Flying first-class is a luxury most of us will never get to experience. So when a woman’s boyfriend surprised her with a ticket on a long-haul flight she was thrilled.
Legroom for days, next-level service, snuggling under a complimentary duvet with a down pillow on your LIE-FLAT seat, AND sipping champagne? Seriously, what’s not to love?
Needless to say, it didn’t disappoint. What did disappoint, however, was a mother and plane staff asking the woman to switch seats with a child in ECONOMY shortly before take-off. She politely declined. But now she’s wondering, AITAH? The internet has thoughts.
Woman Takes To Reddit After Refusing to Give Up Seat to a Child
In a post on Reddit’s popular AITAH (am I the a–hole) forum, the user, 21, shared that her boyfriend, 27, had been “doing well in his career” and surprised her with first-class tickets on two connecting 12-hour flights.
It was a dream come true for the woman who “grew up lower middle class” and “had never ever flown higher than the cheapest seats on a plane before.”
However, her dream quickly turned into a nightmare when a flight attendant put her in the highly awkward position of requesting she switch to economy class so a mother and child could sit together.
“About 20 minutes before takeoff, a flight attendant approached me with a woman and a young kid (maybe around 6 years old),” the Redditor wrote.
“The woman explained that she had booked a first-class ticket for herself and her son, but due to a booking error, he ended up in economy. She asked if I would be willing to switch seats with her son so he could experience first class as well.”
She “politely declined” the request explaining that it was a gift from her boyfriend and her first time in first class and she really wanted to experience it.
“The woman seemed pretty upset and tried to argue that her son would appreciate it more than me, and that it was unfair because I didn’t even pay for the ticket myself,” she wrote, adding, “The flight attendant seemed to be on the woman’s side, subtly implying that I should consider being more understanding.”
After an uncomfortable minute or so, the woman’s boyfriend came to her defense, telling the flight attendant that “he had bought the tickets, that he was a platinum member of the airline, and that he tends to book all of his company’s business trip flights with the airline, and if she booted me to the economy, he would take his business elsewhere.”
Eventually, the mother and son “went back to business class.” But it was too late, the magic was lost. The Redditor claimed that for the duration of the flight, she could “feel the flight attendant glaring at me every time she passed by.”
Response To The Reddit Post
Despite her boyfriend’s reassurance that she “did nothing wrong” and “it was disrespectful for her to even ask” for her seat in the first place, the woman still couldn’t shake it off.
It didn’t help that some of her friends questioned her choice “saying that it would have been the kind thing to do.” Hence, going to the masses for popular opinion. The consensus was overwhelmingly in her favor.
“Nta. The mom can sit in the back and her kid can sit upfront. Problem solved. No one should ever ever be allowed to ask to switch seats.”
“NTA?? I have no idea why they were so adamant about you moving, it was not YOUR fault that they had a BOOKING ERROR. Your boyfriend paid for that service for you to enjoy and you have every right to. That woman did not pay for your seat so if she has an issue, she needs to take it up to the airline instead of trying to guilt trip you into giving up your seat for a kid that is not your issue.”
“NTA…I don’t believe for one second there was a booking error. She was trying to scam a free 1st class flight. Also if it was so important for her kid to experience 1st class, she could switch seats with him.”
“NTA. The flight attendant had no right insisting that you should switch seats if you don’t want to. They could have picked anyone else in first class to request a switch for, but they chose you. Why? Because you’re young and could be intimidated into doing it? Clearly not because you were traveling alone because you weren’t. I would have told them no too. That’s a good boyfriend you have there.”
And this brings up an interesting point. According to the OP (original poster), there were eight seats in first class. Besides the woman and her boyfriend, there were “three guys in suits,” “an older, married couple,” and the mother. So why was the young woman targeted?
The Importance of Advocating For Yourself
If there was, in fact, a booking error it should have been the airline’s responsibility to handle it. It should not have been placed on a fellow passenger to rectify the situation and she shouldn’t have been made to feel guilty about saying no.
No one likes being put in the position of the “bad guy.” But as popular opinion proves, standing up for yourself, especially in a situation where you have rightfully earned a privilege doesn’t make you a bad guy. It makes you someone who understands that you are entitled to what you paid for and personal boundaries are a good thing.
The woman’s experience serves as a good reminder that while kindness and empathy are vital, so too are personal rights.
*Featured image contains photos by RDNE Stock project and Oleksandr P
