Airplane passenger refuses to swap seats on 70 minute flight so dad and 7-year-old son can sit together, cites booking ahead:'I think he was trying to shame me'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Jan 8, 2025 6:00 PM EST

Air travel is perhaps one of the least dignified forms of transport (unless you're really rich, anyway). From the way that the TSA agents scowl at you to the awkward shuffle you have to do past a stranger if you're in the window seat and you want to go to the bathroom, there really is nothing to recommend it apart from the fact it is the fastest way to go long distances. 

It is a small wonder that we don't see more instances of air rage, although there are still plentiful examples of awkward and entitled behavior that take place on planes. There is something about traveling by air that causes some people to lose all sense of what it right in favor of what they want. Unfortunately, even if compromise seems annoying it is something that is unavoidable when you and your fellow passengers are all imitating tinned sardines at 30,000 feet. 

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    via Hanson Lu

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • On a recent flight, one man ran into issues before the plane even got off the ground. On a short 70-minute flight, he had booked himself a window seat but found that a father and son were sitting next to each other there when he got on the plane. The dad requested he let them sit together as their seat was in a different row, but the man refused. It's fair to say the family weren't happy, leading their fellow passenger to wonder if he had been in the wrong.

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    LIFE VEST IN PANEL ABOVE YOUR HEAD
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    AITA for refusing to give up my seat on the plane so a boy could sit next to his father, and to tell the father to behave himself?

    So basically I (29M) boarded my short flight (70 min) which has a 2-2 seating arrangement. I had booked myself a window seat and when I got there I saw a maybe 7 year old boy sitting in there, next to his father (about 50 y/o) in the aisle seat. The opposite row also had his mother and his sister sitting there. Although this happened less than 24h ago I was exhausted so I don't remember the conversation word for word.
    via Mediocre-Chain1210
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    I pointed towards my seat and the father asked me if I would mind swapping so they could sit together, and that their seat is in the row behind it. I said that I would only swap if it is a window seat, and he said it is an aisle seat. Then I said I wouldn't swap and the following conversation happened • Him: So do you want to sit next to my son? • Me: I don't care I just want the window seat. • Him: standing up and getting his son up you are a very nice person. I mean not a very nice person • Me
    via Mediocre-Chain1210
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    I just stood there looking at him serious, I think he was trying to shame me initially but he didn't respond anything else to that. His wife was watching this the whole time. When somebody in the row behind saw it he offered to swap and sat next to me so they did eventually sit next to each other.
    via Mediocre-Chain1210
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    For all I care they could have sat 20 rows apart or even booked a new flight, I had zero investment in this or their reasons. They can ask, I can say no and that should be the end of it imo. I didn't like the "swap" happened before I approved it either. If they care that much they can book their seats in advance like everyone else. I didn't have a good reason why I need the window seat except that I like it and don't like the aisle seat lol.
    via Mediocre-Chain1210
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    The internet was on his side, although some pointed out there could be more factors at play than entitlement.

