Why do so many idiots ask to switch seats on planes these days?

[Anonymous]

I just booked Aegean airlines 3 tickets for me and 2 teens!!!, and my seats got assigned immediately - 3 next to each other. Aegean also somehow manages to do it and we have 23 pages of posters blaming families for not paying extra to sit with their own kids.

[Anonymous]

I am 41 and fly probably average 3x/year and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone ask to switch seats and no one has ever asked me.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I was just on a flight where they put my 5 year old across the aisle from me. I booked the tickets together in one transaction and included his age so this was baffling. I talked to the check in people and gate agent and they couldn't do anything because the flight was fully booked. Fortunately I was offering to trade an aisle seat for a middle seat and one of the middle seats next to us was a solo traveler who was happy to take the switch.

Two aisle seats in the same row IS considered sitting "next to."

Realistically though you can't manage a small kid's drink or let them sleep on you or control them physically across an aisle. Airlines should know this.

You cannot put on your child’s oxygen mask from across the aisle. Failing to sit families together would be a huge problem for an orderly evacuation. There’s zero way I would not be climbing over people to get to my kid.

You absolutely can manage a drink and an oxygen mask from across the aisle. The aisle is like 12 inches wide - this ain't first class.

You can't take a drink from the flight attendant for your kid when they're across the aisle because the drink cart is in between you.

If you really can't figure out a way to crack this thorny logistical "problem," you have no business being unattended in public, much less having children in the first place. Good lord.

[Anonymous]

I fly for work almost weekly and have NEVER had someone ask me to switch.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If you don't pay to book seats next to your kids or book so late that seats together aren't available, you get what you get. If you can't sit apart from your kids, take another flight! For goodness sake, do not get on a plane knowing you do not have seats together and then expect people who did plan ahead to change seats to accommodate you. Just no.

I mean sometimes you book seats together and then when you go to check in, they've moved you around. One time they upgraded my spouse and wouldn't un upgrade him, which threw off our seats.

This should be handled by asking the gate agent for help — long before boarding starts. And all the major airlines do have gate agents at the gate well before time to board.

You can ask, but they won’t help you. This happened to us when my son was 2 yo (they changed plane type & scrambled our seats). I called, and they said ask at check in. I did, and that agent said ask the gate agent. I did, and they told me to ask the flight attendant, who told me I could ask a passenger if they’d be willing to switch. My kid was TWO. That’s why people ask you to change seats.

It’s almost like we need some sort of regulation that requires airlines to seat children under x age with their adult companions. I wonder if that is possible.

As long as, along with that, is a regulation prohibiting parents from booking unassigned seats, or selecting seats that aren't together at the time of purchase, I'm all for it. If that means they have to select a more expensive fare class, so be it.

I would absolutely switch seats with a parent whose flight plans were changed by the airline and isn't sitting next to their kid. That isn't their fault, and while I wouldn't be happy about it, it's the right thing to do. But I am not interested, at all, in switching seats so that someone who could have selected seats together at a greater cost, or taken a different flight, can sit with their kid. That's a conscious choice, and it's trying to take advantage of me. I also reject the suggestion that parents should be able to get something for free (seat selection) that the rest of us have to pay for simply because they have kids.

The problem is, there's no way to tell the difference - which family is the victim of an unfortunate circumstance, and which is trying to get over.

I think a *lot* of people feel this way, and if there was some assurance that you're switching because of an unavoidable circumstance, most people would be OK with it. Some won't of course, but they're terrible people anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't pay to book seats next to your kids or book so late that seats together aren't available, you get what you get. If you can't sit apart from your kids, take another flight! For goodness sake, do not get on a plane knowing you do not have seats together and then expect people who did plan ahead to change seats to accommodate you. Just no.

I mean sometimes you book seats together and then when you go to check in, they've moved you around. One time they upgraded my spouse and wouldn't un upgrade him, which threw off our seats.

This should be handled by asking the gate agent for help — long before boarding starts. And all the major airlines do have gate agents at the gate well before time to board.

