Seat swapping on flights has become an increasingly hot topic after some budget airlines started to intentionally split up parties, even if they check in together, unless they pay more for reserved seating.
The most recent debate was sparked online after journalist Daniel Brettig tweeted an account of his latest experience – with opinion completely divided on what the correct etiquette is.
“A boomer refused to swap seats on a flight this morning to let my gf and I sit together on the last day before we’re apart for 2.5 months – because they wanted to look out the window,” he wrote. “Strong generational metaphor areas, Shane.”
Expecting people to agree with him, Brettig was surprised when many users on the social media platform shared differing opinions on the exchange.
“Your lack of planning is nobody else’s problem,” wrote one Twitter user, while another responded: “Buy your seat, choose your seat. Don’t ask for someone else’s that they have either earned, chosen or paid for.”
However, others argued that his request was fine.
“It’s fine to ask but also completely fine for them to decline,” commented one user.
“Same thing happened to me except it was my four-year-old and myself who wanted to sit right next to each other. I couldn’t believe it. Lucky the people behind us were nice people and not complete d***s like the other bloke,” replied another.
After seeing how divisive the issue was – his original post garnered 275 comments – Brettig set up a poll to determine who was in the right.
“I see this has polarised,” he said. “Having swapped seats happily more than once I was surprised. So I suppose we should poll.”
He framed the question: “Asking to swap seats if seated separately from your s/o is:
“A reasonable request.
“Pushing your luck.”
Of the 373 votes cast, 64 per cent said the request was reasonable, while 34 per cent decided it was not.
