1 or 2 pax occupying 4-seat combo in lounge

[legroom]

Recently, we travelled as a family of 4 pax.

On entering the MEL DOM J lounge (2 separate occasions), it took us some minutes of waiting & shuffling to get a 4-seat combo so that we could sit together.

The reason was simple: almost all the 4-seat arrangements were occupied by one or at most 2 pax with their "personal items" strategically placed on the other seats to prevent others from thinking about sitting down.

There are many empty 2-seat arrangements but somehow they prefer to sit in the 4-seat combo.

Yes, we could sit separately in 2 different areas of the lounge (some is bound to say this).

However, the very idea / offering of the 4-seat arrangement is to facilitate, well.... a 4-pax get-together, not one dude with a laptop on one seat and the carry-on on another seat with the Herald on the 4th seat.

I find it selfish to behave that way.

Travelling alone I would always seek to sit down in a 2-seat area, never feeling compelled to spread out to claim territorial ownership of a 4-seat combo.

I thought about taking a photo of one such pax but thought better of it and did not.

...... (rant over).

Your thoughts ?

 

[DrA]

I've done this on occasion as a solo traveller at various airport lounges. Why? Because I've often walked into the lounge and found no other option. All of the seats at the work and dining tables taken. All of the 2-seater settings taken. So I've sat down in one of the 4-seater locations. If you'd come up and politely said something to me and there was another option that had opened up in the meantime, I would have moved. If there was nowhere for me to move to, I would say so and stay where I was.

 

[harvyk]

I tend to sit in the 4 seat area even as a solo traveler since they tend to be placed near the windows, the 2 seater arrangements tend to be placed further in.
That said, I have no problems with out people sitting down in the remaining 3 seats, and I myself tend to join others at 4 seaters when space is limited.

I do tend to place my bag on the seat next to me for easy access, however I will move it off the seat if the lounge is full and seats are at a premium.

Personally when I've been traveling in larger groups (aka with my family) we tend to simply pick a corner and take over it, dragging over chairs as we need to. Furthermore most people have been relatively accommodating, all you need to do is ask.

 

[tuapekastar]

Totally agree that the smaller the travelling group the fewer seats they should occupy, and doubtless there are offenders like you say, some through simple ignorance/not thinking, and some who for odd reasons think their HL items require seats of their own.
The only proviso is that in a crowded J lounge with people coming and going on a regular basis is that upon initial entry you cannot know for sure that a '2 seater' was available at the time the solo pax/couple who are occupying a '4 seater' first entered the lounge themselves.
Last Friday I sat opposite a stranger in a 2-seater at MEL J, and when he left someone else sat opposite me. In both cases 'permission' was politely sought.

 

[legroom]

My thinking is if I have to ask you to move [to accommodate my group], then I would be the impolite one

A bit self conscious, some would say.

I've done this on occasion as a solo traveller at various airport lounges. Why? Because I've often walked into the lounge and found no other option. All of the seats at the work and dining tables taken. All of the 2-seater settings taken. So I've sat down in one of the 4-seater locations. If you'd come up and politely said something to me and there was another option that had opened up in the meantime, I would have moved. If there was nowhere for me to move to, I would say so and stay where I was.

 

[Mal]

The lounges are not designed correctly. Seriously it is rare for 4 pax to travel together. More solo and duo setups are required.

 

[DrA]

My thinking is if I have to ask you to move [to accommodate my group], then I would be the impolite one

A bit self conscious, some would say.

No. I'm a reasonable person, or at least I like to think so. If you've got a large group and need the space, I'm generally prepared to move as long as there's somewhere for me to move to. Just ask me rather than acting like an entitled douche (it's happened), and it's fine

 

[eastwest101]

Agree with some of the other posters, I travel alone a lot and will move and/share to allow for families to sit together, or sit with strangers of the lounge is crowded. Its all just a matter of good manners and common courtesy usually - and most people usually are polite and acomodating in lounges.

I also agree that the seating is often set up wrong in lounges, its quite rare to see a party of 4 people travelling together, and rare to see a party of 3 people travelling together. From my observations on the actual planes I would say the demography of travelling parties/bookings in lounges is roughly some thing like:

Solo travellers (55%)
Party of two (35%)
Party of three ( 7%)
Party of four or more (3%)

The seating of lounges should reflect the demography of the travelling parties. I realize that on some leisure routes/times and/or international that those statistics would be different of course.....

 

[JohnPhelan]

The QF F Lounges are set up well, with all those solo seats along the window front.

 

[DrA]

The QF F Lounges are set up well, with all those solo seats along the window front.

