Today’s Swap of the Day post comes to us courtesy of Swap.com co-founder Mark Hexamer about an executed swap his family devised on their way back from vacation:
A little over a month ago I was traveling back from Orlando, FL with the family when I was reminded of the power of the swap.
Anyone who has traveled through the Orlando Airport around the Easter holiday knows what an absolute zoo it can be. Between families visiting grandparents, vacationers trying to thaw out from the winter, college kids on Spring break and young families visiting Disney it has to be the busiest airport in the world.
My wife and I gave ourselves a good two hours to make our way to the gates with kids in two. But between a 45 minute check-in line and an hour at the security gates our cushion quickly dissolved. This was especially problematic since we learned at check-in that all five of us (including our 2-year-old, 4-year-old, and 6-year-old) were all in different rows and the airline could only change our seats at the gate. But by the time we got to the gate the airplane was boarding and refused to make the changes.
Uh oh. Some passengers are going to be awfully surprised with who they are sitting next to. Pass the wipes and the binky! Clearly seat swapping would have to save the day.
The situation did not look good – for starters we were we all in different rows and the plane was filled with families that did not want to be split up. On top of that we didn’t have the best seats to trade other passengers. Any takers on the middle seat last row next to the bathroom? It was a swap job fit for Swap.com’s trade algorithm.
Turns out we had the next best thing, Jet Blue flight attendants to the rescue! With some Southern charm, the negotiation skills of a union leader and the promise of vouchers and free snacks all three kids were soon sitting next to their parents. Kids were happy, parents were happy, voucher and snack-laden passengers were happy. It was a win-win-win situation.
In the end, it turns out the day was saved by a perfectly executed 3-way swap.
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Got a good real life-swapping story for us? Send your tales of trading to swapoftheday@swap.com so we can share your story here on the Swap.com blog!
(Photo by: Binder.donedat on Flickr)
Swap.com Mobile is a free iPhone is app that lets you scan items into your HAVE and WANT lists, manage your account, see what you can get for your stuff, and participate in swaps.
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