Couple about to board a Lisbon to London flight make airport staff member cry by aggressively resisting a polite request to check in their hand luggage due to a full flight, delaying all the other passengers: 'Insisted that she was being singled out'

Author image for Emma Saven
Emma Saven
Dec 23, 2025 7:00 AM EST

Nothing screams 'entitlement' like these two little words: why me!?

There are just certain people on this planet who think they deserve special treatment while they're out here doing the absolute ordinary…Yet, for some reason they expect everyone else to notice the invisible crown they've placed on their own heads. Newsflash: Unless you invented the wheel or a cure for lactose intolerance, you're not that special… 

In fact, what earns people respect is the kind way in which they treat others. I'll never understand those people who live on the 'I'd rather have them fear me, than like me' ideology.…I just imagine it to be pretty lonely in that type of headspace! But unfortunately, many people chose to live that way…Constantly trying to balance that chip on their shoulder, with the worry that someone might just see through their fear of not being perceived as better, richer or more powerful than everyone around them! 

The thing is, and now's the perfect time to reference my favorite quote of all time: We're born with nothing and we leave with nothing…So it's not actually about the things we had in life, but the way we made others feel, that makes us truly valuable… 

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  • This couple are those type of people who send their lives placed upon a self-made pedestal. Even at the airport they've somehow managed to cause a scene before take-off! 

    After being politely asked if the couple would check in their hand luggage, they pulled out the why me card, but this time it was the aggressive version! The woman accused the airport staff of singling her out, to the point of making one of the staff members cry! 

    They made up some excuse about having limited time between their connecting flight but guess where they were found after the flight… Calmly standing around the luggage conveyer belt with everyone else! So we know that their time crunch wasn't as tight as they made it out to be…

    So not only did they succeed in making an unnecessary scene, but they also slowed down the process of boarding the plane for everyone else. What a divine sounding couple, we truly hope to encounter such tourists next time we're at the airport! Minus the staff tears, of course!

  • Rich couple getting off a private jet
    via gettysignature

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Entitled couple make airline staff cry

    I was flying from Portugal to London and waiting at the gate at Lisbon Airport. The flight was full, and a member of airline staff left the desk to ask passengers to put their hand luggage into the hold, as there would not be enough space in the overhead lockers.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • This is standard practice and clearly signposted at the gate. Hand luggage is never guaranteed to stay with you.
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  • She approached an English couple sitting closest to the desk and asked to see their boarding passes.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • From how they dressed and spoke, I could tell they were quite wealthy, "posh" West London types.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • The woman immediately became defensive and demanded to know why. The staff member explained that the flight was very full and that passengers with economy tickets would need to check their bags.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • The woman's response was instant and hostile. "Why should I have to do it? Why are you picking on me?" The staff member explained, again, that everyone with an economy ticket would be asked.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • She was simply starting early to keep boarding running smoothly. The woman reacted as though she were being persecuted, insisting she was being singled out while everyone else was being left alone.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • The staff member kept repeating that she had started with her only because she was sitting closest to the desk.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • The woman and her husband became increasingly aggressive. The staff member's face went red as she tried to explain that she was just doing her job and trying to avoid delays for everyone.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • She stressed that she was not picking on them. Eventually, the couple were so hostile that the staff member started to cry.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • Overwhelmed employee with her head in her hands while she thinks deeply
    via charliepix

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • She stopped asking anyone else and returned to her desk, shaken and visibly upset. Someone sitting nearby quietly explained to the woman that the staff member had not been targeting her and that everyone would be asked to check their bag anyway.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • The woman repeated that it was unfair because she had been asked first and that she would not accept being treated that way.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • It was clear that her idea of "unfair" was simply her being inconvenienced. When boarding began, I watched the couple closely.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • They were about to face the same woman they had reduced to tears. Instead, they let the person behind them step forward and then slid neatly into the premium queue to be boarded through another staff member, keeping their suitcase because premium passengers are allowed to.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • On the other side of the gate, they stood smiling at each other, pleased with themselves, as if they had pulled off something clever.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • Trying to be generous, I reasoned that they had a tight connection at the other side and didn't want to lose time waiting for their bags.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • Still, no excuse for being rude. Anyway, when we landed in London, I went to the baggage carousel to collect my suitcase.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • Surprise, surprise - guess who is standing there, waiting like everyone else, hand luggage still in hand, waiting for their suitcases?
    via InternationalDrop935
  • A bunch of colorful suitcases rotating on an airport conveyer belt
    via berkay08

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • They had made someone cry, slowed the process for everyone else and saved nothing. No time, no effort, nothing at all.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • They just got the smug satisfaction of feeling the rules did not apply to them.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • Ok_Young1709 See this is when airline staff should be able to ban people like that from the flight. Once they kick up a fuss about something simple, they are potentially a problem on the flight. So they either wind their neck in and behave, or they can walk home. Their choice. I'd also.make them go to the back of the line and wait until everyone else has boarded as despite being first in line, they don't seem to believe they are first. So they can wait for everyone else first. Bit of humiliation
    via Ok_Young1709
  • OP International Drop935 Yes, I wish they had had some comeuppance. I wanted to confront them at the baggage claim, but I am a very non- confrontational person and just the idea of talking to them made my heart race uncomfortably
    via InternationalDrop935
  • Th3_Last_FartBender The premium queue usually notices economy tickets and asks them to return to their own lane. It's clear on the tickets.
    via Th3_Last_FartBender
  • OP International Drop935 I think they were in a rush to board everyone, because they hadn't pre-checked all the bags, because of these horrible people... I was hoping they would be called out by that staff member but unfortunately not.
    via InternationalDrop935
  • Hopeful_Extension_46 It's always a bad form to immediately become aggressive and hostile. But I can understand that people doesn't want to check the luggage they specifically chose to be with them. There might be some important documents, or valuable / fragile items they are not ready to lose and we all know the risks for the checked baggage. But people should use the words and explain their reasoning instead of starting the confrontation.
    via Hopeful_Extension_46
  • OP International Drop935 Yeah, I thought that, but then just say it. She also had a large shoulder bag style handbag with her that could have fit a laptop etc if needed. The vibe was very much "we're exceptional, make someone else do it"
    via InternationalDrop935

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airport tourists airport-staff premium-economy entitled people
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