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You stated that tight connections were a sign of poor planning. Wrong. I have said nothing about anybody going to the bathroom.
Well if it happens that frequently, it sounds like poor planning. At least according to all the folks here that are saying airlines never mess up. And if they do, well it's not "my problem."
Hmm...or maybe, just maybe, those "seat-switching" families are doing all they can to plan ahead, and not disturb those around them; and lo and behold: we're all at the mercy of the airlines and the kindness of our fellow travelers.
Have those "tight connections" ever caused you to ask for special treatment? ("Excuse me, I have to catch a connecting flight, mind if I hop off first?") Running through the airport (and risking injuring others) and holding up the plane so one can tinkle could certainly be viewed as "expecting special treatment."
Well if it happens that frequently, it sounds like poor planning. At least according to all the folks here that are saying airlines never mess up. And if they do, well it's not "my problem."
Hmm...or maybe, just maybe, those "seat-switching" families are doing all they can to plan ahead, and not disturb those around them; and lo and behold: we're all at the mercy of the airlines and the kindness of our fellow travelers.
Have those "tight connections" ever caused you to ask for special treatment? ("Excuse me, I have to catch a connecting flight, mind if I hop off first?") Running through the airport (and risking injuring others) and holding up the plane so one can tinkle could certainly be viewed as "expecting special treatment."
You fly 4 times a year and you're an expert. Okay.
I answered this quickly - Yes, I would change seats. Hell, I've offered to change seats so a married couple could sit together! I'm generally a pretty nice person.
But on a plane, there are a few things that would make me reconsider.
If the family was acting like schmucks (being demanding, or being rude to the flight attendant), I would not feel as inclined to be nice.
If the only seat available for me to move was very near little kids, I'd think long and hard. To me, sitting near unruly, crying or very active, bored children is the worst part of plane travel (sorry - I have no kids, rarely spend time around them, and am not used to their needs).
Sitting in the middle seat? Hell, I do it all the time to accommodate hubby who likes the window. If I'm alone, I'd choose an aisle, but it's not a big deal to me.
Hahaha, I have 6 kids and 14 grandchildren and still do not like to sit near kids on a plane!!!! Most parents are too frazzled from the whole process of getting on the plane and aren't as attentive or just too worn out to keep the kids occupied and behaving well. I have flown several times with up to 3 of my children and always got compliments from fellow travelers because I was extremely prepared for this situation. I also got many fellow passengers who, in their appreciation, actually engaged my children in conversation and a game sometimes. Of course this was many moons ago but it should still be the parents' duty to plan and be proactive when travelling with their children.
To answer the OP, yes I would say 99% of the time, I would move, but as others have said, not if the family had an entitlement attitude.
Assume that you are traveling alone, so that it doesn't matter who you are sitting next to. If the flight attendant told you that she is trying to seat a family together, would you move? If so, under what conditions?
You fly 4 times a year and you're an expert. Okay.
Hmm...did I say "expert"? Not at all. Although my husband could be described as such, and he also has never seen a family get bumped off the plane because no one would switch seats. Which, was, again, what I was referencing.
However, I will say at 4 times a year with a bunch of kids, I am much more of an expert at *flying with kids* than the vast majority of folks. My kids know the procedures like little business travelers (actually they seem much more knowledgable than the majority of air travelers!) And they've never disturbed anyone (well, once, but that's story for another thread )
And therefore, the point of my posts is, despite ones' best efforts, sometimes:
I'd move as long as my replacement seat wasn't a middle seat, in a row with a very overweight person, behind visibly bad kids, or behind a person reclining heavily in their seat
If any of those options are my replacement they can find another single person to ask.
Assume that you are traveling alone, so that it doesn't matter who you are sitting next to. If the flight attendant told you that she is trying to seat a family together, would you move? If so, under what conditions?
If I have paid extra for an aisle seat toward the front of the plane, then absolutely not. If changing seats means I'm stuck next to someone obese or an infant, or a middle seat, then no. If families plan ahead, then they can get seats together. Just because someone is traveling solo doesn't mean they don't have a right to be comfortable.
