A man has been praised for refusing to switch seats with a pregnant woman on a plane after she asked to sit in the aisle seat he'd paid for.
Traveling can be an amazing experience as people visit far corners of the world that they've never seen before, however, the plane journey to get there can be one of the less enjoyable parts of the trip.
From the questionable food options on board to getting seated in front of a child who spends the next few hours kicking the back of your seat, there can be many ways in which your flight might cause annoyance.
One man was left in an uncomfortable situation after refusing to swap the aisle seat he'd paid for with a pregnant woman who wanted to be nearer the toilet.
The unnamed man took to Reddit's 'Am I The A**hole' forum to share his story and see if people agreed he'd been in the right to refuse to give up the seat he'd paid for.
He explained: "I was flying by myself on a 5+ hour flight to visit family over the holidays. I specifically booked and paid extra for an aisle seat in the second-to-last row because I have medical issues that sometimes require quick access to the bathroom.
"Right before boarding, a woman asked me to give up my seat so she could sit closer to the bathroom. She was pregnant but did not seem distressed."
He revealed that while he "felt for her situation", he also had a need to be close to the toilet and had paid to reserve such a seat to ensure he was able to go when he needed to.
"As someone with a medical condition, I did not feel it was fair to demand I move from the seat I planned for and paid for, especially since she apparently had not booked an aisle seat herself in advance," he added.
He revealed that the flight attendants "refused to help" when the woman insisted that he be forced to move, and there were no other aisle seats nearby that he could have moved to due to the fact the flight was fully booked.
The man told the pregnant woman to consider speaking to her doctor about the fact she needs to be accommodated "if sitting far from the bathroom is not medically advisable for her situation during future flights."
He revealed that his family told him he should have "inconvenienced" himself and given up his seat for the woman, however, he felt that she and the flight crew were "unfairly targeting" him rather than handling the situation properly.
People in the comments were quick to jump to the man's defense, writing: "NTA [not the a**hole]. She should have booked another seat she wanted herself or not gone on the flight. Seems she just assumed she wouldn't have to pay for it, since some sucker was going to move. The flight attendants are at fault for not mediating. At some point they should have told her to go back to her seat. (and all of this is regardless of your medical issues. You paid for the seat. She didn't.)."
Another added: "This is when you throw back, 'I actually have incontinence so I have to be near the restroom' or another bladder related medical condition. Realistically I would just tell her that I paid extra for the seat no thank you."
One mom wrote: "NTA- I say this as someone who has been pregnant and has flown solo with a toddler… every passenger has equal opportunity to pre-book seats based on their needs and preferences. It’s no one business why you booked that seat. Was the passenger or airline going to reimburse you for the cost of prebooking the seat? Zero obligation for you to move."
Someone else pointed out: "NTA. As a frequent flier I see this a lot. Entitled people thinking they can have whatever seat they want. Nope. If you paid to select your seat. That’s your seat. End of story. Your lack of planning or decision to be cheap is not my fault nor my obligation to remedy."
Another commented: "NTA I wouldn’t have traded for a non aisle and I don’t have a medical issue. I picked and paid for an aisle seat so that is what I am getting," while someone else wrote: "NTA. You specifically and for good reason made arrangements for your seat. Just being pregnant does not entitle her to demand it from you."
One Redditor added: "NTA. Being pregnant doesn't give you a free pass in life. I'm assuming she knew she was pregnant when she booked the flight. She should have booked the seat she needed/wanted and not relied on bullying other people to accommodate her."
