By Alice Gibbs

Copyright newsweek

A viral Reddit post has reignited the age-old debate over airplane seat etiquette after one passenger was asked to move seats.

The anonymous traveler recounted the story on the subreddit r/EntitledPeople under the handle Chel_01. They explained that they were seated in economy on a fully booked international flight when a family with a young child boarded.

The wife and toddler sat in the middle row beside him, while the father—who held a business class ticket—asked if the Reddit user would switch seats so he could sit with his family.

“I was reluctant but asked him what seat he had,” the passenger wrote. “To my surprise he said he had a seat in business class so of course I said absolutely!”

But the situation took a bizarre turn when the father suddenly insisted that his wife should take the business class seat, and asked the passenger to move into her middle seat instead.

“I said no, I’m not switching to the middle row and being blocked into a middle seat by a screaming toddler… and you said you wanted to sit with your family??” the Redditor recalled in the post which has over 9,000 upvotes.

The disagreement escalated until a flight attendant intervened. After checking tickets, the crew member escorted the passenger to the business class seat originally promised to him. “Needless to say I had a very nice flight after that,” the poster said.

Airplane story! Family tries to trick me into switching to the middle middle byu/Chel_01 inEntitledPeople

Expert Reacts

Jo Hayes, a world-leading etiquette expert and founder of EtiquetteExpert.org, told Newsweek the passenger was right to stand their ground.

“This OP was absolutely right in refusing this horrific plane seat swap end situation,” Hayes said. “Reneging on the business class seat for OP should have simply returned him to his original seat, not the cramped middle seat beside the toddler. What on Earth? Dear husband, you need to take a good long hard look at yourself and the way you treat other people.”

Hayes explained that passengers requesting swaps should do so politely, with no pressure, and must accept a refusal without argument.

“If you want a specific seating arrangement on a flight—such as family members sitting together—simply book and pay for this when purchasing your tickets. If you do end up needing a swap, it must be done in a respectful way. The other passenger has every right to say no.”

Stories of seat swap drama frequently go viral, sparking heated online debates about entitlement, fairness, and flying etiquette. According to Hayes, the golden rule should always apply: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Newsweek reached out to Chel_01 via Reddit for comment.