Airline seats-middle seat empty query

[pcgirl54]

Dh needs the aisle seat. I prefer window for the view. No issues with two seats across an aisle.

We are planning a trip to Hawaii with long flights 5-8 hours a leg and of course I want to peer out the window. He needs the aisle.

For flights with three seats together DH said often travelers book the aisle & window seats in a row leaving the middle seat empty which is the least desirable. This is in anticipation that no one would book it. This however is not a certainty. It is acutally something I never even thought about.

Do any Tuggers do this and are you successful?

[cissy]

I always do that, especially on long flights. I'd say it remains empty 50 % of the time, but with fewer flights, it's becoming less of a probability. If there are other empty seats, there's usually no problem reseating yourself once the plane takes off.

[silvib]

We've only booked aisle seats on the same row and the middle seats haven't been empty. Again, it depends on the route, etc.etc. My long haul flight experience has been from Orlando or Miami to Europe which are usually fairly full most of the time, or at least when we've flown. If you know who you're flying with and the type of aircraft, you may be able to look up on line and see the configuration of the seats.
On some 747's I've been on, with 3 sections of seats across the body of the plane, xxx xxxx/x xxx towards the back, the 3's are reduced to 2, but it's more bumpy at the back.
As Cissy says, after take off, you can request a move.

[mtwingcpa]

I've done that a handful of times, and it has worked successfully about half the time. When it doesn't work, the person who booked that middle seat is usually THRILLED to trade for an aisle or window, thereby allowing my traveling companion and me to sit together. Everyone ends up happy. :-)

[Fletcher921]

We usually go for the aisles across from one another but I have good friends who always book the aisle-window, leaving the middle empty. Since no-one ever books a middle seat alone by choice - they middle seater is always willing to switch with either the window or the aisle person, allowing them to sit together.

I use www.seatguru.com and www.seatexpert.com to help select seats

[Nancy]

We've usually do it and have had pretty good luck with middle seat remaining vacant. With flights being fuller, that may not be the case anymore.

nancy

[Anne S]

We've done it and it has worked in the past, but not lately. I usually occupy the window seat and my husband really needs the aisle. If someone has the middle seat I offer to switch with them which means that I end up in the middle (does not make me very happy!). On our latest flight to Barbados (direct flight, duration was five and a half hours) a very big, burly fellow occupied the middle seat. I offered my window seat to him, but he declined the offer, and then proceeded to stretch out and go to sleep for the duration. And I was trapped in the window seat. And I really had to go ... In the future I will book two aisle rows across from each other!

[DebBrown]

If you're going to try it, you'll have better luck in the back of the plane. Personally, I hate sitting in the back but that's why its a better bet. When those lone middle seats start to fill, they will likely fill from the front to the back.

Deb

[Steamboat Bill]

Originally Posted by Anne S

On our latest flight to Barbados (direct flight, duration was five and a half hours) a very big, burly fellow occupied the middle seat. I offered my window seat to him, but he declined the offer, and then proceeded to stretch out and go to sleep for the duration. And I was trapped in the window seat. And I really had to go ... In the future I will book two aisle rows across from each other!

You are too kind...I would have woke his big fat you know what up so I could get out. Remember that long flights can also lead to blood clots in the legs that could actually kill you.

[grest]

We also book aisle and window all the time, and as others have found, we are left without a middle passenger about half the time, maybe a bit more...its worth trying, in my opinion.
Connie

[Ann-Marie]

We have booked aisle and window for many years. Like others have said, about 50% of the time, the middle seat is empty. However, in the last 5 years or so, we have not had that work once. So we always wind up switching with the person in the middle seat. I have never had anyone refuse to chance from the middle , however one person would only change if we gave her the aisle seat. So what ever! We still got to sit together.

[Judy]

We always book aisle and window.

Like other posters, it works about half the time. Once it backfired badly. A drunk sat in the middle seat and became really obnoxious to me. The flight attendant did nothing until I requested a different seat, because she had assumed the drunk and I were together

One thing to watch out for is that if the aircraft changes between the time you reserve your seats and when you fly, and you both have the same last name, when the airline reassigns seats, one of you might be changed to the middle seat.

