Woman praised for refusing to give up extra legroom seat on flight - despite pressure

A woman has shared her experience of a 12-hour flight, during which she was asked to change seats by another passenger. She took to Reddit to recount the incident, explaining that she had booked and paid extra for her seat months in advance.

"At the time of booking I paid extra to choose my seats. The seat I chose was £55 extra and right at the front of the plane (trying to arrive somewhere on time upon landing). The seat also happened to be an extra legroom seat and I am a 4'11 female," she wrote.

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She detailed how everything seemed normal until the seatbelt sign was switched off, at which point a man approached her asking to swap seats. Initially open to the idea, she quickly changed her mind when she realised his seat was at the back of the plane.

Despite explaining that she had paid extra to sit at the front, the man became increasingly frustrated, arguing that there was no need for someone of her height to require extra legroom, reports the Mirror.

She wrote: "I suggested that he ask the other people in those seats if they could swap but he refused saying that he wouldn't want to bother other men or split up couples."

The female traveller added that the man became "rude and angry" so she felt forced to call "over a flight attendant who told him to go sit down".

Unfortunately, she said: "For the rest of the flight he would walk past for no reason slamming into me (I was sitting aisle)."

She ended the post by asking other Reddit users if she was in the wrong and whether she should have chosen to swap with him.

Reddit users were quick to comment on her post, with many people reassuring her that she was not in the wrong and had every right to remain in the seat she paid for. One said: "So my brother is 6'6".

"You know what he does when he has to fly?

"He makes sure to get an emergency exit row or whatever row has the extra leg room.

"He usually has to pay for it. Any tall person with a lick of common sense KNOWS they have to do this for flights. This tall person knows they will need more leg room but chose to try to get out of paying for it by getting a person to switch. OP was totally in their right to say no ESPECIALLY AS THEY PAID EXTRA and tall person does not have the right to be a jerk about it."

Another passenger chimed in, stating: "Tall person here. If I want more leg room, I can pay for it like everyone else. I don't pay for the cheapest seat possible and then try to get someone shorter to give me the more expensive seat that they purchased for free."

Meanwhile, a third passenger remarked: "He is tall, he's been tall all of his life. He knew flying was a hardship on him and he didn't wanna spend the extra money and he became an abusive bully to a single female when he didn't get his way. You should've reported him and he should've been removed from the flight or you should've been compensated for your seat. A grown man felt he was entitled for you to give him what he wanted. You were an easy target because you were alone and he didn't get his way and he harassed you the entire flight."