Do Airlines Let You Book Two Seats for One Person?

George already said what his personal experience, and those of many
others, actually was. I don't think we need to conjecture on anything
really, do we? I understand why he's getting frustrated. Someone
asks....he gives an actual real-life experience, and then a long
thread starts on guessing what "might" happen.

June

"Jean O'Boyle" wrote in message
m...

"George Leppla" wrote in message
...
Excuse me. Here I thought my numerous real-life personal
experiences and the experiences of a few hundreds of other people I
know would be enough to show that this doesn't usually happen....
but why listen to factual information when we can rely on Tom's
hypothetical suppositions?

As long as we have Tom's conjecture, we have no need for facts and
I apologize for taking up the newsgroup's time.

Whoa! Before we let tempers flare..:-) I know that you personally
have had multi experiences with two seats being reserved for people
who have a weight problem, George...I myself, would really
appreciate it, if I were in a 3 seat configuration seating with a
person who was very large and they purchased two seats..It would
definitely be more comfortable for me..But just as a hypothetical
question, as Tom posted, and if I understood him correctly, ..If a
thin person purchased two seats and the airline were
overbooked...would that thin person be asked or pressured to give up
that second seat..and if they were, would they be compensated if
they agreed to do that? I'm curious...

--Jean

"Jean O'Boyle" wrote

If a thin person purchased two seats and the airline were
overbooked...would that thin person be asked or pressured to give up that
second seat..and if they were, would they be compensated if they agreed to
do that? I'm curious...


I must be missing something here because this is fairly obvious, at least to
me, and it has nothing to do with the size of the person buying the tickets.

1) If you buy an airline seat and pay for it, it is yours. You can sit in it
or not, you paid for the use of it so use it as you please.

2) If the flight is overbooked, the airline may ask for volunteers to give
up their seats. Would they ask someone with an extra seat? They would ask
fat people, skinny people, people with their favorite clarinet and people
who look like they shop at Wal-Mart. Yes... and they would ask ALL
passengers the same thing.

3) If you give up your seat (the one you are sitting in or the extra one you
bought) you will be compensated. The airline can not
"take away" your confirmed seat without offering some kind of compensation.

So let's put this in another light.

Does anyone reading this group know of any case where someone bought an
extra seat and it was taken away from them against their wishes?

Below are some excerpts from US Airways website outlining overbooking
policies and how they handle those situations and how they compensate people
who are denied boarding:
----------------------------------------------

Airline flights may be overbooked, and there is a slight chance that a seat
will not be available on a flight for which a person has a confirmed
reservation. If the flight is overbooked, no one will be denied a seat until
US Airways personnel first ask for volunteers willing to give up their
reservation in exchange for a payment of US Airways' choosing. If there are
not enough volunteers US Airways will deny boarding to other persons in
accordance with its boarding priority. With few exceptions persons denied
boarding involuntarily are entitled to compensation. The complete rules for
the payment of compensation and US Airways' boarding priorities are
available at airport ticket counters and boarding locations.

X. Denied Boarding
Upon request US Airways will advise a customer if his/her flight is
overbooked. When US Airways is unable to provide a previously confirmed seat
due to more customers holding confirmed reservations and tickets on a flight
than there are available seats on the flight, US Airways will take the
actions regarding voluntary and/or involuntary denied boarding specified
below.

Voluntary
Request for Volunteers: US Airways will request customers to
relinquish their seats voluntarily in exchange for compensation (monetary or
travel credit) as determined by US Airways. The request for, and selection
of, volunteers will be in a manner determined solely by US Airways.
Selection of volunteers is based on a variety of factors. Volunteers may not
be selected in the order received, and some may not be selected.

Involuntary
Boarding Priorities: If a flight is oversold and there are not enough
volunteers, other customers may be denied boarding involuntarily, in
accordance with the following:
a.. The last customer(s) to present him/herself (themselves) at the
boarding gate may be denied boarding in the event of an overbooked flight.
b.. Boarding preference will be given to Dividend Miles members
based on their status in the program and time of check-in.
c.. Special efforts will be made to never involuntarily deny
boarding to customers requiring special assistance, unaccompanied minors or
connecting customers.

Transportation for Customers Denied Boarding
US Airways will transport customers who have been denied boarding,
whether voluntarily or involuntarily, on its next flight on which space is
available at no additional cost to the customer. If US Airways is unable to
provide onward transportation, US Airways will attempt to arrange for
transportation for the customer on the next available flight of another
airline with which US Airways has an agreement allowing the acceptance of
each other's tickets, at no additional cost to the customer.

