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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Parents who refuse to pay for seat assignments who then expect other people to switch seats that they DID pay for suck.

The airlines create this problem. A parent should not have to pay for an upgraded seat assignment in order to sit next to a minor child. That's like arguing that when disabled people fly with a caretaker, they should be required to pay extra for seat assignment so their caretaker can assist them. Small kids are essentially disabled on airplanes -- they can't reach their tray table or their personal items under the seat in front of them, often they cannot go to the bathroom alone, they can't communicate their needs to the flight attendant, etc. Suggesting that someone in that condition should have to pay an upgrade in order to have the person who will do all that for them nearby is psychotic. Parents aren't trying to sit next to kids so they can gossip about the latest episode of Love Island. It's a necessary set up for everyone involved.

If airlines can find a way to accommodate disabled people flying to ensure they are seated with caretakers, they can do this for families who have kids under a certain age. No one should have to pay an extra $100 per leg so they can provide an infant with a bottle, keep their 2 year old entertained, hold their 5 yr olds hand when they get nervous during landing, help their 4 year old to the bathroom, etc.

But it should be on the airline to figure it out, not on passengers. If you are traveling with young kids and get seated apart, I would go to the flight crew and ask them to assist in figuring it out. Usually it can be done without moving a passengers who paid for assigned seating, because on any plane only about half of flyers do that anyway. But if someone who paid for assignment has to move, the airline can also offer to refund them the cost of that assignment and I think people should be flexible in that situation because we are talking about a basic accommodation that is really beneficial for all involved (the child, the parents, the flight crew, and other passengers).

It's like people forgot how to be human.

You are looking at this backwards. Everyone has to pay (via a specific fare class) if they want to select their seats - whether because they want to sit next to someone, they want an aisle seat, they want extra room, they want to be in the front of the plane wherever. This isn't an instance of an extra fare being levied on parents - it's that parents want a fee that everyone pays waived simply because they are traveling with kids. That is, frankly, selfish and nonsensical.

In the parlance of American Airlines, you are asking that parents and their kids get to pay for a basic economy fare class while getting the benefits of a higher fare class. That's BS, and that should be obvious.

Well it's either this or deal with unavoidable caretaking that a 3-year old needs. I mean is the flight attendant going to take them to the bathroom every time they want to go, or are they going to let them make a mess on their seat? Do they want to deal with the child eating messily or crying or screaming? Do the passengers stuck sitting next to them do?

Simple solution to this - make it a law. If you are traveling with a child under the age of 12 then you MUST have them seated next to you. If that means paying extra to select seats in order to do so, then so be it.

Not sure how this works in a last minute flight cancellation and rebooking scenario when there are no seats left together.

NP. I am fine with making the airlines figure it out, like by requiring them to offer incentives to other passengers on the flight to get them to “voluntarily” switch seats so the family can be accommodated. Kind of like how they can’t start boarding an overbooked flight until they have bribed enough people to get rebooked. The airlines can absolutely afford it.

Absolutely. Even just mentioning that there is a family in this situation could get some people to switch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know they only started charging for seats recently and they do it sneakily after the fact. It's absolutely BS to tack on something as extra that used to be a given. It's extremely distasteful and wrong to do this to families with children!

You know that airline prices were higher years ago, right? Prices were lowered to help families travel more economically. So now everything is an add-on. If you need to sit with your kids, pay the additional fee. If not, save the money. I agree that airlines should require parents to pay to sit next to their kids younger than X age (6 or 7?), no option not to do so. That would take care of the cheap parents who purchase economy tix and then expect others to switch so they can sit by their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents who refuse to pay for seat assignments who then expect other people to switch seats that they DID pay for suck.

The airlines create this problem. A parent should not have to pay for an upgraded seat assignment in order to sit next to a minor child. That's like arguing that when disabled people fly with a caretaker, they should be required to pay extra for seat assignment so their caretaker can assist them. Small kids are essentially disabled on airplanes -- they can't reach their tray table or their personal items under the seat in front of them, often they cannot go to the bathroom alone, they can't communicate their needs to the flight attendant, etc. Suggesting that someone in that condition should have to pay an upgrade in order to have the person who will do all that for them nearby is psychotic. Parents aren't trying to sit next to kids so they can gossip about the latest episode of Love Island. It's a necessary set up for everyone involved.

If airlines can find a way to accommodate disabled people flying to ensure they are seated with caretakers, they can do this for families who have kids under a certain age. No one should have to pay an extra $100 per leg so they can provide an infant with a bottle, keep their 2 year old entertained, hold their 5 yr olds hand when they get nervous during landing, help their 4 year old to the bathroom, etc.

