A woman has sparked debate after revealing she refused to give up her first-class seat for a mum who wanted to be near her son.
The 24-year-old had been booked into business class by her company for the “long flight”, but when she got to her seat, she was confronted by a mum and her son.
In a post on Reddit, the woman said she reckoned the son was about four-years-old, and the mother asked if she would mind swapping seats with her so she could be near him.
She wrote in the now-deleted post: “I politely declined and explained I had to work during the flight and really needed the space in first class. The mum got huffy and claimed I was being selfish.
“She said her son was too disruptive, difficult for a confined economy seat and she absolutely needed that extra space.”
When a flight attendant came over to try and calm the situation, the mum insisted that the woman “do the right thing” and move.
But she was adamant she couldn’t give up her “company-booked seat,” with the parent eventually going back to her own seat whilst giving her “nasty looks,” the Mirror reports.
The woman added: “I felt bad for the kid, but I didn’t think it was fair for this woman to demand I sacrifice the seat that I paid for. My company won’t reimburse me for economy seats either. Still, the encounter left me wondering if I should have just done it for the sake of a mother and child. Am I wrong?”
The post sparked debate in the comments. Some defended her decision, with one person writing: “Guarantee she was in the back trying to guilt someone into giving up their aisle seat because she didn’t pay for an assigned seat. I could just hear her.”
But other disagreed, writing: “Honestly you’re the a**hole. I asked someone to switch seats with me in economy once. So I could sit by my kid who had never flown before and lives with autism and social anxiety. Three people said no. One guy agreed. I was so so embarrassed. I thought I had booked seats together but I misunderstood the seating assignments and my kid was freaking out.” She ended the comment by saying “Just help the mum.”
Related links:
‘I refused to let a dad take my expensive plane seat to sit with his little girl’
Brits ‘spare a thought’ for Ryanair passengers who spent 10 hours on flight to Paris
Train passenger praised for ‘refusing to give up’ first-class seat to elderly lady
