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By Soo Kim
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A post about a plane passenger refusing to swap seats with a woman sitting in the middle of the row has gone viral on Reddit.
The post was shared by u/permanentlytiredAF in the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit and has garnered 43,000 upvotes since it was posted on May 22.
According to the post, the passenger purchased an aisle seat for their flight for $50. "I have broad shoulders and feel less cramped in an aisle seat," the passenger said.
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However, a woman in the middle seat next to them later asked to swap seats and "got mad" when the poster declined.
Dave Grossman runs MilesTalk, a blog about how to maximize earning and spending miles and points, and is the founder of the Your Best Credit Cards rewards optimization platform. He told Newsweek: "At the end of the day, you booked a particular seat, probably way in advance or at extra cost and it's yours to keep. Don't feel guilty about keeping what you booked because someone else feels entitled to it."
According to a June 2023 survey of 1,000 plane passengers in the U.S. and Canada, conducted on behalf of the travel booking website Kayak, "you are allowed to ask to switch seats if you ask politely," because 54 percent of travelers "have a soft spot for common courtesy."
Travelers also believe you're allowed to ask to sit next to a family member, partner or friend because 58 percent of passengers "have a grain of empathy," the survey found.
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'You Have Absolutely No Etiquette Obligation'
The Reddit poster explained that the other two seats in their row were occupied by an older couple, with the wife seated in the middle.
"I don't want to sit in the middle seat and I don't particularly want to sit in between a couple either. She then got huffy with me and made passive aggressive comments about how rude I was the entire flight," the poster said. "Mildly infuriating because it doesn't really affect me. But man, some people are so entitled."
Psychotherapist Michael Ceely told Newsweek that if the woman had a physical need to swap seats, the onus was on her to articulate this reason. "As long as the older lady was not obviously disabled or frail, the poster was in the right. It was the lady's responsibility to communicate any physical need to take the aisle seat due to mobility problems or other issues," Ceely said.
Grossman said: "If a family is requesting a swap and you get a 'like for like' seat in the process...then it's a reasonable request and there's no reason not to accommodate."
However, he added: "If you have a coveted aisle or window seat, which many flyers pay to select or may spend weeks 'stalking' to change into before the flight, then you have absolutely no etiquette obligation to switch and, in fact, should feel perfectly content to politely decline."
'Nightmare'
Reddit users were sympathetic towards the original poster and criticized the woman.
U/Miserable_Rube said: "That sounds like a nightmare...and a blunder on their part."
"Seriously, usually couples ask to switch so they can sit together. I have NEVER heard of people asking to switch AWAY from their travel buddy. I would've said 'wow lady do you hate your husband THAT much??!!' also, NO," wrote u/Any_March_9765.
U/Frosty_Water5467 said: "You should have told her that if she wanted an aisle seat she could have paid the extra $50 the same as you did."
U/FamiliarRhubarb777 agreed, saying: "Let her be mad. I wouldn't give up the seat I chose either. She could have booked an aisle seat in advance if she wanted one.
"I've reached a point where I do NOT LET entitled ppl get to control the narrative. I would have happily and confrontationally responded to said woman after each and every passive-aggressive comment," noted u/Sweet_Measurement338.
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via the Reddit messaging system.
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