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Why woman refused to give extra plane seat to child cheered—”I told her no”
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A woman has been praised online for refusing to give her extra seat to a toddler on a plane.
On December 19, Reddit user u/Electrical_Trash_373 explained why she was reluctant to give up her seat while traveling to see her brother for Christmas.
The 34-year-old American woman said: “Because I’m fat, I booked an extra seat so everyone can be more comfortable. I know it sucks having to pay for an extra seat but it is what it is.”
She told Newsweek the seat cost an extra $200 but the mother of an 18-month-old expected it for free.
Yaroslav Astakhov/iStock/Getty Images Plus
“This woman comes to my row with a boy who appeared to be about a year old. She told me to squeeze into one seat so her son could sit in the other. She told me, not asked. I told her no and that I paid for this seat for the extra space.
“She makes a big fuss over it, which [gets] the flight attendant’s attention. She told the flight attendant I was stealing the seat from her son, [and] then I showed my boarding passes, proving that I paid for the extra seat.
“The flight attendant asked me if I could try to squeeze in, but I said no,” she wrote.
For the rest of the flight, the woman claims she received “dirty looks and passive-aggressive remarks” from the mother.
She told Newsweek: “I did feel awkward at first but I eventually just tuned her out.”
At the time of writing, the post has racked up 16,200 upvotes and other users are outraged. The top comment has over 33,000 votes.
It said: “She’s TA [the a******] for not buying a seat for her son and assuming someone else would give up a seat they paid for. Odds are she was hoping there’d be extra seats on the flight so she didn’t have to pay and used the lap thing as a loophole. Classic case of you snooze you lose.”
Another comment with over 17,000 votes said: “Apparently fat people have to get another seat to fly, but they also have to give up that extra seat for someone else’s child if they want it.”
According to the AAA, over the 10-day year-end holiday travel period, an estimated 115.2 million travelers will travel 50 miles or more from home, with 7.5 million flying.
To ensure the flight runs smoothly, Newsweek reached out to Drew Stewart from Jack’s Flight Club, an email newsletter and mobile app focusing on helping subscribers find cheap flights. He shared the following four tips aimed to help parents flying with children.
Play Games in the Airport
Scope out in advance where the play areas are in the airport and play some sort of active game with the kids (e.g. tag) to get out as much energy as possible. Wait until minutes before preboarding and then walk over and onto the plane with as little waiting at the gate as you can manage.
Introduce Yourself to Nearby Passengers
Once onboard, say hi to the person seated in front of you, and tell them that you plan on doing everything you can to prevent your child from disturbing them. Usually they are then more understanding if there is anything. And then once you take off, all you can do is hope that things go OK.
Distract Them
To keep them distracted, try to save any new seasons of any shows they like in the one or two months before the trip so you know they will have something they like to watch on the plane.
Make Sure They Look Cute
Last but not least, dress your kids in their absolute cutest outfits, do their hair, etc., so that if they are being annoying, you get five minutes’ extra grace period because people think they are cute.
Have you had a Christmas dilemma? Let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice on relationships, family, friends, money, and work, and your story could be featured on Newsweek’s “What Should I Do? section.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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