Booted from seat at gate - Does it happen often?

[RooFlyer]

<snip>
Would any Airline dare to change your seating if you were allocated your desired Business or First Class seat ?

Yep. Business certainly - happened to me (only once) but plenty of reports of it here. F too.

Ultra-high-status passengers evidently get their seat on request, no matter who below them has selected it, any class.

 

[Toledo]

I don't really have much empathy for the OP. Firstly if you're tall then spend the extra 12 or 20 bucks and buy an emergency exit row. Secondly if the plane was full then somebody had to be moved otherwise there could have been a three year old sitting between 2 strangers. Families who book without picking seats at booking often get broken up because everybody else have picked seats. VA didn't tell you until you were about to board because they were obviously waiting to see if everybody turned up for the flight. If there were no-shows then you may not have been inconvenienced. My seat got changed the last time I flew with VA and I was told after I had been seated on the plane for 15 minutes. The flight was half empty and I was moved for balance reasons. I actually pray for the scanner to go red when I board as it has happened 3 out of my last 4 os trips and has meant a move to premium or an emergency exit.

 

[graxx]

Yep. Business certainly - happened to me (only once) but plenty of reports of it here. F too.

Ultra-high-status passengers evidently get their seat on request, no matter who below them has selected it, any class.

Absolutely!! We were 4 adult passengers and two toddlers in Business travelling BA Syd to London- booked ( and paid for 6 seats) and were allocated 6 seats at the front of the upper deck on a 747.
In BA's wisdom they reallocated seats at the airport, which meant we were not seated together. Our 2 year-old grand-daughter was moved to a single seat beside another unsuspecting passenger! Totally nuts!!
It took a great deal of heated arguing, and a considerable amount of time for them to get us vaguely back together again so we could look after the kids.
Makes you wonder sometimes why they bother allocating seats if they can change them at will- particularly as we had specifically requested the seats together for other passenger's comfort (the kids turned out to be great flyers, but of course business, while being wildly extravagant, is fantastic for kids!!)
Haven't flown BA since!

 

[aaflyer]

I don't really have much empathy for the OP. Firstly if you're tall then spend the extra 12 or 20 bucks and buy an emergency exit row. Secondly if the plane was full then somebody had to be moved otherwise there could have been a three year old sitting between 2 strangers. Families who book without picking seats at booking often get broken up because everybody else have picked seats. VA didn't tell you until you were about to board because they were obviously waiting to see if everybody turned up for the flight. If there were no-shows then you may not have been inconvenienced. My seat got changed the last time I flew with VA and I was told after I had been seated on the plane for 15 minutes. The flight was half empty and I was moved for balance reasons. I actually pray for the scanner to go red when I board as it has happened 3 out of my last 4 os trips and has meant a move to premium or an emergency exit.

The OP has gold status with Virgin, they should not have to pay for an exit row if they wanted one (perhaps they were all allocated, or they were not able to sit there for mobility reasons).

If the plane is full, why not move a Bronze member rather than a Gold (or a Silver, or a Platinum)?

VA may not have told the OP before they boarded as the family may have checked in late, and they're hardly going to page someone in the terminal to tell them their seat has changed.

Also, not everyone actually wants an exit row, believe it or not. I dislike them myself on most aircraft.


I have seen Virgin handle seating changes poorly just about every time. I had one issue and the gate staff could not care less and were indifferent to the point of getting angry at me for daring to question why I was moved from a very forward row to the back in the middle (as a Platinum). I was being polite and simply stated that I refused and asked to be offloaded and put on the next flight. They got more grumpy and moved be back to a more forward seat on the aisle at least, with an empty seat next to me. The real question: Why wasn't I allocated that first, rather than being put in a middle seat down the back? Their logic baffles.

 

[lauder2]

Not only was I given another seat but I had [paid $20.00 when I booked for that particular seat! was not amused. didn't realize until I went to the seat I had paid for. A gentleman had my reserved seat!!

 

[tracman]

Yes, I do wonder about some VA staff, flying J from Perth the check-in guy didn't bother to put priority tags on my luggage, I reminded him as the luggage went down the belt, he simply shrugged his shoulders and told me it will get there. Of course it did - but mine were the last off (he did spend some time concerned about the weight of my bags, even though I was underweight, and under count! So much for Gold status and the supposed convenience and priority flying business.

