Woman praised for refusing to give up plane seat to let mum sit next to her children

It’s a question that always divides the internet and holidaymakers - should you swap seats so parents can sit next to their children on flights?

One woman was faced with this exact conundrum but after refusing to switch seats, she has been met with praise online.

Tammy Nelson, the CEO of global jewellery brand CONQUERing, explained the incident in a TikTok video.

She said she was asked by a mother if she could swap seats so she could sit with her two children.

TikTok/@myconquering

The incident happened on a Delta Airlines flight from Cincinnati, Ohio to San Jose, California.

Tammy shared a lengthy in-video caption about the ordeal in her video which has now accumulated over 42,000 likes and 3,600 comments.

She asked the question: "What would you do? I got on the plane and a woman was sitting in my seat and when I mentioned it to her, she said, ‘Oh, you want to sit here? I thought we could switch because these are my kids’ (she points to the two seats next to mine). I said, ‘As long as it’s a window seat, I’m happy to switch.’ She points to the row behind us and says, ‘Mine is right there.’ (It’s the middle seat.)”

Tammy gave more details about the interaction with the mum in the comments, writing: “Having had only 90 minutes of sleep the night before and knowing I had to give a presentation to 500 people, I desperately needed some sleep, so I did not agree to switch seats.

“Before anyone comes after me… the kids looked like they were about 11 and 15 years old. And the mom was in arms-reach of both of them from the middle seat in the row behind us.

Pexels

“The mom proceeded to complain for at least 15 minutes to the person next to her loud enough for me to hear. But the woman actually defended me - several times. It was so kind and I appreciated it so much because I was feeling really guilty.”

Tammy’s TikTok has been viewed more than 1.6 million times so far and she has received lots of support from fellow users.

One commenter wrote: “People should book seats together if they want to sit together.”

Another viewer said: “Nope. If it’s not an upgrade it’s a sacrifice.”

A third shared: “It’s your seat. It’s okay you wanted to keep it!”

Someone else criticised the mum and wrote: “That was ballsy of the mom to offer a middle seat don’t feel guilty!"

What would you do?

Topics: Travel, Parenting, TikTok

Gregory Robinson

Gregory is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, he has worked for both print and online publications and is particularly interested in TV, (pop) music and lifestyle. He loves Madonna, teen dramas from the '90s and prefers tea over coffee.