By all means, let’s leave nothing to chance: KLM’s new Meet and Seat program

When it comes to whoever’s sitting next to me on a flight where I’m flying solo, I guess I would have to say my luck is average.

I was going to say that it was terrible, but that’s only because I remember all those boors, the nose pickers, the ones with BO. The jerks who don’t understand that, if you’re the one stuck in the middle of a three-across, you are, in fact, entitled to 2/3’s of the space on each arm-rest – or at least half; but definitely not none. The leg spreaders who manage to encroach on your space.  (Not to mention all those times seated in front of the non-stop kicking brats, and behind the yahoos who immediately and aggressively throw their seat into the full recline position to a degree I would not have thought possible if I hadn’t spent those flights with their heads in my lap.)

One time, on a flight to Ireland, I sat next to a little old lady who had to get up every twenty minutes to go to the bathroom – and who needed assistance (that would be from me) to get up and out of her seat. I offered to change seats with the woman in back of me – who happened to be the little old lady’s daughter – so that she could help her dear ma-ma, but she declined, as she preferred to gab with her sister rather than deal with her mother. I suppose she was going to be “stuck” with her for the rest of the vacation, and wanted to enjoy her last few precious hours of freedom. Still…

It hasn’t all been terrible. I have occasionally had interesting conversations with my seat mates. Once, noticing the name on her customs form (which was an unusual one), I struck up a conversation with my next door neighbor and found that she was the cousin by marriage of a former colleague. One seat mate – who turned out to be the friend of a friend – gave me a lift home from Logan one night. A few times I sat next to unaccompanied kids – I always suspected that airlines put them next to mom-ish, grandma-ish, and aunt-ish women so that they’d be entertained (and safe). The most interesting of the unaccompanied kids was a 9 year old named Sabrina, who was heading to Alaska to join her mama and go pannin’ for gold.

Sabrina’s odyssey had started in North Carolina, from whence she’d flown – with a stop or two – to Phoenix for a visit with her grandparents.

When I caught up with her, on a leg from San Diego to San Francisco, she had nothing to keep herself entertained, other than a brown bag full of candy. And me, I suppose. Although Sabrina, who was quite the talker, did most of the entertaining. When we parted company in San Francisco, she was going on to her next flight to Seattle and, from there, to the gold fields.

Wonder how they made out.

My husband and I generally sit aisle-aisle on long trips, and on one return from Ireland, many years ago, he sat next to a young Irish woman who became a good friend of ours. She was heading to the States for the first time to visit her boyfriend, whom she later married (and later divorced). We went to Ireland for the wedding – a memorable event. L is now an American citizen. We see her regularly, and visit with her parents when we’re in Ireland.

Anyway, the person you end up sitting next to is a crap shoot. But, on the whole, it’s a reasonably tolerable and harmless one. And, you never know, you could end up making a friend for life.

Boors, nose-pickers and all – and even though about 99% of what I do on any flight is read or sleep - I actually like the serendipitous nature of getting stuck next to a random travel companion. One little bit of life’s overall voyage of discovery.

So, even if I do end up flying KLM some day, I won’t be signing up for their new match making scheme:

This month, the Dutch carrier KLM began testing a program it calls Meet and Seat, allowing ticket-holders to upload details from their Facebook or LinkedIn profiles and use the data to choose seatmates. 

…After selecting the amount of personal information they wish to share, passengers are presented with seat maps that show where others who have also shared their profiles are seated. You can then reserve the seat next to anyone who seems interesting — provided it is available — and that person will receive a message with your profile details.

…While it is not possible to “reject” a person who has chosen to sit with you, you can select another seat as long as two days before the flight. Those feeling awkward about moving can delete their data and select new seats using the standard — anonymous — online platform. (Source: New York Times.)

Which doesn’t exactly like it would stop the person you chose not to sit next to (even though they wanted to buddy up to you) from already having seen your profile and be a little ticked off. And figuring out where you are on the plane. And doing a little in-flight walking around (to, ahem, stretch their legs and avoid an embolism). Mile high stalking, anyone?

So I won’t be availing myself of this service, thank you.

There was a service mentioned that allowed FB “friends” to check out whether they’re on the same flights as each other, which is a little better.

Still, I like leaving that those accidental meet up to chance, as well.

A few years ago, I was on a flight from Paris and ran into two former colleagues, guys I had worked with years ago. We were all long gone from the company where we’d met, and all got a kick out of three Softbridge alumni ending up on the same flight. I felt very jet-set-ty and international, that’s for sure.

There was one service mentioned in the article that I do see as a travel possibility for me:

For fees of $6 to $60, Air New Zealand, AirAsia Xin Malaysia and Vuelingin Spain, for example, let passengers request empty seats next to theirs. If a flight turns out to be full, the extra charge is refunded.

Now you’re talking!