Compensation for Flights Within the United States and Canada
Voluntary - Volunteers on flights within the United States and Canada
will be offered one of the following types of compensation as determined by
US Airways:
a.. A transferable voucher for one free roundtrip coach class ticket
on US Airways within the United States and Canada,
OR
b.. A transferable voucher for a discount on a future ticket
purchase on US Airways, valid systemwide.

Involuntary - Customers denied boarding involuntarily on flights
within the United States and Canada will be offered one of the following
types of compensation:

a.. A transferable voucher for one free roundtrip coach class ticket
on US Airways within the United States and Canada,
OR
b.. Cash compensation in the amount of 200% of the sum of the values
of the customer's remaining flight coupons of the ticket to the customer's
next stopover, or if none, to his/her destination, but not more than
$400.00. However, the compensation shall be 50% of the amount described
above, but not more than $200.00, if US Airways arranges for comparable air
transportation, or for other transportation acceptable to the customer,
scheduled to arrive not later than two hours after the planned arrival, at
the airport of the customer's next stopover, or at the airport of the
customer's destination of the flight on which the customer holds a confirmed
reservation.
----------------------------------------


--
George in PA http://www.countryside-travel.com

The Mother of All Group Cruises 2 - http://www.moagc2.com/
May 20, 2006, Caribbean Princess - http://cruisemaster.com/caribprin.htm
October 29, 2006 - SLEAZY 4! http://cruisemaster.com/sleazy4.htm

"jcz" wrote in message
news
George already said what his personal experience, and those of many
others, actually was. I don't think we need to conjecture on anything
really, do we? I understand why he's getting frustrated. Someone
asks....he gives an actual real-life experience, and then a long thread
starts on guessing what "might" happen.

June

June, I know that George has had a lot of experience with his large group of
people seeking weight loss therapy and their booking the two seats ..it is a
fact that is understood and visually apparent because of their size...But
what I'd like to know is, if a small or thin person booked two seats on an
overbooked flight..would they be given the same consideration...or offered
compensation for giving up the extra seat because of the fault that the
airline overbooked? I believe that was what Tom was referring to, also...Is
there anyone who has actually been in that position and if they have, what
if any, problems did they incur? I have met George and Tom several times,
like them both very much and I consider them both my friends..just do not
want to see them at odds with each other. ;-)

--Jean

"George Leppla" wrote:


"Jean O'Boyle" wrote

If a thin person purchased two seats and the airline were
overbooked...would that thin person be asked or pressured to give up that
second seat..and if they were, would they be compensated if they agreed to
do that? I'm curious...

I must be missing something here because this is fairly obvious, at least to
me, and it has nothing to do with the size of the person buying the tickets.

1) If you buy an airline seat and pay for it, it is yours. You can sit in it
or not, you paid for the use of it so use it as you please.

This is not quite true. You don't pay for a seat. You pay for the
airline to get you from one place to another.

They let you book a specific seat as a courtesy and also to make
things easier for themselves so that you don't have to grab a seat
when you get on like on Southwest.

Anyway


The only comparable situation that I can think of for a small person
being pressured to give up an extra seat would be when a person with a
child books a seat for a lap child. I have heard of people with lap
children (under 2) who booked a seat for the child and who were
pressured to give the seat up so that an adult (who was paying more)
could have a seat.

I have ALSO heard of cases where a parent books a seat for an older
but still young child and had seats that were adjacent, but the type
of airplane that was being used was changed, and the adult and the
child were separated into different sections. So I think it is
entirely possible that seats that were originally booked to be
adjacent might be separated - that wouldn't matter for a bass fiddle -
I don't suppose the fiddle would care who it was next to, but it would
matter if someone booked two seats for one person to have more space.

Airlines can force a large person to buy two seats. And in that case
it would be necessary that the two seats be together. But they may or
may not honor the booking of a thin person who just doesn't want to be
crowded.

2) If the flight is overbooked, the airline may ask for volunteers to give
up their seats. Would they ask someone with an extra seat? They would ask
fat people, skinny people, people with their favorite clarinet and people
who look like they shop at Wal-Mart. Yes... and they would ask ALL
passengers the same thing.

This doesn't have anything to do with it. Yes of course they'd ask
everyone, but my feeling is that they'd go first to the seat with no
body assigned to it.

3) If you give up your seat (the one you are sitting in or the extra one you
bought) you will be compensated. The airline can not
"take away" your confirmed seat without offering some kind of compensation.

So let's put this in another light.

Does anyone reading this group know of any case where someone bought an
extra seat and it was taken away from them against their wishes?

