"Will anyone please swap so this family can sit together?"

[medhead]

Mel-per 2 meals?

PER-MEL had 2 meals last time I flew it. But that was sometime ago, in complex and unfairer times.

 

[Mr_Orange]

PER-MEL had 2 meals last time I flew it. But that was sometime ago, in complex and unfairer times.

lol .



...

 

[Shamrock55]

Only one meal these days. Unless you count the icecream

 

[AnnaB]

Avoid middle seats at all costs.

Oh yes, would never ever book one of those unless we are a party of people sitting in the same row.

A family was accommodated into an exit row?

Yes, family of 3, 2 adults and one child. I assume it was easier to move me as a single passenger then a couple. I was quite upset to say the least but no one really cared.

Ah, the joy of Y.... not looking forward to my upcoming flight in July AFF makes me look further up the cabin but this ticket was booked almost a year ago

 

[Mr_Orange]

Yes, family of 3, 2 adults and one child. I assume it was easier to move me as a single passenger then a couple. I was quite upset to say the least but no one really cared.

Depending on the age of the child, I thought children couldn't sit in exit rows....?

 

[medhead]

Depending on the age of the child, I thought children couldn't sit in exit rows....?

15 years and over.

Seat Selection Conditions | Qantas

 

[JohnK]

Yes, family of 3, 2 adults and one child. I assume it was easier to move me as a single passenger then a couple. I was quite upset to say the least but no one really cared.

I would be concerned if a child was sitting in exit row. Some FAs don't care though. Seem to recall a flight once where 3 young teenage girls were seated in exit row.

Ah, the joy of Y.... not looking forward to my upcoming flight in July AFF makes me look further up the cabin but this ticket was booked almost a year ago

Nothing wrong with economy. People can get a little selfish at times but not that often for it to become an issue.

I am a big person but feel extremely comfortable in an economy seat. More so if a bulkhead/exit row and try to pre-allocate where possible. For me a few hours of relative "comfort" in a bigger seat is not worth what some people are prepared to pay. Have 5 trips coming up to SE Asia with majority of flights in economy with some convoluted routings. YMMV.

 

[marki]

A cautionary tale for us all: do a nice thing and nice things may happen as a result.

I swapped once so a couple could sit together. Went from very good to a very bad experience in an uncomfortable seat with later issues happening in seat next to me requiring my attention all the time ! The person was unhappy with the seat offered. I generally agree about helping. In this case on long haul flight it was generally relaxed cabin me changing to another not so relaxing.

 

[AnnaB]

Depending on the age of the child, I thought children couldn't sit in exit rows....?

About 2 years old I would say, too young not to travel with parents. I assume they checked in late as they were the last ones on a flight that was about to shut the doors.

Nothing wrong with economy. People can get a little selfish at times but not that often for it to become an issue.

I am a big person but feel extremely comfortable in an economy seat. More so if a bulkhead/exit row and try to pre-allocate where possible. For me a few hours of relative "comfort" in a bigger seat is not worth what some people are prepared to pay. Have 5 trips coming up to SE Asia with majority of flights in economy with some convoluted routings. YMMV.

I dont really have a problem with economy flying short haul (to me up to 5-6 hours) but its that overnight leg of 14 hours that takes its toll on me. I just cant get comfortable or sleep. Its more of a looong pain to me As long as I can get an isle seat I am usually ok, as I can at least move around when I want and need to.

 

[dajop]

Once again I was asked again, after someone sat in my seat and asked if they could swap. It was <2hrs (SIN-SGN) and although I moved from an aisle seat to amiddle seat, at least I gained and empty seat beside me. So a plus. But of course someone had to move to the aisle seat, didn't they. Both the lady who I swapped with and the lady who I was supposed to be sitting next to had an empty seat beside them, but they were middle seats too. (it was centre seats of 2-4-2 A330).

This has happened more times to me in the last 12 months than in the last 12 years!

 

[Altair]

I know not QF but the last time I flew TG on the last leg of our honeymoon Mrs Altair and I were separated, and I have walked away from TG as an FFP and never flew with them again.
In Business Class all seats were previously assigned at time of booking by travel agent.
The situation was aircraft change for a our flight SIN-BKK, but seated together, given BP for the next flight as well.
At BKK for the next flight at the gate given different BP to what were originally provided to us at SIN and we were separated for the BKK-AKL sector.
Told to ask on board as the gate agent was not willing to hold up boarding for premium pax to sort us out.
On board saw that there was a single pax sitting where we were originally allocated and I asked if we could move together. FA said they would look into it asked the pax sitting in our original seats by themselves refused to move unless upgraded to First or they could have a seat free next to them as they always get one when flying TG.
FA said nothing they could do as they did not want to ask all pax if they want to move, there were several free seats but instead I asked the person sitting next to me if they would mind moving to allow us to sit together on our last honeymoon flight and they agreed as there was no real change to them window to window and two rows further forward.
From talking to friends TG behaviour in changing people's seats splitting up couples was not uncommon and coupled with changing aircraft from Flatbeds to Recliners for our BKK-MAD flight and poor customer service on the ground meant I dropped TG from my airline list since then, not that it amounts to much loss of revenue for them.

