Man praised for refusing to give up seat on plane for newlywed couple
Gregory Robinson
Featured Image Credit: David Gee 4/ Jochen Tack / Alamy Stock Photo
Switching seats with your fellow passengers on a plane is one of the most debated topics on the internet.
Travellers have long discussed all the situations about when you should agree or refuse to give up your seat for someone else.
One plane passenger has recounted the time he was asked by newlyweds who were en route to their honeymoon destination to switch with one of them so they could sit together.
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He took to Reddit to explain the situation and ask fellow users if he was in the right or wrong.
“So here's the thing, I booked a window seat and beside me was a lady who is the wife of the guy on the seat in the middle row,” the anonymous man said.
"Apparently they are newlyweds and they want to be seated together. They asked me if they can change seats with me to which I politely refused and gave them my reasons."
The man said one of the reasons why he refused is due to his ‘size and aisle traffic’.
He shared that he’s always ‘bumped by someone when I am on the aisle seat’ and on one occasion his elbow was ‘badly hurt’ because the trolley hit him.
He was also booked to travel on three flights during the same day, with this one being the ‘second and the longest’ which meant he ‘wanted to sleep and relax’.
Another passenger, who made ‘a scene’, tried to persuade the man to change seats unsuccessfully.
“The other guy who is seated with the husband tried to persuade me to change seats too, making a scene as if I was the scrooge in the couple's honeymoon," he shared.
He added: “I didn't budge and all the people around me, including the crew, looked like they hate me. Am I wrong to refuse changing my seat?"
The man said he would assume that couples going on their honeymoon would reserve seats next to each other in advance and when he had his honeymoon he did just that.
The thread attracted over 500 comments as people debated who was the ‘a**hole’ in the seating situation.
One Reddit user commented: “Every time this story comes up the person is not the a**hole for refusing to move. You booked your seat specially. Sucks to be them but not your problem. Also seriously, aisle seat guy? Now why couldn't he move?”
Another user agreed: “This, if you want specific seats on a flight then book the seats in advance or tough luck, you don't get to bully people out of the seats that you want but didn't book."
A third user agreed that the man was not the a**hole: “I always get aisle seats because of flying anxiety and had a mom/daughter ask me to trade seats so they could sit together which would have put me in a centre seat.
"They were so pissed when I politely explained why I wouldn’t move. I don’t get why people can’t reserve the seats they want - is it they are cheaping out and relying on other people to switch with them?”
However some commenters defended the couple and offered an explanation about why they didn’t book seats together.
“But to your point that the newlyweds should have booked their seats together, they probably did,” one person replied to the thread. “I can’t tell you how many times the airlines have split up my family despite us picking seats together.
"Why anyone thinks a 5 and 7 year old should not sit next to their parents is beyond me. The airline company is the source of the problem IMO.”