An airline passenger has sparked outrage after revealing she refused to switch seats with a 10-year-old boy left in economy by his parents so they could lounge in first class.
An unnamed frequent flier, 23, has taken to Reddit to share that she refused to switch seats with a child after she and the child’s parents were upgraded to first class – leaving the 10-year-old alone in the bus.
Her admission sparked a heated argument over airline etiquette just days after a pharmacist revealed she refused to give up her seat so a mother and her teen could sit together while traveling.
The anonymous woman took to Reddit to question whether she was wrong for refusing to give up her first-class seat for the young boy in a thread titled “Am I the A**hole— prompting people on the social media platform to criticize the parents of the boy who left him alone in the first place.
A passenger has sparked outrage after revealing she refused to switch seats with a 10-year-old boy after his parents left him in economy so they could lounge in first class
The woman began her message with some background information about herself and her 13-hour journey.
She said, “Background info, I (23F) have been planning a trip to San Francisco for about a year at this point and had my tickets booked a year in advance. About a month or two before the trip, the airline called me to say they wanted to upgrade me to first class because of my points and membership.
“I had never flown first class before so to say I was so excited was an understatement.”
Once she got to her seat, she settled in and was looking forward to leaving.
But not long after takeoff, a flight attendant approached her with a request.
“About an hour into the flight, a flight attendant comes up to me and asks if I would be willing to swap seats with a 10-year-old boy who was in economy so he can sit in first class with his family,” the passenger explained.
“From what I’m told the two parents were both members and had also received upgrades, also not realizing that their son couldn’t be upgraded with them. So they got their first class tickets, but he was stuck in economy.’
The passenger further noted that the flight attendant had discussed the situation as if she had “no choice but to move,” adding that if she moved, she would receive a free upgrade for a future flight or even a full refund.
The anonymous woman took to Reddit to question whether she was wrong for refusing to give up her first-class seat for the young boy – prompting people to hit the parents (stock image)
“I asked her if there was any chance I could stay in my seat because I really thought I was being kicked out and she said the two parents and I were the only passengers on the flight with an upgrade and there were no other first class seats were available so if there was an opportunity for the boy to sit with his family it would only make sense for him to sit in my seat,” she added.
The frequent flyer commented that if the situation had been “different,” she might have considered it, but she got the upgrade because she had traveled so much on the airline.
The woman ultimately refused to trade sweats, noting that the attendant was “very polite” and accepted her decision.
“I was embarrassed by an old woman in the seat next to me who told me I had left a child alone for 13 hours. Getting a 13 hour flight just for a kid is the scary part but I saw him walking up and down the islands like every hour to meet his parents so it wasn’t like he was alone,” she said.
At the end of the post, she wondered if she was an “a**hole” for not switching seats.
People on the social media platform immediately came to the woman’s defense and reprimanded the boy’s parents for leaving him alone
People on the social media platform immediately came to the woman’s defense, chiding the boy’s parents for leaving him alone.
One person said, “I’m sure two people in economics would have loved to swap parents!”
Another person said, “Yeah, that’s the funny thing – if it’s a little kid, so you feel like you have to sit together… one of the parents has to switch.”
“Yes, and the parents could have taken turns sitting with the child. It sounds like the parents were totally unconcerned about the whole situation and it was the flight attendant who was concerned about the child being alone,” another person wrote.
Another person wrote, “Exactly. Why are the parents selfish and then expect a stranger to make amends?’
One user commented, “Why would I sacrifice for a random kid if one of their own parents isn’t doing it?”
‘This was my thought. The child is not forced to sit alone. The parents choose to make it. One of them could take a seat,” said another user.
‘OP said the flight attendant told them first class was fully booked. We also note that the old lady who shamed her did not voluntarily transfer,” another person wrote.
One user said, ‘This right here! This happened to me and I was in economics while my wife and child enjoyed first class treatment. Those parents were big assholes.’
Or, wild idea, one parent is in first grade with a child. One parent is in the quality of the seat they paid for,” another person noted.
‘This is exactly it. You are not responsible for their child or their child’s comfort during a 13 hour flight. If the parents wanted the child supervised, they should have asked the other two people in the child’s line if they wanted first class seats so they could sit as a family.
‘The fact that the parents weren’t willing to do that; and the fact that the flight attendant even publicly asked you to switch makes this whole situation unacceptable. Your seat wasn’t even near the parents, so the child would have just sat closer to their parents,” someone else commented.
Another person wrote, “As a parent, my first thought would have been to ask if my child gets an upgrade too.”
Her admission comes just a week after a passenger was praised online for refusing to give up her first class seat to a woman who wanted to sit closer to her teen.
Dr. Sabra, a TikTok creator and pharmacist, gained nearly 10 million views after sharing her elated reaction to the confrontation.
The short clip, titled, “POV: Flight Agent Asks Me To Give Up My 1A Seat So A Child Sits With His Family,” saw her grinning from ear to ear after denying the mother.
The refusal comes months after a man sparked a furious debate when he refused to give up his first-class seat for his boss, despite using his own credit card points to do so.
In the past, Jaci Stephen of DailyMail.com even voiced her opinion, confessing that she “absolutely refuses” to switch seats, no matter how angry the passenger requesting the transfer may get.