Traveling by plane has its pros and cons. The most significant advantage of flying is that travel times are minimized when compared to traveling by land or by sea.
Every person deserves to have the best experience during a flight. Unfortunately, some people might experience things that are beyond anyone’s control. But more than comfort or luxury, every passenger has the right to which seats or in-flight privileges they have purchased.
A 34-year-old woman took to Reddit’s AITA thread wondering if she was in the wrong for not giving up the seat she purchased to a mother who wanted to have her son seated on a separate seat on the plane.
The original poster (OP) revealed in the post that she was “obese” but “actively working toward losing weight.”
She explained: “I’m going over to see my brother and his husband for Christmas across the country and because I’m fat, I booked an extra seat so everyone can be more comfortable. I know it sucks having to pay for an extra seat but it is what it is. I know Southwest Airlines has this ‘customer of size’ policy but I’ve had some bad experiences with Southwest even before I was obese so I wasn’t doing that and it’s mostly my fault I even got fat.”
As OP recalled, everything went “smoothly,” from checking in to security up to when she boarded. But while comfortably sitting on the two seats that she had purchased, a woman with a son came to her row and made some questionable demands.
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The OP revealed in her post that the mother came to her seat with a boy who appeared to be a “year old.”
“She told me to squeeze into one seat so her son could sit in the other. She told me, not asked. I told her no and that I paid for this seat for the extra space,” OP recalled.
According to OP, the woman made a “big fuss” over her refusal, which prompted the flight attendant’s attention.
“She told the flight attendant I was stealing the seat from her son, then I showed my boarding passes, proving that I , in fact paid for the extra seat,” she wrote.
Surprisingly, the flight attendant sided with the woman and asked OP if she could squeeze in. OP stood firm and demanded that she should be entitled to the extra seat she rightfully paid for. In most cases, special seats are entitled to those who purchased them, while other passengers cannot occupy those that aren’t.
“The boy, who the mom said is 18 months old was supposed to sit in her lap so he could do just that. The flight attendant eventually told the mom to put her son in her lap,” she went on to say.
However, OP got “dirty looks” and “passive-aggressive remarks” from the mother for the entire duration of the flight, making her feel bad.
The OP asked the Reddit community in the AITA thread whether she was in the wrong for refusing to let the child sit on her purchased seat or not.
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Reddit users were unanimous in their reaction toward OP’s problem – she was definitely in the right for refusing the mother’s request to let her kid sit on her purchased extra seat.
“She’s TA for not buying a seat for her son and assuming someone else would give up a seat they paid for. Odds are she was hoping there’d be extra seats on the flight so she didn’t have to pay and used the lap thing as a loophole,” one user wrote.
“A woman who paid for 1 seat wanted to use 2 seats. She asked you, a person who paid for 2 seats to only use 1 seat. Essentially, she’s asking you to pay 4-times as much as her just because she has a toddler. Definitely NTA,” another person chimed in.
Others, however, suggested that OP call the airline and report the incident as it should be a policy that those purchased seats should be rightfully for the owners, and flight attendants must enforce it strictly.
“NTA. You paid for that seat, it’s yours. An email to SWA asking them to remind their FAs to enforce the seat policy would be warranted, too. You asked the FA for help and she told you to “squeeze into one seat” for the unticketed child. You might even get some miles or goodies for it,” a user recommended.
“NTA and that FA actually asked you to give up the seat you PAID for?!? That never should have happened. That woman did not buy a ticket for her kid. So she boarded the plane and demanded a free seat,” someone said.
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Do you think OP was in the wrong for refusing his seat to the mother? What do you think she could have done differently? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends, and other loved ones to know what they think.
