Seat poacher

[CaptJCool]

Well in Australia
We have G, M & 1
But skipping 6 & 13 for various
bad lucks

The USA has 1, 2 and perhaps the Mezzanine

 

[bashworth]

Managed to choose the wrong row a couple of times myself (my excuse is being shattered on the 2nd leg of 2 long haul sectors) but always very apologetic if it turns out to be another passengers seat.

Several years ago in my long haul economy times I can admit to being quick to move into an empty row as soon as the door closed!

Last year I did see someone who moved around the business class seats as the seats were claimed, on a Latam flight from Santiago,

After about 5 moves Business Class was full and she was escorted off the plane. I can only assume she was a staff member trying her luck on standby.

 

[JohnK]

And then, after Row 40, it may go Row 7, 3, 58, 28, 23, 5 …. ?

No but it could easily go from row 6 to row 23. So if you were in row 24 and you saw row 6 you'd think there's another 17 rows and you'd end up way down the back?

This is where smart people like me can look straight ahead but actually see the row numbers above so the people sitting there don't think I'm stupid.

 

[fly2earth]

I had an interesting experience several years ago. I was flying long haul Y. I had booked myself an exit row seat.

Boarded reasonably late in the process only to find another pax in my seat. The obligatory "sorry, I think you're in my seat" comment. He pulled out his BP that shows him in that seat. My BP also shows me to be in that seat. We had similar but not identical names as well (think "Grem Lin" vs "Grem Lang").

FA wanders past and tells me to take my seat. I said that we both had a BP for the same seat. She commented that one of us must be looking at the BP for our connecting flight. We both show our BPs. She stares at one, then the other, then back at the first, then at the other and then says "I've never seen this before". Calls the cabin supervisor over who then goes to check the manifest.

Manifest shows me in the exit row and the other guy in a middle seat towards the back. THAT seat was also currently occupied by a standby pax who had received a late call up at the gate.

Lots of too-ing and fro-ing. Flight held up best part of forty minutes but ultimately I ended up with my exit row seat, "Grem Lang" ended up unhappily in a middle row at the back and standby pax, most unhappily of all, trudged off the plane and back up the aerobridge.

He got the $600 compensation. He the real winner

 

[jb747]

After about 5 moves Business Class was full and she was escorted off the plane. I can only assume she was a staff member trying her luck on standby.

And why do you assume that? A staff passenger will need a boarding pass to get past the gate, same as anyone else. It will have been an economy passenger trying for a self upgrade. Fair chance I can guess the nationality too.

 

[JohnK]

And then, after Row 40, it may go Row 7, 3, 58, 28, 23, 5 …. ?

Thai Smile all economy aircraft row starts at row 31 not row 48 as I mentioned up thread. You'd be in trouble if you had row 32 and thought that was down the back?

https://www.thaiairways.com/en_NO/experience_my_thai/our_aircraft/aircraft/32S.page?

 

[Flying Fox]

I had a seat poacher (I quite like this tern of phrase) situation a few years ago flying out of Washington DC with the Mrs.

I had booked a window seat in the first row of Y as I really did want to take pics of DC as we flew out. Upon boarding a family of three were in our seats. I spoke to them and they said nothing as if they didn't speak English. Fair enough, I asked for their boarding passes and they very slowly handed them over. Their mistake. I asked them to move and they didn't. I asked again and said that I would have to get a FA to sort this out.

At this point two of the three stood up and moved to their correct seats across the isle. I asked the boy to move to his correct seat and mum said, 'no stay there.' She amazingly learnt English in 5 seconds. Anyway, I motioned for a FA and the boys complied (I can't blame him as he was only following his parent's instruction).

I was super annoyed by their actions.

To add insult to injury Mum took a phone call as we hurtled down the runway. The man next to her had to tell her to get off the phone. I didn't fear for my life by the phone call but it annoyed me further.

Can't believe how selfish and self-important some people are.

 

[Gremlin]

To add insult to injury Mum took a phone call as we hurtled down the runway

Unrelated to seat poaching, but highly related to inappropriate times to take a phone call...

I was once at a wedding where one of the bridesmaids answered her phone (it was on loud) during the exchanging of the rings. It was in a church. She walked over to the edge of the altar, leaned against it and talked to whoever it was for about three minutes. She then resumed her spot.

 

[kyle]

I booked and paid for exit row seat on JQ international (44a}. Nobody else paid in my row so 2 spare seats next to me. A group of 3-4 young Asian women (presumably JP - departing from Hanida) boarded who had allocated seats elsewhere as they were passing one of them motioned to the others left the group and sat in 44c.

As crew are.preparing for departure an FA comes along with iPad and asks to see her boarding pass and then tells her firmly you have an allocated seat go sit in it. The woman was really huffy and very reluctantly moved.

