'I said no...': Demanding dude approaches passenger on flight to switch seats so he can sit with his wife, dispute follows after passenger refuses

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Sienna Varady
Mar 22, 2024 7:00 AM EDT

When organizing a trip, there are many factors to take into account. The list is endless and includes the hotel, the vehicle to collect you from the airport, the various activities, and the restaurants. But despite their evident importance, the flights are an important component that is occasionally overlooked. The flights and seats you book should be carefully considered when making travel plans, as they have the power to make or break the remainder of your trip.

The story that follows is an account of a perplexed woman who is planning a trip from New York to Cairo. The Original Poster (OP) made sure her vacation had been arranged to her satisfaction by taking great care to select the seats that would be most comfortable for her when she booked her flights. However, things took a turn for the worse when a entitled pair requested to switch seats so they could sit together. Even after months of planning, the conversation started off calmly since OP was open to the notion of switching places. But as soon as she saw where the two had first taken their seats, she refused, insisting on staying in her own seat.

Having said that, be sure to read the story below if you're interested in learning the specifics of what happened between OP and the entitled couple! After you're done, don't forget to read about the man that executes a cunning plan to get back at his neighbor who stole his parking space!

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  • 01
    "Nice try, but the answer is still no...'
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  • 02
    Entitled guy demanded my window seat for an 11 hour flight to Cairo
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  • 03
    This was a while back, but an excellent example of sheer entitlement. Flight from NY to Cairo, the seat configuration was three rows of seats. Two window and aisle on each side with 4 or 5 middle seats in the center. I had a window over a wing. I chose the seat with sleep in mind many months in advance; while I do frequently travel I'm
    via u/Dicecatt
  • 04
    not going to pretend I often jet away to Egypt so this vacay was very planned out. I was settled into my seat when my aisle mate approached his and asked if I'd be willing to switch with his wife so the two of them could sit together. The two of them seemed to be with a group of similar aged travelers; it appeared to me based on chatter that it may have
    via u/Dicecatt
  • 05
    been some kind of group tour (knowing the industry and that the organizers may have been negligent in seat assignments, I was absolutely willing to consider a swap if the seat was comparable). So naturally I asked where his wife's seat was. He pointed, and she waved at me from the center of the middle seats.
    via u/Dicecatt
  • 06
    "No, sorry, I'm going to keep my seat" was my response. Instead of switching out with a middle seat person (who I'm sure would have been delighted to take an aisle) so he could sit next to his wife, he sits down in his seat and started trying to argue with me. How the view is bad anyway since it's over the wing, I won't see anything
    via u/Dicecatt
  • 07
    since it's mostly overnight and dark, etc. I just reply I plan to sleep against it and decline again. I'm trying to be pleasant, I'm a pleaser, and I'm stuck next to this guy. He continues to bug me like the mosquito he may have been in a former life, and asked me, "if you had a husband, wouldn't you want to sit with him?"
    via u/Dicecatt
  • 08
    At this point I'm totally irritated. I stated that I do "have a husband", and if my husband and I were traveling together, I'd not only ensure our seats were assigned together, but if they weren't, I'd give up my aisle and go sit with my spouse in the middle.
    via u/Dicecatt
  • 09
    He then shut up with direct comments, but grumbling persisted throughout the flight, just not to my face as he pretended to ignore my existence (perfect ending). He was still grumbling when we deplaned.
    via u/Dicecatt
  • 10
    Top-Bit85 "He continues to bug me like the mosquito he may have been in a former life" I just love that sentence! Thanks.
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  • 11
    True Falsity "If you had a husband, wouldn't you want to sit with him?" If he was anything like you, I'd rather be seated away from him.
    via u/True_Falsity
  • 12
    YaDrunkB h Why can't people just book a freaking window seat??? Why do they always want someone else's?
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  • 13
    KaposiaDarcy I never cheap out on booking my window seat. I know how essential that is for me to have a comfortable flight. I'm not paying extra money as a handout to a complete stranger who was too cheap or too lazy to do the same. I tend to be a pushover, but no one is coming between me and my window seat.
    via u/KaposiaDarcy
  • 14
    Dazzling_Ad_2633 because most airlines charge a premium to be able to choose your seats ahead of time. So it is cheaper for them to not pay it and badger someone who did into giving up their seats.