 

[Red Roo]

So I'm flying MEL-PER a few weeks back and managed to get upgraded using points to 1A in the lovely new config A330.

I'm settling into the seat and enjoying the preflight drink when I hear the cabin manager meekly asking the passenger behind would she mind swapping with a lady who is unhappy with her seat. She said no, and then the manager came to me. Before he even finished I said "yep, sure, where am I going?". Once we got to cruise height I was swapped with a somewhat bewildered older lady in 7E. Turns out she had swapped with someone so a family could sit together, then been horrified at the "mini J cabin" and wanted a window seat.

I ended up having a fantastic flight because:

A: I couldn't give a dam whether I have window or aisle when I'm in J on short haul.
B: They came and took my food order FIRST and showered me with refills and snacks.
C: I received a lovely bottle of wine for my troubles from the cabin manager.
D: I was raised to help people out when I can.

What I was amazed by though was the fact nearly every single other person in J wouldnt move for this older lady and the family. Why are people so mean and why do they get so obsessed over their seats when they're already in J and its only a <4 hour flight anyway?

But wow I really got superb service from the crew, so I think I was the lucky one on that flight!

Would you have moved? Do you hate the mini J cabin on the new A330s?

These situations can be challenging for the crew to handle so thank you for making their day a little easier! Do you mind sharing the flight details so I can pass your kind words on to the crew involved?

Red Roo

 

[Bad Seed]

Some people have NB status and think that checking in 24 hours before a flight is enough to get seated together. They may not fly enough to realise that they should be selecting seats before then.

Some irregular fliers still think they should be able to get seats together when checking in at the airport. It may seem crazy to us, but there are people out there who don't know how the system works.



Also, some elderly people may not even use computers or barely know how to use them and so wouldn't be able to checkin online without getting help from a younger family member.

Of course some are genuinely disorganised.

Or then there's our situation -we don't fly that often -overseas maybe once a year if we are lucky but know the system. So we pre-selected out seats for our trip to Europe this week about 9 months ago when we bought the tickets (Cathay to Europe) , mostly 2 and 2 for our family of two adults and two teens, aisle and window in a location we were happy with. 8 weeks ago, the 16 year old ruptures her ACL in a sports accident. She now needs the ability to get up and walk regularly and stretch her leg escpecially because of the higher risk of dvts. Thankfully, because we booked through a travel agent, she is able to get a bulkhead non exit row seat for her but not for all of us so we can no longer sit together. We are close and on some flights at least one adult is next to her but on at least one of the four connections, she is on her own. Now, I realise 16 is reasonable mature but I am not entirely comfortable with a 16 year old girl, with a recent surgery sitting on her own, even if I am not far away.

Not to mention a restless 14 year old boy and whomever might need to be near him. I am hoping that we can negotiate with a friendly check in person so we can at least get two and two but am not hopeful because of the bulkhead issue. So, we know the "system" but circumstances threw our system out and people who did choose carefully ahead of time might be shifted around because of our medical and supervisory needs!

 

[BCons]

Good for you to move. I've done it as well and felt virtuous for it. But usually when going from nice to less than nice seat.

years ago, think the last time we flew BA, Mrs and self were checking in for biz class BA London/NY using first class/QF plat card. so we find that I was seated upstairs facing fwd and Mrs was downstairs, back row middle of biz facing backwds. This is on the same booking so you'll understand I was cranky. Typical cool indifference from BA checkin person, all full, pre- assigned etc, and same story in first lounge.

Onboard however the crew more sympathetic - whoever it was downstairs enjoyed the kick upstairs but it took me quite a while to put a smile back on Mrs..

 

[Assassin]

I think we too often assume that people changing seats are doing so for reasons within their control - lack of knowledge, disorganisation, etc. in many cases, as with Bad Seed's story the circumstances are not within anyone's control.

I am reasonably knowledgeable and like to make sure I pick seats in advance but sometimes things go wrong. Delayed flights, missed connections, last minute trips can all contribute to not being able to select seats when you want to.

If I was asked to move seats to accommodate a genuine need, I would be prepared to do so, as I have done in the past. I would hope the same courtesy would be extended to me if I needed it.

