Woman Says That Despite Paying $40 Extra For Her Seat, A Dad Tried To Guilt Trip Her Into Switching Seats On A Flight
"As a literal mom, I'll never understand the audacity of parents thinking they're better than other people."
YAKOBCHUK VIACHESLAV | Shutterstock Everyone who has flown before likely has a distinct seat preference.
Some like the window because they can sleep leaning against the wall, while others prefer the aisle so they can stretch their legs and get up without asking anyone to move. Other passengers care more about sitting toward the front of the plane, so they can quickly deboard after the flight.
Regardless of your preference, no one wants to be asked to switch their seat for a worse one, especially if you paid extra to get your preferred placement. That, however, is exactly what happened to a content creator named Rylie on a recent flight.
Despite paying $40 extra for her seat, a dad attempted to guilt trip her into switching on a flight.
"I'm so glad we're finally having that random conversation about people trying to switch seats with you on airplanes because, oh my god, do I have a story," Rylie began her TikTok video.
"On flights, I always pay extra to have a specific seat," she explained, and her recent flight out of Denver was no different. "It's the exact reason why I don't fly Southwest."
On this specific trip, she ended up upgrading her seat, paying $40 extra for a window seat closer to the front of the plane so she would be able to deboard without having to wait an eternity.
As she was getting comfortable in her window seat, she noticed a couple walking over the seats right next to her with their three kids in tow. The way the seats were on the plane meant that the parents would have to split up or let their kids sit alone, which Rylie pointed out would've been difficult since the kids looked to be between 5 and 10 years old.
"I'm in my own world. My AirPods are in, that's it," she said, adding that she suddenly felt someone grab onto her shoulder to get her attention. "It was the dad that was with the family."
The dad explained to Rylie that he'd talked to the man sitting behind her and learned that no one was sitting in the middle seat. Instead of requesting she move, the man demanded she did.
"He's like, so, 'you know, you can just switch seats with him and go sit in the middle so that way me and my family could all sit together,'" she recalled.
Rylie attempted to tell the dad that she wasn't comfortable switching seats.
"I'm not trying to be rude, but I sit in a middle seat only on desperate terms, if I desperately have to go somewhere, and that's the only seat available," Rylie said. "Otherwise, no. Besides, I had paid for this seat."
After hearing his demand, Rylie informed the dad that she has really bad plane anxiety and needed to sit next to a window to alleviate it. While it wasn't a total lie, Rylie admitted her main concern was that she didn't want to sit between two people — especially after she paid for the right not to.
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If that dad was as concerned about sitting all together with his family, then he and his wife should've made the conscious effort to book seats so that they wouldn't be separated in the first place.
There's also a better way to ask for someone to switch seats on a plane as well — the key word being ask.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Clint Henderson, managing editor of news at the travel website The Points Guy, said that people wanting to swap seats should make sure that the seat they are trading is either equal to or better than the one they will receive.
"These days, your seat assignment likely had some kind of cost, whether you paid for it outright or got it as a perk of status," Henderson said. "Of course, if it’s an even trade and you are a generous person, you are likely to be kind and make the switch — but sometimes people who want your seat are offering you a bad deal on a switch."
The dad immediately became upset at Rylie's refusal to move.
After letting him know that she had no plans on moving, Rylie recalled that the dad's entire demeanor shifted. While he was trying to be nice at first, he dropped that façade in an instant.
"He looks me dead in the eyes and goes, 'Oh, so you're really gonna just let a kid sit back there by herself in the middle seat and not be with her family?" she recalled.
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Rylie rebutted that he should be the one to sit in the middle seat and let his child sit with the rest of the siblings and her mother. "Why does it have to be me?" she questioned. "Like, you're the dad."
That only upset the father even further, and he went on a rant about how this generation doesn't have a single care about families, but Rylie tuned him out and still refused to move.
At the end of the day, asking another passenger to switch seats isn't the problem but rather the attitude that you use to approach them. You're not entitled to their seat just because you want it.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.