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AITA for Offering $1000 to Swap My Economy Seat with a Premium Passenger? I was on a flight from Melbourne to Dubai and had booked a premium economy seat for the fourteen-hour journey to stay comfortable.
The person next to me had been upgraded and asked if I could switch seats with his wife since they were on their honeymoon. I congratulated him and asked where she was sitting. He pointed to a seat in economy.
I declined politely. He asked if there was any way I might reconsider. I said I would if he covered the fare difference, which was about AUD 1,000. I had gotten a good deal on my seat, but the difference was quite a lot.
He said they were on a tight budget for their honeymoon. I congratulated him again and put in my earbuds. He muttered that I was being a jerk. I told him he was inconsiderate for taking the upgrade instead of sitting with his wife or giving it to her.
When I told my wife about it, she thought I should have been more accommodating. But for the record, she dislikes flying in economy and wouldn’t have switched either.
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AITA for Offering $1000 to Swap My Economy Seat with a Premium Passenger?
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I secured a premium economy seat for the fourteen-hour flight from Melbourne to Dubai recently.
The passenger beside me had been upgraded and asked if I could swap seats with his wife, as they were on their honeymoon. I congratulated him and asked where she was sitting. He pointed to a seat in economy.
I politely declined. He then asked if there was any way to convince me. I said I would consider it if he paid around $1,000 AUD for the fare difference. I had gotten a good deal on my seat, but the difference was significant.
He mentioned they were on a tight budget for their honeymoon. I congratulated him again and put in my earbuds. He muttered that I was being an asshole. I replied that he was inconsiderate for taking the upgrade instead of sitting with his wife or giving it to her.
When I told my wife about the incident, she thought I should have been more accommodating. But for the record, she dislikes flying in the economy and wouldn’t have switched either.
Let’s catch up on the top Comments on the Reddit Posts: AITA for Offering $1000 to Swap My Economy Seat with a Premium Passenger?
Theletterkay Writes:
I was separated from my new husband on our honeymoon years ago. I was thrilled. His insanely loud snoring became someone elses problem and I slept in peace.
Years ago my wife got upgraded to first class from the US to Amsterdam on a 747 and left me in economy. I was happy for her. She said she’d come and check on me later. It was just about 30 minutes before we landed that she came back wasted saying she was sorry but she was having such a good time drinking and talking to the person next to her that she forgot. We both started laughing. I was very glad she had such a good time.
0bsessions324 Writes:
Dude, if I bargain shop, I could get the PS5 and like half a dozen good games for that.
(I’m American too and yeah, $680 tossed down the shitter to give a complete stranger a luxury experience is dumb)
I would MAYBE consider it if they’d, for an example, forgotten their son at home on Christmas and that seat was the only way they could get home to him to make sure he’s safe and not getting his fingers bitten off one by one by Joe Pesci because the local cops are inept.
(I’ll also take this moment to note that at least Kate McCallister offered up her earnings AND the cost of the ticket and still had to settle on riding in a van with a polka band)
(And another thing, what the fuck is wrong with you, lady? Are you trying to wind up in a freezer in a Sheboygan basement?!)
Usually I give seat switching stories a little benefit of the doubt. A couple years ago we booked a flight overseas well in advance to visit my husband’s family. We paid for upgraded seating and picked our seats together. About a month before our flight we got notice that it would be a different plane but the price point of our seats would be the same. We didn’t think anything about it until two days before when we looked and the four of us were scattered about the cabin. I contacted the airline and basically said it was unacceptable because my kids were special needs and HAD to be next to a parent for a flight that long. I was told I could ask passengers on the plane if we could switch but the flight was full. I was not happy with that and was told “they PAID to sit where they were” and that the airline would not rearrange the seating chart. Probably not what happened here but it is something I keep in mind.
Just to finish the story- after seven hours of playing phone tag and being on hold with various people I finally got ahold of someone on their disability services team. I was told I should have contacted them when booking the tickets as that’s when they’d be involved with making sure the boys were seated with a parent, but the best they could do was have me get there early and ask a gate agent to ask people to switch. I said the only reason I hadn’t is the airline policy stated that if seats were changed it would be highest priority to have children seated with their parents. The agent said that is correct but only applies to children 14 and under…when I cut in “THEY’RE SEVEN!”She paused and asked for their birthdays then told me to watch for an email. They somehow had all four of us sitting together the next day and while I feel bad for whoever was removed from the seats they put us in there was no way I was going to trust that someone was going to give up sitting next to their family last minute.
Effective_Pie1312 Writes:
I had someone across the isle from me point to a toddler next to her in the middle middle and ask to switch seat with me (my row of three seats were empty) so their little one could lay down. I am a bleeding heart so I said yes. I get up and she comes and lays across the three seats herself. The toddler she was pointing to wasn’t even her freaking kid it was the guy at the end of her row. The elderly gentleman in the row behind me who saw the exchange chewed her out until she got up after about 30 minutes and went back to her original seat.
