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The seat-swapping phenomenon has sparked many social media discussions with flyers sharing stories about fellow travelers asking to switch seats.
One user appeared to take a stand by sharing an experience in the “r/delta” forum on Reddit.
Titled, “Finally said no,” the user shares “a couple approached me and asked if I could change seats with one of them so they could sit together.”
“Guys, I gotta preface my saying I have been a chronic people pleaser all my life and have given up my seat multiple times when flying solo cuz I’m short and I really don’t care as long as it’s not a truly crap seat,” said the post.
The user said that after finishing an almost two-week family vacation, “this flight I felt differently…I was ready to just be done,” but asked if the seat was an aisle and was told it was a middle.
“I looked at this woman and her husband and simply said, ‘no thanks’. The look on her face! You would’ve thought I slapped her,” the post continued.
The user continued, “She just stammered as I stood up to let her pass and then awkwardly dipped into her middle seat beside me while her husband slunk to his middle seat a row back. I can’t say that I didn’t feel tremendous guilt at first, but once they were both seated their behavior and comments immediately steeled my nerves.”
The flight passenger added the woman said “this trip would just be absolutely awful without him [her husband] right next to her” and appeared to be on the verge of tears.
The user said they slipped on their “noise-cancelling headphones to drown [the couple] out and took myself a guilt-free nap.”
Reddit users took to the comments section to discuss the bold request to switch seats, with some sharing their own experiences.
“Good job practicing breaking your people pleasing tendencies,” commented a user.
Another user said, “Mutual benefit is key to asking. Most people don’t get that. A former boyfriend of mine traded his first-class seat with a comfort+ aisle so he could sit next to me. Oh, young love. Haha”
“People don’t seem to understand. If you are brave enough to ask, you have to be brave enough to handle a NO,” commented another Redditor.
“Never understood that. We all have assigned seats,” said one.
“If they needed to sit together, they could have paid for seat selection. I don’t get why people are upset when others refuse to switch seats,” another person commented.
“I’m with you! If I paid for the seat, I’m not switching,” declared one.
“Everyone needs to stick to their guns and maybe eventually people will stop asking others to give up their seats for them,” a Redditor said.
“I am also a recovering people pleaser and I can tell you I would never swap an aisle for a middle. I paid for the seat, that’s where I sit,” another person wrote.
California-based etiquette expert Rosalinda Randall told Fox News Digital that “no one has the obligation to switch their seat.”
“The person making the request has no right to expect [this] or make a scene when they don’t get their way,” said Randall.
Randall said there may be some circumstances in which it would be a minor inconvenience to switch.
“It’s a short flight, you can find a similar seat in another row, or anyone would be an improvement from the passenger [you’re currently] sitting next to,” said Randall.