Below are some excerpts from US Airways website outlining overbooking
policies and how they handle those situations and how they compensate people
who are denied boarding:
----------------------------------------------

Airline flights may be overbooked, and there is a slight chance that a seat
will not be available on a flight for which a person has a confirmed
reservation. If the flight is overbooked, no one will be denied a seat until
US Airways personnel first ask for volunteers willing to give up their
reservation in exchange for a payment of US Airways' choosing. If there are
not enough volunteers US Airways will deny boarding to other persons in
accordance with its boarding priority. With few exceptions persons denied
boarding involuntarily are entitled to compensation. The complete rules for
the payment of compensation and US Airways' boarding priorities are
available at airport ticket counters and boarding locations.

X. Denied Boarding
Upon request US Airways will advise a customer if his/her flight is
overbooked. When US Airways is unable to provide a previously confirmed seat
due to more customers holding confirmed reservations and tickets on a flight
than there are available seats on the flight, US Airways will take the
actions regarding voluntary and/or involuntary denied boarding specified
below.

Voluntary
Request for Volunteers: US Airways will request customers to
relinquish their seats voluntarily in exchange for compensation (monetary or
travel credit) as determined by US Airways. The request for, and selection
of, volunteers will be in a manner determined solely by US Airways.
Selection of volunteers is based on a variety of factors. Volunteers may not
be selected in the order received, and some may not be selected.

Involuntary
Boarding Priorities: If a flight is oversold and there are not enough
volunteers, other customers may be denied boarding involuntarily, in
accordance with the following:
a.. The last customer(s) to present him/herself (themselves) at the
boarding gate may be denied boarding in the event of an overbooked flight.
b.. Boarding preference will be given to Dividend Miles members
based on their status in the program and time of check-in.
c.. Special efforts will be made to never involuntarily deny
boarding to customers requiring special assistance, unaccompanied minors or
connecting customers.

Transportation for Customers Denied Boarding
US Airways will transport customers who have been denied boarding,
whether voluntarily or involuntarily, on its next flight on which space is
available at no additional cost to the customer. If US Airways is unable to
provide onward transportation, US Airways will attempt to arrange for
transportation for the customer on the next available flight of another
airline with which US Airways has an agreement allowing the acceptance of
each other's tickets, at no additional cost to the customer.

Compensation for Flights Within the United States and Canada
Voluntary - Volunteers on flights within the United States and Canada
will be offered one of the following types of compensation as determined by
US Airways:
a.. A transferable voucher for one free roundtrip coach class ticket
on US Airways within the United States and Canada,
OR
b.. A transferable voucher for a discount on a future ticket
purchase on US Airways, valid systemwide.

Involuntary - Customers denied boarding involuntarily on flights
within the United States and Canada will be offered one of the following
types of compensation:

a.. A transferable voucher for one free roundtrip coach class ticket
on US Airways within the United States and Canada,
OR
b.. Cash compensation in the amount of 200% of the sum of the values
of the customer's remaining flight coupons of the ticket to the customer's
next stopover, or if none, to his/her destination, but not more than
$400.00. However, the compensation shall be 50% of the amount described
above, but not more than $200.00, if US Airways arranges for comparable air
transportation, or for other transportation acceptable to the customer,
scheduled to arrive not later than two hours after the planned arrival, at
the airport of the customer's next stopover, or at the airport of the
customer's destination of the flight on which the customer holds a confirmed
reservation.
----------------------------------------

grandma Rosalie

And I already explained (earlier in this tread) the personal experience a
friend had. His wife had to cancel just prior to the flight. The airline
refused to give them a refund. And they refused to allow him to keep an
open seat next to him, even though he paid for it. He was flying to Germany
from the US.

Real experience.

Or do we only count George's personal experiences?

--Tom

"jcz" wrote in message
news
George already said what his personal experience, and those of many
others, actually was. I don't think we need to conjecture on anything
really, do we? I understand why he's getting frustrated. Someone
asks....he gives an actual real-life experience, and then a long thread
starts on guessing what "might" happen.

June

"Jean O'Boyle" wrote in message
m...

"George Leppla" wrote in message
...
Excuse me. Here I thought my numerous real-life personal experiences
and the experiences of a few hundreds of other people I know would be
enough to show that this doesn't usually happen.... but why listen to
factual information when we can rely on Tom's hypothetical suppositions?

As long as we have Tom's conjecture, we have no need for facts and I
apologize for taking up the newsgroup's time.

