then lap baby. My situation was I originally was going to fly with DS as lapbaby, but changed my mind a few days prior to the flight. The tix had doubled by then, so I called airline to see if they could sell me a discounted ticket for my DS's carseat. (They couldn't.) They told me to book my DH in the aisle, book myself by the window and leave the middle seat unoccupied, that then if they had even 1 empty seat on the plane, we could bring our carseat on. I said, yes, but what if someone else chooses the seat between my DH and I? She said they'll move for a baby. :/ I didn't end up doing it because I didn't want to be THAT entitled a-hole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two small ones, and never "expect" anyone to give up their seats so that we can all sit together. That said, most people willingly switch when asked with kindness and respect and so that they don't have to sit next to your child! You never know what to expect from a child who is without their parent.

Also, any time I do see people unwilling to switch seats, it's always a fat, sweaty, bitchy woman. Very rarely is it a man.

Women can be such bitches....but we all know that! [/quote

How is the fat jab relevant? I'm fat, and as such, prefer aisle or window seats. What's it to you? I have switched before, out of kindness, but might not always be in the mood to do so.

I didn't say all fat people are like this but the ones who ARE like this are almost always FAT! get over it. if you feel badly about your weight, do something about it.

You have no idea whether I "do something about it" or not, or what my issues are. Hypocritical of you to talk about women being fat, sweaty bitches, when you seem like a majorly judgmental bitch yourself, no?

[Anonymous]

I have said yes, but these days more often than not I'm going to say "no" ... I'm not going to voluntarily get stuck in a middle seat for any flight longer than, say, an hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have said yes, but these days more often than not I'm going to say "no" ... I'm not going to voluntarily get stuck in a middle seat for any flight longer than, say, an hour.

You must be fat, sweaty, and bitchy.

[Anonymous]

The people who keep crowing that if you book early, you will avoid the problem, don't know jack shit about how airlines operate--airline change bookings all the time.

But, hey, if you want to sit next to my two preschoolers, so you can indignantly prove that you are somehow better prepared for life than me, you be my guest.

[Anonymous]

I ask people to switch seats all the time and never have a problem, although I've never had only middle seats. Usually it's possible to offer someone a better seat than they already have (lower aisle number), or at least a comparable seat. I have the same view as posters above: I'm happy to have you sit by my 2 year old if you really want to.

I've also been accommodating when people ask me to switch. I find life is easier when you don't look for reasons to get your panties in a bunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not to excuse anyone's obnoxious behavior, but on our last cross-country flight I booked 3 seats together and when we got to the airport the airline had changed the seats for the second leg of the flight and had us in three separate middle seats. The agent at the flight of origin could not (or would not) change it and because our flight arrived late and we ran to catch our second flight there was no time to address the issue at the gate. In the end, there happened to be an empty seat next to my daughter and the other person in her row was very pleasant. Choosing your seats doesn't always guarantee them.

exactly. This had happened to us, and my four year old was sitting by herself. stop being so selfish and change seats, especially when you are already in a middle seat regardless.

[Anonymous]

I have never intentionally booked seats apart from each other for my family, but twice we have shown up and had seats changed so that we were no longer seated together even after choosing seats together during the booking process. It is not always true that people are just expecting someone to accommodate them. Airlines just suck which is why we fly as seldom as possible. Surprised that people are blaming passengers over the greedy airlines that keep changing all the rules and expecting passengers to pay for accommodations that used to be standard. If it's less than a 16 hour drive we now drive instead of flying.

[Anonymous]

My experience is that we've not been able to book all the seats together. The aisle and window seats in all rows are the first to go and usually only the middle seats are left. When I have the option, I'll take a flight with better choices but I don't always have much of a choice. If the airlines would allow it, I'd let my little kids sit by themselves but, typically, the airlines won't allow it because the kids are capable of taking care of themselves in an emergency. The passengers on either side of them aren't likely to like it either because no one would be around to 'manage' my kid. I don't get irate when people don't want to change seats, I don't blame people but it's not my problem. It's the airline's problem to solve. Your anger is misdirected.

No, you need to book your flights earlier and not wait so long.

How much in advance do you advise? We booked our tickets nearly 3 months in advance and still didn't get all our seats together. Enough so that each parent is with one small child and the older one is by himself, but still. Not everyone can plan their trips a year in advance (and sometimes its siginificantly more expensive to book 3 months out plus).