But it should be on the airline to figure it out, not on passengers. If you are traveling with young kids and get seated apart, I would go to the flight crew and ask them to assist in figuring it out. Usually it can be done without moving a passengers who paid for assigned seating, because on any plane only about half of flyers do that anyway. But if someone who paid for assignment has to move, the airline can also offer to refund them the cost of that assignment and I think people should be flexible in that situation because we are talking about a basic accommodation that is really beneficial for all involved (the child, the parents, the flight crew, and other passengers).

It's like people forgot how to be human.

You are looking at this backwards. Everyone has to pay (via a specific fare class) if they want to select their seats - whether because they want to sit next to someone, they want an aisle seat, they want extra room, they want to be in the front of the plane wherever. This isn't an instance of an extra fare being levied on parents - it's that parents want a fee that everyone pays waived simply because they are traveling with kids. That is, frankly, selfish and nonsensical.

In the parlance of American Airlines, you are asking that parents and their kids get to pay for a basic economy fare class while getting the benefits of a higher fare class. That's BS, and that should be obvious.

Well it's either this or deal with unavoidable caretaking that a 3-year old needs. I mean is the flight attendant going to take them to the bathroom every time they want to go, or are they going to let them make a mess on their seat? Do they want to deal with the child eating messily or crying or screaming? Do the passengers stuck sitting next to them do?

Require parents to purchase the seats, period. No freebies. I think everyone would agree that if parents were required to pay for seats to be next to their kids, that would end the issue of parents buying cheap tix and expecting others to swap. What many don't realize today is that your class of airfare can determine whether or not you get bumped from a flight. If you pay for your seats, you're less likely to get bumped than someone who bought cheap tickets.

[Anonymous]

They're cheap and entitled. Screw them.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I will not change my seat because you want to sit next your spouse or kids. It isn't my problem you can't sit together.

I also booked special meals I picked or the flight, so get it through your stupidly thick skulls that even if we switched seats, it causes even more problems when people have pre-specified meal picks. And no, I'd never, ever in a million years give up my aisle or window seat for a worse middle seat.

Why do so many morons insist with sitting next to family members if they can't book next to each other? It's a flight. They're not going anywhere and you'll be fine for a few hours. Requesters for switching seats cause so many stupidly awkward situations and can cause even more problems when other passengers may have specific meals or bought items on shops they have to locate your seat in order to deliver to you. Just sit in your own damn seat people and shut up.

Not morons. Last minute flight for emergency, delayed flight missed connection and added last minuted to new flight, cancelled flight and added on to new flight . . .

My mom was dying. Bought ticket with just a few hours notice. Had to take 7 year old. Flight was obviously overbooked as there were no seats to choose from. So yes, I asked the flight attendant to help us sit together.

Same thing happened when my flight was cancelled due to storm. Luckily people moved so I could sit next to my kids. I’m not trying for a upgrade.

I would not have switched with you.

I paid for the seat I wanted.

These are all your problems not mine.

+1. Unless you're giving me a better seat I'm not moving. IT's not my problem to solve.

It may well become your problem when my kid has a panic attack mid flight or vomits at the end of the flight.
But yes, enjoy your precious seat.

I have noise canceling headphones. Your crotch rocket’s panic attack won’t phase me at all. Not my problem.

And it'll be great for Mommy when I start watching Game of Thrones on my iPad, and little Braylon gets a real education.

One time on the SFO > IAD red eye this old woman was watching GoT on the seat back entertainment screen next to me and kept replaying a specific violent sex scene. Such a weird choice of material to watch in front of everyone else. Almost like she reveled in it.

I'm surprised that airlines don't play the paired down versions of these shows.

People bring on their own devices - computers and iPads -- so they can watch whatever they like.

[Anonymous]

I’ve never once been asked to switch seats. If I were traveling alone and it was aisle for aisle or something though, wouldn’t I do it? Because who cares.

I’ve also never asked to switch seats because I pay to book together. But my sisters family once had the type of plane get changed like the day of their flight and she ended up rows away from her 4 year old when she checked in online, it was a huge hassle for her but I think she was able to get it changed at the gate. So sometimes it’s not the passengers fault.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We plan on asking because we book the tickets late. Family member died unexpectedly. One of us is in an aisle seat and the other a middle, so we will ask the one next to the middle seat if they are willing to switch with the one in the aisle seat.

We normally pay to sit together but there were no seats left that were together.

The other time we asked, the airline split us and our baby.

I'm sure there are various reasons why this happens, OP.

