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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

An airplane seat one- not had one of these for a while

438 replies

Cheeseandlobster · 28/08/2020 12:26

Was flying back from holiday yesterday in an aisle seat. There was a mother and daughter on the plane, the daughter being about 14. They had originally been sat in someone else's extra legroom seats at the front and had to then move to the row behind me where there was an empty aisle seat. The daughter was very vocal about being unhappy with how little room she was going to have then insisted she had to have her suitcase at her feet which the cabin crew did not police.

Shortly after take off the woman in the seat next to me started vomiting. I am emetaphobic so as soon as I could I moved to the aisle seat behind.

Well you would think I was devil incarnate
The daughter and the mum made passive aggressive comments for a lot of the flight to each other. They wanted to stretch out and sleep and now they couldn't. The daughter said she couldn't handle this. They both had their suitcases at their feet so the mum's shoes were in my leg space, but no effort was made to move them. Lots of pointed elbowing when I was trying to sleep and just general whinging. I was damned if I was going to react and just ignored them. It was clear this entitled mum was raising an equally as entitled daughter. They must have known there was a strong chance there would be someone else in their space but they were just so annoyed by it.

When they got off the mum pulled a woman's hair quite hard by mistake but I heard her laughing about it with her daughter in baggage reclaim as the woman had pulled her up on pushing in shortly after so this apparently was funny.

I am sure I wasn't unreasonable but it would be great to hear about other entitled passengers. I I have always loved hearing these stories

OP posts:
PablosHoney · 30/08/2020 18:40

The PP said the disabled man should directly refund the people that had to move, no mention of the airline.

Soubriquet · 30/08/2020 19:24

It’s been years since I flew but I still don’t forget about the toddler kicking the back of my seat when I was a teenager

I looked around and the man (dad I assume) smiled indulgently.

I glared but left it.

10 minutes later my dad turned round and told him to “pack it in”.It was vibrating through my sit into his

Man immediately stopped the child from doing it. However he kept moving in his seat and “accidentally” kept kicking my dads.

My dad might have sworn a little at him and he soon stopped it completely Grin

PablosHoney · 30/08/2020 19:26

Your dad swore at a toddler or the toddlers dad?

Soubriquet · 30/08/2020 19:27

Toddlers dad. It was the dad who was turning and kicking my dads seat

PablosHoney · 30/08/2020 19:29

Ahh I need to learn how to read 😂

GabsAlot · 30/08/2020 20:27

my dh had paid for 2 seats on a train-he had his case on one the conductor said he wa sallowed to do this as he had paid for it

this was fewyears ago now

i thew up for a few hours ona flight( so sorry to the crew for my sick bags) i think i had some sort of food poisoning and was out of it for while-they were very helpful but imsure theres someone moaning on a forum about a woman who wouldnt stop throwin up!

ItalianHat · 30/08/2020 20:39

called me selfish when I said no

Whaaaaaa? What an utter cunt (and I rarely use that word). I just hope you laughed in his face @DeRigueurMortis

m0therofdragons · 30/08/2020 21:03

On a flight with dd5 and dtds 22 months we all fell asleep (one dtd on her own seat and the other in a sky cot). I’d finally dozed off then the lady sitting there other side of dd1 (5yo) woke me to apologise because she needed the toilets and dd1 was asleep and sprawled awkward over this poor lady. I’d been totally oblivious and I really didn’t get the impression she particularly liked dc from the face she pulled on realising she was next to me and dc. She was actually very polite. I assume she was just grateful dd was sleeping even if it was on her. I was very apologetic!

anotherwinkywinkybumbum · 30/08/2020 21:43

@Alwaysinpain, the story is that the passenger disembarked with no notice to anyone. Therefore this is surely a security risk as they could have done anything to the plane whilst on it for a short time?

notimagain · 30/08/2020 21:57

@Cheeseandlobster

Assuming the extra legroom seats were the emergency exit row, I’m surprised the man in the wheelchair was told to sit there. I, possibly wrongly, thought you had to be able to get up and open the door in an emergency which is why they don’t let under 16s sit there.

You're right with regarding to the rows adjacent to the emergency overwing exits that some aircraft have.

On some aircraft there are extra legroom seats that aren't adjacent to an emergency exit.

notimagain · 30/08/2020 22:20

the story is that the passenger disembarked with no notice to anyone. Therefore this is surely a security risk as they could have done anything to the plane whilst on it for a short time?

Bearing in mind passengers and crew are security screened before going airside what realistically do you think a passenger can do to the aircraft from the passenger cabin that poses a security risk?

FWIW people getting on an aircraft then getting off is not unheard of.

It can happen for a variety of reasons - somebody having a really bad day, a really bad attack of nerves, or getting really bad news via their mobile before doors closed.

The crew have procedures to deal with it and any checked bags need to come out of the hold.. delays can start if it happens on a large aircraft/ long haul flight (which I believe was the case) if the bags to be retrieved are in the most inaccessible container...if that takes time and as a result the flight loses it's slot a two hour delay is not unheard of.

DreamTheMoors · 30/08/2020 23:14

[quote ripples101]@PablosHoney

Yeah I mentioned it. You and the other poster decided to focus on it and it alone.

