Was I wrong to move to the spare seat next to my husband?

[Inastatus]

I’m just after opinions on a situation I had on the plane yesterday. 5 of us flying - only 3.5 hour flight so didn’t pay to book seats. Airline put 3 of us together but split the other 2 - me and DH volunteered to sit away from each other. No problem with that, that’s the chance you take if you don’t pay to reserve seats.

However, before take- off someone moved seats leaving an aisle seat right next to DH’s aisle seat so I asked one of the cabin crew if it was ok for me to move there and he said yes once we had taken off. As soon as seatbelt lights turned off I moved and started chatting to DH. The woman I sat next to tapped me on the arm and said quite rudely ‘our son is coming to sit there - we asked’. I was a bit taken aback so just mumbled ‘I asked too’. Obviously I didn’t want to cause a fuss or get cabin crew involved as I didn’t want to sit next to disgruntled passengers for the rest of the flight so I went back to my original seat. The mother immediately put her rucksack on the seat to save it and eventually her son, who was in his 30’s, wandered down to sit there.

Am I right in thinking that they were no more entitled to the seat than me and her rude attitude was really uncalled for?

You were going to leave your child on their own? I don't think you can do that.

Huh?

You were not wrong. The woman was very rude. In my experience airports and planes don’t bring the best out of the general public.

@lordbaddingham you need to reread the post. There were 5 people, three were sat together, then there was OP and her DH apart. No kids. The rude woman's son was in his 30s, so no child being made to sit on their own.

Edited to add: the woman was rude OP. She played you too. When she mentioned her son, I bet she never said he was an adult?

If the cabin crew approved it you were OK to move.

You snooze you lose … you got there first. I wouldn’t have moved.

I mean, obviously either of you were OK to have the seat. She was more assertive, you kindly capitulated, she got the outcome she wanted (But yes, tapping a stranger is always rude. Unless pulling them away from danger).

(But kudos to the very first answer being a 'not read the OP'. That has to be some kind of record!)

I would have been annoyed if I had an empty seat next to me and someone decided they had the right to sit in it because their husband was across the aisle. You were out of line.

You may well end up annoyed but the problem is unless you paid for it the empty seat isn't yours to allocate.

The OP was not out of line.

@CarpetofBluebells - it wasn’t empty initially!

Wot?

Why?

Still the seat was next to her. She got lucky that someone moved then you jumped into it! You were out of order. But I give you credit for moving back to your original seat.

I would of took the bag off the seat and sat down anyway.

👏👏
That is astonishingly, impressively, batshittingly way out there in the ‘WTAF??!’ department.

Skills, hun. Skills.

I think you were wrong to not tell her you had as much right to sit there as her son

Both of you had asked the cabin crew. As the seat was actually next to her, and she'd asked, there was nothing wrong with her saying what she did. One of you would have to be disappointed, whatever. I think the fact that the seat was next to her makes her case stronger.

You probably both asked a different member of the crew. Move on, enjoy your holiday.

This is a classic example of how being assertive gets you what you want. Stand your ground next time OP, she did.

Why? OP had no more right to the seat than the woman's son. Permission had been gained by both, but from different cabin staff who hadn't communicated.

@DozyCrow - no, she didn’t mention his age and actually he didn’t come to sit next to them for quite a while - I’m not even sure if he was that thrilled at moving 😅 Of course if it had been a child I would not have hesitated to move.

It has to be the heat??

These answers are so bizarre perhaps because brains have melted.

The seat was vacant. The crew said you could sit there.

She was pissed off because her son wanted to do the same thing as you but was too late.

Id have stayed put unless the crew told me to leave.

She had no say over the seat next to her unless she'd booked and paid for it same as any of us!

@OneNewLeader - thanks, yes I am enjoying hols 😊 Just interested in others thoughts, not dwelling on it.

You both asked but you were the first one to actually move to the seat so you should have kept it.
Free airplane seats are a free for all.