A woman stole a man’s window seat on a United Airlines flight, telling him she preferred the window and he could sit in the middle seat. But she quickly changed her tune after discovering a malfunction in the seat she had stolen.
Woman Steals Man’s Window Seat, But Quickly Regretted It
The incident occurred on United Airlines flight 1980 from Houston (IAH) to Austin (AUS) on Monday, February 17, 2025. As the passenger describes it, he boarded the flight and found a woman had poached his window seat, 26F:
Was boarding a plane and had an F (window) seat. I mention to the woman who was in my seat “heyyy I’m seat F,” and she says “I’m more comfortable here.” I said nothing else and sat in the middle. A few minutes later, she discovered her seat TV didn’t work, while everyone else’s did. She asked to switch back and I said “no, I’m comfortable here.”Now I’m watching Bob’s Burgers and she just has to look out the nighttime window.
In what many are calling “karma” (I’m not a believer in that, but that’s another matter…), the woman found that her in-flight screen did not work…but when she asked to move back to her assigned middle seat, the man declined.
My question, though, is why did the man just accept that his seat was stolen in the first place?
He explained, “I didn’t care enough to say anything more when she was in my seat (talking on the phone facing the window)…It was only a 50 minute flight.”
Ok, I get it…not worth the drama. But by principle, I could not reward an entitled jerk who thought she could just take my assigned seat. I prefer aisle seats on short flights after sunset, but most of the time I deliberately choose a window seat so that I can control the light in my row.
If you do find your seat taken onboard, consider flagging down a flight attendant rather than getting into an argument with the seat poacher. Someone unstable and desperate enough to steal a seat onboard may not be the best person to negotiate with.
Kudos to the man for not switching back…
The man was right to “drop it” , and not made a big deal out of it , from the beginning .
Just let her have the window seat which she poached , from the beginning .
They will all arrive at the same time regardless .
Myself , I would have told her in all sincerity that (a) she is Fortunate that her TV does not work , as all TV is garbage , and (b) I will volunteer to switch-back IF she will buy me a drink or two .
@Matthew … Also , what if the FA you flag down is herself “unstable and desperate” , is the sister of the poacher , and the FA asks You to leave the flight ? Could happen , no ?
Even worse , if the FA “accidently” spills hot coffee on Your lap , and you forgot to put two magazines on your lap .
It is ALWAYS better to ‘Live and Let Live’ AND ‘Forgive and Forget’ , AND say a little prayer for the offender .
What the heck are you talking about?
I also wear an Army helmet to protect my head from the heavy suitcases falling out of the overhead bins .
Please take your meds before posting.
My meds are alcohol , in various forms .
Sounds fake.
@Chi … Agreed . However , IF not fake , what would one do ?
Tell her to move. If she doesn’t, get one of the FAs.
It’s times like these that cause me to have significant, uncontrollable flatulence. Maybe holding back the anger? I don’t know, but on a 50 minute flight I could pass enough to recirculate the entire cabin’s air 50%
Seems that science is on my side:
Here’s Why You Should Let That Fart Rip on Planes, According to Science
https://www.travelandleisure.com/why-you-fart-more-on-planes-according-to-science-8773537
Definitely fake. She could’ve gotten FA involved when the men refused.
I don’t think it is fake. I’ve seen the same thing.
I had my window seat poached on a smaller jet. What was I supposed to do? Hold up the boarding line and try to engage one of the 2 FAs? As previously mentioned, I might be the one in trouble and booted off the flight. Less than an hour flight. Unfortunate and the poacher may only be encouraged to do this again. Not worth the trouble. Long haul flight – I would probably say something after most had boarded.
I hope you had plenty of flatus for your seatmate.
Snort! You just made me break out laughing in public.
The cow got what she deserved.
A story reposted from another site who reposted it from a social media site, lol!
It was on my site first.
Seat stealer confession here:
Last Christmas even boarding a flight for phoenix with my wife and 8 year old so my mind is busy. They have seats 3 rows back from me so I wanted to make sure they were ready and I sat down in the wrong row.
“These seats are comfy” — I thought.
Well, I guess it was an exit row? An annoyed Japanese guy comes up and says he has reserved the whole row. I check my pass and he’s right and apologize profusely as I moved to my seat up one row (hence, it had to be an exit row?).
I wonder if he thought I was a seat thief.
If he needed 3 seats , he might have been a Sumo wrestler .
With a HUGE Bento Box for sustenance.
At minimum I would notify the FA of the change so that they would have an accurate seat roster. Second I would ask for a partial refund of any extra price you paid (if you paid to upgrade)