Lighten up.[/quote]
@ripples101

That’s the thing about bullies. They think they’re funny and clever - and instead of lightening up, they usually double down.
Pathetic and ignorant.

Stannisbaratheonsboxofmatches · 30/08/2020 23:33

*I think the husband. He was the one who asked me to swap seats, made the comment about his DD being pleased to sit with them and called me selfish when I said no, the wife didn't say anything (but neither did she look embarrassed or surprised).

Might explain why she woke me rather than him in retrospect as I guess he'd have given her grief for waking him up....*

I just thought you were going to say this! Obviously a man used to getting his own way and having his needs / wants out first...

But then she’s clearly not blameless in the whole cfery thing either!

DeRigueurMortis · 31/08/2020 00:29

@ItalianHat

called me selfish when I said no

Whaaaaaa? What an utter cunt (and I rarely use that word). I just hope you laughed in his face @DeRigueurMortis

No laughing I'm afraid - just a very icy "are you on glue" glare and I might have tutted Blush
Banj0girl · 31/08/2020 21:11

My goodness, i've finished !
I love flying and I never sleep because I have to know exactly where I am. When I got off the last flight some years ago, I was very depressed. I wanted another plane.
I have nothing but praise for the flight attendants especially Delta and Air Canada.
More criticism for airports. At Detroit my disabled husband was made to get up off his seat half a dozen times to come to the desk. They did not want me. Then some of us out of 5 were allowed on the plane and others not ! When that was sorted, the plane already being late, we got to Chicago where we had to connect to St Louis. That plane was also late but because the auto check tunnels were closed down for the night, we had to go though manual check of our luggage and basically we were robbed. It was amusing that they did not take my manicure set or my toothpaste. They were just annoyed at not being able to finish work on time,
Then AA, and when I got to my seat the middle one was free. The woman on the edge would not get up. I was being yelled at to get seated as they were going to lose the take off slot. I asked her to move and she wouldn't. I said: Look, I have been in transit for more than 24 hrs and I am tired and pissed off. She moved and let me in.
We were being picked up from St Louis but they had gone home. DiL could not contact them. We were staying in a trailer and when we got there in the end the bed had not been made up but we were far too tired to complain.

Banj0girl · 31/08/2020 21:16

I wondered what airline would want to open up the possibility of a lawsuit by sitting children next to a strange man, surely it is a safeguarding issue.
Otherwis if you have paid for a seat you should get the whole seat. Obviously, this does not apply to trains ! I don't usually book a seat but the one time I did, I had to politely ask the person to vacate. I used the seat and coach number as one of my passwords for years.

vapeinafleshlight · 01/09/2020 11:08

@Banj0girl it's written into the terms and conditions. They basically put it back to the parents choice. Pay to sit with your kid.....or don't!

IrmaFayLear · 01/09/2020 13:56

Dsis once sat next to a young man with Tourette’s. Since it was a short flight she shrugged it off and at the end of the flight the cabin crew passed her a bottle of champagne and said they were so grateful she hadn’t complained.

On another flight (it’s always dsis!) a manspreader had his leg in dsis’s footwell. . When he went to the loo dsis put her bag and coat in her well and when he came back he asked her to move them! Dsis is a bit of a wimp but even she said no, it was her area.

honeygirlz · 01/09/2020 14:19

Dsis once sat next to a young man with Tourette’s. Since it was a short flight she shrugged it off and at the end of the flight the cabin crew passed her a bottle of champagne and said they were so grateful she hadn’t complained.

Not sure this deserves a bottle of champagne to be honest. I wouldn't have complained even if it was a long haul flight. Tourette's is a disability and the cabin crew were wrong to make an issue of it. What is the man saw the champagne being given as a reward for sitting next to him? Very mean.

StamfordHill · 01/09/2020 15:00

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Thisismytimetoshine · 01/09/2020 15:03

@honeygirlz

Dsis once sat next to a young man with Tourette’s. Since it was a short flight she shrugged it off and at the end of the flight the cabin crew passed her a bottle of champagne and said they were so grateful she hadn’t complained.

Not sure this deserves a bottle of champagne to be honest. I wouldn't have complained even if it was a long haul flight. Tourette's is a disability and the cabin crew were wrong to make an issue of it. What is the man saw the champagne being given as a reward for sitting next to him? Very mean.

God, yes. I hope they were discreet about it.
IrmaFayLear · 01/09/2020 15:29

Well, of course they were discreet - that’s why I said “passed”. The point is that I suppose some people might have had an issue sitting next to him and would have hassled the cabin crew for another seat.

honeygirlz · 01/09/2020 15:31

@IrmaFayLear

Well, of course they were discreet - that’s why I said “passed”. The point is that I suppose some people might have had an issue sitting next to him and would have hassled the cabin crew for another seat.
That's true, sadly.
Thisismytimetoshine · 01/09/2020 15:33

What does "passed" mean, in that context? They must have explained at some point what it was for, or she'd still be in the dark?

IrmaFayLear · 01/09/2020 15:38

This is just what happened to dsis. I suppose it was pretty obvious as the young man kept swearing. And dsis said they thanked her for not complaining. Rightly or wrongly, some people might have found sitting there uncomfortable.

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