I Was Shamed for Not Giving Up My Extra-Paid Seat to an Elderly Woman

Air travel can be a stressful experience, especially when it comes to seating arrangements and misunderstandings with fellow passengers. Despite paying extra for specific accommodations, travelers sometimes find their efforts challenged by others onboard. A recent story shared on Reddit highlights an unfortunate encounter where a mother and daughter were involved in a seating dispute with an elderly couple. What started as a simple seating mix-up quickly escalated into a tense and heated confrontation.

The mother wrote, [edited]

“Over the summer, I took a trip with my daughter (12F) to Florida and paid extra for seats so we could sit together. I also paid for extra legroom. On board, an elderly woman claimed I was in her seat, which was next to her husband. I was sitting in the middle, my daughter was sitting in the window seat, and her husband was in the aisle seat. I showed her my boarding pass, but she refused to show me hers and kept saying that her boarding pass also showed my seat. So, I pressed the call button for the flight attendant, assuming the airline must have double-booked the seat. Meanwhile, to my shock, she threatened to sue me if I didn’t give up the seat right away.”

She went on explaining,

“As the flight attendant arrived, I explained the situation to him. He politely asked to see her boarding pass, and it showed a seat at the back of the plane. The flight attendant then said that she was supposed to sit in that seat, not mine, and that if she wanted my seat, she could ask me. However, if I said no, she would have to take her assigned seat at the back.
So, she asked, and I, of course, said no. She then called me an ‘entitled, childless cat lady’ (I had my cat with me in a cat backpack under my seat). I responded that while I am indeed a cat lady, I do have a child, and I pointed to my daughter.”

She added,

“During the flight, my daughter needed to use the restroom, so she asked me to ask the husband if he could get up so she could walk through (even with the extra legroom, it was still too tight to walk through). He refused. I had to call over a flight attendant, who made him get up so she could get out of her seat.”

Other Redditors joined the conversation, offering their viewpoints and personal experiences in comments such as:

• This reminds me of something that happened when I was flying to Germany many many years ago. My seat was double booked, and the other guy threw a fit over it. I was a broke college student at the time and had saved money for a year just to afford a plane ticket in coach to go visit my friend who had been an exchange student in my hometown. The flight attendant asked me to get up, so the guy throwing a tantrum could have the seat. He thought he had won. Then, the flight attendant escorted me to the front of the plane and gave me a seat in First Class. I flew from Dallas to Paris (for my connecting flight to Frankfurt) in luxury I couldn’t have afforded, because that guy had to have his way and thought being a jerk was the best way to get it. © ob1dylan / Reddit

• “This has become unbelievably common. People pay the lowest fare, don’t select seats and then try to shame people who paid extra. I had one try to move me out of first class and sit in coach so ‘he could sit with daughter.’ Fool! You put your daughter in coach and yourself in first class on purpose? And now you want me to move?” © MonkeyKingCoffee / Reddit

• “It’s not just entitled passengers, it’s the airlines, too. About half the time I’ve paid extra for more room (economy plus), I’ve been switched BY THE AIRLINE to a smaller, cheaper seat, usually a middle seat. This generally occurs as I scan my boarding pass at the walkway—they tell me I have a replacement boarding pass. They always say that they made the change to enable a family to sit together, then they tell me that I’m welcome to reach out to corporate to request a reimbursement for the added charge of the roomier seat. This is a very lengthy, very uncertain process.” © quietlysitting / Reddit

• Yelling at someone and calling THEM entitled because you’re not getting your way is hilarious. One thing that’s sad and funny at the same time about boomers is watching them flip when the lies they’ve gotten so comfortable telling to get their way in life don’t work. Technology has made that extra fun. © FaultyToenail / Reddit

• This happened on a flight I was on recently, only it was a family affair. An elderly couple wanted to sit next to each other in the first row — the husband’s seat was there but the wife’s ticket was for a different row. The woman said she didn’t have her boarding pass — one of her kids did. Next thing you know, each of this couple’s 4 kids (all adults, all traveling with tween/teenage kids on this flight) says that one of the other kids must have her boarding pass. Then they tried saying one of the teenagers must have it. Surprise surprise, no one can find this woman’s boarding pass. Finally the flight attendant said if this doesn’t stop now, you and your whole family are getting off this plane. Miraculously, someone found the boarding pass! This whole ordeal held up the boarding process by about a half hour. © Sandlocked / Reddit

• “Whenever I read these stories and a couple wants to sit together they always insist on taking a better seat instead of going to speak to the person sitting next to the wife and offering them a better seat so that they can sit together.” © Gnovakane / Reddit

In a different scenario, a passenger was recently shocked when asked to give up their first-class seat for... a dog, though many defended the decision!
Find out the reason behind it in this link.