A United Airlines passenger flying from Newark to Phoenix got $500 for switching seats with another passenger. The flight was full – oversold even- and a gate agent called him up before the flight.
For $500 would you move from 21C to 24C”? Between the thoughtful way she approached me and the stress I saw on her face, I said “Of course”. Gave me a big hug and the $500 flight credit was in my account when I landed 🙂
Passengers are asked to change seats all the time. Usually they’re asked to give up something better (like the exit row aisle seat this passenger had) for something worse (like a middle seat in the back) all to help another passenger sit with their kids or spouse, when they failed to plan ahead and secure the seats they needed or were unwilling to pay to reserve the seats that they wanted.
Here, though, is the right way to resolve things. If you’re asking someone to give up something better compensate them for what they’re losing. In this case, they wound up with $500 towards future travel on United!
If you don’t have the gate agent willing to part with the airline’s scrip, consider offering your own cash. I’ve paid a child (with their parent’s permission) not to recline their seat on a Cleveland – Los Angeles flight so that I could work.
Nevertheless, if you don’t want to pay, I find that a great way to get what you want in seat swaps is,
- Ask nicely. Don’t be presumptuous.
- Offer a compelling reason for the request.
- Have a decent seat to offer in return. Make sure you get an aisle, or a window, but never a middle. You can’t expect someone to take a less desirable seat to help you.
Of course, money still helps! A reader once gave up his premium seat so that a family could sit together only to have the family sell that seat to another passenger and not actually sit together.
- The reader had paid $69 for the seat.
- They switched for free.
- And the passenger they switched with turned around and sold it for $100.
Another passenger once charged an obese seatmate $150 for taking up too much space.
I told the guy, “Look, I’ll put up with this if you give me $150 — that’s half the cost of this flight and that would compensate me enough for the circumstances.”
He instantly agrees, pulls out cash and pays me. He even told me he appreciated it.
For years I’ve been writing that one simple way to solve conflicts in the sky and get what you want is just to find a Coasian solution: you each have an initial set of rights (like your seat assignment). Those rights can stand in the way of another passenger’s preferences. So find a (cash) bargain that makes everyone whole.