- Mitra Amirzadeh, an Orlando-based flight attendant, said seat swap requests are so frequent that they occur during eight out of 10 shifts a month.
- She says she relies on mediating situations involving children and assigning passengers the role of caretaker if a replacement volunteer cannot be found.
- A former flight attendant took to TikTok to offer insight into the chances of a successful seat swap.
A flight attendant has revealed the ‘punishment’ she received for passengers who refused to change seats to help families with young children, saying 80 per cent of her trips are now plagued by similar requests. he said.
Mitra Amirzadeh, an Orlando-based flight attendant, said seat swap requests have become so frequent that they occur during eight of her 10 shifts a month.
Amirzadeh, 38, said he rarely intervenes, but will intervene as a meditator when children are involved.
When willing volunteers don’t emerge, she resorts to a more aggressive approach. This means assigning a permanent passenger to the role of babysitter for the estranged child.
“As I said before, she said, ‘Okay, now can you watch the toddler?’ Wall Street Journal. “That’s when you’ll want snacks and coloring books, because they’re going to need that.”
Amirzadeh highlighted an increase in requests from couples seated separately.
The flight attendant, who represents a union at an airline that has introduced advance seat selection fees, believes passengers who expect a specific seat should pay in advance.
“The next time you’re angry or frustrated that you can’t get the seat you want (…) you have to remind yourself that you didn’t pay to choose the seat. If you don’t, you’re going to get caught up in it, too,” she told The Wall Street Journal.
Another former flight attendant also took to TikTok to offer insight into the chances of a successful seat swap.
“Have you ever wanted to change your seat on a plane so you can sit next to a friend or partner? Here’s the success rate for changing seats, couples edition,” TikTok user Jeanie Weenie said in a video. It received over 10,000 likes.
If a couple wants to swap seats with a single passenger in the same area, the chances are almost 100 percent, she says.
“I’ve never been told no by anyone,” she said.
However, if the seat change moves one passenger to the back of the plane, the chance decreases to about 20%.
Also, if the seat is near a toilet or a crying baby, the success rate drops sharply to about 40%.
On the other hand, if you ask a passenger to give up their window or aisle seat for a middle seat, they’re even less likely to agree, about 10%.
But if you do the opposite, give up your window or aisle seat for a middle seat, your odds increase to 99.9 percent.
“Would you like to exchange your aisle or window seat for a similar seat nearby? Almost certainly yes,” she said in the video.
“But are you willing to trade that middle seat for a coveted aisle or window? The odds drop to just 10 to 15 percent.”
I move seats with other classes, but she laughs and says, “Please don’t do that.”
Airlines’ seat fees and basic economy restrictions have turned simple seat swap requests into potential problems, and sometimes dramatic spectacles and contentious discussions, both on the plane and online.
Passengers who request a seat change are often accused of being stingy or arrogant, while passengers who refuse are called selfish and unkind. When tensions rise, flight attendants find themselves caught in the middle.
In recent years, many seat-switching dramas have become a hot topic on the internet, with one incident garnering 6.6 million views and a flood of comments with various opposing opinions.
The discussion became so heated that the original poster had to provide a detailed diagram of the seat change request before cutting off further discussion.
Last year, a frequent flyer reluctantly gave up his seat to another passenger and issued a seat swap PSA to his fellow passengers after the nightmarish experience of being forced to move five times.
Unidentified man tells Reddit story of seat swap that ‘changed forever’ [his] Always be nice and try to swap seats with someone. ”
He reignited a heated debate over travel etiquette after a frequent flyer was praised for refusing to change his seat so a woman could sit by the window.
He shared his experience in a thread dedicated to Delta Air Lines, adding that the tragic incident happened eight years ago while he was on a flight from New York City to Utah.
He writes: “This was about 8 years ago. I was tired to death. I was working and Tinder in New York last week and it was my first trip to New York. I was tired from working long hours and not getting enough sleep from being out at night. It’s over.
I will take an evening flight straight to SLC. I’m looking forward to taking a seat. I prepared by taking Nyquil sleeping pills. The seat you should know about is the 12th row. ABC DEF. ”
He walked around the plane, clutching his ticket marked 12F in his hand.
