'I paid extra but the mum still wanted me to swap seats with her child'

"She got annoyed and said her son loves looking out the window, and asked if I could just be kind for once and ‘make a kid’s day’."

We’ve all heard the stories about difficult fliers.

You’ve got people ending up in the middle seat between an angry couple who’d hoped for more space, couples holding hands across the aisle, and parents asking others to move so they can sit with their children (who, for some reason, they didn’t book a seat with).

This person has dealt with the latter, and it’s official, people are sick of the trend.

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Image: Supplied.

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“I’d specifically paid for that seat”

A woman has taken to Reddit after a confronting experience on a flight.

“I recently took a 6-hour flight for a work conference. I booked my ticket two months in advance and paid extra for a window seat because I get a bit anxious on planes, and the view helps calm me down. I’m also pretty tall, and I like leaning against the window to sleep,” the poster wrote.

“When I boarded the flight, I found a woman (probably mid-30s) already sitting in my seat with her 7- or 8-year-old kid next to her. I politely told her I had 21A (the window), and she asked if I would switch to the middle seat so her son could have the window.”

However, the woman stood her ground.

“I said I was sorry, but I’d specifically paid for that seat, and I really preferred to keep it,” she said.

“She got annoyed and said her son loves looking out the window, and asked if I could just be kind for once and ‘make a kid’s day’. I again said no, and added that I had anxiety issues and had paid extra to choose my seat.

“She rolled her eyes, but eventually moved back to her original seat (two rows behind me).”

The woman said that the flight ended up being incredibly awkward, with the mum behind constantly giving her ‘dirty looks’ and telling other passengers how “some people just don’t know how to be decent humans”.

Now the question is - did she make the wrong call?

“When I told a friend what happened, they said I could’ve just sucked it up for a few hours and been nice,” she wrote.

“Now I’m wondering… [am I the asshole] for not giving up my window seat to a kid?”

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“I’m glad you stood your ground”

Commenters flooded to the comments backing up the poster, calling the mum ‘entitled’.

“If she wanted a window seat for her son then she should've paid for one. Also, even if they'd offer to reimburse you I'd still have said no. I'm glad you stood your ground,” said one commenter.

“A 'decent human' would book seats appropriate for her child instead of expecting someone else to just give it up. You paid extra. She could have done the same thing. Instead she tried to play the 'pity me' game,” another agreed.

“Idk where all this sense of entitlement from people has come from lately. You paid for that seat, booked early specifically to get it so it’s yours. She could have booked early and paid extra for a window seat for her son but she didn’t. That’s a HER problem not a YOU problem. Her poor planning does not constitute an emergency for you,” said a third.

“I had this exact situation happen to me once!”

Others even said they’d had similar things happen to them.

“I had this exact situation happen to me once and I did the same thing. I paid extra for the seat and I am not moving. The parents gave me that ‘look’ but I held my ground. I paid extra and I am not giving it up,” said one commenter.

“I was on a flight recently and I got to my seat to find 2 teenage girls sitting in my seat and the next one. they asked if I'd mind if I swapped seats so they could sit together. I declined (I'd booked that seat for a reason), and without any fuss or hassle or argument, they said ok and moved. That's how that interaction should go,” said another.

So, if you’re travelling with kids anytime soon, try and book your seats together - or at least offer the poor person the aisle?

Originally published as 'I paid extra but the mum still wanted me to swap seats with her child'