Can You Swap Seats With Someone in a Different Cabin?

Imagine that you’re booked in Business Class, while your friend – or perhaps your spouse or colleague – has a boarding pass for Economy.

Of course, you could just take the seat in Business Class for the entire flight and leave your travelling companion in Economy. As a compromise, you might prefer to take turns sharing the nicer seat in Business.

But do airlines actually allow this? And if so, what’s the best way to ask?

An AFF member’s dilemma

The question of swapping seats recently came up on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum. AFF member Skyring is travelling to a convention in Finland and booked a Business Class ticket. Their friend is booked in Economy. They wrote on the forum:

We have about five hours in SIN and I can guest her into lounges and stuff. It’s then nearly fourteen hours overnight to Helsinki and I’d feel like a right zero if I didn’t offer to share our seats so we could both get a bit of rest.

I’m thinking that she could start off in J and we’d swap over about seven hours into the flight. That way she could work out how the seat operated with enough light to see what she’s doing. I’m familiar with these seats already – and love them – so I could come in in the dark and not disturb anyone (apart from my friend who will then have to trudge back to the main cabin).

My question is, how do I arrange this with the cabin crew?

Do airlines allow cross-cabin seat swaps?

The short answer is that it depends on the on-board cabin crew on the day. Many airlines don’t have official policies regarding this, so it’s ultimately up to the judgment of the flight attendants.

If you want to switch seats at the start of the flight, during boarding, it’s rarely ever a problem. Most crews will allow this if you simply ask nicely. But switching seats mid-flight is a bit of a grey area.

I’ve personally seen Qantas cabin crews both allow and refuse such requests, and I can see both sides. On one hand, it’s a reasonable request if only one passenger is sitting in the Business seat and receiving the Business Class service at any one time. If the passengers swap only once during the flight, and it’s done without disturbing other passengers, it’s unlikely to be a problem.

On the other hand, I can understand that some crews might be reluctant to allow this because they feel that the second passenger has not paid for the Business Class service. They might also be concerned that a mid-flight switch could disturb other passengers who might be sleeping.

The cabin crew also wouldn’t be happy if both passengers were hanging around in the Business Class cabin for an extended time. However, if the aircraft has one, the crew might occasionally invite your travelling companion to join you in the on-board lounge.

Very occasionally, if you’re lucky and there are spare seats, they might even just upgrade the second passenger. But this is definitely not something you should ever expect!

How to ask about switching seats

If you would like to swap seats, either at the start or during the flight, it’s best to ask the cabin crew as soon as you board the plane.

They may agree to the request, or not. Either way, they’ll at least be aware of your travelling companion who’s in the other cabin. If you’re lucky, they may even give them a bit of extra attention – even if they don’t agree to a mid-flight seat swap.

You definitely shouldn’t swap seats without asking as the crew will probably be onto this pretty quickly.

Of course, as with everything in life, you’ll have a better chance of success if you ask nicely!

Why travel companions might be booked in different cabins

For what it’s worth, there are many reasons why two passengers travelling together might have seats at different ends of the plane. For example, one passenger might have received an upgrade while the other passenger missed out. Or, perhaps one person’s employer paid for Business Class while their spouse paying out-of-pocket booked Economy.

It could also be the case that there was only one Business Class reward seat available on the flight, or only one Economy seat left for sale. Or, perhaps one passenger decided to book Business Class because they wanted the extra status credits.

Frankly, if it works, the strategy of booking one Business Class seat from the outset and sharing the lie-flat bed between both passengers could even be a clever way to save money.

As it happens, I once sat in Premium Economy on an Air New Zealand flight while my dad and brother sat in Business and my mother was in Economy.

The reason was that we had to travel at very short notice and couldn’t find four Economy seats on the same flight. When we booked, there was only one Economy seat left for sale on Air New Zealand and one Economy seat on LATAM, so we booked those, plus two Business seats on LATAM. Meanwhile, I had bid for an upgrade to Premium Economy and the LATAM flight ended up getting cancelled, with my family rebooked onto my Air New Zealand flight in their original classes of travel.

Join the discussion on the AFF forum!

Many AFF members have shared their own experiences of asking or witnessing requests for seat swaps. You can read their stories and tips on our forum:

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.