Who do you think we were asking to "un upgrade" my spouse. We called when we checked in and saw him upgraded, we tried at the desk when checking our bags, and at the gate and they wouldn't un upgrade him or switch me to a middle seat next to my son. Fortunately I was offering to move into a middle seat and someone on the plane agreed to the switch. But, yes, we tried at every single communication point with the airline.

I feel fairly certain the person whose middle seat you took would have happily swapped with your husband. This really doesn't seem like an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just booked Aegean airlines 3 tickets for me and 2 teens!!!, and my seats got assigned immediately - 3 next to each other. Aegean also somehow manages to do it and we have 23 pages of posters blaming families for not paying extra to sit with their own kids.

Planes change with different seating. I reserved seats years ago for spouse, myself and a 5 year old and they all got moved. One of us needed to be with the five year old due to sn. It was a huge drama as we asked off the plane as we had a medical appointment and they were saying no as if we drive we had to leave then and drive through the night. Eventually they got one parent with the child. I did not get why they just didn’t let us off the plane. Another time, I was with our child and another parent was separated. No one would switch so she asked me to watch her kid, who was the same age and I did. She was very worried as I would have been. Airlines should be forced to put kids under 14 with one parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just booked Aegean airlines 3 tickets for me and 2 teens!!!, and my seats got assigned immediately - 3 next to each other. Aegean also somehow manages to do it and we have 23 pages of posters blaming families for not paying extra to sit with their own kids.

Then you should fly Agean.

What's that? They don't fly to Indianapolis so you can visit Aunt Bobby Sue and Uncle Jim Bob? And the only airlines that do require a higher fare class to select seats? That that's what you do.

If you want to advocate for airlines to change their rules, fine. But until they do, please deal in reality, and pay to select your seats. The argument, "I didn't have to do this when flying to Athens" . . . not compelling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't pay to book seats next to your kids or book so late that seats together aren't available, you get what you get. If you can't sit apart from your kids, take another flight! For goodness sake, do not get on a plane knowing you do not have seats together and then expect people who did plan ahead to change seats to accommodate you. Just no.

I mean sometimes you book seats together and then when you go to check in, they've moved you around. One time they upgraded my spouse and wouldn't un upgrade him, which threw off our seats.

This should be handled by asking the gate agent for help — long before boarding starts. And all the major airlines do have gate agents at the gate well before time to board.

You can ask, but they won’t help you. This happened to us when my son was 2 yo (they changed plane type & scrambled our seats). I called, and they said ask at check in. I did, and that agent said ask the gate agent. I did, and they told me to ask the flight attendant, who told me I could ask a passenger if they’d be willing to switch. My kid was TWO. That’s why people ask you to change seats.

It’s almost like we need some sort of regulation that requires airlines to seat children under x age with their adult companions. I wonder if that is possible.

As long as, along with that, is a regulation prohibiting parents from booking unassigned seats, or selecting seats that aren't together at the time of purchase, I'm all for it. If that means they have to select a more expensive fare class, so be it.

I would absolutely switch seats with a parent whose flight plans were changed by the airline and isn't sitting next to their kid. That isn't their fault, and while I wouldn't be happy about it, it's the right thing to do. But I am not interested, at all, in switching seats so that someone who could have selected seats together at a greater cost, or taken a different flight, can sit with their kid. That's a conscious choice, and it's trying to take advantage of me. I also reject the suggestion that parents should be able to get something for free (seat selection) that the rest of us have to pay for simply because they have kids.

The problem is, there's no way to tell the difference - which family is the victim of an unfortunate circumstance, and which is trying to get over.

I think a *lot* of people feel this way, and if there was some assurance that you're switching because of an unavoidable circumstance, most people would be OK with it. Some won't of course, but they're terrible people anyway.

Parents and children should be a unit and be seated together, period. They may not get to select the best seats early, but they should be placed together as one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I fly for work almost weekly and have NEVER had someone ask me to switch.

