The topic of swapping seats on planes is always a hot one.
If you’re a regular jet-setter, it’s likely you’ve been asked to change seats at some point. The reasons can vary from families who couldn’t secure seats together, to passengers hoping for a better view from the window seat.
Most would agree that if you’ve reserved your seat on a flight, there’s no obligation to relinquish it. Of course, nothing prevents you from being generous and agreeing to swap if you wish, but it’s not mandatory and you’re completely within your rights to decline if the proposal doesn’t appeal to you.
READ MORE: ‘Time traveller’ returns from 2671 to warn us about 5 ‘danger’ events coming this year
Click for more of the latest news from the Daily Star.
But what if the person requesting the swap had a compelling reason, like not wanting their children to fly alone or having a disability?
For some, this could tip the balance as we might perceive the other party as more “in need”. However, one chap has revealed how he declined to swap seats with a couple on a recent flight, even after discovering one of them was disabled – and he was even reprimanded by the cabin crew for his decision, reports the Daily Record.
In a Reddit post, the man detailed his experience on a four-hour flight with his girlfriend, who suffers from aviophobia and requires medication before boarding a plane to manage the journey. He clarified that the plane’s seating arrangement was in blocks of three with an aisle in the middle, and they had booked seats B and C on their row, which were the middle seat and the aisle seat.
Upon boarding, they found a woman sitting in one of their reserved seats next to her husband, who was comfortably seated by the window in seat A. It turns out the couple had mistakenly booked seats A and D – the latter being the aisle seat across – and were hoping for a seat swap with the new arrivals.
Recounting the episode, the man explained: “When we boarded, an older couple were sat in seats 1A and 1B. They were given 1A and 1D, and offered us 1C and 1D. We politely refused this offer and explained that we’d booked 1B and 1C as we wished to sit together.”
The story took a surprising twist when a flight attendant backed the older couple, citing one member’s disability as a reason why the younger couple should give up their seats. However, the younger man didn’t budge and rejected the offer again, prompting nothing more than an eye roll from the flight attendant before the woman in 1B finally moved.
Social media users rallied to the man’s defence, arguing that if the older couple needed “special accommodations”, they should’ve made those arrangements clear to the airline ahead of time.
Chipping into the debate, one person said: “You and your partner booked those seats in advance; they are yours. If the elderly couple needed special accommodations they should’ve figured that out in advance while booking.”
Meanwhile, another passenger weighed in, saying, “You booked specific seats and you were 100% entitled to use them. I wish flight attendants would quit asking people directly if they are willing to switch seats and instead ask if anyone would be willing to switch seats so others can sit together. When asked directly and you decline, it just gets awkward.”
For the latest news stories from Daily Star sign up for our newsletter.