Being asked to swap seats on a plane can be frustrating, especially if you've paid for a good spot. Depending on what airline you fly with, booking a ticket may come with the option of picking exactly which seat you'd like to sit in. Whether you're a lover of a window seat or prefer the small amount of extra legroom that the aisle provides, you can usually choose the perfect option for you.
This also means that if you're travelling with other people, you can make sure you all sit together and don't have to spread out around the plane and sit beside strangers. Sometimes, however, this doesn't work out. Some airlines don't allow you to book seats, so they assign you them randomly based on what's left available.
Other times the airline charges for seat bookings, so you decide to risk the random seat allocation because you don't want to spend the extra cash. In these instances, you might consider asking someone if they'd be willing to swap seats with you so that your family can continue to sit together. And while there's nothing wrong with asking, you should be prepared for them to say no.
This is the problem one man faced when he boarded a plane and settled into his "economy plus" seat that he had paid extra for to have a comfortable flight. However, he was then approached by a mother who asked if he would be willing to swap so that her nine-year-old son could sit with her. While he would normally have no problem swapping, the man claimed the seat switch would put him in a much .