A woman has been praised after she sought revenge on an elderly couple who tried to steal her plane seat on a 13-hour flight – so what would you do in this situation?
A woman has been hailed a hero for standing her ground against an elderly couple who cheekily tried to nab her plane seat on a gruelling 13-hour flight.
Sharing her globe-trotting woes on Reddit, she recounted how she and her partner meticulously planned their three-month world tour, not anticipating the audacity of fellow travellers.
She posted: “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. Cost an extra $60.” “This flight was with Air New Zealand, the screen has your name on it when you get to your seat. ‘Welcome OUR SURNAME’ We get on the plane. Find our seats and there is this older couple sitting there (mid 70s).”
When she politely asked the septuagenarians to double-check their tickets, assuming a simple mistake, it became clear they had self-upgraded, expecting no fuss. She continued: “I show them my ticket and seat number and point to my name on the screen. They then ask me just sit in their seats which was 10 rows back. No leg room.”
Unwilling to surrender the seats they paid extra for, she queried if the couple intended to take their spots, to which they replied: “Yes, that would be nice. Thank you.” The woman stood firm, explaining the premium they paid for the extra comfort.
However, the couple refused to move, arguing that their original seats didn’t provide enough leg room. So the woman knew she had to take matters into her own hands.
She called over a flight attendant – who managed to relocate the elderly couple back to their original seats without causing a scene. However, some passengers weren’t happy with how she handled the situation.
The woman said: “I got some stink eyes from other people on the flight. I paid for the extra leg room and I need it.” Despite being frowned about by people in real life, Redditors were on her side.
One social media user commented on her post saying: “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.”
Another user shared: “Traveling to Europe with a two year old. and husband. Pay to have seats all together, find older couple in our seats. Get flight attendant to make them move, lady gives me stink eye entire seven hour flight.”
A third user added: “I always book an aisle because that’s my preference. Get to my aisle seat and someone is there. Says he has diarrhoea and needs to be able to get up frequently to the restroom. Against my better judgement I allow him to keep my seat. He didn’t get up once the entire time. Still bugs me, years later.”
