A man has been praised online after he refused to switch seats with an elderly couple on a plane so that they could have more legroom.
The refusing traveler took to Reddit to explain that during his flight from New Zealand to LA, he had upgraded his seat to have more legroom due to his height - he is 6 foot 3.
However, upon reaching his seat, he discovered that an elderly couple in their seventies had taken up all the space that he had paid for and things got a little sticky pretty much soon after that.
He recalled the incident in Reddit's notorious "Choosing Beggars" thread.
"[A] Few years ago my SO [significant other] and I planned a 3-month trip around the world. Our first flight was from New Zealand-LA. 12-13 hours. We booked and paid for our flights and I added the premium economy seats as I'm 6'3 and wanted the extra leg room," he revealed.
The unnamed man then told social media users that the upgrade cost him an extra $60, which is a lot considering the money was only going to a bit of extra legroom.
But if you're going to pay for it, you better get your seat, sir!
"This flight was with Air New Zealand, the screen has your name on it when you get to your seat... We get on the plane. Find our seats and there is this older couple sitting there (mid 70s)."
The man then proceeded to ask them if they had gotten "confused" with their own seat numbers - an honest mistake that happens all too often - but they claimed they hadn't, and they just chose to sit in the wrong seats.
"I show them my ticket and seat number and point to my name on the screen," he continues. "They then ask me just sit in their seats which was 10 rows back. No leg room."
The interaction was a two-minute back and forth where the couple claimed that their actual seats had enough legroom for the man, before the flight attendant on the trip was forced to get involved.
In the end, much to the elderly couple's disappointment, they were told to go back to their original seats and while the man may have received a few "stink eyes" from other people around him, he seemed to win over Reddit users who banded together to praise him for standing his ground.
"Lol people giving you dirty looks like you harassed this older couple for your health," wrote one user who couldn't believe that other people on the flight didn't side with the paying passenger.
"Honestly it wouldn’t matter if you were 4’0 - they were your seats," another added. "These people were ridiculous."
A third also recalled their own personal experiences writing: "I’ve had a similar issue on the train. My friend and I had seats that had a lot of leg room. We left our seats to sit in the lounge car for a while and come back to find random people sleeping in our seats. These seats are assigned as soon as you get on. It’s super awkward and frustrating having to constantly shew people away from your seat if you leave too long."
And this user also agreed that the elderly couple was out of line for their behavior saying: "Seriously, what kind of person decides to take someone else's seat on a plane? I understand if there's an empty seat once you've taken off, but this kind of thing takes a special kind of entitlement."
What do you think?
