'I refused to give up plane seat for elderly disabled woman - she should plan ahead'

A man has shared how he refused to swap plane seats so an elderly woman could sit alongside her husband in comfort - but he believes she should have planned ahead if she wanted this comfort

A man has been praised for refusing to give up his pre-booked plane seat so an elderly disabled couple could travel in comfort. He explained how he and his partner, both in their early 30s, were travelling on a four-hour flight and made sure to prebook their preferred seats as his partner gets claustrophobic on planes.

To make their journey a bit smoother, they booked seats 1B and 1c - a centre and aisle seat. He said on Reddit: "We always get on the plane last so there’s less hanging around waiting for the doors to shut. When we boarded, an older couple were sat in seats 1A and 1B. They were given 1A and 1D, and offered us 1C and 1D. We politely refused this offer, and explained that we’d booked 1B and 1C as we wished to sit together."

With that, he says a flight attendant "jumped in" to try to persuade them to give up their seats for the elderly couple, explaining how one of them is disabled. But unconvinced by her disability and reasoning for a seat swap, he again declined the offer. He said: "The flight attendant rolls her eyes, and the woman in 1B reluctantly moves."

AITA - refused to give up seat on a plane
byu/BoeNotAer inAmItheAsshole

However, the entire situation has been playing over in his head - and now he has taken to social media to ask users whether he's in the wrong for refusing to move. In response, one user said: "You and your partner booked those seats in advance; they are yours. If the elderly couple needed special accommodations they should've figured that out in advance while booking.

Your partner's anxiety also is something that needed accommodation -- in this case, sitting with her to help keep her calm probably made the experience much less terrifying for her. Another user added: "You booked specific seats and you were 100% entitled to use them. I wish flight attendants would quit asking people directly if they are willing to switch seats and instead ask if anyone would be willing to switch seats so others can sit together. When asked directly and you decline, it just gets awkward."

A third user said: "I was on a flight in August where the people behind us were kinda switching seats, there was an extra one in the back, long story, but the flight attendant was not allowed to ask. She kinda just kept saying “it’s up to ___ , she paid for this seat” whatever. Afterwards, she came back to the people behind and explained she’s not allowed to ask anymore and that’s why she was kinda saying the same thing over and over. This was a United flight so maybe different airlines have different rules."