A 21-year-old Cincinnati college student says she bought herself a $7,000 business-class ticket to Dubai. It was her first time buying business class with her own money – a graduation gift to herself. Must be nice – when I was in college I had three part time jobs. My first job out of college paid me $21,000.
Shortly after she sat down, the woman seated next to her asked her to switch seats with her daughter.. who was seated in coach.
Naturally, the woman declined. When you’re asking someone to switch seats you need to offer them something equivalent or better than what they already have! But the mother argued!
- she’d been upgraded
- she’d never flown business class before
- and she wanted her daughter to experience it, too
- besides, it’s surely the case that the college student hadn’t spent her own money on the seat
The student says the mother complained loudly (including on a phone call, saying she was “ungrateful”), and a flight attendant had to explain they wouldn’t eject a business class passenger down to coach to bring up that woman’s daughter. It wasn’t that important for her to sit with her daughter though – she could have offered her business class seat to whomever was beside her daughter in back!
Here’s the basic approach to take for switching seats.
- Avoid needing a swap in the first place Select seats when booking your ticket. Choose flights that have the seats available you want. Treat seat fees as part of the fare.
Also, garden your reservation to make sure there aren’t any changes – this lets you know as soon as possible that you need to fix seat assignments, when there’s likely more available seats left.
That doesn’t help (1) when flights cancel and you need a new itinerary, or (2) when you’re upgraded [although many people decline upgrades to avoid being separated from each other].
- Select tradeable seats if you’re going to need to swap, try to make sure you have decent trade bait. Aisle seats are better than middles! Extra legroom is better than last row! Don’t ask someone to trade down.
- Ask nicely. Smile, be pleasant and make it easy for someone to help you. Accept the answer you’re given. Passengers don’t owe you a favor.
- Pay. if you’re asking someone to accept something worse (especially) offer to make them whole. Give them $20 or at least buy them a drink. Make the offer up front, rather than only if they decline. You don’t want them to lock into a no.
Hi, would you be willing to swap seats? I’d love to thank you with $20 for it. Totally fine to say no.
The gall of some passengers is amazing. It’s one thing to ask, it’s another thing to be incredulous when the request gets declined. Here’s a woman who refused to swap seats with a child in business class, and endured the scorn of a flight attendant. Another woman demanded a passenger give up their business class seat in order to upgrade her husband from coach. The rest of the cabin, though, always knows what’s up – this Air France business class passenger was actually cheered for refusing to switch seats for a family.
Why doesn’t any blogger that posts these stories research and put out the name of the crappy passengers? It makes the story that you post more believable and helps the crappy passenger get a reputation for being crappy, hopefully changing their behavior for future travel. At least this wasn’t another post about amazing value from citi strata elite cards or pimping the bilt card.
WTF
$7000 for a biz seat to Dubai?!?!?!?!
Story doesn’t show up on her instagram. Was the fake story removed there? If so you should remove here as well.
There’s at least another reason why you might need to switch seats which is quite common. Suppose you pre-purchase particular seats, and the plane was originally scheduled as a 320. Then the airline decides that it has not sold enough seats and swaps out the 320 for a 319. At the point this decision is made, passengers are reallocated to different seats. Whether you get a refund or not for the purchase of the seats is besides the point, you may now have been separated from other pax in your group, even if the PNRs are linked.
In all my travels, I have only asked a passenger to switch seats once. My wife got upgraded to First Class but (for some unknown reason) she still wanted to sit next to me in Comfort +. I told her I’d ask the guy next to me in Comfort. Conversation went like this:
Me: Hi. My wife is in first class but she’d rather sit here with me. Do you want her seat in First?
Guy Next to Me: SURE!!!
Moral: ALWAYS offer something better.
There’s a lot of bullsh– in this story, Gary, including your apparent jealousy. It’s nobody’s business how or why someone’s in the front of the plane, and it’s also best to ignore ALL ragebaiting in social media.
