A women recently explained on Mumsnet that she and her boyfriend spent around $60 extra so they could secure a window and aisle seat together on a recent flight. While boarding, a woman came up and asked if they’d be willing to switch seats so she could sit with her daughter, who appeared to be around 11 or 12, explaining that the girl had a fear of flying. She says they politely declined, only for the mother to snap back, “You're adults, my daughter is scared of flying and is a minor.”
The woman told the mom that they had paid extra because she “didn't want the worry of not being sat with boyfriend as I also get a bit nervous on take off,” not that she really needed to justify it. The woman then asked if she was wrong not to move, adding, “surely if she was that bothered she could have paid like us,” and sparked quite a debate on the site.
Many commenters seemed to agree with her decision.
- “'She should have paid to book seats together the same as you did,” one person noted, while another shared, “I hate this kind of chancery" and 'Her choice her risk.'”
- And another added, “'This really bugs me- I have lost count of the number of times there have been parents on flights with small children who haven't paid to sit together and expect people who have to move!”
- One person did comment that neither were actually wrong, sharing, “She wasn’t unreasonable to ask and you weren’t unreasonable to say no.”
- But not everyone is on the OP’s side, with one commenter calling her “petty.”
- Another added, “I would have quite happily moved. This thread is making me think I'm nicer than I thought I was, and that's saying something!"
- And one person shared, “Personally I would have swapped for the sake of a child. You and your boyfriend are both adults and can survive a whole flight without holding hand's.”
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