A 'mum' tried to trick me into switching seats with her on a plane

“Are plane squatters a thing?” someone asked after hearing about the scam. 

If you've been on TikTok recently, stories of passengers asking others to switch seats on flights have become increasingly common.

Often, these requests are made by parents who want to sit with their children. However, a recent encounter shared by a man named Mark Roberts has shed light on the potential risks of these seat-switching requests, suggesting that not all of them are made with the best intentions.

He said that what might seem like a harmless favour could actually be part of a scam... 

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Image: TikTok/IStock

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The TikTok warning

Roberts posted the clip, which has since gone viral, sharing his story to caution others against blindly agreeing to switch seats.

“If somebody asks you to switch seats with them on a commercial flight, be cautious because they don't always have the best intentions. And I would know because one time somebody asked me to switch seats with them and looking back, I am so happy I said no. I was getting on my flight, and I was one of the first to board because I have one of those airline credit cards that gives you the best group number.

“So when I sat down, I was like the only one in my row. As soon as I sit down, this random lady taps me on the shoulder, and she's just like, ‘Hey, my seat is right here,’ pointing to the seat right next to me, ‘but my daughter is a couple aisles up. Would you mind switching with her so we can sit next to each other?’

“Now, there are already red flags going off in my head because I was in premium economy, and the only people that were sat down in front of me at that point were in first class. So I had to assume that her daughter was in first class. So it was kind of weird that she didn't lead with that. Like, I feel like you would say, ‘Do you want my first-class seat? I want to sit with my daughter.’

“Just to confirm with her, I was like, ‘Can I see the ticket?’ Then she tells me that her daughter has the ticket. And she goes on to describe her daughter. She's like, she's about eight years old, brown hair, pigtails, as if she wanted me to walk up the aisle of the plane and look for her.

“I'm just like, ‘I'd be more than happy to switch with you if you just show me that ticket.’ All of a sudden, she just gets super lethargic, and she plops her bag into the overhead bin and then falls into the seat next to me, and she's just like, ‘being a mother is so hard. I've been walking around all day. I'm sorry. I'm just so tired,’ as if she wanted me to feel bad for her and like, blindly head off looking for her eight-year-old.

“I’m like... if you give me a seat number for your daughter. She was like, ‘Oh, do you want to switch to 7A?’ I kind of got the feeling that she pulled that out of thin air. So I was like, ‘No, I think I'm good,’ trying to be as nice as possible.

“When I said that, she became visibly upset and was like, ‘You wouldn't understand what it takes to be a mother.’ In my head, I'm like, I'm sorry I asked to see the ticket, but I don't respond. Then this random dude comes down the aisle and taps her on the shoulder, and is just like, ‘Ma'am, I think you're in my seat,’ flashes his ticket to her just to confirm. And you could tell her blood started boiling.

“She gets up in a huff, tears her bag down from the overhead, and just heads towards the back of the plane. I looked back once, and she was all the way in the back of the plane. Through to this day, I don't know what this scam is… like, if I left my seat, would she be able to just take it?”

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"Plane squatter"

The video sparked a lively discussion in the comments section, with many viewers expressing their confusion and scepticism about the woman's intentions.

“I’m so confused what her plan was,” commented one user.

“If someone says to me ‘being a mother is so hard’ I’d be like yes that’s why I’m not one,” another added.

Then one viewer speculated, “It’s called squatters rights, it’s legal”, and someone else wondered, “Are plane squatters a thing?”

“'Sorry. If we crash, I want my body identified correctly' - usually shuts them up in my experience,” shared another commenter.

Finally, a user succinctly stated, "I’d say to her, 'Your poor planning does not constitute an emergency. You'll see her in Paris; go sit down.'”

Originally published as A 'mum' tried to trick me into switching seats with her on a plane