A female airline passenger sparked outrage when she revealed she had refused to swap seats with a 10-year-old boy whose parents had left him in economy class so they could laze around in first class.
An unnamed frequent flyer, 23, shared on Reddit that she refused to swap seats with a child after she and the child’s parents upgraded to first class – resulting in the 10-year-old being alone in the bus stayed behind.
Her confession sparked another heated debate about plane etiquette just days after a pharmacist revealed she refused to give up her seat to allow a mother and her teen to sit together during the trip.
The anonymous woman took to Reddit to ask if she was wrong for refusing to give up her first-class seat for the little boy in a thread titled “Am I the Asshole” — what people did prompted the social media platform to slam the boy’s parents for leaving him alone in the first place.
A passenger sparked outrage when she revealed she had refused to swap seats with a 10-year-old boy after his parents left him in economy class so they could lounge around in first class
The woman started her post by sharing some background information about herself and her 13-hour journey.
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She said, “Background: I (23F) have been planning a trip to San Francisco for about a year at this point and booked my tickets a year in advance.” About a month or two before the trip, the airline called me and shared that she would like to upgrade me to first class based on my points and membership.
“I had never flown first class before, so to say I was so excited would be an understatement.”
When she got to her seat, she made herself comfortable and looked forward to the departure.
But not long after takeoff, a flight attendant approached her with a request.
“About an hour into the flight, a flight attendant came up to me and asked if I would be willing to swap seats with a 10-year-old boy who was in economy class so he could be in first class with his family can sit.” the passenger explained.
“From what I was told, the two parents were both members and had also received upgrades, unaware that their son could not be upgraded with them.” So they got their first-class tickets, but he was in economy class.’
The passenger further noted that the flight attendant discussed the situation as if she had “no choice but to move,” adding that if she did move, she would receive a free upgrade on a future flight or even a full refund could.
The anonymous woman took to Reddit to ask if she was wrong for refusing to give up her first-class seat for the little boy – prompting people to condemn the parents (stock image)
“I asked her if there was any chance I could stay in my seat because I really thought I would be kicked out and she said that the two parents and I were the only passengers with an upgrade on the flight and it There are no other seats in first class. “So if the boy was going to have a chance to sit with his family, it would only make sense for him to sit in my seat,” she added.
The frequent flyer noted that if the situation had been “different,” she might have considered it, but she received the upgrade because she’d traveled so much on the airline.
The woman eventually refused to change the sweatpants, noting that the nurse was “very polite” and accepted her decision.
“I was shamed by an old woman in the seat next to me who told me I left a child alone for 13 hours.” “A 13 hour flight alone for a child is the scary part, but I saw how he was walking up and down the islands every hour to meet his parents, so it wasn’t like he was alone,” she said.
At the end of the post, she asked if she was an “asshole” for not changing seats.
People on the social media platform immediately came to the woman’s aid and berated the boy’s parents for leaving him alone
People on the social media platform immediately came to the woman’s aid and berated the boy’s parents for leaving him alone.
One person said, “I’m sure two people in business would have liked to swap parents!”
Another person said, “Yeah, that’s the crazy part — when it’s a young kid and you feel like you have to sit together… one of the parents has to switch.”
“Yes, and the parents could have taken turns sitting with the child. “It sounds like the parents weren’t worried at all about the whole situation and it was the flight attendant who was worried that the child might be alone,” wrote another.
Another person wrote, “Exactly.” Why are the parents selfish and then expect a stranger to make up for it?
One user commented, “Why would I make sacrifices for any kid when one of their own parents wouldn’t?”
“That was my thought.” The child is not forced to sit alone. The parents decide to do it. One of them could take his place,” said another user.
“OP said the flight attendant told them first class was full. “We also note that the old lady who shamed her did not volunteer to switch,” wrote another.
One user said, “This one!” This happened to me and I was seated in economy class while my wife and child enjoyed first class treatment. “Those parents were big assholes.”
“Or, crazy idea, a parent sits in first class with the child.” “A parent sits in the quality of the seat they paid for,” commented another person.
“That’s it.” You are not responsible for the child or their comfort during a 13-hour flight. If the parents wanted the child to be supervised, they should have asked the other two people in the children’s row if they wanted first class seats so they could sit as a family.
“The fact that the parents weren’t ready for that; And the fact that the flight attendant even publicly asked you to swap makes this whole situation unacceptable. Their seat wasn’t even close to the parents so the kid would have just been closer to their parents,” commented another.
Another person wrote, “As a parent, my first thought would have been to ask if my child gets an upgrade too.”
Her confession comes just a week after a passenger was praised online for refusing to give up her first-class seat for a woman who wanted to sit closer to her teenager.
dr Sabra, a TikTok creator and pharmacist, racked up nearly 10 million views after sharing her enthusiastic reaction to the confrontation.
The short clip, captioned “POV: Flight agent asks me if I want to give up my 1A seat to let a child sit with his family,” saw her grinning from ear to ear after rejecting the mother.
The rejection comes months after a man sparked heated debate when he refused to give up his first-class seat for his boss, despite using his own credit card points to do so.
In the past, ‘s Jaci Stephen has even spoken out, admitting that she “absolutely refuses” to swap seats, no matter how angry the passenger asking for a seat change may be.