When booking a plane ticket, it makes sense to select a seat that suits your travel needs, and that’s exactly what one passenger did.
The woman, who faced a 12-hour journey, shared her story on Reddit, explaining that she had reserved her seats on the plane “months in advance.” She said, “When booking, I paid extra to choose my seat. The seat I chose was an extra $55 and was at the front of the plane (I wanted to get somewhere on time after landing).
“The seat also happened to have more legroom and I am a 5-foot-tall woman.”
She reported that at first everything went smoothly. Checking in, boarding and finding her seat were all easy. However, things changed when “the seatbelt sign was turned off” and a man approached her and asked her to “change seats.”
The woman said she was “open to it” until she realized his seat was “at the very back of the plane.” She then told him “no, sorry,” citing that she had paid extra to “sit in the front.”
Continuing her account, she described how the man’s frustration grew: “He became increasingly angry and refused to leave. He said there was no reason why someone my size would need more legroom (I told him I had paid to sit at the front),” reports the Mirror.
She continued: “I suggested that he ask the other people in the seats if they could swap, but he declined, saying he did not want to harass other men or separate couples.” The passenger added that the man became “rude and angry,” forcing her to “call over a flight attendant who told him to sit down.”
Unfortunately, she said, “For the rest of the flight, he walked past me for no reason and bumped into me (I was sitting in the aisle).”
She ended the post by asking other Reddit users if she was in the wrong and if she should have chosen to trade with him. Reddit users were quick to comment on her post, with many people assuring her that she was not in the wrong and had every right to stay in the seat she paid for.
One said, “So my brother is 6’6”. Do you know what he does when he has to fly? He makes sure to get a seat in the emergency exit row or another row with more legroom.
“Normally he has to pay for it. Any great person with an ounce of common sense KNOWS he has to do that for flights.
“This tall person knows they need more legroom, but tried to get out of paying by convincing someone else to switch. The OP had every right to say no, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE HE PAID EXTRA, and a tall person has no right to act like a jerk about it.”
Another passenger chimed in and said, “There’s a tall person here. If I want more legroom, I can pay for it like everyone else.”
“I’m not going to pay for the cheapest seat and then try to get someone smaller to give me the more expensive seat they paid for for free.”
Meanwhile, another outraged passenger commented: “He’s tall, he’s been tall his whole life.”
“He knew flying was a burden on him, and he didn’t want to spend the extra money. When he didn’t get his way, he became a violent bully toward a single woman. You should have reported him, and he should have been removed from the flight, or you should have received compensation for your seat.
“A grown man thought he had a right to expect you to give him what he wanted. You were an easy target because you were alone and he didn’t get his way and harassed you the entire flight.”
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