One traveller who posted on Reddit received a thumbs up for refusing to swap seats so that a family could sit together. And no, he wasn’t being mean and had a perfectly good reason for doing so.
The traveller posted on Reddit that he was on a 10-hour flight from Greece at the end of the summer holidays, which was an extremely hectic time of year travel-wise.
“I booked my ticket specifically to be closer to the front of the plane so I can be closer to the gate when it’s time to get out.
“I personally hate traveling, so I spent a bit more money to be closer.”
The problem started when a family of four approached him to swap seats so that they could be seated together.
“Normally I’d be okay with that but switching spots would mean moving back 20 rows down which leaves me at an inconvenience and I would not be getting my money’s worth.”
This makes sense, but the man was subjected to name-calling, he was called an “a*****” by the woman in front of everyone, much to his embarrassment and shock.
He then told her, “Maybe you should have booked ahead of time, or spent more money on tickets so you all could sit together. This is not my issue. Grow up and get over it. I am not moving seats. End of story!’
“I sat down, her husband apologized to me for her behavior and said that ‘she hates traveling, but giving her the seat would’ve made things easier in the end.”
The internet was sympathetic to him, saying that his reactions and actions were justified.
One person replied, “If it was really about sitting together, why didn’t they ask the people 20 rows back if they’d like the better seats upfront? They’d still all be together.”
Another said: “Can’t stand families like this. If you want to sit together pay for it. Good grief.”
Another person related his experience with someone who was trying to swap for a window seat: “I told her we could swap seats if she would reimburse me for what I paid. She refused to. And so I refused to swap.”
The traveller in question received 9,000 upvotes and thousands of comments, most of them saying he had made the right call.
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that US airlines carried over 71.2 million scheduled service passengers in May 2022. With more people travelling, conversations about airline etiquette are on the rise online.
The post Airline kerfuffle: Passenger refuses to swap seats with good reason appeared first on The Independent World News.