It’s totally reasonable to reserve and aisle seat and window seat in hopes the middle seat will remain empty. I do it all the time. But it’s quite unreasonable to demand that the passenger in the middle seat take the aisle seat if she does not want it. A deranged mother lost her temper and reacted in the worst possible way when her seatmate said she would rather stay in the middle seat than occupy the aisle seat.
Deplorable Mother: You Are Not Entitled To Swap An Aisle Seat For A Middle Seat, Even To Sit Next To Child!
As told on Reddit:
- A woman was assigned a middle seat on a cross-country flight
- In the gate area prior to boarding she witnessed a mother traveling with her 6-7 year old son make a number of demands to airline ground staff
- She boarded first, took her middle seat, put on her headphones, and closed her eyes
- When the mother and son boarded, the mother said she “MUST sit next to her son” and “MUST sit at the aisle so she could sit next to him”
- The woman declined the request, stating that she did not like to sit in aisle seats
- She also offered to swap seats with the son and sit in the window seat
- The mother began yelling that she had a right to sit next to her son
- The mother added that her son should not have to give up his window seat (“He DESERVES it”)
- A flight attendant was called over and the woman got to keep her middle seat
Bad conduct by the mother, right? Wait…it gets worse:
The mom kept “accidentally” kicking me the whole flight and made her son annoy me on purpose so I might give up my seat.
When I went to the toilet I thought it was finally over as she might have accepted it but when I came back she was in my seat and my jacket and my bag which I left there were thrown into the aisle. I called a Stewardess and they made her get back onto her place.
If this is true, what a vile mother!
You never know what is true and what is false on Reddit, but these types of situations do arise so I think it is helpful to talk about them even assuming they are hypotheticals.
I do think it is a smart strategy to reserve an aisle and window seat toward the back of the cabin in hopes that the middle seat will remain empty. These days, it is not likely, but at least there’s a decent chance. An open middle seat makes the flying experience much more bearable.
But if you take this gamble, you better be ready for the passenger who might want to sit in the middle seat…or as was the case here, not sit in the aisle seat.
Reacting by screaming entitlement, kicking your seatmate, and throwing carry-on belongings into the aisle is disgusting.
(Hat Tip: View From The Wing)
1.) Reddit
2.) “Stewardess”
Ah. AitA. The treasure trove of questionable-but-milkable content when travel news is a bit slow.
It must be sad for the middle seat woman who got an assigned middle seat and “loses” her eyes in the process. 😛
I think you meant “closes” her eyes instead of “loses” her eyes.
We need a Mental Health questionnaire before we board the plane.
And physical health…
Why can’t people pick their seats in advance? I already booked my family summer vacation and have all seat assignments ready. Easy to do it.
They probably were hoping the middle seat wouldn’t be taken, which rarely happens nowadays as flights are typically full. Usually this doesn’t end up being an issue because the middle seat person is usually happy to get out of the middle, and if they do have a preference, the passengers who booked aisle and window seats should give it to them.
That said, the lesson remains that if you have the ability to pre-assign seats, don’t be mad if you end up having to sit in them. If it truly was that important for the mother to sit next to her son and for her son to sit in the window, she should have booked the window and the middle.
And somehow the guy who didn’t want to give his windo seat up for a kid due to an airline goof up was slated here? What gives?
This story isn’t true. Come on.
I also reserve an aisle and window seat but one airline I know of will not let you do this: TUI UK (60 a/c in the fleet, so quite a big player).
Are there others?
I usually reserve a window seat. Unless i am traveling with my husband. Then i take the isle seat and my husband takes the window seat. If someone is stuck in the middle seat and complains, Tough luck deal with it.
If she accidentally kept kicking me i would accidentally spill water or soda on her. Not alcohol though it is too expensive