Changing seats on a regular-sized plane

[elycelynne]

So I learned recently that on regional jets and turboprops that the flight crew has to be asked before changing to another seat due to balance issues. Does the same apply on a regular-sized (737 and above) plane? The last time I flew I saw an empty seat with nobody in the middle and was going to be polite and ask the flight attendant if I could move after we were in the air, but then someone else just plopped down in it without even asking anyone. So is it really necessary to ask permission, or can I just do what that other person did?

[fbgd]

Even on larger planes there are trim issues to consider, but usually on those that are very lightly loaded. I've been on 40min flights on a 757 where passengers were located to help keep the aircraft in balance.

 

I'd always ask unless it was something as benign as moving to an empty seat next to me. or across the aisle. Sometimes you can stray accidentally into an exit row seat, or even another cabin. United's Economy Plus cabin isn't separated from the Economy one (and with identical looking seats) so you could easily reseat yourself into an area where people have paid extra to fly there. Sometimes an announcement is made on flights telling people to stay out of Economy Plus

[kenish]

If you move to a seat that is within a few rows of your current row it won't make much difference on a larger airliner. But it's good to ask because you may be moving to a seat you didn't pay extra for. Also the cabin crew will often find less crowded rows and move passengers with premier status to those seats. Lastly, per a recent thread, people occasionally buy 3 seats for 2 people as it's less expensive than 2 first class tickets.

 

In most cases you can just move but at the risk of someone "informing" you the new seat isn't available to you.

[Theodorable]

I am from Scotland but live in Vancouver Canada. One flight that I was on from Heathrow to Vancouver (very large plane) we stopped down in Calgary to let lots of people off. Before we could carry on to Vancouver the airstewards asked all of us to move to different parts of the plane to balance out for takeoff. It was quite fun because there were so few of us!

 

Nicola

[elycelynne]

Thanks! I thought that asking the flight attendant was the correct thing to do and I have done so in the past, but I guess it kind of threw me for a loop when the person in question just took the other seat without asking anyone.

[globetrecker]

So I learned recently that on regional jets and turboprops that the flight crew has to be asked before changing to another seat due to balance issues. Does the same apply on a regular-sized (737 and above) plane? The last time I flew I saw an empty seat with nobody in the middle and was going to be polite and ask the flight attendant if I could move after we were in the air, but then someone else just plopped down in it without even asking anyone. So is it really necessary to ask permission, or can I just do what that other person did?

 

I would ask especially on the smaller planes because of balance issues. On the bigger planes most flight crews if the plane is mostly empty will tell passengers that they can move seats within their section. Or if not I would ask the person your describing seems a bit rude to just plop down without asking anyone.

[iancal]

I fly regional jets all the time-Canadairs, Embraers, Dash's. On more that one occasion we have been asked to change assigned seats because of weight balance issues.

[SelectSys]

So I learned recently that on regional jets and turboprops that the flight crew has to be asked before changing to another seat due to balance issues. Does the same apply on a regular-sized (737 and above) plane? The last time I flew I saw an empty seat with nobody in the middle and was going to be polite and ask the flight attendant if I could move after we were in the air, but then someone else just plopped down in it without even asking anyone. So is it really necessary to ask permission, or can I just do what that other person did?

 

Load and balance is an issue on all aircraft. I believe all the airlines create load plans for their aircraft and run weight and balance checks prior to departure.

 

I have only seen passengers moved twice on larger aircraft in many years of flying - once on a Jet Blue A320 and another time on an AA A300. In each case the aircraft was apparently was "tail heavy" and passengers were asked to moved forward.

 

In terms of moving to an empty seat, my rule is that once the door to the aircraft closes or the flight crew announces that all passengers are on the aircraft any unoccupied seat in my cabin of service is fair game. If you want to move just do it quickly after the door shuts and you'll be OK.

[celle]

 

In terms of moving to an empty seat, my rule is that once the door to the aircraft closes or the flight crew announces that all passengers are on the aircraft any unoccupied seat in my cabin of service is fair game. If you want to move just do it quickly after the door shuts and you'll be OK.

 

We travel international frequently and this seems to be standard parctice.

 

Flight crew do not seem to be upset by it, but I have occasionally heard an announcement requesting passengers to return to their assigned seats, in preparatioin for landing.

[Crystalbast]

In all of the years I have flown I have never had a problem with changing my seat if ther are empty seats on a full size jet. For example, bad weather impacted what should have been a full flight between Houston and Honolulu. I was able to score an entire middle row to myself and was able to rest for most of the flight. Sometimes I even was able to get better a better seat arrangement on transatlantic flights which is really sweet. The rule of thumb is you snooze your lose.