A plane passenger took it upon themselves to teach a fellow traveler a lesson about seat swapping during their recent flight.
The passenger, who goes by Fit-Calligrapher9298 on Reddit, explained one of their “favorite seat swapping stories” to date in a recent post titled, “She was just trying to be helpful, until…”
To set the scene, the user explained how they were sitting in the aisle seat of one row, while another woman was sitting in the aisle seat directly next to them. When the woman noticed a family having trouble with their seats, she then approached the passenger with a question.
“She turns to me and says the guy next to her (in the middle seat) would very much like to sit next to his family (wife and daughter seated in the middle and window seat next to me). She asks, ‘Would you be willing to help them out by swapping seats?’”
Related: Mom Asks Fellow Passenger to Move From Economy Plus to Coach So She Can Sit With Her Son, Then Cries When Told No
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Passengers sitting in the aisle seat
The passenger recalled how they first “smiled” after being asked the question. They then detail how the conversation allegedly went next.
“Sure! So you’ll take the husband’s middle seat and then I’ll take your seat,” the passenger claims they responded.
After the woman argues back that the family just wants to sit together, the passenger reiterated the same response: “Sure! Happy to switch with you. So you’ll take his seat and I’ll take yours.”
The user explains how they could then see the “confusion set in” as the woman’s “brow furrowed,” followed by “the glorious moment when that lightbulb goes off” as she realized what the passenger was implying.
Related: Passenger Asks Solo Traveler to Switch to Middle Seat So She Can Sit with Her Husband — Then ‘Scoffs Aggressively’ When She Declines
“Shaking her head violently and frowning, she says, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to give up my seat,’” they write of the woman’s reaction.
Pleased that they successfully taught the traveler a lesson about seat swapping, the passenger explained what they did next.
“I relax in my seat with my smug smile and thinking my job here is done. By saying yes to her, I forced her to be the one to say no,” they conclude.
Many Reddit users commended the original poster (OP) in the comments section.
“That was a perfect lesson. Don’t request a change that makes me worse off,” one person wrote, followed by another adding, “Sounds like this lady wanted the buzz from doing something ‘good’ without actually having to do anything herself.”
Another user wrote, “That is quite possibly the best response I’ve seen to something like this yet,” followed by three clapping emojis.
Getty Flight attendant on plane
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When it comes to seat swapping, travelers should never anticipate that other passengers might be willing to switch, according to travel expert, writer and advisor, Nicole Campoy Jackson.
“Generally speaking, don’t board a plane expecting passengers to shift for you, especially if your seat is not as comfortable as (or more than) theirs,” Jackson previously told PEOPLE.
She also advised that it’s always best to communicate with a flight attendant if a passenger needs help settling a seat swapping or stealing situation as they have access to more information than passengers do.
“I am always in the camp of getting a flight attendant involved for sticky in-flight situations,” she said. “Tensions run high when we’re traveling plus they would know, for example, if there was another aisle seat or another solution to this problem. They have more context than we, the passengers, do.”
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