 

[Bad Seed]

VA Plat - Got bumped to another seat, and separated from my VA Gold wife, to let a family move in. I ended up in a centre seat elsewhere as I wasn't permitted to sit beside the child, as I was male. They left my wife there. Unimpressed.

I have posted about this before but a couple of years ago on a flight to Melbourne, I got booted from my OLCI seat at the gate which (because I have no status) was a pretty ordinary one in the back half of the plane to the very back row. I couldn't work out why until just before take off, my seat companion arrived and it was an unaccompanied minor of about 11. When I looked around me, the previous about 6 rows were all blokes and I seemed to be the only female for about the back 25 passengers so I obviously got bumped as being deemed the only "safe" (and yes, we know that argument) person to sit next to the child. It was no issue, she was obviously a regular flier and settled in with her book for the hour and a bit but it did make me wonder (as I do fly about 50% of the time on my own) whether women on their own are seen as "free game" for unaccompanied minors.

And I know just last month, my dh flew to Tasmania for a sports tournament with our 12 year old on Qantas and despite all bookings beings on one ticket, he wan't able to do OLCI the night before (locked out) and they were separated on two out of 4 flights which they had to negotiate. We fly fairly regularly as a family of 4,(overseas and nationally) always do OLCI, book and select seats together and arrive early and yet still manage to get let down by airlines in terms of sitting together more often than we would like. I don't expect to move to better seats than I started off with, I just expect to stay together, more for everyone else's sanity than my own.

 

[pauly7]

Seems like this is becoming quite a pattern. Does the VA rep have anything to say? I know they don't venture out much but might be worth posing the question if someone hasn't already?

 

[VulpesVulpes]

Harden up I say! do you reckon the staff enjoy doing this and just do this to piss you off. Get real!!

Welcome to AFF Blackdog, you will find the exits from this forum with the red X in the top right corner of the screen, the close tab button or by pressing the back button a lot.

I don't really have much empathy for the OP. Firstly if you're tall then spend the extra 12 or 20 bucks and buy an emergency exit row. Secondly if the plane was full then somebody had to be moved otherwise there could have been a three year old sitting between 2 strangers.

Cool - it's first post day by the looks! But on that point, I don't need exit row, it doesn't worry me, I am fine in a normal Y seat - I spend lots of time in one. But work will not pay for the premium seating and with the amount I fly, I'm not spending $20/sector to sit there.

VA didn't tell you until you were about to board because they were obviously waiting to see if everybody turned up for the flight. If there were no-shows then you may not have been inconvenienced.

This is what red/non members are for! Bump them! There was no need to sit the family in row 5, row 25 would have been fine for a family that did not select seats. You are also just spewing cough now, the better customer service approach would have been to tell me before I scanned, not rocket science!

The OP has gold status with Virgin, they should not have to pay for an exit row if they wanted one (perhaps they were all allocated, or they were not able to sit there for mobility reasons).

If the plane is full, why not move a Bronze member rather than a Gold (or a Silver, or a Platinum)?

VA may not have told the OP before they boarded as the family may have checked in late, and they're hardly going to page someone in the terminal to tell them their seat has changed.

Also, not everyone actually wants an exit row, believe it or not. I dislike them myself on most aircraft.

I am a fit 23 year old, I can sit exit row, but I don't request it, TBH I prefer to be up the front and out first. Beat the rush to the rental car counter! (I fly carry on mostly)

I also have found the time I have been sat next to the real crazies is when I am in exit row - not sure if it is just my luck or they tend to get seated here haha!

--

On an unrelated note, a FA friend of mine, that I know -very well- was the Cabin Supervisor on a flight when I was 4C and she didn't upgrade me to one of the empty J seats. What is this! I should complain! #FlameSuitOn #ImOnlyKidding #IStillGotServedFirst

 

[jackthomas]

On an unrelated note, a FA friend of mine, that I know -very well- was the Cabin Supervisor on a flight when I was 4C and she didn't upgrade me to one of the empty J seats. What is this! I should complain! #FlameSuitOn #ImOnlyKidding #IStillGotServedFirst

You are my new favourite person.. #AllTheHashtags

 

[aaflyer]

You are my new favourite person.. #AllTheHashtags

Ah yes, but it's not Twitter in here

 

[Toledo]

Dude, perhaps the family were split and 2 of them were allocated seats next to you and the third could have been sitting next to another gold member or a someone more holier than yourself. I know that is hard for you to comprehend. So shifting one person is a lot easier than possibly shifting the whole family and three other passengers.

