Traveler praised for plane seat swap refusal for dad and kid

She didn’t want to play mile-high musical chairs.

A female passenger has been commended online after refusing to swap seats with a dad so he could sit with his wife and young daughter. A Reddit post detailing her in-flight switcheroo rejection is currently blowing up online since it was posted on Sunday.

“They were giving me dirty looks throughout the whole flight,” explained the poster in the thread, which was posted to the forum’s ever-popular “Am I The A–hole” section.

According to the unidentified flyer, she was boarding her flight when she noticed the interloper occupying her aisle seat.

“A man (40s?m) was sitting next to his wife and daughter,” explained the Redditor, who was not thrilled with the forced switcheroo.

“I kindly asked him to move as he was sitting in the seat I specifically booked and paid more for (I’m mostly comfortable sitting in aisle seats),” she recalled. “He refused to move and told me to move to his seat which was a middle seat.”

When the traveler told him she doesn’t “do middle seats,” the dad got mad and informed her that the airline had messed up their seating. At that point, a flight attendant came over and forced the man to return to his original seat, per the post.

Despite feeling like she was in the right, the poster said she felt like the “a–hole” nonetheless. “It was a very short flight (less than two hours) and his daughter looked really sad that her dad wouldn’t be sitting near even though she had her mother sitting there with her,” the traveler explained.

To make matters worse, the family flashed her “dirty looks” throughout the flight, per the post.

Interestingly, the majority of Redditors sided with the poster, citing the fact that she booked the seat.

“NTA You booked a specific seat for a reason,” argued one defender. “They could have booked other seats. It was a short flight, so even if the little girl was sad, it’s not like she was without her dad for a long period of time.”

They added, “This is also just part of life, she had her mother there, she was fine. Don’t let them get to you OP. You did nothing wrong.”

“You reserved that seat,” declared another. “If the three of them wanted to sit together, then it was their responsibility to reserve seats together. People can ask if others are willing to switch seats, but the person originally assigned that seat has every right to tell them no.”

Even alleged cabin crewmembers backed the original poster’s decision to play airplane seat Tetris. “Definitely NTA even if it feels unfair for the family,” wrote one purported flight attendant. “You would’ve been an amazing person if you’d give up on your seat that YOU have paid for, but you’re under no obligation of doing so.”

They added, “Get your aisle seat. If I was on the flight I’d probably try to find you another aisle seat and make everyone happy but that’s not always possible.”

In a similar incident last month, a man was praised after refusing to switch seats with a pregnant woman who wanted to sit closer to the bathroom.