I have to laugh at many of the seat swapping demands that are made, but nothing takes the cake like asking a seatmate to move from business class to economy class so that spouses can be seated next to each other. A voluntary downgrade request from an entitled wife is hilarious and yet pathetic at the same time…
A Voluntary Downgrade Request From Entitled Wife
Read this account in full, as posted on reddit. It’s hilarious….
I was flying back from Toronto to Vancouver on a 787 where you have these wonderful lie-flat pods in business class.
These cabins are configured 1-2-1, where the two are two pods next to each other, but no big deal if you’re traveling alone as there’s a privacy slider you can put up. I was flying alone, and wound up in one of those middle seats. No problem.
I get to my seat, and the woman on the other side is already there. Here’s roughly the conversation:
Woman: Hi there, if it’s ok, could you switch seats with my husband so we can sit together?
As I said, it really doesn’t matter at all where this guy’s seat it… it’s either the exact same config as what I’m in, or maybe it’s one of the individual ones next to a window which actually would be a nice upgrade… no one next to you and more space.
Me: Sure, no problem… where is it?
Woman: Great — it’s back there, 18B. I’ll tell him to come up here! Thank you!
(business class has only 8 or 9 rows)
Me: Wait… 18B? Sorry, I’m not switching out of business class to the back.
Woman: But you said you would! He’s already heading this way!
Me: You can’t seriously expect me to swap a pod for a MIDDLE seat at the back of the bus. Are you kidding me?
I’m actually looking around to see if someone is recording this; it seems like a YouTube set-up video of some sort.
Woman: It’s not such a big difference. And it’s there bulkhead row so there’s plenty of legroom.
After more discussion as to how this even happened… as it turns out, EW and husband had been seated in 18B and 18C, but for some reason, she’d been offered a free upgrade to business class and took it… expecting that the person (me in this case) next to her would just swap. And 18C had now been assigned to someone else, so there was no way they could sit together.
Woman: Tell you what… if you can find anyone up here to swap with your husband, I’ll be happy to take that seat and you can have this one. Anywhere in this cabin, I’m fine with. Then you can sit together. But I’m not moving back there.
Woman: But we both want to sit together up here!
Me: I’m sure you do. But I think you have two choices… sit apart, or sit together back there. I’m sure whoever is in 18C would love to sit up here. Take your old seat back and you can both sit together.
They both angrily made their way back to the back, and I was half-expecting a new, confused stranger to appear, the lucky recipient of an instant upgrade… but no, she came back. According to her, 18A loved the window bulkhead and didn’t want to move. 18C had family in 18DEF and didn’t want to move either. Someone later told me that perhaps the flight attendants got involved and just told her to go to her assigned seat; no seat-swapping allowed.
Whatever the case, she showed up all angry and made a big show and lots of noise sitting down. I couldn’t have cared less. 30 minutes after takeoff, I was reclined and fast asleep for the entire flight.
And I’m still bewildered that someone would think this makes any sense at all.
My blood pressure rises just reading that…goodness gracious! I cannot blame the passenger for wondering whether this was all just a setup. And while I’m not convinced that every reddit story is true, these sorts of things do happen.
I’m going to guess this occurred on Air Canada, but perhaps WestJet occasionally runs its 787 Dreamliners on the busy Vancouver – Toronto route.
CONCLUSION
It’s very simple: if you want to swap seats, you offer a better seat or don’t bother to ask. It’s rude and uncalled for to do otherwise.
What do you think about this wife and her voluntary downgrade incident? What would you say to her?
image: Air Canada
“Woman: It’s not such a big difference. And it’s there bulkhead row so there’s plenty of legroom.”
This is the point where you settle into your seat, put on your headphones, and ignore her. Case closed.
@David ,,, +1 .
+2
I would’ve repeated exactly what the woman said and told her she can go move to the back
Why is this news? Entitled B doesn’t get what she wants and becomes a bigger B. Not news.
Lol I wouldn’t even have had the discussion with her once she said row 18. A simple “no thanks; maybe the flight attendant can help you with your seating issue” would be sufficient!
I would have told the person that I need to take medication every 30 mins and I cant take it orally…what an absolute plonker. I would have told her politely to sit and rotate…
This has to be a joke, right? She was either playing with the guy or she is just plain stupid. Hoe about her giving up her business class seat to the person sitting next to her husband in economy so she can sit next to him in economy?
A classy move I have seen before was a guy coming from a AA international first class and asking the guy sitting next to his girlfriend in business class and asking if he would take his seat in first class so he could sit next to his girlfriend. Now, that’s something anyone would take. This lady is just plain stupid.
“ma’am, its a 4 hour flight, I’m sure you can spend 4 hours away from your husband”
boom, end of conversation
I have no idea if this is true. But, if it is, I’d like to think the husband was quite happy for the 4 hour break from his wife. I just don’t get this need to be next to traveling companions (except parents and small children).
This has to be fake. No one is THAT entitled
Haha, you’re too naive! …makes me think about the worlds reaction to Hamas showing the world the terror they caused, yet still getting people to side with them
Which is pretty much the same thing.
Siding with Palestinians isn’t the same as siding with Hamas. Anyone with at least half a brain can figure that out.
Not a question of brains, but of plain ignorance. Uninformed and not well read,
Oh, I assure you they are. I was once on a business trip to India. An entitled American co-worker demanded the flight attendant put her in First on a DEL-BOM sector. 2 hours. She merrily came back to tell us that she had told the FA that she needed more space, and was probably moving to First. The rest of us just took our seats in Economy. 2 hours, no big deal.
