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A traveler recently shared their response to being asked by another traveler to switch seats on a business-class flight.
This post follows a situation where a couple refused to surrender reserved seats for children.
A Reddit user shared their experience on a recent flight in which a woman asked to switch seats with them. The user had already settled into their business class window seat and was preparing for a long flight when the woman approached and requested to trade seats with her husband. The user mentioned that they were traveling alone.
The Reddit user asked the other passenger about the location of her husband’s assigned seat. The woman revealed that it was in row 25, which was in the economy section. The Reddit user declined to switch seats as the woman was attempting to get her husband into a higher class section without paying for it.
The first-class traveler described in their now-removed Reddit post that the lady was visibly distressed upon not receiving the seat and was shocked by the fact that she could not sit next to her spouse on the flight.
The post, which has been removed, stated that I proposed for her to switch seats with the person next to her husband in order for them to sit together. She laughed and informed me that she had purchased a first class ticket. I simply smiled and responded that I had done the same.
After the post was shared, numerous individuals have commented in support of the passenger who refused to give up their seat. One comment stated, “I am astonished that she believed this would be successful. How foolish.” This comment was directed towards the woman who requested a seat swap.
“Regrettably, I came across a ‘TikTok Travel Influencer’ promoting this as a ‘hack,'” commented another user. “I despise everything about TikTok.”
One person commented in agreement with the passenger, stating that they paid a lot for their first-class seat on a long flight and they are not willing to give it up for someone who feels entitled. They also stated that they will not move regardless of tears being involved.
A different individual added to the conversation, sharing that they have personally observed someone successfully using this strategy to receive a seat upgrade without paying for it. They were upset on the person’s behalf. The person in question was an elderly woman, and a young couple had requested to sit together. The woman gave them her upgraded seat, and as soon as she left, the young girl stopped crying. This commenter explained that if you want to sit together, you can offer someone your upgrade and take their lesser seats. That’s all there is to it.
Several individuals speculated that the woman did not originally purchase a first-class ticket, but instead received an upgrade to a better seat. However, her husband did not receive the same upgrade. One comment stated, “Since she didn’t pay for first class, she was upgraded, but her husband wasn’t.”
Amanda Mancino-Williams posted on X (previously called Twitter) about her recent train journey from Cheltenham to Nottingham in the United Kingdom. The train had seats divided into groups of four, with a table in between. She had reserved one group for herself and her children, but when she arrived, she found an elderly couple sitting in two of the seats. In a reposted discussion from 2019, she stated that the couple refused to move, disregarding her reserved tickets.
Source: independent.co.uk