 

[thehound]

Or then there's our situation -we don't fly that often -overseas maybe once a year if we are lucky but know the system. So we pre-selected out seats for our trip to Europe this week about 9 months ago when we bought the tickets (Cathay to Europe) , mostly 2 and 2 for our family of two adults and two teens, aisle and window in a location we were happy with. 8 weeks ago, the 16 year old ruptures her ACL in a sports accident. She now needs the ability to get up and walk regularly and stretch her leg escpecially because of the higher risk of dvts. Thankfully, because we booked through a travel agent, she is able to get a bulkhead non exit row seat for her but not for all of us so we can no longer sit together. We are close and on some flights at least one adult is next to her but on at least one of the four connections, she is on her own. Now, I realise 16 is reasonable mature but I am not entirely comfortable with a 16 year old girl, with a recent surgery sitting on her own, even if I am not far away.

Not to mention a restless 14 year old boy and whomever might need to be near him. I am hoping that we can negotiate with a friendly check in person so we can at least get two and two but am not hopeful because of the bulkhead issue. So, we know the "system" but circumstances threw our system out and people who did choose carefully ahead of time might be shifted around because of our medical and supervisory needs!

Whilst the bulkhead seats will have more "legroom", this really means that there's more distance between the seat and the bulkhead than between a further back seat and the seat in front. Unless your daughter is very tall, having had a recent ACL recon she might actually be more comfortable in your original seats since she'll be able to extend her legs under the seat in front of her, which she won't be able to do at the bulkhead. Depending on how many days or weeks post-op she is, she may even be struggling to comfortably achieve 90 degrees of flexion, particularly for an extended period of time.

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

Last trip back from KUL on AAX in their premium seat was asked to swap so a family could sit together.

With the 2 2 2 config I was willing to since it was a middle seat so still had direct aisle access. If they'd wanted me to move to the side, I'd prob have said no since my plan on the flight was to recline and sleep most of the flight.

As some have said, if asked nicely you are more likely to say yes. One gets more flies with honey than vinegar

 

[dandandandan]

So I sit down for my flight today on QF769 MEL to PER in my pre-selected seat 24D only to notice the last passengers in our cabin were 2 kids and their dad. The kids are seated next to me and the dad sat 2 rows behind aisle side. He asks me before take off if we can swap in which I ofcourse complied (I really wanted to be selfish to maintain legroom/no one reclining on to me but I don't like sitting next to kids...).
I was lucky that the person sitting next to me in my new seat was also a fellow WP (saw him in the J lounge pre take off as well as upon landing) so the ettiquette was up held and also the person in front of my didn't recline over the 4 hours which was also nice.
I was really annoyed though when I noticed a female pax from J come into the Y cabin and take one of the kids seats, turns out its the guys wife. I felt like walking up to them and saying she could've had my seat for her J seat. Seemed like it would've been a fair swap for me since they were more than happy to let one of their kids sit in J unattended by a parent... Anyways...

 

[thehound]

So I sit down for my flight today on QF769 MEL to PER in my pre-selected seat 24D only to notice the last passengers in our cabin were 2 kids and their dad. The kids are seated next to me and the dad sat 2 rows behind aisle side. He asks me before take off if we can swap in which I ofcourse complied (I really wanted to be selfish to maintain legroom/no one reclining on to me but I don't like sitting next to kids...).
I was lucky that the person sitting next to me in my new seat was also a fellow WP (saw him in the J lounge pre take off as well as upon landing) so the ettiquette was up held and also the person in front of my didn't recline over the 4 hours which was also nice.
I was really annoyed though when I noticed a female pax from J come into the Y cabin and take one of the kids seats, turns out its the guys wife. I felt like walking up to them and saying she could've had my seat for her J seat. Seemed like it would've been a fair swap for me since they were more than happy to let one of their kids sit in J unattended by a parent... Anyways...

Why would you expect someone in a J seat to swap with your Y seat? The family may have been separated by one out of the four passengers being involuntarily upgraded, but this seems unlikely. So they probably planned it that way - whether by paying for a J seat, shelling out the points for one parent to be upgraded, or getting classic awards when only 3 Y and 1 J were available. I really can't see any issue with this.

 

[dandandandan]

Why would you expect someone in a J seat to swap with your Y seat?

Well, I clearly didn't expect any one to swap my Y seat with a J seat as I had already swapped my seat with leg room for a normal Y seat to accommodate this families separation.

The family may have been separated by one out of the four passengers being involuntarily upgraded, but this seems unlikely. So they probably planned it that way - whether by paying for a J seat, shelling out the points for one parent to be upgraded, or getting classic awards when only 3 Y and 1 J were available.

Secondly, there's absolutely no point in speculating why one memeber of said family was flying J and the rest in Y, all I know is that when they boarded the Y passangers were scattered about which suggest to me that they failed to assign themselves the seating via the many options Qantas offer or were terribly unlucky to have been separated at check in.

I really can't see any issue with this.

I'm happy for you that you see no issue in this. I thought this was a thread in which we could share/rant about our seat swapping stories. My bad.