Did you call the airline? Most of the time they can move people around in their system who didn’t pay for seats and were auto assigned to seat you all together. Especially if you mention it’s for a death.

Unless all three seats are separate and the baby is separated from both parents, no way should the airline move others around just to seat adults together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The last two times my family wasn’t seated together it was because the airline changed the aircraft after we’d booked the tickets.
We’d done our part and paid for seats together and the gate agent was able to move us around.
Sometimes the outrage over “people were too cheap” just isn’t warranted.

This also happened to us this summer. Booked seats together, and then when we checked in my 7yo was on her own away from us.

It's happened to us too - and it doesn't change it's YOUR responsibility to pay attention to any changes to your tickets in advance of the flight to catch any plane changes, etc. You can fix these situations in the airline app or by calling the airline well in advance of arriving at the airport and checking in. We fly all the time (internationally and domestically) and make sure to check any ticketed flights regularly for changes if it's important for us to all sit together.

Oh fck off. It's the airline's responsibility to NOT move your children into separate locations from you when you have booked together, and paid to select seats together. The airlines are screwing up on this. We had cross country flying in both directions earlier this month with a family of five, all booked together well in advance, and the airlines fcked it up on several trips, with the gate agent admitting as much. Just cause they ping my app a few hours before the flight doesn't make it my responsibility. I paid for seats together, it's their responsibility to honor that.

And regarding changing seats: I do it if I can for others, and I offer to pay in cash or buy drinks if someone does it to accommodate me.

Good for you for making sure to "check any ticketed flights regularly" like some kind of airline lackey, but fck that. The airlines stopped being decent to deal with years ago.

Stop the entitled parent whining! Good lord!! F you and your kids -- it's your responsibility to make sure you're seated together if needed. If you can't get your seats back together, take another f-ing flight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents who refuse to pay for seat assignments who then expect other people to switch seats that they DID pay for suck.

The airlines create this problem. A parent should not have to pay for an upgraded seat assignment in order to sit next to a minor child. That's like arguing that when disabled people fly with a caretaker, they should be required to pay extra for seat assignment so their caretaker can assist them. Small kids are essentially disabled on airplanes -- they can't reach their tray table or their personal items under the seat in front of them, often they cannot go to the bathroom alone, they can't communicate their needs to the flight attendant, etc. Suggesting that someone in that condition should have to pay an upgrade in order to have the person who will do all that for them nearby is psychotic. Parents aren't trying to sit next to kids so they can gossip about the latest episode of Love Island. It's a necessary set up for everyone involved.

If airlines can find a way to accommodate disabled people flying to ensure they are seated with caretakers, they can do this for families who have kids under a certain age. No one should have to pay an extra $100 per leg so they can provide an infant with a bottle, keep their 2 year old entertained, hold their 5 yr olds hand when they get nervous during landing, help their 4 year old to the bathroom, etc.

But it should be on the airline to figure it out, not on passengers. If you are traveling with young kids and get seated apart, I would go to the flight crew and ask them to assist in figuring it out. Usually it can be done without moving a passengers who paid for assigned seating, because on any plane only about half of flyers do that anyway. But if someone who paid for assignment has to move, the airline can also offer to refund them the cost of that assignment and I think people should be flexible in that situation because we are talking about a basic accommodation that is really beneficial for all involved (the child, the parents, the flight crew, and other passengers).

It's like people forgot how to be human.

You are looking at this backwards. Everyone has to pay (via a specific fare class) if they want to select their seats - whether because they want to sit next to someone, they want an aisle seat, they want extra room, they want to be in the front of the plane wherever. This isn't an instance of an extra fare being levied on parents - it's that parents want a fee that everyone pays waived simply because they are traveling with kids. That is, frankly, selfish and nonsensical.

In the parlance of American Airlines, you are asking that parents and their kids get to pay for a basic economy fare class while getting the benefits of a higher fare class. That's BS, and that should be obvious.

Well it's either this or deal with unavoidable caretaking that a 3-year old needs. I mean is the flight attendant going to take them to the bathroom every time they want to go, or are they going to let them make a mess on their seat? Do they want to deal with the child eating messily or crying or screaming? Do the passengers stuck sitting next to them do?

Require parents to purchase the seats, period. No freebies. I think everyone would agree that if parents were required to pay for seats to be next to their kids, that would end the issue of parents buying cheap tix and expecting others to swap. What many don't realize today is that your class of airfare can determine whether or not you get bumped from a flight. If you pay for your seats, you're less likely to get bumped than someone who bought cheap tickets.