[DeniseM]

The past few years our flights from CA to Hawaii have been 100% full. If you are OK with having someone in the middle, or asking them to trade, you can try it, but my experience has been that there are few empty seats on Hawaii flights.

One thing that kind of annoys me is that it is becoming the standard thing for people to ask others to trade seats with them, for their convenience. I understand that it's necessary sometime, like when children and parents are separated, but I don't think it should be standard operating procedure, like it's becoming. We book early so we can get the seats we want. I don't feel obligated to give up my seat for someone else's convenience. (pc girl, I'm not referring to your situation, I'm talking about when someone wants you to move to a different part of the plane so they can have the seat they want.)

[SherryS]

Like others, we always book window and aisle. We are in Hawaii right now (from Houston on CO) and luckily our plane had the 2-3-2 seat configuration. Many passengers failed to make our flight to Hawaii due to fog issues in Houston, so there were a number of empty seats (flight was scheduled to be full). Our flight back to the mainland will be on a 3-3 configured plane(NW), and the flight is full now, so someone is scheduled to sit inbetween DH and me. So many flights are full now days, that I wouldn't plan to have an empty seat. Just hope the weather might contribute to fewer passengers!

[djs]

I have often done window-isle, and sometimes isle-isle. I did have one time where someone in the middle was thrilled that me and my friend were together, thinking she'd get out of the middle. But we said "we'll be together all week, so we don't need to sit next to each other for the flight."

[GregGH]

Has anyone booked THREE seats on a flight like the one to Hawaii? Having that middle seat empty is so nice ... kind of a cheap business class :-) I keep threatening to do it on those nasty flights. And what options on credits if you find the flight is not packed??

We fly NWA a fair bit and they have the 24 hour (to the second) ability to buy the emergency seats - that is a good use for $25/ea. Need to take your laptop on the trip for the return ride.

And - sometimes when you check in - your class of ticket allows you to buy an upgrade to business ...and you have to buy two - your spouse doesn't doesn't seem to have any sense of humor about why you are up front. Had that happen on the way to Hawaii last year ... but no such luck on the return flight.

Flying is sure a negative these days ... I must be changing into a grump ol' man.

We need common sense business class prices.

Greg

[Anne S]

Originally Posted by DebBrown

If you're going to try it, you'll have better luck in the back of the plane. Personally, I hate sitting in the back but that's why its a better bet. When those lone middle seats start to fill, they will likely fill from the front to the back.

Deb

This is what I have always done, but it doesn't seem to work anymore, with the planes full to bursting. (See my previous post.) Furthermore, since cleaning has gone by the wayside, I'd rather not sit too close to the toilets, if you know what I mean ...

[Bruce W]

Originally Posted by GregGH

Has anyone booked THREE seats on a flight like the one to Hawaii? Having that middle seat empty is so nice ... kind of a cheap business class :-) I keep threatening to do it on those nasty flights. And what options on credits if you find the flight is not packed??

We fly NWA a fair bit and they have the 24 hour (to the second) ability to buy the emergency seats - that is a good use for $25/ea. Need to take your laptop on the trip for the return ride.

And - sometimes when you check in - your class of ticket allows you to buy an upgrade to business ...and you have to buy two - your spouse doesn't doesn't seem to have any sense of humor about why you are up front. Had that happen on the way to Hawaii last year ... but no such luck on the return flight.

Flying is sure a negative these days ... I must be changing into a grump ol' man.

We need common sense business class prices.

Greg

We bought 3 seats for the 2 of us when we flew to Seattle from Newark to go on the TUG Alaska cruise. Best couple of hundred dollars we have spent traveling. The extra seat made it much more comfortable and mitigated the inconsiderate " crush the knees in front of us"

[Judy]

Originally Posted by Bruce W

We bought 3 seats for the 2 of us when we flew to Seattle from Newark to go on the TUG Alaska cruise. Best couple of hundred dollars we have spent traveling. The extra seat made it much more comfortable and mitigated the inconsiderate " crush the knees in front of us"

Whose name did you put the middle seat in?
If the plane was overbooked and whoever was registered for that middle seat didn't show up to sit in it, could the airline sell it (again) to someone on stand-by?