Same here. The difference is, I think, that we routinely fly on businessperson routes, not vacation routes. Sure, there are couples and the occasional family, but usually it's people traveling for work. I expect it happens a lot more when you're flying to Florida over winter break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't pay to book seats next to your kids or book so late that seats together aren't available, you get what you get. If you can't sit apart from your kids, take another flight! For goodness sake, do not get on a plane knowing you do not have seats together and then expect people who did plan ahead to change seats to accommodate you. Just no.

I mean sometimes you book seats together and then when you go to check in, they've moved you around. One time they upgraded my spouse and wouldn't un upgrade him, which threw off our seats.

This should be handled by asking the gate agent for help — long before boarding starts. And all the major airlines do have gate agents at the gate well before time to board.

You can ask, but they won’t help you. This happened to us when my son was 2 yo (they changed plane type & scrambled our seats). I called, and they said ask at check in. I did, and that agent said ask the gate agent. I did, and they told me to ask the flight attendant, who told me I could ask a passenger if they’d be willing to switch. My kid was TWO. That’s why people ask you to change seats.

It’s almost like we need some sort of regulation that requires airlines to seat children under x age with their adult companions. I wonder if that is possible.

As long as, along with that, is a regulation prohibiting parents from booking unassigned seats, or selecting seats that aren't together at the time of purchase, I'm all for it. If that means they have to select a more expensive fare class, so be it.

I would absolutely switch seats with a parent whose flight plans were changed by the airline and isn't sitting next to their kid. That isn't their fault, and while I wouldn't be happy about it, it's the right thing to do. But I am not interested, at all, in switching seats so that someone who could have selected seats together at a greater cost, or taken a different flight, can sit with their kid. That's a conscious choice, and it's trying to take advantage of me. I also reject the suggestion that parents should be able to get something for free (seat selection) that the rest of us have to pay for simply because they have kids.

The problem is, there's no way to tell the difference - which family is the victim of an unfortunate circumstance, and which is trying to get over.

I think a *lot* of people feel this way, and if there was some assurance that you're switching because of an unavoidable circumstance, most people would be OK with it. Some won't of course, but they're terrible people anyway.

Parents and children should be a unit and be seated together, period. They may not get to select the best seats early, but they should be placed together as one.

As long as they pay the same price as everyone else does in order to stay out of the randomly assigned seating pool, then sure.

If you think otherwise, you're giving away the real agenda - you don't want to have to pay for the privilege of being seated together. That is very different that "my flight was canceled/the plane changed and my family is scattered all over the cabin."

If you feel that way, can you explain *why* parents should be exempt from these particular charges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't pay to book seats next to your kids or book so late that seats together aren't available, you get what you get. If you can't sit apart from your kids, take another flight! For goodness sake, do not get on a plane knowing you do not have seats together and then expect people who did plan ahead to change seats to accommodate you. Just no.

I mean sometimes you book seats together and then when you go to check in, they've moved you around. One time they upgraded my spouse and wouldn't un upgrade him, which threw off our seats.

This should be handled by asking the gate agent for help — long before boarding starts. And all the major airlines do have gate agents at the gate well before time to board.

You can ask, but they won’t help you. This happened to us when my son was 2 yo (they changed plane type & scrambled our seats). I called, and they said ask at check in. I did, and that agent said ask the gate agent. I did, and they told me to ask the flight attendant, who told me I could ask a passenger if they’d be willing to switch. My kid was TWO. That’s why people ask you to change seats.

It’s almost like we need some sort of regulation that requires airlines to seat children under x age with their adult companions. I wonder if that is possible.

As long as, along with that, is a regulation prohibiting parents from booking unassigned seats, or selecting seats that aren't together at the time of purchase, I'm all for it. If that means they have to select a more expensive fare class, so be it.

I would absolutely switch seats with a parent whose flight plans were changed by the airline and isn't sitting next to their kid. That isn't their fault, and while I wouldn't be happy about it, it's the right thing to do. But I am not interested, at all, in switching seats so that someone who could have selected seats together at a greater cost, or taken a different flight, can sit with their kid. That's a conscious choice, and it's trying to take advantage of me. I also reject the suggestion that parents should be able to get something for free (seat selection) that the rest of us have to pay for simply because they have kids.