Whoa! Before we let tempers flare..:-) I know that you personally have
had multi experiences with two seats being reserved for people who have a
weight problem, George...I myself, would really appreciate it, if I were
in a 3 seat configuration seating with a person who was very large and
they purchased two seats..It would definitely be more comfortable for
me..But just as a hypothetical question, as Tom posted, and if I
understood him correctly, ..If a thin person purchased two seats and the
airline were overbooked...would that thin person be asked or pressured to
give up that second seat..and if they were, would they be compensated if
they agreed to do that? I'm curious...

--Jean

"George Leppla" wrote in message
...

"Jean O'Boyle" wrote

If a thin person purchased two seats and the airline were
overbooked...would that thin person be asked or pressured to give up that
second seat..and if they were, would they be compensated if they agreed
to
do that? I'm curious...


I must be missing something here because this is fairly obvious, at least
to
me, and it has nothing to do with the size of the person buying the
tickets.

1) If you buy an airline seat and pay for it, it is yours. You can sit in
it
or not, you paid for the use of it so use it as you please.

2) If the flight is overbooked, the airline may ask for volunteers to give
up their seats. Would they ask someone with an extra seat? They would
ask
fat people, skinny people, people with their favorite clarinet and people
who look like they shop at Wal-Mart. Yes... and they would ask ALL
passengers the same thing.

3) If you give up your seat (the one you are sitting in or the extra one
you
bought) you will be compensated. The airline can not
"take away" your confirmed seat without offering some kind of
compensation.

So let's put this in another light.

Does anyone reading this group know of any case where someone bought an
extra seat and it was taken away from them against their wishes?


From my earlier post in this tread:

"A number of years ago, a friend from work booked a flight to Europe for
himself and his wife. She ended up canceling the last minute. The airline
refused to refund her fare, and they refused to allow our friend to have the
seat that he paid for empty next to him."

Key points...

They paid for the ticket.
The airline wouldn't refund the ticket.
The airline wouldn't let my friend keep an empty seat next to him, even
though he paid for it.

--Tom

"Tom K" wrote

And I already explained (earlier in this tread) the personal experience a
friend had. His wife had to cancel just prior to the flight. The airline
refused to give them a refund. And they refused to allow him to keep an
open seat next to him, even though he paid for it. He was flying to
Germany from the US.

I'm sorry but your example has nothing to do with the subject since no one
person bought two seats for their personal use.

When the wife cancelled, the seat reverted back to the airline. Most
economy airline tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable. Her
reservation was separate from her husband's. The seat was in HER name, not
your friend's. Your friend had no legal right to his wife's cancelled
seat. By agreement, once she cancelled, the seat became property of the
airline and they can and will re-sell it.

When someone buys two seats, they do so in their own name. BOTH seats are
reserved by the same name, same person. No one in your example bought two
seats for the sole use of one person. There were two separate reservations
and one was cancelled. The reservation was not transferable to another
person even if it was her husband.

BTW - even though she cancelled, it is highly likely that your friend was
able to get some kind of credit towards another airline ticket... probably
minus a service fee. Unless he was a complete boob, he didn't walk away
empty handed.

Or do we only count George's personal experiences?

Well let's see. I've been a travel agent for 13 years (my 13th anniversary
was yesterday) and I have already stated that not only have I bought two
seats for myself in the past but I have helped hundreds of other people do
the same thing. We can weigh that against the sole experience you cite of a
"friend" who bought two separate seats for two separate people and one had
to cancel. Neither of these people were asked or forced to give up a seat
as was asked by the OP.

So what does your anecdotal "experience" have to do with the original
poster's question?

--
George in PA http://www.countryside-travel.com

The Mother of All Group Cruises 2 - http://www.moagc2.com/
May 20, 2006, Caribbean Princess - http://cruisemaster.com/caribprin.htm
October 29, 2006 - SLEAZY 4! http://cruisemaster.com/sleazy4.htm

this happened to us and they advised us to ask once on board if someone
would switch so eithe rmy husband or i could sit next to our son (he was 7
at the time) i did not want to take that chance, so they wound up putting
us on another flight and compensated us for not being ablet o be on our
original flight. we origially had seat assignments and they got changed

--
Sheree

Crown Princess 8/25/06

"Capt Mary Kidd" wrote in message
...
The message
from Rosalie B. contains these words:

I have heard of people with lap
children (under 2) who booked a seat for the child and who were
pressured to give the seat up so that an adult (who was paying more)
could have a seat.

That is outrageous. It should be compulsory for all kids to have a
booked seat regardless of age anyway imo. I always booked a seat for my
kids when they were under 2. On occasion I was asked if I had paid for
the seat they were occupying as someone wanted it & all I ever had to do
was show the boarding card, then all was fine. I was never asked if I
would give it up, the answer would have been NO.

