Flying sucks when you can’t pay the extra money for a comfortable seat, early boarding, and a little in-flight treat. What used to be standard service for flying has been put behind a paywall, and if you can’t afford it, you’re tough out of luck. That leaves those of us trying to keep costs low sitting in ultra-thin, cramped chairs with no leg room and probably no in-flight entertainment screen.
I can understand the enterprising soul who would try to improve their circumstances so as not to be sat in a middle seat in row 36. But there’s a time and place to try to seat-hop your way to comfort, and swiping someone else’s spot on a full flight is simply not the way to do it.
In a recent post that went viral on Reddit, one traveler describes boarding their very full Delta flight only to find someone else in their seat. “I’m upgraded to the first row of Comfort+ at the window. Great seat with tons of legroom,” the Redditor writes. “I get to the row and there’s a guy in the aisle seat, empty middle seat, guy with headphones in my window seat taking a fake nap. I say loudly ‘you’re in my seat’ thinking he should probably be in the middle, he acts confused.”
The guy eventually admits that his seat is “way in the back” and scuttles off while another passenger hollers at him: “This isn’t a bus you don’t just sit where you feel like” and “Who does that? This is a full flight, did you think no one would notice?”
In the post’s comments, which have been upvoted more than 20,000 times, other Redditors shared instances of the same thing happening to them on Delta and other airlines. These seat swipers seem unrepentant and prolific. Stories of entire families of seat thieves, fliers trying to sneak into First Class, and international seat pilferers were all detailed in the thread.
It wasn’t even that these folks were in the wrong seat; they were setting up camp. There was the fake napper, but other responses detailed people who got out food and tablets or put their tray tables down. One family did all that and got their infant situated in a seat that was not theirs!
Every story shared a common thread of a seat stealer with a lot of audacity and very little empathy for anyone else on the flight. To these bold and selfish people out in the world, I ask you:
1. Where do you get the nerve?
2. How often do you do this?
3. How often does it work for you?
4. Do you just not care about what other people think about you?
5. Do you behave like this in other areas of your life?
Flying sucks. Please don’t make it worse by slowing the boarding process down with your not-so-sly and ineffective attempts at seat stealing.