This very thing happened to me many years ago early in my business career. On a Delta flight from JFK to SFO I paid (I thinks it was $125) to upgrade to what was than the first phases of airlines charging for seats with extra space and drinks. I was in my aisle seat and a very nice women eventually sits in the middle seat. Minutes hobby and her boyfriend shows up and starts chatting me up and eventually says can you switch with me. He was in the back near the lavs. I said sure if you pay me the $125 it cost me. She had been upgraded due to auto seat assignment he explained and I said I can’t help that. He got very upset and angry because I wouldn’t just switch. He had free drinks and food swirling in his head. Eventually the the flight attendant asked the passenger to take his seat and apologize to me for the issue. I can’t believe some people. Plan and if you want it pay for it
Thoughts and prayers
Uh, Don, might want to check her Reels before claiming that it’s “not on her Instagram”.
I must be missing something
The seat and bedding looks a lot like Qatar airlines business class
Qatar does not give complimentary upgrades – at all
——-
For example : we were on a jfk – doh flight . My adults sons were in a packed economy flight . There was a medical emergency mid way with a call for Doctors . My son , aDoctor along with another Doctor volunteered and attempted to resuscitate a gentleman that was in cardiac arrest and passed away for an hour .
He and the other Dr were asked to carry the body into the half empty business class cabin . They were told to put him in a seat in the back and place a blanket over him – so he appeared to be sleeping
The attendants asked them not to tell anyone to alarm other passengers.
It was weird that no passengers were aware . I’m assuming because he left the economy cabin and was placed in an empty back row of business while most passengers were sleeping – 1 row behind me
My son then sat down in the empty seat across the aisle to talk to us
Immediately he was chased back into economy by a flight attendant!
We asked if he could sit there – she said it was against Qatar’s policy
—-
Does Qatar airlines fly direct to Dubai from anywhere else ?
Qatar Airlines ( Doha- Dubai ) business class does not cost $7k
Something is not right with this influencers story
@Don – The story’s still on Instagram with her video.
@A Herseth – She was happy to tell Newsweek the story including her seat purchase. And yes, I’m tired of the ragebaiting on social media too, which is why I’m rarely on social media. That said the jerks who ask to swap seats ought to read stories like this to see how silly they are.
A few years back a woman sitting next to me asked me to swap with her husband so they could sit together. I asked if he was the guy in the next row behind us and she said no, he’s in the middle seat in row 15 in economy. I looked back. I declined and suggested that the men sitting on either side of her husband would happily swap with her so she could sit back with her husband. She said, “I should go to economy? You have your nerve!” She glared at me. I put on my headphones and worked on my computer.
This is rage bait
Thank goodness we do not have this in Europe. We pay for our seats if we choose them in advance and do not expect to get questioned or asked to swap with someone who has not been so forward planning. We do not expect upgrades. If we don’t pay for a specific seat we sit where we are allocated. That said, the entitlement of Americans is starting to affect Europeans. This is not a good thing. The only time I have questioned my pre-paid seat is when it has been faulty and I was offered a similar seat elsewhere – it was fine.
This has all the hallmarks of a made-up story. There’s nothing the Internet likes more than Entitlement Pr*n.
@Oh No! — Correction: tots and pears
do you make a living posting articles like these? If so I’m going to suggest my 4 year old start writing similarities & posting.
Pay should be first on the list. If having your daughter in Business is that important, pay for it.
Gary, what the heck does “garden your reservation to make sure there aren’t any changes” mean?
Am I now supposed to bring rakes and shovels in my carryon so I can till the soil around 17A?
Good points, though I do think your “must be nice” comment sounded a bit catty.
People like this should be hidden from society. Kidding sort of, but how clueless/selfish can this woman be. Why didn’t she just switch with her daughter? The airlines won’t like that either, but at least she isn’t stepping on someone else who worked hard for their flight. Maybe someone can help me to understand………..
Sadist part of this entire story is why a spoiled rich brat foreigner is attending the University of Cincinnati. No colleges in her neck of the woods?
Sadist part of this entire story is why a spoiled rich brat foreigner is attending the University of Cincinnati. No colleges in her neck of the woods?
It means to watch your reservation like a hawk. It is unfortunate that you should have to do that, but it has occasionally saved me when changes pop up – aircraft changes, seat changes, schedule changes. They are not always going to timely alert you. And more recently I have added another thing – if they start proactively offering you other flights, be ready for something to happen to your flight.
@Bobby Gee- “garden your reservations “ is a reminder to periodically review them for any changes
Well @Brad Whitford we no know what kind of a numbskull you are. She’s working on a double major and is paying her own way through college. Yeah she’s a real spoiled brat . . . not. You’d be lucky to have her as your daughter, but you’re to closed minded to know that.
