It never ceases to amaze me how passengers so rudely inconvenience others over seating, even on very short flights. A United flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas provides a prime case study.
Man Hassles Flight Attendant Over A Seat Swap For His Wife On A Short Flight. How Dense Can People Be?
A traveler shares of an unsavory incident that occurred on his United Airlines flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Las Vegas (LAS):
For short flights I usually prefer an aisle seat. This was a SFO to LAS flight. After the plane was nearly finished boarding I was excited that the middle seat next to me was empty. Then nope, a woman shows up next to me and doesn’t say anything but just looked kind of concerned and was staring at the empty middle seat next to me. I asked if this was her seat so I can get up to let her in. She said no, it was her travel companion’s seat (a man, I presume it was her husband). I get up and let him in, meanwhile she goes farther to back of plane.
I didn’t think much of it. Later, the FA is passing out earphones and was asking if anyone would like one. She’s handing them out row by row and was maybe two rows behind us. The man next to me asks for her attention, and she acknowledges and said she will be right there. He keeps trying to get her attention, and she repeatedly acknowledges… as if he was expecting her to drop what she’s doing and come to him. It was cringey to see.
Flight attendants have a special word for passengers like this: Philip. (“Passenger I’d Like to Punch”).
FA finally gets to our row and the man explains that his wife is seated away from him and asks if she could be moved NEXT to him.
Can you imagine me raising my eye brow and a worried look on my face?
The FA explained it is a full flight and there are no open seats and he would have to ask other passengers if they would be willing to move. I looked back to see where the wife is and she’s about 5 rows back and in a middle seat.
I might have considered it if he asked me nicely, but somehow with him flagging down a FA to make this request almost feels like a power move.
I decide to put on my earphones right away so I can act oblivious to the conversation happening. Needless to say, I did not offer my aisle seat to sit farther back in a middle seat.
This flight is blocked at 90 minutes and the time in the air is often less than an hour. Why would anyone inconvenience a flight attendant over this?
Apparently, the man did not like that the aisle passenger did not agree to swap seats with his wife (from an aisle to a middle).
Later the man was so impatient to get out of his seat when we were deplaning. He shoved past me as I was getting my belongings from the overhead bin. He was just like “let me out”. Quite rude. I think he was trying to get to his wife, but that’s going to be inconvenient because he is trying to get toward back of the plane while everyone else is will still be trying to get off the flight. I didn’t look back to see what drama that’s going to cause, because I’m going to be happy to never deal with him again.
Good for this guy for just letting it go. I’m to the point where I speak up…I’m not sure that is always wise or worth my breath. Just last night there was some guy at the gym who got out of the shower without a towel and left the floor around the lockers all wet. I pointed to the floor and told him to clean it up, which led to him raising his voice and cursing me out.
Yes…there is virtue to holding your tongue.
I just can’t believe people can be so rude or insensitive. Actually, I guess I can…but I’ll continue to call it out.
The length of the flight is irrelevant. I was on a BA flight with the old Club World a few years back and some guy was on the aisle, and his wife was in one of the “middle” seats. He practically threw a fit because no passengers would move out of their window seats so he and his wife could be aisle/window. I mean, in the old Club World being at the window was really the only reasonable seat.
He looked like a fool, and didn’t even get what he wanted. It serves them all right.
“Just last night there was some guy at the gym who got out of the shower without a towel and left the floor around the lockers all wet. I pointed to the floor and told him to clean it up, which led to him raising his voice and cursing me out.”
“Yes…there is virtue to holding your tongue.”
@Matthew: I used to be the one politely pointing out people’s mistakes. That was a long time ago when the world was a bit more civilized. Unfortunately, those times are gone. I mentioned here many times that I use air travel as the opportunity to rest my vocal cords. I very rarely speak with anyone and use my noise cancelling headphones constantly. I simply do not want to interact with people. As for your event at the gym, yes, you were totally right in calling the guy out BUT at what potential benefit? You have a 50/50 chance where he would apologize and acknowledge his mistake or he would attack you with words or even worse. I shared the story of that teenager guy that was stabbed in the heart at a HS event because he asked someone to move from his seat. I tell my kids every single day to NOT engage in any of those events. Is there someone sitting on your seat at a game? Maybe acknowledge the mistake but in event of escalation, just move on. Find another seat. On a plane it is different as you have a FA to act for you but elsewhere, just walk away. The case on the gym is very unfortunate but I would simply ignore and walk away. Unfortunately on today’s world, it is not worth it.