<redacted>

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Dude, perhaps the family were split and 2 of them were allocated seats next to you and the third could have been sitting next to another gold member or a someone more holier than yourself. I know that is hard for you to comprehend. So shifting one person is a lot easier than possibly shifting the whole family and three other passengers.

<redacted>

I believe his wife was next to him so that leaves only a minimum of one family member from the other group in their row.

 

[JohnK]

Harden up I say! do you reckon the staff enjoy doing this and just do this to piss you off. Get real!!

Yes they do. Never move a status member back in the cabin to accommodate families and other passengers who are not bothered about being organised.

Oh and their customer service skills are just as poor.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

VA Plat - Got bumped to another seat, and separated from my VA Gold wife, to let a family move in. I ended up in a centre seat elsewhere as I wasn't permitted to sit beside the child, as I was male. They left my wife there. Unimpressed.

I'd be curious as to how you know you were not selected to sit by the child? If they actually said that, then I'd be pretty annoyed (more so than the move). I do actually understand the child needing to sit by a parent, but an automatic assumption that every male is a paedophile and every female isn't, is not just incorrect and absurd, it's actually illegal. If that was said to you (and there were other witnesses), sue them!

 

[mannej]

I'd be curious as to how you know you were not selected to sit by the child? If they actually said that, then I'd be pretty annoyed (more so than the move). I do actually understand the child needing to sit by a parent, but an automatic assumption that every male is a paedophile and every female isn't, is not just incorrect and absurd, it's actually illegal. If that was said to you (and there were other witnesses), sue them!

Good luck with that, most airlines have similar policies and make no apologies about it.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I'd be curious as to how you know you were not selected to sit by the child? If they actually said that, then I'd be pretty annoyed (more so than the move).

I do actually understand the child needing to sit by a parent, but an automatic assumption that every male is a paedophile and every female isn't, is not just incorrect and absurd, it's actually illegal. If that was said to you (and there were other witnesses), sue them!

Isn't the 'issue' males seated next to UM's ie kids travelling alone as opposed to males seated next to kids in a family group travelling with adults.

Even if that were the case he & his wife could've switched seats so she was next to the child.

UM's should be seated down the back anyway so shouldn't be seated forward where status pax generally are.

 

[Duffa]

On one occasion, I have been moved AFTER boarding.
On SQ Suites, I was asked to move to 2F to sleep so they could keep 2C in day configuration for meals and movies.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Isn't the 'issue' males seated next to UM's ie kids travelling alone as opposed to males seated next to kids in a family group travelling with adults.

In the case mentioned, it wasn't an UM though, it was a family with a child so I'm wondering if the suggestion is that airlines never allow a child (UM or in a family group) to sit beside an unknown male pax. I find that appalling as it could mean regular disruption to male paxs. I'm trying to remember if I've ever had a seat beside a child who is not in my traveling party and I can't immediately think of one, but that's not to say it hasn't happened, just that I can't recall it happening. I take your point about greglow and his wife simply swapping seats and problem resolved......so I wonder why that was not an option, probably as there was only 1 seat out of a cluster of 3 that was spare so no room for the childs parent, so the whole argument comes back to whether a family group should have the right to dislodge preallocated seating for other travellers. In greglows case, he copped a face slap, twice.....being dislodged from his seat by a family and then told he was the one to hang on to the tail (despite being platinum) simply because he was a man and it seems all airlines have some knowledge that all men cannot be trusted to sit beside a child whereas all women can. What rubbish. An UM I can understand as the airline takes responsibility for that child and as you say, they most often seat them at the back by themselves, but if more than one adult was flying with that child, theoretically the child could have swapped with one of the adults, or did the adults wish to sit together leaving the child in the single seat. If it was only one parent with the child and greglow was allocated a middle seat down the back, then that means there were two single travellers also down the back. Wouldn't it have made more sense to place the parent and child down the back and "upgrade" someone from the back to the front and leave the well organised platinum and gold travellers in the seats they originally selected? It doesn't add up to me.

 

[smatho10]

On a lighter note.. my first flight as gold BNE-NTL was booted at the gate from 3D/3F to 1D/1F
:mrgreen: was a great end to a great week in Cairns