By the way Mr. @Brad Whitford numbskull. Foreign students at U.S. colleges generally pay full freight, which lessens the cost of those colleges for American students.
One of my worst flying experiences was after being booked on Delta for economy on a work trip but paying for a first class upgrade out of my own funds. Got seat 1A and got angry glares the entire time, from boarding first to every passenger going down the aisle and dirty comments. All because I did what anyone could do and spent my money on a better seat. The hatred and resentment was terrible. For the flight back, I upgraded to business class instead and nobody hated me for it. Wild.
@Bobby Gee – https://viewfromthewing.com/remember-to-garden-your-reservations-after-you-book-them-2/
I agree with most that this sounds like a made up story, but I’ll take exception with Virginia’s comment above. I was flying QR BKK-DOH in J, my boarding pass errored out as I was trying to board. After a couple of minutes the gate agent came back over, apologized for the delay, and gave me a BP for F. So, QR WILL upgrade folks, at least sometimes. I can only imagine that they’d oversold J and I got this because I was a OW Emerald.
@Lorraine nice try! I’m an American and I had a German woman on a Lufthansa try to pull this with me in biz. Wanted to swap my all aisle access seat to sit next to someone at a window so she could sit next to her husband. That was a no. I hope her marriage survived. It’s not just Americans so feel free to get over yourself at any time
Two years ago, a delayed flight into BOS caused me to be put on a later BOS to AMS flight. They could do no better than regular coach. DL refunded me $916 for the downgrade from J on that one segment.
If someone where to ask me to swap my J for Y, I’d recount the above and suggest we just round it to a grand. While I have no doubt such requests are made, they certainly are rare. It takes an amazing combination of guts, delusion, and heightened self worth to make such a request.
This is so fake. These kids are so thirsty for attention that they will invent any story to get clicks. That’s pathological.
OK, this person is a double major paying her own way. And when she graduates or finishes OPT, she has to leave. While the courts say we have to keep all the people not paying their own way. Go figure.
@Don it’s literally the top pinned reel on her Instagram.
That mother is a real c#$t !
Get a life lady!
The day of entitlements is OVER! Get a 2nd job if you want to travel business class with your daughter!!
Waste of comments just tell her to F—Off
Oh Gary, you sound as petty as the woman demanding she change seats. “Must be nice”. Sounds like a high school girl.
If I have a business class/first class seat you ain’t gettin it.
Mother is an idiot.
You end the article by “coaching” how to ask for a swap. Much Better yet… Never Ask for a swap! You did not purchase it, it is rude to even ask.
Paying $7k for a roundtrip to Dubai in business class? Sounds like someone with more money than interest or brains to get a much better deal.
Better off parking half that money in a broad market index fund for 7 years and finding a way to make $3500 work out for flights to and from Dubai in business class.
I was seated in Main Cabin Extra on American Airlines and once had a passenger in my row ask if I would switch with his wife who was booked in economy, row 23 if I recall. I refused. And he didn’t have a meltdown. If I had agreed to switch, I would have less legroom, no complimentary cocktails, and deplaned a bit later, already making a tight connection even tighter.
You want to sit next to someone, book seats together. Don’t try to take advantage of someone else because of your poor oversight, or attempt at being cheap and think you can get over on someone.
Paid first class aisle seat to Hawaii. While waiting for boarding, heard my name being called. Went up to the desk. Husband, wife and newborn were standing at the counter. I gave the stewardess my name. All 3 looked at me and never said a word. I went back and sat down. We boarded. Few minutes later, that same couple sitting directly behind me, the husband asked me to trade seats with him! From what it appeared, he figured I would sit with his wife to help watch their kid!! Hahaha…I told them no. Seriously, why would anyone who has no kids, want to have to tend to someone else’s kid??? They were not too happy.
Two years ago, my husband and I were fortunate to both be upgraded from Premium Economy to Business on Swiss Air (I hadn’t flown in 10 years and was apprehensive). They apologized that we were not going to be together. I told them that we had been married 53 years…I could “endure” 7 hours without him. I sat next to a wonderful man who was meeting his brother to celebrate their father’s 80th birthday…my husband had a great “next door” seatmate. Win, win. And I got to watch two movies for free that I would have had to pay for at home. Again, win win
The last fake story I’m gonna read from this site. Blocked from my newsfeed.