@Santastico … +1 .
In the matter of the gym … simply point out that he “Is All Wet ; ha-ha-ha” . Humour is always best .
I agree with the notion that avoid confrontation is better for oneself and others around. But, for example in this case, I would firmly say no to the request. Tell him my answer hasn’t changed when asked again. On the third time, I calmly tell him he can fuss all he wants, don’t mistake my calmness for an easy target. I learned many years ago from a man who built a successful business one of his successful strategies was remaining calm when others got worked up in negotiations. A thoughtful calmness to the growing voice on the other side makes them draw back. Warning, this may not work on people like midddle-seat guy.
Santastico = Grow a set
@David: I will let you be the tough guy.
I think the correct prescription is to win the match with as little aggression as possible.
The world is full of selfish jerks. As my high school Latin teacher used to say: Illegitimi Non Carborundum.
The man with the middle seat should trade his seat for the middle seat behind his wife. There, they can pass notes to each other.
In Canada, the major airlines sell seat assignments. That is probably coming to the U.S. (Canada is famous for ripping each other off with high prices then get insanely jealous of America to the point of hatred). The trick to Canada is to buy an aisle seat then trade that aisle seat for the aisle seat further back next to your wife’s middle seat. That is cheaper than buying two seat assignments.
Matthew presents two scenarios of the same type of personality disorder. On the flight, the man causes a fuss because he fails to understand a few minutes away from his spouse is not the end of the world and wishes to inconvenience everyone.
At the gym our offender is child that does not understand the concept of cleaning up after himself.
Both are the result of poor parenting. The rest of humanity will be their victims if we allow it. Unfortunately on a flight simple correction is more complex.
What’s wrong with asking the flight attendant? In the realm of seat swaps this is one of the more polite ways to do it.
His supposed action on landing sounds childish but otherwise low grade for other seat swap stories.
As a former international flight attendant for a major carrier, this behavior is the standard modus operandi for the entitled set. For the long haul flights the scenario is one half of the couple is started in the pointy end and the other is next to the rear toilet. They want to be together seated in the big seats and will cause a disturbance just to be seen and heard. They know they’re not sitting together before they board but they have to make a scene that the cabin crew has to sort out
As a former gate agent, we would always try to seat people together if they asked us. Easier to do before boarding!
I was asked to swap a FC seat a month ago. It was an aisle for a bulkhead aisle next to a service animal. I had 2 issues, my allergies and not wanting to sit in the bulkhead. I said, ‘No’.
Not to be separated they got 2 other people to do the seat swap – Meaning 4 people swapped seats as the plane door was closing – I boarded last and the husband had been hovering over my assigned seat waiting for me to board.
So 3A & 1B moved to 3EF and seat 3F moved to 3A, and finally 3E moved to 1B.
It gets better – his wife got up to go to the lav 3 times and each time her husband would not get up and she had to crawl over him. Had she maintained her original seat 3A – I would have graciously gotten up to accommodate her.
Lastly… The entire flight they never spoke to each other! We need seats together but… he is both antisocial and rude. So glad I said, “No”
It is okay to say NO. NO is a complete sentence. Just NO. NO!
I like your style and observance . *smiling
I had a couple give me a really hard time for declining to switch with them, in first class, because I didn’t want to be separated from my son who was four or five at the time. Someone else eventually switched.
Ding! Ding! Heather wins. This is better than any switching story for more than a year. Please (if they really said please), separate from your travelling companion, so I cane be with mine. Oh, by the way mine is an adult, yours is a child.
There were no pleasantries, just “we are married and want to sit together.”
I said something like “you are grown adults, he is a child, he is not moving.”
Voices were raised……
With some exceptions, you generally have options for seating when you book your flight. Some of those options have a cost. When you purchase the “cheaper ticket” you get what you are assigned. If you purchase a ticket, you are owed a seat on the plane. With status, fare class and/or seat purchase, you may have choices based on availability. Life is full of choices, and the consequence that comes with them.