Later in the flight after take off same woman comes back and sits in 44c again. Same FA comes along hands on hip and stares at her. Woman gets up and moves again.

Later during the night lights out and everyone settled down she is back again in 44c.

Self entitled generation.

Should have told her 44 means double death in Canto.

 

[ols]

Can't believe how selfish and self-important some people are.

I hate it when people are selfish and self important.....................unless it's me

 

[Larko1]

I hate it when people are selfish and self important.....................unless it's me

NWKWYR

 

[elanshin]

Should have told her 44 means double death in Canto.

Means the same thing in Japanese.

It's why there's an alternate reading for the numbers 4 and 7 that is commonly used

 

[dajop]

I sat in the wrong seat once, coming back from SYD to MEL in the evening, rather tired. I didn't pay particular attention and sat in row 28 instead of 29 (or vice versa, what ever the row number was). Nothing particularly noteworthy about this, not a deliberate attempt to poach a different seat, and I simply moved to the right seat when the woman who had the seat came along and pointed it out .

However when I reached MEL, back then I'd only been with my partner for a year or two and didn't travel so much, so he came to pick me up at the airport and met me at the gate. As I deplaned I noticed him talking to the woman whose seat I sat in, turned out to be his boss.

 

[tdimdad]

I've poached by mistake a couple of times. If I have a window seat, it's usually A. One time, after work, I was on autopilot, spotted the right row and out of old habit turned right. When the right pax came along and asked about my seat, I first thought they'd be mistaken but then it slowly dawned that I'm on the wrong side of the isle.
Despite watching the row numbers, I've also managed to sit in a wrong row.

A few years back, I had paid for an extra legroom window seat and found a family of four occupying the window side of the isle. They tried first to offer me their middle section isle seat and were taken aback when I wanted to keep my window. With grunts and probably a few curses muttered quietly, they gradually found their own seats.

 

[p--and--t]

With grunts and probably a few curses muttered quietly,

That gets me.

In most cases:
They know they poached.
They know they are wrong

And then they are resentful and try and guilt trip you like you are the bad guy for expecting what you paid for.

 

[dairyfloss]

I was travelling weekly SYD<>DRW for a number of months, many years back.. often in J... and departing DRW on the red-eyes, there were 2 or 3 occasions where people boarded and tried to self-upgrade as they came through 'the fancy section'. The amazement and giggling gave them away to the FAs very quickly each time, though

 

[MARTINE]

That gets me.

In most cases:
They know they poached.
They know they are wrong

And then they are resentful and try and guilt trip you like you are the bad guy for expecting what you paid for.

Next time try and sit on them—oops wrong seat

 

[fly2earth]

I had a seat poacher (I quite like this tern of phrase) situation a few years ago flying out of Washington DC with the Mrs.

I had booked a window seat in the first row of Y as I really did want to take pics of DC as we flew out. Upon boarding a family of three were in our seats. I spoke to them and they said nothing as if they didn't speak English. Fair enough, I asked for their boarding passes and they very slowly handed them over. Their mistake. I asked them to move and they didn't. I asked again and said that I would have to get a FA to sort this out.

At this point two of the three stood up and moved to their correct seats across the isle. I asked the boy to move to his correct seat and mum said, 'no stay there.' She amazingly learnt English in 5 seconds. Anyway, I motioned for a FA and the boys complied (I can't blame him as he was only following his parent's instruction).

I was super annoyed by their actions.

To add insult to injury Mum took a phone call as we hurtled down the runway. The man next to her had to tell her to get off the phone. I didn't fear for my life by the phone call but it annoyed me further.

Can't believe how selfish and self-important some people are.

Mum: E...T....go...home...

 

[trooper]

I had an interesting experience several years ago. I was flying long haul Y. I had booked myself an exit row seat.

Boarded reasonably late in the process only to find another pax in my seat. The obligatory "sorry, I think you're in my seat" comment. He pulled out his BP that shows him in that seat. My BP also shows me to be in that seat. We had similar but not identical names as well (think "Grem Lin" vs "Grem Lang").

FA wanders past and tells me to take my seat. I said that we both had a BP for the same seat. She commented that one of us must be looking at the BP for our connecting flight. We both show our BPs. She stares at one, then the other, then back at the first, then at the other and then says "I've never seen this before". Calls the cabin supervisor over who then goes to check the manifest.

Had this on an NZ flight AKL-LAX. Exit row aisle seat... and we both had the same seat number on BP's. FA scratched her head and said she'd talk to the senior FA. I quickly pointed out to her that I HAD submitted a points UG request for PE (Hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained )and after a bit more head scratching that is where they put me. (Not sure I ended up having the UG points deducted either....)

 

[DC3]

Experiences shared here seem to indicate that often the poacher has no consideration at all for the poachee.