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A man received praise for declining to change seats with a pregnant woman during their flight.
A user by the name u/michaeldonelly recently posted on the well-known Reddit forum “Am I The A**hole?” questioning if he was at fault for not giving up his seat on a plane to a pregnant woman. He explained that he was traveling by himself on a flight lasting over five hours to visit his family for the holidays. The user also shared details about how he organized his flight arrangements.
He stated that he purposely reserved and paid an additional fee for an aisle seat in the second-to-last row due to his medical conditions, which may require urgent access to the restroom.
But as per the account of the traveler, just before he was about to board the plane, a lady requested him to “relinquish [her] seat so she could be closer to the restroom”. He went on to explain that although he sympathized with the pregnant woman, he didn’t think it was “just” for him to switch seats since she “didn’t appear to be in distress”.
“I sympathized with her situation, being someone with a medical condition. However, I did not believe it was justifiable for her to ask me to switch from the seat I had chosen and paid for. This was particularly the case since she had not reserved an aisle seat for herself beforehand,” he expressed.
The man asserted that the flight attendants declined to intervene in the situation where the pregnant woman persisted in her demand for him to relocate. He mentioned that despite there being no available seats near the bathroom, he made it clear that he would not move.
The writer stated that there were no other seats nearby or in the same row available on the fully booked flight for him or the flight crew to arrange a seat swap. He also mentioned that his family advised him to inconvenience himself and give up his seat.
“I disagree,” he stated, in regards to his family’s suggestion. “I believe that [the pregnant woman] and the flight crew were unfairly singling me out instead of addressing the situation through appropriate channels.”
The post on Reddit has become extremely popular, with over 15,000 upvotes. In the comments, numerous Reddit users have commended the traveler for holding onto his seat, as he had made arrangements for a specific seat before the flight. They also discussed how they would handle the situation with the pregnant woman if they were in the passenger’s position.
One person commented, “She should have reserved a different seat or not boarded the flight at all.” They added, “It seems like she assumed someone else would move and she wouldn’t have to pay for it. The flight attendants should have intervened and told her to return to her original seat.”
“As someone who has experienced being pregnant and traveling alone with a toddler, I believe that every passenger should have the same chance to pre-book seats according to their individual needs and preferences,” another person chimed in. “It is not anyone else’s concern as to why you chose that particular seat. Would the passenger or airline have compensated you for the cost of pre-booking? You are not obligated to move.”
“This is when you throw back, ‘I actually have incontinence so I have to be near the restroom”’or another bladder related medical condition,” a third wrote. “Realistically I would just tell her that I paid extra for the seat no thank you.”
This is not the initial instance of a traveler receiving praise for declining a seat exchange on a plane. In a post on Reddit from earlier this month, a business-class passenger recounted a situation where a woman asked them to switch seats with her husband in order to sit next to him. However, upon learning that the husband’s seat was in the economy section, the passenger declined the request.
The individual who was traveling in business class shared in their now-deleted Reddit post that the woman was visibly distressed upon not receiving the seat and was shocked that she was not able to sit next to her husband during the flight.
Several individuals in the comments section of the post came to the defense of the passenger who refused to give up their seat. One comment referred to the woman who requested a seat swap as a “moron” and expressed disbelief that she thought her request would be successful.
A different person stated: “The price for first-class seats on a long flight can be in the thousands. I refuse to give up what I spent so that someone else can have it just because they feel entitled. Whether they cry or not, I am not going to move.”
“The information is from independent.co.uk.”