The problem is, there's no way to tell the difference - which family is the victim of an unfortunate circumstance, and which is trying to get over.

I think a *lot* of people feel this way, and if there was some assurance that you're switching because of an unavoidable circumstance, most people would be OK with it. Some won't of course, but they're terrible people anyway.

Parents and children should be a unit and be seated together, period. They may not get to select the best seats early, but they should be placed together as one.

As long as they pay the same price as everyone else does in order to stay out of the randomly assigned seating pool, then sure.

If you think otherwise, you're giving away the real agenda - you don't want to have to pay for the privilege of being seated together. That is very different that "my flight was canceled/the plane changed and my family is scattered all over the cabin."

If you feel that way, can you explain *why* parents should be exempt from these particular charges?

DP, but first of all, me wanting to sit next to my DH is a preference. A parent “wanting” to sit with her 2 yo is a safety issue.

Second, NO ONE should have to pay extra just to have a damn seat assignment that’s not special/first class or something. It’s ridiculous, money grubbing, and crappy that airlines do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't pay to book seats next to your kids or book so late that seats together aren't available, you get what you get. If you can't sit apart from your kids, take another flight! For goodness sake, do not get on a plane knowing you do not have seats together and then expect people who did plan ahead to change seats to accommodate you. Just no.

I mean sometimes you book seats together and then when you go to check in, they've moved you around. One time they upgraded my spouse and wouldn't un upgrade him, which threw off our seats.

This should be handled by asking the gate agent for help — long before boarding starts. And all the major airlines do have gate agents at the gate well before time to board.

You can ask, but they won’t help you. This happened to us when my son was 2 yo (they changed plane type & scrambled our seats). I called, and they said ask at check in. I did, and that agent said ask the gate agent. I did, and they told me to ask the flight attendant, who told me I could ask a passenger if they’d be willing to switch. My kid was TWO. That’s why people ask you to change seats.

It’s almost like we need some sort of regulation that requires airlines to seat children under x age with their adult companions. I wonder if that is possible.

As long as, along with that, is a regulation prohibiting parents from booking unassigned seats, or selecting seats that aren't together at the time of purchase, I'm all for it. If that means they have to select a more expensive fare class, so be it.

I would absolutely switch seats with a parent whose flight plans were changed by the airline and isn't sitting next to their kid. That isn't their fault, and while I wouldn't be happy about it, it's the right thing to do. But I am not interested, at all, in switching seats so that someone who could have selected seats together at a greater cost, or taken a different flight, can sit with their kid. That's a conscious choice, and it's trying to take advantage of me. I also reject the suggestion that parents should be able to get something for free (seat selection) that the rest of us have to pay for simply because they have kids.

The problem is, there's no way to tell the difference - which family is the victim of an unfortunate circumstance, and which is trying to get over.

I think a *lot* of people feel this way, and if there was some assurance that you're switching because of an unavoidable circumstance, most people would be OK with it. Some won't of course, but they're terrible people anyway.

Couldn't the gate agent make an announcement - Family on this flight got last minute seats due to a earlier canceled flight. Need someone to switch so mom can sit next to her 3 year old. Will let you board early/get a snack box if you can help her out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I fly for work almost weekly and have NEVER had someone ask me to switch.

Same here. The difference is, I think, that we routinely fly on businessperson routes, not vacation routes. Sure, there are couples and the occasional family, but usually it's people traveling for work. I expect it happens a lot more when you're flying to Florida over winter break.

We fly to Florida at peak times (school breaks) several times a year and have never witnessed this issue either. It’s largely a made up problem that happens very rarely and is magnified by Reddit.

[Anonymous]

I fly a lot and it has only happened to me once. By a very obnoxious Karen. We were in the bulkhead row with window/aisle window/aisle (we all have our seat preferences). Large Marge barreled in, announcing which of you is switching with me? She did have a small (3-4 kid with her) and they both had the middles. I did end up moving to the middle between my son and husband but I still feel ramrodded into it. Never again.