VIDEO: This is the correct way to make airplane passengers change seats with you: (2023)

There's a viral story about a TikToker being praised for a short video he made about the proper way to change seats on a plane. As this is a hot topic these days, I'm sharing the video and my tips.RELATED:Are you forced to change seats on a plane?

Anna Lyn Cook was traveling with her husband and two children on a KLM widebody plane. For some reason, he couldn't get three seats together. Looks like the middle seat was already taken in the row assigned to them. So Anna skillfully chose an aisle and a window for her son and daughter (the plane was assembled 3x3x3).

As Anna explained in her video: “When we booked this flight, for some reason we couldn't choose our seats so our family wouldn't sit together. When we got to the gate to see if they could move us, they couldn't. So let's ask the person sitting in this seat if they want to trade with me."

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Then he shows the seats he wants and what he offers: “That middle seat between Emma and Taylor is the one we hope to change. As you can see, it's quite narrow. This seat is where I belong, much more legroom, much better.”

Turns out Anna's fourth seat was a middle seat with more leg room, so the guy sitting in the middle seat between his kids was more than happy to switch. For one thing, she was away from the kids, but more importantly, she had more legroom.

Anna captioned her video: “I would never ask anyone to change seats unless I could offer them a better option. If they didn't want it, I'd be happy to take it. Also, we ALWAYS pay extra to select our seats if that option is available. But sometimes things happen and it doesn't work. This guy was so cool and it was win/win 👍🏼”

@analyncookI would never ask anyone to change seats unless I could offer a better option. If they didn't want to, happily except that. Also, we ALWAYS pay extra to select our seats if that option is available. But sometimes things happen and it doesn't work. This guy was so cool and it was win/win 👍🏼♬ as original – Anna Lyn Cook

This really is win/win and important advice. If you want to trade places with someone, know that having an aisle seat has the most bargaining power, followed by the window seat. This shouldn't be said, but unfortunately it is. You will rarely, if ever, find someone willing to move from an aisle or window seat to a middle seat.

It's unclear why the passenger chose the middle seat in the first place, but presumably there were only middle seats left, so Anna correctly chose a middle bulkhead seat that was closest to the front of the plane and had plenty of legroom. . 🇧🇷

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Whatever you do, don't try to trick people. There is a known scam where one couple books a seat in the extra legroom section and the other book a regular economy seat to save money. Then they hope the seat next to the premium seat doesn't fill (a big possibility) so the person in the regular economy class will sneak up on them or they have the audacity to ask the premium person's seatmate to switch seats. place for them. you can sit next to your partner. This scam should be a big no-no, but some travelers take the bait and switch, either because they're too nice or simply because they don't know any better. If you have a premium seat and someone asks you to do this, say, "No, but you should ask your partner to switch with your economy seatmate, I'm sure they'll be happy to switch."

Fortunately, American Airlines (AA) is fighting the first part of the scam. According to privileged aviation information,@xjonnycand travel bloggerGary Leff, which published an internal AA memo advising flight attendants:

“It is not uncommon for Main Cabin (MC) customers to ask to change seats after boarding the plane, to sit next to a family member or to move out of the middle seat, for example. However, customers may not be familiar with our seat change policy, particularly when it comes to Main Cabin Extra (MCE) seats. While you may allow a customer to change to an available seat in Main Cabin after boarding is complete, you are not permitted to change to an MCE seat unless you are booked in that class. Therefore, if a customer requests to be moved to a seat in a different seat classification (i.e. MC to MCE, MCE to First, etc.), politely decline the request unless there is a customer service or regulatory conflict. Gift. If a customer requests a seat change before the gate closes, work with the gate agent to fulfill the request. As always, please remain on the plane to avoid a minor crew violation while serving the customer.”

AA: “It appears the AA is encouraging the FA to crack down on the move to MCE seats. It remains to be seen whether they really care enough to enforce the law."

— 🇺🇦 JonNYC 🇺🇦 (@xJonNYC)November 11, 2022

It's good to see American Airlines do away with that, but if you need to share seats, this is the right way to do it:

1. Assign immediately
Assign seats together immediately. Even if it means paying extra.

2. Monitor the seats
Check your reservations to make sure the seat assignment doesn't change, as airlines sometimes change planes, which in turn messes up seats. The sooner you catch it, the better. In fact, I set myself Seat Alerts for the seats I've booked, so I know right away if I've been moved. I use ExpertFlyer for this.see how to.

3. Ask for help
If you still can't get seats together, call the airline and ask the representative for help.

4. Ask at check-in
If the reservations agent cannot help you, ask the check-in agent at the airport to help you change it.

5. Ask the gate agent
If the check-in agent cannot help, ask the gate agent for help.Bribe:Be very nice to the gate agent (another reason I bring them chocolates) and explain your situation.

6. Ask the flight attendant
If the gate agent can't help, politely ask the flight attendant to help keep your family together (another reason I bring them chocolates, too).

7. Have bargaining power
If the flight attendant can't help, make sure you have some bargaining power to convince someone to switch, like Anna did. By that, I mean a better seat (aisle or window) or one with more legroom or closer to the front of the plane.

8. Bring cash
If you can't get a better seat on offer, ask if they'll swap it for cold cash. That's right. Cash offer. Cam Newton, the former fullback for the Carolina Panthers, became famoustriedpaying someone $1,500 in cash to upgrade to a seat with more legroom, but was denied. But at least he tried with money.

9. Agree to sit separately
Unless you're traveling with a young child, it's not a big deal to split up for a flight. There have been many times that I have flown without being next to my wife (or ex-girlfriends). I've met some great people along the way because of this mindset, and on several occasions I've sat next to people who didn't even want to sit next to their partner. In fact, I just wrote about a brother and sister who didn't want to sit next to each other on a flight, but because they were both obese and didn't want to rub against each other, they let someone else sit. between them.read this story here.

10. Take a different flight
If you have small children, you would never let them sit next to strangers. I'd rather catch a later flight if all else fails. I would check the flight load and see if there is an earlier or later flight available, then ask the agent to change it (agents at airports have more power than those on the phone).

Hope this helps, and please let me know in the comments if you've had experience with this on either end of the situation. And while you're here, here they are7 tricks for getting the best economy class seat on a plane.

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