Coach Seats

Most holidays I have been on the etiquette has been that you sit in the same seats all day if you are getting on and off the coach. Often people leave coats on the seats. However the next day you are free to choose a different seat which you then sit in for the whole of that day. Quite often there is a battle for the front seats with people stating they get coach sick, or they have limited mobility. Good tour reps will sort that issue out by asking those concerned to rotate around the front few rows.

I think only people who should have seats at the front for returns coach journeys.

Are people with walking difficulties, on crutches reduced mobility or need help because of medical conditions.

Quite a lot of people in my experience even tut and roll their eyes at that and look really put out.
When the coach driver asks them to move.

On a recent holiday we generally all used to return to the same seats. One morning I found that an early bird had got on the coach and draped a cardigan across our usual seats then gone back to breakfast. I put it back at the front and asked loudly if anyone had accidentally left it the day before. It wasn't publicly claimed but I noticed that it had gone after our next comfort stop.

I've found that people usually go back to the same seats, even when they all know each other and could move around to chat. But that's UK folk. If there are people from other countries they may have different ways of doing things. There's no compulsion to go back to the same seat.

Although it's not compulsory I do find 99% of the time people do sit in the same seats.

This is in reply to friendly gingercat.

I’ve had this happen to me on a coach trip to France.
She was huge and as I was sitting on a window seat I couldn’t get out. Very uncomfortable journey😩

This is a bit like when I used to go to conferences and courses and people always wanted to sit in the very same seat they had been sitting in earlier/yesterday.
I really don't understand this mentality at all.

Surely at a loo stop you leave some stuff in your place, so I wouldn’t expect anyone to swap seats on a loo stop, but another day, or a return journey, why not, if seats are not allocated?

if on a day coach trip it would be annoying after a comfort stop to find someone 'in my seat' on return to the coach! a matter of courtesy to return to where you were.

When we did a coach trip in America the tour guide made everyone sit in different seats each day so they would be by different people and get to know them ( or not be stuck with people around them that you they didn’t like).

Oldnproud

I agree about sitting where you like on each journey ... but if I returned to the coach after a brief stop comfort stop en route and found that someone had swapped into 'my' seat in that time, I admit that I would feel a little miffed too.
Where should the line be drawn? Even on National Express coaches, seats are not normally allocated, so would it be OK for someone to swap to the seat of another passenger while that person is in the loo?

No I think that would be cheeky and you should in this case feel free to say ‘I was sitting there’.

I agree about sitting where you like on each journey ... but if I returned to the coach after a brief stop comfort stop en route and found that someone had swapped into 'my' seat in that time, I admit that I would feel a little miffed too.
Where should the line be drawn? Even on National Express coaches, seats are not normally allocated, so would it be OK for someone to swap to the seat of another passenger while that person is in the loo?

Have encountered this myself on coach trips. Is rather silly when there is no allocation. We were actually asked to move by a couple who had sat in the seats on the outward journey we were now occupying on the return leg. We moved and even apologised whilst they didn’t even say thank you. That was a good few years ago am sure I would stick to my guns tuday.

Unless the organisers allocate seats then it’s ok to sit where you like……..unless someone has left personal property on a seat. Surely you pay for the journey ???

Sit anywhere when there isn't an allocation. There always seems to be those who expect to hog the best seats, near windows and the front and are very proprietorial should anyone else sit there.

If seats are not allocated then you can sit where you like.

I had this once on a coach trip to France. I had a rather large lady sitting next to me who was "overflowing" into my space and decided to change my seat when we stopped on the motorway. So I chose a differemnt seat. Someone made a snippy remark so I told them they had my permission to sit wherever they like.