Even Expedia got involved in this debate
The debate around giving up seats on planes has taken off again, after an American woman posted a video seeking advice over a seat-swap story that resulted in her having profanities muttered at her for “the entirety of the flight”.
Surya Garg posted a TikTok video about the experience, captioning it “for real like was I wrong?”
The New Yorker began the video by announcing, “The absolute worst person to sit next to on an airplane, I think i just met them” before going on to explain that seat-swapping etiquette had been a big debate on TikTok recently.
The 23-year-old revealed how she was approached by a mum on a flight and, according to her, was subsequently abused when the woman didn’t get what she wanted.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm4QTIMgbbu/
In a video, Surya details how she was asked to give up her window seat – which she had paid extra for – so the mum could sit next to her son.
The son, Surya said, “had to be a minimum of 16 or 17 years old” and was not a child, but “like a 6ft 5in man.”
When she inquired where the seat she was swapping with was, Surya said she was directed to a “middle seat like a couple of rows back.”
@surya_garg for real like was I wrong #nyc #airplane #airplaneseats ♬ original sound – Surya Garg
Surya said she “didn’t really know what to say” to the mum, but was conscious of looking “like an ‘a** hole.”
However, given she had paid extra for the seat, decided to decline the request.
After being told “no”, Surya said the mum “makes the nastiest face at me I’ve ever experienced”, and then went about “muttering profanities at me” for “the entirety’ of the flight”.
In her TikTok video, Surya asked fellow users: “Was I in the wrong here? I need someone to tell me.”
To date her video, uploaded with the hastags #nyc #airplane #airplaneseats, has been watched more than 525,000 times with many viewers reassuring Surya she was not.
One person wrote: “The way she reacted is precisely why you should not give up your seat.
“Good job for sticking up for yourself.”
Another said: “No you weren’t. I’m a mum. I have an 11 and 14-year-old daughters. When we fly, I pay extra for us to sit together. Every time.
“Because it’s my responsibility to make sure we sit together if that’s what we need. And at their ages they can absolutely handle a flight on their own. So a 16-year-old old boy can too.”
Travel booking site Expedia even commented, reassuring Surya that she was “not in the wrong”.
Related links:
- Woman calls for adults only flights after listening to a child cry during her journey
- Distressed passenger films his 29-hour flight where baby is screaming throughout
- Train passenger praised for ‘refusing to give up’ first-class seat to elderly lady