But look at the demographics of those with access to the F lounges. Mostly business travellers, travelling solo. Makes sense to have more solo seats.

Look at who has access to the domestic QP and business lounges? More leisure travellers with families.

While I agree the domestic lounges do need more seating for smaller groups, I do find that I run into people I know in the lounges fairly regularly, and even though we might not be "travelling together" as such, we do want to sit around as a group and have a chat. So I wouldn't want to see the larger group seating areas reduced too​ drastically.

 

[harvyk]

The lounges are not designed correctly. Seriously it is rare for 4 pax to travel together. More solo and duo setups are required.

Whilst I agree it is rare that groups of 4 travel together, there really is little other choice without wasting a huge amount of space. What is perhaps needed is a set of seats allocated for groups of say larger than 3 which have been specifically reserved for them, and them make the rest of the lounge a free for all, much like the communal dinning tables at food courts.

 

[shellthom]

If I see people in a large group looking I would look around myself for something with fewer seats and stand to offer where I was sitting and move if they took it.
I don't really care where I sit, if there is a 2 seat set up I would take that but I tend to find they are full, taken (stuff on seats) or I am unsure (half finished plate and a drink or two on the table) it it is 1 person they could easily be in the toilet or maybe they have left the lounge but I tend not to take those either. If I want to sit by myself I go to a workstation.

 

[drron]

Unfortunately for the OP it is a symptom of society today.People have little thought for others.It usually isn't deliberate.You see it everywhere.I dislike those who leave a large gap between cars at traffic lights so that I can not access the turning right lane meaning I have to sit through another cycle.
C'est la vie.

 

[harvyk]

If I see people in a large group looking I would look around myself for something with fewer seats and stand to offer where I was sitting and move if they took it.
I don't really care where I sit, if there is a 2 seat set up I would take that but I tend to find they are full, taken (stuff on seats) or I am unsure (half finished plate and a drink or two on the table) it it is 1 person they could easily be in the toilet or maybe they have left the lounge but I tend not to take those either. If I want to sit by myself I go to a workstation.

If the seats have bags around it, even without anyone there I tend to consider them taken, if there are no bags there I will consider them vacant even if there are still plates / glasses there.
I still find it amusing how we're very trusting in the lounges, down in the main terminal leaving bags alone would either mean stuff is stolen / security comes over and / or the bomb squad is called.

 

[Anna]

Travelling alone I would always seek to sit down in a 2-seat area, never feeling compelled to spread out to claim territorial ownership of a 4-seat combo.

+1........

 

[JohnK]

I have also noticed this in the lounges.

Sometimes if there are 2 of us in the BNE business lounge the 2 seaters along the windows are mostly taken up by a single person and the 4 seaters are taken up by 1 person or 2 people. Sometimes when a person walks into a lounge there is no alternative. I am also not afraid to ask other people if I can use the spare seats and generally that is OK.

What is very selfish and not really acceptable is for single travellers to sit in the 4 seaters when the lounge is not that busy. But as drron mentioned society is that way today.

 

[DrA]

I actually try to avoid the 4-seat areas like the plague to be honest.

I hate kids (nothing personal, I hate kids in general, not anybody's in particular), and that generally tends to be where the families congregate for obvious reasons. So I try to stay as far away as possible!

And I much prefer to be at one of the benches with plenty of powerpoints for me to plug in my laptop, phone, etc.

 

[Ewing]

I will seek out a two seater first. If they're all taken then yes I will occupy a group of 4 seats. I have no problems with others joining me.

I don't however place my bag on a seat. I put it on the floor next to the seat I am occupying.

 

[Grooba]

I find it selfish to behave that way.

Unfortunately for the OP it is a symptom of society today.People have little thought for others.It usually isn't deliberate.You see it everywhere.I dislike those who leave a large gap between cars at traffic lights so that I can not access the turning right lane meaning I have to sit through another cycle.
C'est la vie.

I find it very difficult to deal with selfish people, it's most certainly one of my pet peeves.

Walking through a shopping center I just can't deal with people who stop for a chat right in the middle of a narrow thoroughfare. How hard is it to move to the side and talk?

People who wedge clearly over sized luggage into the overhead bins so the next person has zero chance of fitting a compliant bag above them.

Back OT, as a single traveler I'll generally sit at the islands in the lounges but if there's no room I'll sit where ever is available without sprawling my gear everywhere.

Think about others people!

 

[ashleyn]

I have no problem asking a pax with their luggage on a seat if I can sit there if the lounge is full and so far have not had any problem with that.