Just wondering if anybody has had any experience (good or bad) about travelling with a travel companion, one of which is in economy class and the other in business class. The question is if the person in business decides to swap (act of kindness) with the economy passenger at some time during the flight. Has this met with issues from the flight attendants?
Swapping Seats between Classes on Plane - Any Experiences?
GOCAT9 on 05/03/2023 - 12:33
Poll Options
- 5yes, I have tried it and it worked
- 6yes, I tried it and it didn't work
- 8no, I have never tried to do it
Comments
The question was generic in nature. Family/friend/colleague etc, doesn’t matter to the question, the only requirement being that both passengers are happy to do it!
As for why would somebody paying business do it. Well that is a personal choice. The economy passenger may not be able to afford it and the business passenger may have just wanted to extend a nice gesture without going overboard and buying them a business ticket. Some people can be kind!!
How do you decide who gets the meals in Business and who gets the meals in Economy?
Don’t know, but I guess it depends on when you decide to swap. If you swap AFTER the meal service then you are allowing the economy pax to have a comfortable rest (they may be old and infirm for example) but cannot afford a J ticket.
You could try but I don’t think they allow this as essentially you’re trying to skimp on not paying for two business class seats. One person sleeps then swaps with the other so they can sleep. Keep in mind they take mental notes of who is sitting where for service and security reasons. Business class is smaller so it’s easier for them to spot a passenger switch. If you have a twin though, for sure go for it.
I did this with my son a few years back on SQ. Long haul. I had a business class seat (through work), he was in economy.
At start of trip, he was feeling ill & needed sleep. I swapped seats so he could get horizontal & he slept the entire trip. I went to the back of the bus & cabin crew treated me well.So the lesson is, don't just ask if you can do it, they might say no. Come up with a pretext, real or invented, that the cabin crew will sympathise with, like that the economy class passenger is ill and needs to sleep, and they'll probably say yes.
I have seen it done and it seems to be easier on a flight that is not full.
On the other hand, I have a friend who has a very successful business and he used to fly to the US a lot for work, hence a zillion FF miles and Platinum status for life. He used to routinely book Business for himself and Economy for whoever he was taking on the trip, then ask if he could bring the other person up to Business for a work meeting. He never got refused, but I suspect it would be different these daysYeah I saw someone recently try this, must have been top level status with the airline and he was very convincing as well "working on a presentation, the whole point of business class is business etc" but they politely but firmly put a stop to that
I had two plane tickets economy and biz under my name. When I asked to change seats - got rejected. They suggested I need to exit the plance and perform another checkin again.
The biz class seat was an airline's mistake though.Not a frequent business flyer - but have observed people try to swap, or entertain their economy passenger in the bar in business. They are usually declined.
I wonder if u could not just swap tickets before u board the plane and not tell anyone? Sure they might address u as the ticketed passenger.. U just need to pretend you've got the other person's name
Obviously only works for same gender, and possibly race unless name/surname generic enuff
Your passport is checked at the boarding gate. So you'd have to basically look identical to the person you're swapping with and it's also passport fraud.
You both go through the boarding gate, and then change boarding passes on the jetway
I'd be very surprised if airlines were okay with this. Otherwise there'd be a tonne of people wanting to share business class with their friends/relatives etc particularly on long haul flights. 7 hours in economy and 7 in business is much more bearable than doing 14 in cattle class
When myself and a colleague were crossing the pacific - I was in A and my colleague was in J.
I worked during the flight and my mate was sleeping on the way back to Oz.
Took off in our seats, had dinner, meet in the upper deck lounge and then magically swap seats for 10 hours before returning - crew didnt mind as we told them while boarding and the crew knew us both (we usually took the MEL-LAX once every 2-3 weeks).The reason? I usually worked from home for the next 1/2 days after landing while he went directly into the office that morning - on QF the difference between J and F is that Business is a lie flat recliner seat while First is basically a bed. Only happened a few times, being P1/CL he was 50% of the time having his upgrade request coming through.
According to CSMs and crew it does happen quite a bit in their experience, usually the Mum and Dad would be in First and the children in Premium or in Business, and they do swap.
However after COVID, they dont permit this anymore unless if you are really nice to the CSM :-)
Are you saying the swap is between the two family members or friends? I think that would be OK. Nobody else would pay for business then gladly give it up though.