Just bought tickets overseas for the Christmas markets. I'm only going with my spouse so it was okay we didn't sit together, but there were NO seats next to each other on the whole plane. Not for any amount of money. Lots of empty seats and even aisle seats still, but not together.

I miss it when the plane would arrange your seats for you depending on how big your party was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never once been asked to switch seats. If I were traveling alone and it was aisle for aisle or something though, wouldn’t I do it? Because who cares.

I’ve also never asked to switch seats because I pay to book together. But my sisters family once had the type of plane get changed like the day of their flight and she ended up rows away from her 4 year old when she checked in online, it was a huge hassle for her but I think she was able to get it changed at the gate. So sometimes it’s not the passengers fault.

I have a 4 year old (just turned 4) and she'd be okay on her own on a flight. Under 4 might be an issue though.

My 7 and 8 year olds would actually like to sit by themselves. I think they'd feel grown up. I had someone with a teenager trying to switch with me last time and I refused.

[Anonymous]

I'll switch.

For 10 times the difference between what I paid and what you pid. Cash money only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The last two times my family wasn’t seated together it was because the airline changed the aircraft after we’d booked the tickets.
We’d done our part and paid for seats together and the gate agent was able to move us around.
Sometimes the outrage over “people were too cheap” just isn’t warranted.

Agreed. We had this happen when my kids were around 4! The airline moved things around from our preselected seats and had my 4 year old sitting next to a stranger! Thankfully the stranger was gracious and willing to move a few rows as he didn’t want to sit next to a preschooler!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know they only started charging for seats recently and they do it sneakily after the fact. It's absolutely BS to tack on something as extra that used to be a given. It's extremely distasteful and wrong to do this to families with children!

You know that airline prices were higher years ago, right? Prices were lowered to help families travel more economically. So now everything is an add-on. If you need to sit with your kids, pay the additional fee. If not, save the money. I agree that airlines should require parents to pay to sit next to their kids younger than X age (6 or 7?), no option not to do so. That would take care of the cheap parents who purchase economy tix and then expect others to switch so they can sit by their kids.

haha, no. They were lowered to allow for more dynamic pricing models so no seats go empty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The last two times my family wasn’t seated together it was because the airline changed the aircraft after we’d booked the tickets.
We’d done our part and paid for seats together and the gate agent was able to move us around.
Sometimes the outrage over “people were too cheap” just isn’t warranted.

Agreed. We had this happen when my kids were around 4! The airline moved things around from our preselected seats and had my 4 year old sitting next to a stranger! Thankfully the stranger was gracious and willing to move a few rows as he didn’t want to sit next to a preschooler!

We book and seat early but since we don't pay for extra seating, we were unaware they had moved us until we checked in -- and they had separated us since we hadn't prepaid (which would have been pointless since we were already seated together).

This isn't rocket science -- if you are seating a minor, they must be seated next to an adult. This should be a FAA rule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The last two times my family wasn’t seated together it was because the airline changed the aircraft after we’d booked the tickets.
We’d done our part and paid for seats together and the gate agent was able to move us around.
Sometimes the outrage over “people were too cheap” just isn’t warranted.

This also happened to us this summer. Booked seats together, and then when we checked in my 7yo was on her own away from us.

It's happened to us too - and it doesn't change it's YOUR responsibility to pay attention to any changes to your tickets in advance of the flight to catch any plane changes, etc. You can fix these situations in the airline app or by calling the airline well in advance of arriving at the airport and checking in. We fly all the time (internationally and domestically) and make sure to check any ticketed flights regularly for changes if it's important for us to all sit together.

Oh fck off. It's the airline's responsibility to NOT move your children into separate locations from you when you have booked together, and paid to select seats together. The airlines are screwing up on this. We had cross country flying in both directions earlier this month with a family of five, all booked together well in advance, and the airlines fcked it up on several trips, with the gate agent admitting as much. Just cause they ping my app a few hours before the flight doesn't make it my responsibility. I paid for seats together, it's their responsibility to honor that.

And regarding changing seats: I do it if I can for others, and I offer to pay in cash or buy drinks if someone does it to accommodate me.

Good for you for making sure to "check any ticketed flights regularly" like some kind of airline lackey, but fck that. The airlines stopped being decent to deal with years ago.

Stop the entitled parent whining! Good lord!! F you and your kids -- it's your responsibility to make sure you're seated together if needed. If you can't get your seats back together, take another f-ing flight.

Oh good. The airlines want you fighting and won't take any responsibility themselves when they move flights and aircraft and change everyone's seats at the last minute. They will leave those first class seats empty if you don't pay though!