Plane drama unfolds as 'seat thief' gets ousted mid‑flight
A passenger flying from New York to Atlanta described on Reddit her unpleasant encounter with a man who had taken her pre-booked seat on the plane. It was a window seat with extra legroom.
A Reddit user, under the pseudonym Confident_Junket_181, recounted an argument with another passenger. Upon boarding, she noticed a man pretending to sleep in her seat.
The traveller ousted the intruder who took her seat
"I said loudly: 'That's my seat.' It seemed to me that this man should sit in the middle, not in my window seat," she wrote. The man pretended to be confused, prompting the passenger sitting in the aisle seat to intervene. When asked for his seat number, the intruder admitted: "My seat is at the back."
As the uninvited passenger was leaving the row, the man in the aisle seat began to criticise him: "This isn't a bus; you don't sit wherever you want. Who does that? It's a full flight; did you think no one would notice?"
The woman expressed gratitude for the support from her fellow passenger, emphasising that she did not intend to give up her seat. Her post sparked a flood of comments on Reddit. "Seat thieves should be banned from flying," wrote one user. Another added: "Such behaviour is brazen and classless."
Don't expect someone to give up a better seat for you
Travel expert Nicole Campoy Jackson highlighted in an interview with People that you shouldn't expect other passengers to switch seats with you.
"Don't plan your trip assuming someone will swap with you, especially if your seat is less comfortable," she advises. Jackson also notes that in a conflict situation, you should reach out to the cabin crew, who can help resolve the issue.
