A woman has shared the awkward comment she made to an ‘entitled’ passenger who stole her plane seat so she could sit next to her young son – and people can’t get enough of it
A woman has slammed an ‘entitled’ mum for stealing her pre-book plane seat – and refusing to move when confronted. She explained how she encountered a “plane seat bandit” on a three-hour flight with her husband after waking up at 3am for their flight.
When they arrived at their pre-booked seats, they saw a mum and her young son sitting in them while mindlessly scrolling on their phones. Taking to Reddit, she said: “They were both deep in their phones when I told her she was in our seats. We had to wake up at 3am to drive to the airport, and we didn’t really sleep so I was not in the mood for bull****.
“She smiles and tells us that they weren’t seated together so the stewardess told her they could sit here. Uhm, she most definitely didn’t. I smile back and say we paid for these seats so we would like to sit there. She keeps smiling her stiff smile and points to other empty seats behind us and asks if we wouldn’t mind sitting in one of them since they are already settled and comfortable, would it even matter?”
Annoyed, the woman again asked her to move so they could claim their pre-booked seats – but she again refused. She added: “She is starting to lose her smile and says if there aren’t seats available after the plane is finished boarding they will move then. I am not confrontational and am usually a people pleaser so I’m struggling to stand up for myself but I’m so proud for doing it anyway.
“Meanwhile my husband is struggling between boarding passengers to get the flight attendant.” Wanting to make her feel uncomfortable, she went on to explain all the problems that can arise from taking someone else’s seat. She said: “I sigh and with a half smile say I’m sorry but I just want to sit down and not stand in the hallway blocking people to see if maybe there are empty seats when I paid for our seats.
“And besides, I would like the police to be able to identify our bodies by seat number in case the plane crashes and our families want to bury our remains. The kid’s face, which has been glued to his phone this entire time, shoots up in shock and he looks between me and his mom. It was delicious.
“She has a bewildered look on her face, there is silence for five seconds before she packs up her stuff and pokes her son to move. I keep smiling sweetly and thank her and plop myself down as my husband returns with a flight attendant. I tell her everything is fine and tell my husband what happened.
“We laughed and I’m pretty sure the mom heard, or I hope so. I didn’t look back but I think I’m not mistaken about feeling a laser stare in the back of my head. Luckily the flight was only three hours so I didn’t need to walk past for the loo.”
Commenting on her post, one user said: “I’m 6’4″ and always pay quite a bit extra for premium legroom in exit rows and I cannot wait for some entitled asshole to try this with me. They will get no pleasantries from me. They will move instantly.”
Another user added: “I accidentally sat in the wrong spot on a plane. My husband had picked an aisle seat so I had access to get up and use the restroom without bothering people as I was bigger back then. I was tired got on the plane and sat by the window, I realised my mistake and when the guy who the seat belonged to came he said something. I told him ‘oh shoot I’m sorry’. I got up he got to his seat and I took mine. It’s that easy why people have to be so entitled about this is ridiculous.”
A third user said: “I had someone try to do this on a train ride. We had window seats and they were sitting on them. They tried to tell us to find other seats but I find the trick is to not argue with them. ‘Those are my seats, do I need to get the conductor to move you or will you move?’. Stop asking people politely, just tell them what is going to happen.”
