Choosing your seatmate, oh boy!
 

Did anyone else catch this new way to collect your travel money? You register with a site which, for $5 per round or $19.95, enables you to find profiles of travelers similar to yourself and sharing your flightplan, doh!!
I won't put the site name(unless you beg),but I thought this one took the cake. I thought that most people don't visit much anymore, what with our cell phone addiction, laptop diversion and talking amongst ourselves(I'm usually with family anyway).
The last stranger I recall initiating a convo with me was a lawyer of mysterious original roots, who went on at great length about his laser toe surgery. If he had not also plied me with drinks, I may have assaulted him. Good times..

I saw the article and was horrified. They didn't say if I could pay to have someone who promised they didn't want to have a conversation sitting next to me.

I knew a gal who spoke Lithuanian. Whenever she got on a plane, whenever someone spoke to her she told them in Lithuanian she didn't speak English. She traveled in total peace. I envy her.

Neopolitan~ I used that trick myself, no, not actually speaking a language, just faking a heavy accent, but always managing to choose my entree(back in the day when you had a choice) and the free "vine".
Of course, not each flight warranted such behavior. Sometimes, I was lucky(back in single days and I will not elaborate, lol).

I'm thinking that if it was more of a "meet your special someone" sorta site, while utilizing the flight as a way to have a safe face to face, it might make more money. Just a thought though.

was that airtroductions.com ?

This is exactly why I fly with my iPod.

Oh yes, and I and sure all the chatties will be directly behind me, with the toddler kicking my seat.

Now what they SHOULD do is have a quiet/spa-like section and a chatty section with a sound proof divider, kind of like the baby room at church.

My, my, how cynical for our Tiff this morning, huh?!?

Hehehehehehehe. ((6))

If someone initiates unwelcome converse, just ask them "have you been saved?" Usually works well.

Oh Sylvia...too funny!! With your luck, you will have one of those evangelist preachers in the seat next you that would respond praise the lord!

Tiff, I always get the toddler that kicks my seat too! My kids have always been well behaved on planes. I made sure of it!! Now, it is annoying to have to put up with other people who don't reprimand their kids.

One of my roommates has a standard answer for the always asked.."And where are you off to?"..."Going to see my old man in prison." Shuts them up every time...

Sqirming in a figure 8, muttering about parasites and vicious knids might head em off too,lol.
I wonder how many people will really sign up for this, but anything unusual is the norm, not the exception.
Like the menu list you leave outside your hotel door, you could have the option of tall dark and handsome, or a variety of other choices.. expert foot massager for one,lol.

Lena beat me to it. I might pay extra for a seatmate who did NOT want to talk to me!

MelissaHI~ yup, that's the one. I was thinking that if one was single and on a very long flight, it could make sense, but I wouldn't pay for the service.
It would be funny to see color codes, like blue=nontalker, red=frequent traveler, white=quiet person, green=single, orange=amusing with or w/o alcohol, etc.

oops, blue and white are the same. Sorry, I'm off to the treadmill now!

If I could choose George Clooney as my seatmate, then this would be the best $20 I've ever spent. But somehow I don't think he would fly coach. :-(

jetset1, it is a dating site. I don't know if I would do it but if the date didn't work out (on the flight). You would never have to see the person again. And you would not have wasted time and money going out.
Of course, if it were an international flight thats alot of hours sitting next to this person if you did not like them from the start.

All of these posts are interesting. I too cannot stand forced conversation and would rather have none but...if the conversation interests me, then I'm all in! The unfortunate thing about this type of meeting is that you can't tell ahead of time whether or not the convo will be interesting and if it's not you are s-t-u-c-k! Yikes!

My last flight, I was on the aisle seat next to a very large couple. They had brought foul smelling meat sandwiches and were snorting them down, smacking, dripping grease, sloppy hands, you name it. The guy next to me was so large that he was halfway into my seat. I am not small, I need the room!

Once the plane took off, I was able to move to different empty row. He never moved over, he just stayed stuffed in the middle seat. You would have thought he would have moved over for more room.

I would have paid $20 to avoid that.

I think you all must appear too friendly and inviting. Seatmates rarely talk to me on planes. But then I do nothing to encourage conversation. I usually just give them a nod when we meet at the row and say excuse me and thank-you if they have to move around to accomodate me. I am polite, but I don't smile and I don't offer up any small talk. If they speak to me, I give non-commital answers. It works quite well for me.

Actually, I'm on airtroductions.com but not as a paying member. I signed up because I know the guy who started the site.....it seems like a dating site, but not necessarily. There are a lot of people on there (like me) just hoping there might be a good seatmate to choose from so I don't end up with a smelly snorer or something. In this day and age, where the airlines stuff you into the planes like cattle, you pray that your seatmate is a good one to share your personal space with for 5 hours.

My best flight, by the way, was when I was next to a Russian grandmother who doted on me the entire flight!

Here are my preferences for my (future) profile on seatmates.com:

1. No talking during flight, except for the final 5 minutes. 5 minutes is plenty to get to know someone's story and ask for a card if you wanted to follow-up. It would also time box the conversation in case it was someone you couldn't stand.

2. Person must weigh less than 200 lbs and be reasonable with the armrests (before you start ripping on me for discrimination, I'm over 200 lbs. Just don't want to sit shoulder to shoulder with another guy my size)

3. If person wears headphones, I don't want to hear your music.

4. No smelly food.

5. Absolutely no fingernail filing, cutting, or polishing on the plane (you'd be amazed how often this happens)

My tactic, if I can tell someone will be annoying, is to put the headphones on. Gives a clear message without being rude. I've had many a flight where the headphones are plugged into absolutely nothing inside my bag, just to stop someone from talking to me!

I've had someone insist on talking to me nonstop during the movie when I had the earphones on!!

Well people..(nose held highly for effect).. I much prefer to use my own private jet and bring along only those worthy of my special requirements(thinking of toga clad men with firm "grapes" in hand...)

so I wonder if anyone has had success on this site?

melissaHI~ wouldn't it just be easier to have the singles in a separate waiting lounge, then before the flight, they could pick each other out? Shoot, back in the day, I might have liked that,lol.
Thinking of the lucky winners I used to get and having the choice would be refreshing. (Hard to believe I passed up a free trip to Paris and a life of luxury in Jeddah, the chance to keep most of my skin forever safe from the desert sun and a life of relative luxury- nope, I didn't fall for that scenario).
p.s. the guy's skin was so bad that he made Edward James Olmos(Miami Vice) look like Donny Osmond.

ha ha! Actually, that would be a good idea except....what if someone in the singles lounge picks you, but you'd never pick them? With me and my luck, I'd get picked & stalked by a "winner." At least online I can lie about changing my flight plans!

Yeah, it would have to be mutual consent, especially on longer flights or international.
Funny to think of what initially attracts people, when any day, you can waltz into a mall or box store and see some extremely unmatched couples,lol.(Like the show where parents see in twenty years what the unhealthy kids will look like)..
Makes me think of my husband's favorite line:
"You could have done worse!"