    emergencycat17 NTA. If they wanted the seat, they should have booked it together. This same thing happened to me on the way home from Thanksgiving at my sister's on Amtrak. I like the window seat, so if there's one, I sit there (and I realize this is a little different, because unless it's Amtrak business class which you can reserve, it's first come, first serve). It was an hour and a half train ride. This girl and her boyfriend board the train, I'm in my window seat, and the aisle seat is empty
    via emergencycat17
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    Anyway, the girlfriend says to me, "Excuse me - and if this isn't okay, it's fine - but would you mind finding another seat so he and I can sit together?" I politely said, "No, sorry, I want to sit here." She actually looked a little shocked. But one of them sat next to me in the aisle, and the other one sat in the aisle seat across from us. At the next stop, both of the people behind me got off, so the two of them quickly switched, grabbed those two, and were able to sit together. The boyfriend
    via emergencycat17
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    ProgDogg I fly 40-50 flights a year and I see this ALL the time....and it is ALWAYS entitled parents with kids. Just because they don't know how to book a flight doesn't give them a license to inconvenience anyone else on the plane. I used to give in to these requests...but then a few years ago I simply stopped and now I do exactly as you did and just tell them to follow the rules like everyone else. You are definitely NOT the a-h le...you are just another tired traveler who did everything the r
    via ProgDogg
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    DefinitelyNotAliens It just needs to be law that airlines must book parents with minors under X years together, period, and if an airline cannot book a parent with their minors together without bumping seats, the booking can't happen. You enter people's information at time of booking. If you try and book and can't do it: no. They may be across an aisle, booked with a middle/ aisle and no window, whatever. But they simply are not legally allowed to put minors on a flight without an adult unless t
    via DefinitelyNotAliens
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    LowBalance4404 When did this start, do you think? I mean the entitled parent thing. I traveled for work about as much as you did (40-50 flights a year) between 2013 and 2017. It was nothing like this. People got on the plane, sat in their seats, worked/slept/read/snacked/watched movies. I just recently started traveling for work again and holy sh. It's night and day and like I've entered into a parallel universe. I usually always reserve a window (for night travel) or an aisle seat (for days so
    via LowBalance4404
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    bsjdf246 People are just broke, especially parents. That's why so few millennials and Gen Z are even having kids. If you can save $20 by not booking together, and hope for the best when you arrive, then you're gonna try to save that 20 bucks. The fault isn't with the individual people trying to save money, it's with the airline for charging for a basic right like a child to sit with their parent. That said, for parents who do this, you better be willing to switch for a worse seat. I read some st
    via bsjdf246
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    Over-Distance8726 Honestly, I earnestly believe that airlines are a h_les for not putting passengers together who book together. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Passengers should not have to pay for the privilege of sitting next to each other when they book and pay under the same reservation. If you book and pay separately, then sure. I also think passengers should not have to pay to sit together when they are clearly a carer. Whether it be for the young, elderly, infirm, airlines need to al
    via Over-Distance8726
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    III_Reading_5290 I just don't humor the discussion anymore. While holding up ticket: That's my seat. Can we switch? No. Any further comments and I just hail the cabin stewards to deal with it because they get paid to interact with people and I do not. I get myself the seat that I want and I won't have any discussions about seating, period. If they can't pay the added fee to pick the seat that they want then that's too bad, their poverty is none of my concern. If this is the hill I must di on the
    via Ill_Reading_5290
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    Mediocre-Chain1210 OP I'll keep that in mind for next time. Yeah I didn't see the point of having a discussion about it, he did stand up as well it was just his attempt at shaming me lol.
    via Mediocre-Chain1210
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    Existence Raisin NTA. You're right, they can ask, and you can say no. You booked the window seat because that's where you wanted to sit, and you don't have to give up your seat just because someone else wants it
    via ExistenceRaisin
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    Apart-Ad-6518 NTA I had booked myself a window seat. You planned ahead. They didn't. I said that I would only swap if it is a window seat, and he said it is an aisle seat. He tried to double down/expect you to take a seat you didn't want. Then compounded his stupidity by behaving like an A H in front of his kid.
    via Apart-Ad-6518
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    Lola_Luvly I am tickled pink that you told him to behave himself! NTA
    via Lola_Luvly
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    Mediocre-Chain1210 OP I'm sorry but somebody telling you to stay polite and you respond saying you're not polite? Like did he think he was in a movie, he's in a plane with people around and trying to argue and throwing a temper tantrum on front of his kid AND wife of course he needs to behave himself.
    via Mediocre-Chain1210
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    ArachnidAdmirable 760 I don't really get how this happens - I'm in Canada and there are actual laws around children seats having to be next to parents/guardians on planes so it's supposed to be a non-issue here. Do they not have such laws in the US or other countries?
    via ArachnidAdmirable760
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    seasarahsss You'd think, right? But nope, planes get changed and computers reseat people not taking into account who booked together or passenger ages. It puts people in a horrible position. Also, they let you book much cheaper tickets if you don't choose your own seat and some families do this and try to rely on the kindness of strangers to be seated together. That kindness wears thin when you have paid more to choose your specific seat. I would have happily changed ten years ago but flights ar
    via seasarahsss
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    thatdamnedkid NTA. I was this Dad last week (weren't enough seats in a row when I booked), asked the person in the seat I wanted to switch (aisle to aisle) but she couldn't because her wheelchair couldn't go the extra couple of rows. I thanked her, and that was the end of it. My son was slightly disappointed, but got over it easily. The lady and my wife chatted nicely during the flight, and I chatted nicely with the person I ended up sitting next to. No big deal!
    via thatdamnedkid
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    BananaPants430 NTA, full stop. That said - it isn't always the parents' fault. I have friends who have flown with young children who paid extra to book seats together, but then the flight was cancelled and they were rebooked, and the airline kept passing the buck on who would fix it, from the ticket counter to the gate agent to the flight attendant - until they found themselves on a crowded plane of cranky people trying to prevent a 3 year old from being 10 rows away from either parent.
    via BananaPants430

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