[Fern Modena]

Judy,
If you want to book an extra seat, at least with Southwest, you use a variation of your normal name...like with or without a middle initial, etc. When you collect your boarding pass, you tell the agent about the other reservation. They then give you a second boarding pass, along with a sleeve that says RESERVED. You get priority boarding, and place the RESERVED sleeve on the seat next to you. They can't place anybody else in the seat as long as you check it in and get a boarding pass for it. If the plane looks full, I'd point it out to the flight attendant, however, so she doesn't miss the sleeve.

Fern

[Anne S]

Just curious--what if you book the middle seat, the plane is full, except for that lone middle seat, and somebody, for whatever reason, wants to sit in that seat? (And who would want to do that, except for a masochist, you ask.) This is what happened on a flight some years back: we had reserved (but not booked) the middle seat, and everything was just hunky-dory, and I was just settling into my luxurious extra space, when a young fellow who had been sitting some rows back asked if the seat was empty. Well, I cannot tell a lie, and anyway, everybody was accounted for and there was that empty middle seat ... Turns out that his bride, or girlfriend was seated in the middle seat in front of us, and apparently he couldn't stand to be apart from her for even the duration of the flight (JFK to Salt Lake City, as I recall). Judging from all the groping going on between those two middle seats, they were either newly wed or newly in lust ...

[Carol C]

Originally Posted by Anne S

This is what I have always done, but it doesn't seem to work anymore, with the planes full to bursting. (See my previous post.) Furthermore, since cleaning has gone by the wayside, I'd rather not sit too close to the toilets, if you know what I mean ...

Anne, you are really funny! I liked what you wrote in that other post of yours too, about "pricing dreams better".

Back to topic, I have tried booking same way, for long flights. This past Nov went to Hawaii and plane was so full it didn't work on any leg of the trip. I think it could work if you fly on red eyes...but then again, those are pretty much sardine cans these days. Moral of story: anything's worth a try, but there are no sure bets. Good luck to ya!

[Fern Modena]

Anne,
I don't understand how you could have reserved a seat that you didn't pay for. If you will check back on my previous note, I paid for the extra seat I reserved. If anybody asked to sit in it, I would show them the reserved folder. If they still had a problem, I would let the flight attendant do her job and inform them that the seat was not available (another reason to tell the FA about your extra seat when you board).

Fern

Originally Posted by Anne S

Just curious--what if you book the middle seat, the plane is full, except for that lone middle seat, and somebody, for whatever reason, wants to sit in that seat? (And who would want to do that, except for a masochist, you ask.) This is what happened on a flight some years back: we had reserved (but not booked) the middle seat, and everything was just hunky-dory, and I was just settling into my luxurious extra space, when a young fellow who had been sitting some rows back asked if the seat was empty. Well, I cannot tell a lie, and anyway, everybody was accounted for and there was that empty middle seat ... Turns out that his bride, or girlfriend was seated in the middle seat in front of us, and apparently he couldn't stand to be apart from her for even the duration of the flight (JFK to Salt Lake City, as I recall). Judging from all the groping going on between those two middle seats, they were either newly wed or newly in lust ...

[pointsjunkie]

we do it all the time, my DH loves the window , he is asleep before take-off and i need the aisle cause gravity does something to my bladder so i am up all the time. if someone chooses to sit in between us, i apologize ahead of time for my DH's snoring. we have been lucky about 50% of the time.

[Anne S]

Originally Posted by Fern Modena

Anne,
I don't understand how you could have reserved a seat that you didn't pay for. If you will check back on my previous note, I paid for the extra seat I reserved. If anybody asked to sit in it, I would show them the reserved folder. If they still had a problem, I would let the flight attendant do her job and inform them that the seat was not available (another reason to tell the FA about your extra seat when you board).

Fern

Fern, I owe you an apology. I didn't mean to say that I had reserved the middle seat. What I meant to say is that I had reserved the window and aisle seat and the middle seat would have been empty, had it not been for the randy Romeo. (Note to self: Do not even think of posting before having that second cup of coffee!)