I have ALSO heard of cases where a parent books a seat for an older
but still young child and had seats that were adjacent, but the type
of airplane that was being used was changed, and the adult and the
child were separated into different sections.

Wonderful [not].... I'd love to have to sit next to someone else's kid.
I don't think so, as you can bet your bottom $ the affected person would
soon be willing to swap seats with the parent

No-one has ever tried to split us up as a family, and even in one case
all 4 of us were upgraded to 1st because they could not find 2 x 2's in
economy, only 4 singles and the airline [AA] specifically stated to us
that they could not split a child from parent whatever age. [Mine were
12 and 8 at the time, so not that young either].

--
Pam

I didn't see how your real experience had anything to do with the OP's
question. They were talking about one person buying two seats. George
answered the actual question.

June

"Tom K" wrote in message
...
And I already explained (earlier in this tread) the personal
experience a friend had. His wife had to cancel just prior to the
flight. The airline refused to give them a refund. And they
refused to allow him to keep an open seat next to him, even though
he paid for it. He was flying to Germany from the US.

Real experience.

Or do we only count George's personal experiences?

--Tom

"jcz" wrote in message
news
George already said what his personal experience, and those of many
others, actually was. I don't think we need to conjecture on
anything really, do we? I understand why he's getting frustrated.
Someone asks....he gives an actual real-life experience, and then a
long thread starts on guessing what "might" happen.

June

"Jean O'Boyle" wrote in
message m...

"George Leppla" wrote in message
...
Excuse me. Here I thought my numerous real-life personal
experiences and the experiences of a few hundreds of other people
I know would be enough to show that this doesn't usually
happen.... but why listen to factual information when we can rely
on Tom's hypothetical suppositions?

As long as we have Tom's conjecture, we have no need for facts
and I apologize for taking up the newsgroup's time.

Whoa! Before we let tempers flare..:-) I know that you personally
have had multi experiences with two seats being reserved for
people who have a weight problem, George...I myself, would really
appreciate it, if I were in a 3 seat configuration seating with a
person who was very large and they purchased two seats..It would
definitely be more comfortable for me..But just as a hypothetical
question, as Tom posted, and if I understood him correctly, ..If a
thin person purchased two seats and the airline were
overbooked...would that thin person be asked or pressured to give
up that second seat..and if they were, would they be compensated
if they agreed to do that? I'm curious...

--Jean

"jcz" wrote:

I didn't see how your real experience had anything to do with the OP's
question. They were talking about one person buying two seats. George
answered the actual question.

You all keep assuming that you have bought SEATS. You haven't bought
seats. You buy transportation from one point to another. The
airlines can do whatever they like about providing seats. They don't
have to honor seat assignments if they don't want to.

In the case of a large person, there is a reason to have the seats
together that 'works' for the airline. They get double the price and
half the luggage, and half the meals supplied (if any) and also don't
make another pax unhappy at having their seat encroached on.

A small person who just wants more space has no leverage whatever to
use on the airline to make them keep the space free. The airline can
just ignore that request if it works better for them. It may work
most of the time, but it may not always work.

"Tom K" wrote in message
...
And I already explained (earlier in this tread) the personal
experience a friend had. His wife had to cancel just prior to the
flight. The airline refused to give them a refund. And they
refused to allow him to keep an open seat next to him, even though
he paid for it. He was flying to Germany from the US.

Real experience.

Or do we only count George's personal experiences?

--Tom

"jcz" wrote in message
news
George already said what his personal experience, and those of many
others, actually was. I don't think we need to conjecture on
anything really, do we? I understand why he's getting frustrated.
Someone asks....he gives an actual real-life experience, and then a
long thread starts on guessing what "might" happen.

June

"Jean O'Boyle" wrote in
message m...

"George Leppla" wrote in message
...
Excuse me. Here I thought my numerous real-life personal
experiences and the experiences of a few hundreds of other people
I know would be enough to show that this doesn't usually
happen.... but why listen to factual information when we can rely
on Tom's hypothetical suppositions?

As long as we have Tom's conjecture, we have no need for facts
and I apologize for taking up the newsgroup's time.

Whoa! Before we let tempers flare..:-) I know that you personally
have had multi experiences with two seats being reserved for
people who have a weight problem, George...I myself, would really
appreciate it, if I were in a 3 seat configuration seating with a
person who was very large and they purchased two seats..It would
definitely be more comfortable for me..But just as a hypothetical
question, as Tom posted, and if I understood him correctly, ..If a
thin person purchased two seats and the airline were
overbooked...would that thin person be asked or pressured to give
up that second seat..and if they were, would they be compensated
if they agreed to do that? I'm curious...

--Jean







grandma Rosalie