The flight attendant came back and told her that there were plenty of open seats in the last few rows, to go back there. Let’s just say, this was not a one-off.
naw, these ppl do exist.
Saw one time where a high levelled status holder demanded a business class seat opened for his no status friend. They even threw a fit after boarding with the FA even after the ground told him its not possible. There was no additional open business class seat to start out with.
Man, I can tell you stories…
58 years old. I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe… Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion… I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain… Time to die.
I would have thought that stories like this were a jokes until my similar experience a few weeks ago on an AirAsia flight where some dude expected me to give up my aisle seat for his middle seat and then looking like he’d tasted Malort when I pleasantly declined.
@Christian … +1 .
That’s the thing – I’ve flown enough not to outright dismiss this story, as far fetched as it sounds.
This is probably fake.
Lots of posts on that far left site are fake.
unlike the very real, not fake at all stories on fox news and other far right sites…
I believe that you believe that.
It’s so cute how some conservatives think EVERYTHING is “far” left. There’s no more “regular” left. They have to embellish everything to the point of absurdity, like saying “Marxist socialist leftist” to describe anything they don’t agree with. Lame AF.
Sure, Guber. Unlike those real “alternative facts” of the right. Bit good to know a simple article about some nothingness has you running around inside your head complaining about the left. Doesn’t sound like a fun life but you do you!
This never happened. Good grief.
r/thathappened
While self-centered, oblivious, narcissists do roam the planet even they wouldn’t try to pull off this scenario.
I cannot believe you people think this actually happened. The detailed dialogue she quoted is a dead giveaway this was manufactured.
I was a pilot for 36 years and this happened all the time
I was on a Thai Airways flight (a B777) in the last row of business class from Stockholm, Sweden to Bangkok in 2019. When I visited the restroom mid-flight and then returned, a middle-age woman sat in my seat, simply stating that her economy class seat was so tight that she ”needed” to switch seats with me for the remainder of the flight. Not kidding. (I told her firmly to leave, which worked.)
There are height requirements for rides, maybe there needs to be common decency/courtesy/competence requirements to be on a bleeping plane
Planes would be empty and airlines bankrupt.
To the skeptics: I absolutely believed this happened. I say that because lots and lots of people out there are clueless, entitled assholes with no self-awareness. And, btw, I hate them all.
Kudos to the passenger asked to switch. If the events passed as described, then he/she showed remarkable patience and kindness. My guess is that had it been on a US carrier, civility would have been the first thing to go. That said, one must admire the sheer chutzpah of the lady and she gets points for trying to pull a humdinger of a seat switch scam.
Was it Heidi??
We had the same issue last week on Flixbus. Some college-aged kids were seated in our front row seats that we had paid a premium to reserve. When they saw us, they asked if it was okay if they stayed there so they all could sit together, and, instead we could enjoy their seats farther back. I briefly contemplated offering to sell them our seats , but, in the end, simply said, no. They all moved. I think any lingering feelings of resentment over my unwillingness to indulge their seating whims was mollified when I returned one of their wallets that they had left behind.
I hope everyone realizes that these stories on reddit are fake. The demand for such content far outnumbers the supply of such real stories. It’s the same story retold countless times by sad people who have nothing better to do. Then it’s repackaged here and made “UNREAL” and collecting clicks.
I can’t say definitively if this particular story occurred, but stories like this DO occur…
No, it’s a thing… it happened to me on American out of DFW—lady asked if I would switch seats with her husband, I asked which seat he was in (thinking I may have to give up the aisle seat or take the bulkhead) and she said something in the teens … I laughed and suggested she switch with the person sitting next to her husband, and she said “I’m not giving up my first class seat!” It was pretty astonishing.
Needless to say, ALWAYS ask the seat number before agreeing to switch.
a simple response starting with F and ending in U would have sufficed there
Assuming this is true, her asking to change seats before telling him her husband was in an economy seat shows this woman is a bit on the shady side…
My sister had a similar situation on a transatlantic flight in business class. A family wanted to sit on the same row on a wide body and requested her and my niece move to the rear. My sister has a sharper tongue than Princess Anne of the UK and the request was immediately withdrawn!
Since then, I have learned to reply to any request with a polite, “I’m comfortable where I am” response. Any further, hit the FA call button.
Didn’t this exact thing happen to Lucky at OMAAT?
Best to assign her the seat in the last row next to the lavatory.
Oh wow, funny. See my story above. 🙂
I’m not the least surprised that people do this it seems as if the world is full of self important ass hats lmao
I think that you are a bottom feeder stealing posts from Reddit.
So if this happens when I’m sitting in international first class do I have to hand over my free airline pajamas and toiletries when I turn over my seat? I’m not sure what all the rules are when making financial gifts to strangers, and I need to be prepared.
Basically she wants him to be upgraded free of charge. She’s a complete c—
“Give me double what I paid for the seat and you can have it.”
For a four hour flight, sure! I would take double for my seat.
As a flight attendant with 45 + years YES, THIS HAPPENS !! people check their brains instead of their bags!
Oh it happens all the time. It that drastic an ask took place, compensate me for the price difference and maybe we’ll talk. There is a significant price difference in the seats. How could someone ask that you give up your your what…$500 upgrade? …just to be nice.
Nope. Sorry lady