When he reached the aisle, he saw a woman sitting in his assigned seat.
“As I walk down the aisle to my row. All the seats in CDEF are occupied. I have a ticket for the 12th floor. Of course, I tell the woman in my seat that this is my seat.
“She claims it’s hers, but I must be wrong. (Look at the sentence before you hold the ticket in your hand).
“She had to search forever in her bag to find the ticket to make sure she had 12A and “settled” so I could just sit in my seat so I didn’t have to move.” I ask. Are you okay. Same seat. It doesn’t matter to me. I sit in 12A and fall asleep,” he said.
However, his nap is interrupted when a woman sitting in his seat approaches him and demands that he take his seat back.
“After a while, a woman from the 12th floor stood in the aisle and tapped me on the shoulder to say she needed a seat. She said she had a ticket and needed a seat because she was claustrophobic (12B 12A seems better than 12F right now because it’s vacant),” he explained.
Even though he was sure she was “full of disgust” and just wanted the middle seat to herself, he swapped it with her again because it was officially her seat.
A nearby passenger took notice and told the man that he was “kind” for putting up with the frequent seat changes.
“I agree, but damn, I want to sleep so bad I’m going to fall asleep again,” he added.
However, his doze is again interrupted when the same woman approaches him again.
“A short while later, the woman woke me up again. She was suffering from a panic attack and had decided to get off the plane, so she again offered to give me back the 12A. (Waiting for the pilot) (The door was not closed yet due to the delay).
“I nod to 12E’s opinion that he should have taken 12A. He would have had a better seat than the middle seat, but he “settled” so he went back to 12A and 12E ended up sliding down to 12F. “Of course I fall asleep again,” he said.
Then the passenger wakes up again, this time to another traveler who asks him to move so he can sit in 12A.
“I was woken up a short time later by a man standing in the aisle telling me I was in my seat. The plane door was still open and the claustrophobic woman had exited the plane. , he was issued this seat, so he has a ticket for 12A that he just printed.
‘what can i do? He doesn’t know everything about what happened, but he is certain that it is officially his seat.
“I was so exhausted that I turned to 12C and said, ‘Sorry, I’m going to slide into 12B. I’m not going to steal my seat from 12E, who’s currently in seat 12F.'” I fell asleep again. I’ll put it away,” he added.
Of course, his sleep doesn’t last long. The man in seat 12A decided to move to the back of the plane, so he was offered a seat in the back.
He explained: “After a while, I was woken up by the guy in 12A and he said he could take a seat because he was going to the back where there were more empty seats.”
“The plane has just closed the door after sitting at the gate for three hours. I’m going back to seat 12A to go to sleep and getting ready for takeoff.”
At the end of his post, he advised travelers to stay seated no matter what.
“Never give up your seat, folks,” he said.
People flocked to the comments section to agree with the man, as many social media users shared their experiences.
One person said, “I agreed a million times.”
How do you frame a seat change question? In an interview with MailOnline Travel last year, etiquette expert Diane Gottesman revealed the best way to convince someone to give up their seat on a plane.
“If you’re changing seats on a plane, it’s always best to plan ahead so you can sit next to each other when you book your flight,” said Gottsman, founder of the Texas Protocol School. . If that’s not possible, it’s a delicate situation to ask someone who has selected their seat in advance to change it. ”
First and foremost, Gottsman recommends replacing passengers with equivalent seats.
she said: “For example, an aisle seat has an aisle and a window seat has a window. It would be inappropriate to ask someone in an aisle seat to switch to a middle seat in order to sit next to a friend or loved one.”
Most airlines prioritize seating families together.
For example, British Airways ensures that children under the age of 12 are seated next to their parents on the same booking. What’s more, if you’re traveling with an infant under the age of 2 on British Airways, you’ll be able to choose seats for yourself and everyone else on your booking for free. Ryanair, on the other hand, allows up to four children to be allocated free seats for each adult who purchases a seat.
With this in mind, Gottsman reveals that if you’re traveling with your family, flight attendants may be able to help.
She said: “If the situation is that you want to sit next to a younger child, [or] Of course, as a family member, you can understand this and ask the flight attendants for help. ”
