An angry traveler has shared their frustrations over a woman who had “the audacity” to request a seat swap so she could sit next to her kid.
In a resurfaced Reddit post now going viral online, the flummoxed flyer said it was “not my problem they didn’t book together” when asked to switch seats.
The unidentified traveler was on a transpacific flight from Japan — sitting in a window seat — while the toddler was in the middle seat. The tot’s mom was in the row directly behind them, also seated in the middle.
“She asked me – and just me – to switch with her so she could have my window seat (next to her daughter) and I’d take her middle seat a row back,” the user wrote. “Hell to the f–k no.”
“Not my problem they didn’t book together,” the peeved passenger continued in the post. “Worse is we were surrounded by others from her tour group that she could’ve asked for a three-way trade instead. Or the tour operator.”
“The audacity to ask just me and expect an inferior trade on my side.”
One person, who described themselves as a “parent of a toddler,” expressed shock that the original poster would prefer to sit next to “someone else’s unaccompanied toddler” instead of moving.
“Sure, someone else could move, but either [way] someone has to move or someone has to sit next to a flying toddler,” the commenter continued, reprimanding the original Redditor for being “infuriated” about “a mom trying to watch their own kid,” calling it “dumb.” “I honestly don’t know which is more annoying for other passengers.”
“Why were you so eager to sit next to a stranger’s toddler daughter?” inquired another user.
“My rule of thumb is: 1). Will only change an aisle for an aisle (my preference). 2). Will never change an aisle or a window for a middle 3). Will never change if I had to spend extra money to get my seat,” wrote someone else.
“I just started refusing altogether,” agreed one person. “Unless it’s for an upgrade.”
“I’m sick of entitlement from people, and it seems elevated on planes and even more so of late,” they continued. “I don’t know you. I don’t generally care about you beyond reasonable human compassion. And I am certainly not responsible for your poor planning. Don’t talk to me again and go away.”
The online debate is just one of many stoking traveling controversy.
TikTokers and Redditors alike have lamented their airplane woes, sparking heated conversations over the ethics and etiquette of seat swapping.
Last year, one user went viral for asking if he was “an a–hole” for refusing to give up a seat he paid extra for when approached by a mother who wanted to sit with her family.
One woman explained in a viral video that she was asked by a mother to switch from her window seat to the aisle. After refusing, the TikToker drifted off for a nap, but was awoken to a child “crawling” all over her – and the mom did nothing to stop it.
Meanwhile, content creator Audrey Peters also weighed in on the debate after refusing to budge from her airline seat when approached by a family. In the caption, she said she wouldn’t swap her assigned seat for one in the middle.