Business travellers rarely leave hours between flights, we want to get to and from as efficiently as possible
I've never before seen someone give a true AND false statement in one sentence. Bravo.
True: Business travelers want to get to and fro (not from) as efficiently as possible. False: Business travelers rarely leave hours between flights.
Here's why. A business traveler doesn't care as much about the time between connects. They care about arrival time, period. Doesn't matter how that happens. Especially since you're not paying for it anyway. But sometimes "on time" means you have to deal with a layover if there's a risk that the shorter flight is impacted by weather or something else. Additionally, the less time you have between connects, the greater the gamble you miss your second flight. (Lesson learned, Continental.)
Besides, "efficient" means something different to different people.
"Efficient" to me is to fly JetBlue into an airport dominated by JetBlue (lesson learned, Boston Int).
"Efficient" to me is to fly first class on any flight over 2.5 hours. Which means avoiding airlines that try to rip you off with their upgrade policies (lesson learned, Alaska).
"Efficient" to me is to keep my TSA PreCheck up to date.
"Efficient" to me is to try and avoid airlines that don't support PreCheck (lesson learned, Frontier).
"Efficient" to me is to try and book all my travel online at least 3 weeks in advance of the trip, so it's locked in, and to check in literally 24 hours before flying. Obviously, as a business traveler I don't always have this luxury. So...
"Efficient" to me is to check multiple airlines for optimum seats rather than caring about loyalty programs.
"Efficient" to me is to fly in a day early so I can sleep off jet lag. I've flown red eye on two occasions, same day on two occasions, and in all situations, I was foggy within hours, literally falling asleep upright. Not doing it again.
"Efficient" to me is to always get an aisle seat near the front of the plane, because as I said, people take their sweet time getting off and it annoys me.
But that's me. Long do I yearn for the old days when things were much simpler and tickets were much higher.
I've never before seen someone give a true AND false statement in one sentence. Bravo.
True: Business travelers want to get to and fro (not from) as efficiently as possible. False: Business travelers rarely leave hours between flights.
Here's why. A business traveler doesn't care as much about the time between connects. They care about arrival time, period. Doesn't matter how that happens. Especially since you're not paying for it anyway. But sometimes "on time" means you have to deal with a layover if there's a risk that the shorter flight is impacted by weather or something else. Additionally, the less time you have between connects, the greater the gamble you miss your second flight. (Lesson learned, Continental.)
Besides, "efficient" means something different to different people.
"Efficient" to me is to fly JetBlue into an airport dominated by JetBlue (lesson learned, Boston Int).
"Efficient" to me is to fly first class on any flight over 2.5 hours. Which means avoiding airlines that try to rip you off with their upgrade policies (lesson learned, Alaska).
"Efficient" to me is to keep my TSA PreCheck up to date.
"Efficient" to me is to try and avoid airlines that don't support PreCheck (lesson learned, Frontier).
"Efficient" to me is to try and book all my travel online at least 3 weeks in advance of the trip, so it's locked in, and to check in literally 24 hours before flying. Obviously, as a business traveler I don't always have this luxury. So...
"Efficient" to me is to check multiple airlines for optimum seats rather than caring about loyalty programs.
"Efficient" to me is to fly in a day early so I can sleep off jet lag. I've flown red eye on two occasions, same day on two occasions, and in all situations, I was foggy within hours, literally falling asleep upright. Not doing it again.
"Efficient" to me is to always get an aisle seat near the front of the plane, because as I said, people take their sweet time getting off and it annoys me.
But that's me. Long do I yearn for the old days when things were much simpler and tickets were much higher.
I flew over 120 flights last year, perhaps I should have qualified it - I NEVER would leave hours between flights, simply because I don't have that time.
I will use airports with alternatives in case connections are late, I do connect through airports with less weather/better on time performance and I do have the super elite phone number on my home screen and I do (at times) have to make alternate arrangements. The loyalty to one airline gives me far more options in case of delay/cancellation.
I'm a business traveler with a family, I won't take an extra day away from them because if I did that each trip I would rarely be home.
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