azzure

My husband and I routinely book aisle seats across from each other on long flights. On yesterday's flight from Newark to Seattle, we were seated when a young man (who said he was 6'10", and I believe him) came down the aisle. He had been assigned a middle seat and asked if I would switch with him. I initially said no, I did not want to take the middle seat and have a stranger between myself and DH for the lengthy flight. So I stepped aside and the young man tried to take his middle seat. And it was obvious this would not work for him; he truly could not fit his long legs into the space available.

Finally, the problem was solved when my husband offered his aisle seat to the young man. DH and I then alternated using the middle seat the young man had vacated, and the aisle seat assigned to us.

I felt bad for not having given up my seat at first, though it was not obvious until he tried the middle seat that it would have been ludicrous for him to be seated there.

What would you have done? And shouldn't the airline accept some responsibility for seating oversized (tall) passengers? The young man was NOT fat, he truly was a college basketball player and nothing but an aisle seat would work for him. Even at that he had to scooch his feet over whenever anyone came down the aisle.

soogies

You were very nice azzure!! I bet not many folks would do that especially on a long flight. Kudos to you and your husband for being thoughtful and generous.

I actually did trade seats with a very tall man, years ago. I was in bulkhead and When I went to the restroom in back I saw this poor man scrunched up, second to last row, in the middle. He looked miserable. He was so grateful when I offered to switch. I will say it was only a 2-1/2 hr flight, so not nearly the commitment you made.

I couldn't do it today, physically. But I have given up wait list seats to soldiers and a mom flying with little kids. I try to be nice - the world needs more nice.

Good on you azzure!

sparkchaser

Your seating scenario is confusing to me. Did you and our husband both have aisle seats?

<i> And shouldn't the airline accept some responsibility for seating oversized (tall) passengers?</i>

I feel bad but absolutely not. It is up to the passengers to have this sorted out before they arrive at the airport OR arrive early enough that it can be taken care of before the majority of people start checking in.

girlonthego

It was nice of your husband to change seats, but honestly, the basketball player should have picked his seat ahead of time. I noticed on American Airlines, you now have to pay extra to pick a coach seat ahead of time which means if you wing it and get a free one, you could be stuck in the middle. Otherwise you pay an extra 15 to 150 dollars just to get a seat assignment or a better coach seat. Crazy! I just did this booking them from Richmond to Portland. I paid to sit in a better seat. I would definitely not give up my paid extra for seat. I would tell him to notify the flight attendant that he needed to be moved to a seat he can fit in

newtome

Or if he was standby, or had been bumped from an earlier flight that gt cancelled or...I used to take a hard line on those folks but I;ve since learned there are many reasons why someone would not pick a better seat and sometimes it really isn't their fault

Jeff_Costa_Rica

It might not be their fault, but it's not the fault of the passenger who already has selected their seat either. I think it comes down to this: if you want to switch, it's entirely up to you.

If someone asks me to switch and I consent, I always ask to see their boarding pass. I've had people try to switch with me, offering me a seat that wasn't theirs. I get settled in the new seat, only to have the rightful owner come along and kick me out.

azzure

Hi, I'm the OP. I really couldn't NOT switch, the plane was full and the young man literally did not fit: if he had tried to use the middle seat, his legs would have intruded on the space for both me (in the aisle seat) and the person in the window seat. So we just made the best of a bad situation.

Still, I feel that the airline should take some responsibility for seating people who don't fit into standard seats through no fault of their own. Maybe bulkhead seats should be reserved for those rare cases, like this one. I'm pretty sure passengers over 6'6" or so are enough of a rarity that some exception could be made.

flpab

If the plane is a three and three I will pick an aisle and my husband will pick an aisle . I don't have to sit next to him on a plane. We have sat ten rows apart when they changed planes on us once. I felt bad for him because he had a crying baby for a ten hour flight behind him. I paid 50.00 extra for my next flight to get a better seat. I think most people can do that now if the cheap free seats are gone. Your husband was nice to do this for the kid. My husband had two big guys on a recent flight and he said there was just not enough room. They were so tight they kept getting up to move a bit. He is 6 foot, 220 but still tight fit with two other big guys.

KHP101

Nice thing YOUR HUSBAND did. Shame on you for not immediately saying yes, when you IMMEDIATELY saw his size and that he was CLEARLY a basketball player.

The only thing the airlines need to totally do is ban toddlers from aircraft. Nothing worse than a scrrrreeccching, screeeeeammmming baby at 37 thousand feet in a carbon flying can in the sky. Actually I think an airline should take the leap and offer 10 year old and older flights on long hauls, or practice it on some markets. BOS/BWI, JFK/LAX, PVD/FLL, etc. I and many others would be permanent. (just expounding on toddlers as [flpab] mentioned them in the post above). There is NO place for toddlers on an aircraft.

sparkchaser

KHP101, I was thinking about that too with her husband giving up his seat and not her giving up hers.

I feel for tall people who have to fly economy but that's why they offer seats with extra legroom.

jacketwatch

KPH wants to ban toddlers. Don't be ridiculous.

jacketwatch

Next time use your hard earned money for a private jet. .

sparkchaser

I agree that a crying baby/child makes an already mediocre flying experience even worse but banning babies is just silly. Until you start flying business or furst or the airlines start offering childless flights, I suggest investing in a pair of good quality noise canceling headphones.

Relevant: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/airplane_layout

jacketwatch

Such thoughts can be expressed from the safety of cyber distance but in the real world face to face they float like a lead balloon. Silly or ridiculous or whatever you want to call it there is no way any person with even a smidge of reason could ever say that. Either KHP is that off or its trolling.

sparkchaser

I suspect that he is using hyperbole to make a point.

jacketwatch

I think he is clear and transparent.

evecolorado

It wouldn’t have worked as well for the OP to have changed seats with the bb player to the middle seat next to him. It did work out well for her husband to give up his seat, that way he moved next to azzure and they then took turns in the aisle seat without a lot of jockeying back and forth with, or over, mr. longlegs.

azzure

Thanks, evecolorado, for the defense. I did think of giving up my seat when I saw how jammed the young man would have been in the middle seat; luckily it worked better for DH to give up his. I ended up in the middle seat most of the time but with the armrest raised between us it wasn't that bad.

KHP, your comments are not welcome.

BTW, after I filled out the airline survey a couple of days ago, Alaska sent me an apology and a $100 voucher. Which I'll give to my husband, because apparently he's a nice guy and I'm just an old meanie.

jacketwatch

Evecolorado that was a very sensible reply. I also thank you.

Azzure you posted a scenario which should have garnered reasonable replies. However there are internet bullies and trolls out there like KHP so just ignore the little man under the bridge.

evecolorado

You're not an old meanie--you wanted to give up your seat to him because you <i>are</i> a considerate person but, quite understandably, didn't want to sit in the middle. Your husband, like mine, must have the sort of mind that sees the solution to those kinds of problems much more quickly than I would (if ever ;-) ). When I sit next to my husband, we like to raise the armrest between us, too.