All the commenters triggered by this “rage bait” story… I have to assume part of it is because you are that person who would get all butthurt that someone who paid for business class won’t self-downgrade for a coach seat to swap with your kid who you left behind in coach. And/or, the implication is “There are more important things to write about.” Yes, there are. It doesn’t mean that a website which mostly reports on unruly passengers can’t exist simultaneously. And why did you read the story in the first place?
“Ungrateful”(?!) – what? That comment doesn’t make any sense.
This does remind me of a non-seat story. It’s weird the way total strangers will ask for favors sometimes. I was on a plane getting ready to take off. A goofy woman asks if she can use my phone to send a “text to Italy.” No. “You’re not going to help me?” (Pouty face). No, I am not.
About someone asking for a favor, if it doesn’t really cost me anything I will do it, depending on the circumstances. Changing a seat to a worse one is not something I would do. One time a lady wanted to get in touch with her family before flying but she had no signal while waiting. I had signal so I opened a hotspot for her. She was able to get in touch and was very happy and thankful about it.
No matter if this particular scenario is all so true 2 people traveling together, one buys upgrade ticket ((coach premium, business). They are ruthless and feel they’ll get someone to. Switch. One story woman wanted a premium window seat so her son could have a window. She had a middle seat to exchange. Turns out the window and aisle were family who could have given the boy either one. This is nothing new these entitled people always pay one upgrade ticket and a low fare non refundable (saves them usually hundreds of dollars. I would tell them I want the cost of my ticket in this case $7250 with tax and other airlines fees and they must find you a comparable seat still in class they are in. $7250 covers your payment, another $$725 to get you a new ticket equal you getting a free ticket.
Wow! The nerve of some people.
Why would anyone think this story is fake? Only a cynical social media fool would believe that.
Attention all airline passengers: Where you’re wrong is asking to switch in the first place. IT’S NEVER OK. Anybody that does it, I don’t care what your education or background or status is, your conduct by almost EVERYONE will be viewed as entitled, arrogant and pathetic. Also, your response to a no will really show your true colors to not only whomever you may be traveling with, but to everyone else in the world. They will witness your weak character and inability to accept the world around you. If this depiction describes you, don’t fly
without a solid plan. Then people who are just trying to get where they are going don’t have to deal with a person who clearly has no respect for the right that paying for something extra means. Either be happy with the arrangements you made or kindly F**K Off! It’s not mine or anyone else’s problem that you’re stupid or feel entitled.
There should be an FAA regulation that if you ask for a trade and the person says no, if the person even raises their voice to protest your reply, they should be forcibly removed from the airplane. No excuses will be accepted. Then you’ll see how nobody asks to switch anymore. #STOPTHESWITCH!
LOL
I had a situation where I was in a biz aisle seat ( specifically chosen: 2-3-2 configuration). . Seat mate in center seat asked of I would swap with his wife in a window seat near the lavs. I declined.. 6 minutes later flight attendant asked if I would change. Again, a polite no. I learn shortly thereafter they were upgraded free from coach. After the antics with him going to the flight attendant, I turned to him and suggested that if he and his wife want to sit together,so badly, go back to the coach seats you paid for. If her seat had been equal to mine…no issue. But that was not the case..
Women are the biggest scam artists on seats. I’ve seen multiple times Moms demand adult males vacate main cabin extra or PE so that the Mom can sit with the kids. The other common maternal scam is the mom pretending she doesn’t “realize” she’s in an upgraded seat and then plays dumb or pleads with the guy to head to a cheap seat.
My one experience was a mom asking if I’d leave my MCE bulkhead seat and trade with her teen daughter since sitting together was so vital. I asked, “Is sitting together the most critical need here?” Assuming I was going switch, she instantly and dramatically said “YES!” I suggested she go to the back row where her daughter was and trade with whomever was sitting next to her. Then they’d be together. She sulked, said nothing the entire flight.
What you are all missing is that a foreigner should always surrender their seat when asked even if they paid for it. She is ungrateful for being let into the fatherland and and not giving up her seat- she should never be allowed back. Ticket was probably paid for by Soros/Hunter Biden/the French/Californians/etc. Glad I could clarify the point the mother was trying to make…