Wow, that mom had a lot of nerve! Wonder if she even bothered to talk to the gate agents because usually they’ll try to take care of that but, it would have meant asking the person sitting in economy if they wanted the upgraded seat, not the other way around.
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My theory is that she wanted to sit with her S in the upgraded seats, but didn’t want to pay.
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Wonder if one of the 2 of them got a free upgrade to comfort+ and then she wanted another passenger to give up their C+ seat so she could sit with her son. Fine for her to want to sit with her son but they should sit in coach where the other seat was and give up the comfort plus seat.
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Yes, passengers trying to swap seats to sit together will be more likely to be successful if they offer a better seat, or at least an equal seat, to trade to the passenger they want to swap with.
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That’s the only way they will be successful with me.
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Crazy that the mom refused to give up her premium seat but wanted someone else to. Pure entitlement right there.
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One time a guy traded his seat with me, so I got to move to First Class. Then the flight attendant made ME move so somebody else could upgrade to First! I was not happy.
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Traveling to or through the UK? ETA required for American citizens.
Americans traveling to London to see Big Ben, or maybe just changing planes en route to Cairo, will soon need to register online with the British government before they start their journey.
Beginning Jan. 8, all visa-exempt travelers landing at an airport in the U.K. with non-European passports will need an “electronic travel authorization,” or ETA, before they depart. The application, which opens for Americans on Wednesday, costs 10 pounds, or about $12.50. It can be done online or via an app. Once the ETA is approved, it is valid for two years and good for multiple entries of up to six months in Britain.
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Wow, I’d heard about the ETA, but I didn’t know it applied if you were just changing planes in a country! Is that the same as ETIAS? What is ETIAS?
ETIAS is the EU system. The UK is no longer in the EU so has a separate system. You’ll need both if traveling in both the UK and Europe next year, though the launch date for ETIAS has not yet been confirmed.
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I’m very particular about the seat I choose and where it is located in the plane (and I often pay more for the seat I want). Even if my seat was the same price, I would not say yes to a move all the way to the back of the plane.
A nine-year old should be able to sit by themselves, unless they have a special need of some kind and in that situation, the mother should have made sure the seats were together. Having a melt-down tantrum and trying to vilify the person who doesn’t want to change seats is next-level entitlement.
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I’m wagering the person who traded seats to sit up front agreed right away and therefore was the correct choice for exchanging seats.
To ask someone who paid extra for their seats to go to the back of the plane is incredibly rude, entitled and a few other choice words.
But I’m not surprised as it seems that society is becoming a bunch of me first people.
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We were traveling when our kids were little…flying a good long distance by plane. We had confirmed seats for four of us…a 3 year old, a 6 year old, and two parents. And we had boarding passes too, with our seat assignments. My husband was on one side of a row with one kiddo and I was on the other side of the aisle with the second kiddo.
While we were waiting to board, we were called to the customer service counter at the gate. We were told our seat assignments had been changed. I don’t remember the exact changes, but something like this 4D, 12A, 18 C, 24D. You get the idea. They had spread the four of us all over the plane.
I politely said that was perfectly fine with me, and I hoped the people seated next to our 3 and 6 year olds were willing to supervise and entertain the kids for a five hour flight.
The agent very quickly gave us our original ticketed/boarding pass issued seats back.
I never found out the issue and I didn’t care. But 5 hours on a plane with someone else entertaining our kids would have been OK with me. But clearly, that violated airline policy. Kids the age of ours were not allowed to fly unaccompanied.
I was also once asked to switch seats because a family with five kids was last to board a Southwest flight. I was asked to move to the last row of the plane. I said no, and so did a LOT of other people. They announced that the plane wouldn’t be able to take off until this was resolved. Eventually, some others agreed to move. Note to self…when traveling with kids…arrive early…not late.
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Perhaps they were coming from a connecting flight that had been delayed/arrived late?
It was a first thing in the morning flight…I’m talking 5:30 or 6 am. I think they just didn’t get going early enough.
And pay the extra to get a good boarding number, although starting in January, they’ll have to reserve seats just like on any other airline.
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Maybe they should have put the family in the last row and moved those seated there to better seats
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Southwest will start selling reserved seats in the second part of 2025 for reservations in 2026 is what I have read.
They have to have time to re-do their aircraft for the comfort plus seats and first class that they do not currently have.
OK, thanks, I’d heard it was happening sooner. It makes sense it would take awhile, though.
So if someone in the back of the plane agrees to move up to allow families to sit together, and already put their carryon in overhead, can they ask that family to bring the bag out with them on arrival so they don’t have to wait for the plane to empty to go get it!?
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