Couple sparks debate after refusing to swap seats during flight
21 April 2022, 11:30 | Updated: 16 May 2022, 11:47
Would you change your airplane seats for a child? One couple has divided opinion online...
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
A couple has sparked a fiery debate online after they decided not to move seats for a child on their flight.
An anonymous woman took to Mumsnet to explain that she had booked flights to Gran Canaria for herself and her boyfriend, paying an extra £22 for the window and middle seat.
But when a distressed mum boarded the flight with her young daughter, she asked if the couple would switch with them.
She said: "A lady sat on the end and her daughter was in front.
- Pregnant woman fuming as man refuses to move his hand from empty seat on bus
- Mum hits back after she’s criticised for buying eight-year-old daughter a bikini
- Cleaning fans amazed by little-known washing machine drawer hack
"She asked could they have our two seats and we have hers /daughters or my boyfriend switch with her daughter. I politely said no which she wasn't happy about.
According to the poster, the mother told her: “What difference does it make[?] You’re adults, my daughter is scared of flying and is a minor.”
Asking for advice, she finally added: "Anyway we wouldn't move. Was I in the wrong?
“Surely if she was that bothered she could have paid like us."
The Musmnet user later added that she had paid extra in order to sit next to her boyfriend, as she gets ‘nervous’ on flights too.
Unsurprisingly, the public had a lot to say, with many agreeing they shouldn’t have to move.
"I wouldn't have moved either,” wrote one person, while another said: “She should have paid to book seats together the same as you did.”
“She should have booked seats knowing her daughter required a certain seat,” another wrote.
But some people disagreed and said they could understand where the mum was coming from.
"I would have quite happily moved," one wrote, while another agreed: "I would have swapped. What an awkward flight."
Someone else added: "Personally I would have swapped for the sake of a child. My partner is an adult and can survive a whole flight without me holding his hand."