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  • 15
    That said, I once had a guy ask to swap seats with me so he could sit next to his wife. I was in economy and he was in business. I jumped at the offer. We were flying from India to London. That guy really loved his wife.
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  • 16
    10 TO Odd-Phrase5808 I had a guy try something similar, years ago. It was the day after a TOUGH hike, my legs were in bits, and when I'd booked my flights months prior I knew I'd probably be feeling like this. So I booked a aisle seat so that I could get up to stretch or use the toilet (I get dehydrated on long
    via u/Odd-Phrase5808
  • 17
    haul flights so drink a lot of water, and, well, nature!). I was so stiff I couldn't "sit", it was a case of aim and drop! Or use armrests and carefully lower myself to my seat, which I preferred as it was less jarring to my legs, and didn't shake the tray table behind me, or affect the person next to me.
    via u/Odd-Phrase5808
  • 18
    Anyway this dude next to me, middle seat, starts whining about needing the aisle seat (which I paid extra for, budget airline...), because he might need the toilet in the middle of the flight. I politely declined, stating that I actually needed the aisle myself, maybe he could ask the crew if any aisle seats were free after everyone had boarded??
    via u/Odd-Phrase5808
  • 19
    Yeah no, he didn't ask, just sulked for a while, then slept the entire flight. Meanwhile I was up hourly to pee (and stretch while queuing for the toilet). I told him I'd be happy to get up any time he needed to leave his seat, turns out yeah, he never did!
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  • 20
    And the cherry on top when I got up to let him in to his seat after initially declining his demand, he lifted the armrest between our seats and proceeded to try to hog a good portion of my seat! I pretended to be oblivious to his passive aggressive move and reached out and lowered the armrest and made a show of lowering my aching body into my
    via u/Odd-Phrase5808
  • 21
    seat. Barely an exaggeration really, I was really sore and stiff still, day after intense exercise and all that. And anyway, the flight crew would've insisted the armrests be lowered for takeoff, but I wanted the to know that I wasn't going to entertain his tantrums on the 8 hour flight... The fun of being a solo female traveler sometimes... O
    via u/Odd-Phrase5808
  • 22
    FeedingCoxeysArmy He grumbled throughout the flight....this is why I always bring earplugs.
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  • 23
    Dicecatt OP 7 mo. ago Oh for sure. I watched movies when I wasn't asleep but every time a FA came to our row for whatever reason he would mutter again. He pouted like a toddler. His wife was probably grateful for the reprieve.
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  • 24
    LibraryMouse4321 You should have pointed it out to him. "Well, the way you are carrying on makes me certain that your wife is very happy to not sit near You".
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  • 25
    Hillytoo Oh I have had one of those encounters! I got on a flight and was seated waaay back in the airplane. It was a late booking so no problem. I have to be up early to fly - its an hours drive to the airport, an hour before check in so I am used to a 4 am morning. I always book a window seat for the reason that I
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  • 26
    really need to sleep. It takes me three plane changes, a three hour time change and these flights take me on a 12 hour journey. So I get on the flight to find a woman in my seat. I look confused and she looks embarrassed and says that the lady in *her* was seat asked to move because another lady's friend might need help if
    via u/Hillytoo
  • 27
    anything were to happen. I said I am sorry, but I really need to sleep as I have a 12 hour journey ahead of me. So she got up and went back to her original seat. Then, two more people had to shuffle around. This one woman, (we will call her Brenda) had rearranged 3 people so she could sit beside her friend, (who at this point was looking for the
    via u/Hillytoo
  • 28
    nearest hole to crawl in to.) Brenda's original seat was directly ahead of her friend on the aisle. Let me tell you. Bagface (sorry... Benda) proceeded to give me the stink eye for 2 and 1/4 hours. I was a couple of rows back of her and she kept her head turned to give me laser guided missiles of malevolence, eyeballing me the
    via u/Hillytoo
  • 29
    entire time. I slept for an hour. Woke up. Still in the tractor beam. I have a bad nervous habit. When confronted like this I get the giggles. So I ended up putting my book over my face to stop my nervous laugh from turning into outright howls. Lady beside me says "What the h | is her problem?"
    via u/Hillytoo
  • 30
    Flight ends and people are lining up to exit the plane. Beelzebub, (sorry... Brenda) decided everyone needed to stop in their tracks so she could assist her friend behind her to get off the plane. Despite her handwaving and authoritative direction she got pretty much ignored then stampeded. Pretty sure they are still scraping her off the cabin floor....
    via u/Hillytoo

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