Reply to NYTs Etiquette - "I Refused to Switch Seats on a Plane. Twice. Was I Wrong?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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.[/quote]

I would like to live in a society that gives a little more grace and has a little more patience for society’s very young and very old (and their caretakers). Kindness is a value I love to see in companies and individuals alike. [/quote]

Why are families the only ones deserving of kindness? Look at it this way--you have your loving family. Someone flying alone may be single and desperately lonely and sad about it. Who deserves the grace and compassion? It's this kind of myopia that makes parents of young children so repugnant at times.

Disclaimer: there's nothing intrinsically wrong with being single and many single people are happy and content.[/quote]

Holy projection. Nowhere did I malign single people nor suggest they also aren’t deserving of grace and kindness.  We all are.  I believe American society suffers from a deep deficit of both.  The several nasty responses to my quite benevolent post is proof of that.

I wonder where we’re headed from here. [/quote]

The PP has a point. [b]Solo travelers (not necessarily single as in marital status) are often targets for the "would you consider moving" pitch.[/b] It has happened to me many times. I feel the airline staff single us out, make the request with the parent/child standing there looking at us and then we are expected to smile graciously and give up our seats.

I did it for awhile and usually wound up in some horrid situation where I got a seat that didn't recline or next to an annoying person. I reminded myself that No good deed goes unpunished. 
So I stopped.

Last time it was a very entitled, abrasive woman who wanted to shift around 3 people so she could get herself and her kids all seated together. She had gone up and down asking people (holding up boarding BTW) and had figured out a hopscotch pattern of moving other passengers simply to accommodate HER desires.

The kids were in their early teens! I just said "No. Sorry." and went back to reading my book.  [/quote]

To be more accurate, solo FEMALE travelers (especially over a certain age) are the first targets. Watch the next time it happens -- the flight attendants NEVER ask men to move.

My DW takes advantage of this on Southwest and eagerly volunteers to move -- last time she did that, she got $840 in vouchers.

[/quote]

I am a solo female traveler flying 10-15 hours per week on 4-10 legs. I do not give up my seat. For me to spend that much time traveling and have that kind of status (I fly only one airline and their partners), I select my seats very intentionally. [/quote]

...OK? The PP didn't say every solo female traveler ever definitely gives up their seat. But you wanted to share your STATUS, so congrats and here's a cookie![/quote]

Not pp. What a jerk response. I would feel the same way as pp. This is all the fault of the airline and people are being doormats giving in to this. [/quote]

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