Female Olympian Discusses Seat Selection On Airplanes After Entitled Couple Asks Her To Switch Seats With Them

If you've ever flown on a plane, you know that where you sit matters a lot, and the longer the flight, the more willing you might be to pay extra for a better seat. Aircraft are claustrophobic, hot, and daunting machines; the least you can do is sit as comfortably as possible.

Plane seating used to be much more spacious, with both first and economy classes having enough legroom to stretch out during long flights. Nowadays, the largest planes, such as the Airbus A380, have around 900 seats.

Of course, this is only possible because seats are packed so closely together in all directions that there isn't enough room for passengers to move around freely. Even in the economy section, it costs more to reserve a specific seat in today's air travel world.

You have the option of selecting a window, middle, or aisle seat. With this new reality, it stands to reason that no one wants to trade seats with anyone.

Unfortunately, the need to switch is still present in situations where parents are separated from their children, couples are separated, and people who should be near each other are suddenly on opposite sides of a massive aircraft. These circumstances will undoubtedly make you want to switch seats in order to be closer to your loved ones during the long flight.

Should you switch seats?

Photo by J Surianto

On the popular social media platform TikTok, a discussion about switching seats with strangers recently erupted after people realized it's an outdated courtesy to switch seats with someone on a plane simply because they asked. One TikToker went viral after sharing an on-topic story she experienced while flying.

A lot of conversation

@cyndiesel

She has her own story

@cyndiesel

A particular airline in Canada

@cyndiesel

A premium economy seat

@cyndiesel

Cynthia Appiah, a 32-year-old Olympian athlete who represented Canada in the bobsleigh category at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, posted the TikTok video after an encounter with a couple on a plane.

Cynthia explained that she dislikes sitting for long periods or having to crawl over people to use the restroom, which is why she prefers aisle seats. So, with some extra miles, she decided to splurge on a pre-reserved aisle seat.

She hates bothering people

@cyndiesel

She had picked an aisle seat

@cyndiesel

Seats configuration

@cyndiesel

She was surprised to find someone else sitting in her seat after she had already reserved it

@cyndiesel

She was forced to confront the situation after confirming her seat was the one in which someone was sitting

@cyndiesel

Would you mind switching seats?

@cyndiesel

I'd rather stick with my seat

@cyndiesel

I bought the aisle seat, and I'm not moving

@cyndiesel

What this TikToker doesn't understand

@cyndiesel

You can choose your seat selection

@cyndiesel

The TikTok-verified athlete posted a three-minute video to start the conversation

Despite what the commenters had to say, the majority of them seemed to agree that no one should feel entitled to switch seats in this day and age

D'Shanae

The audacity of some people

Katherine Kennedy

Is it so important to sit together?

Brett Thomas893

No way I'm moving

banannas12

And in case you need a perfect response for such people, this is it

carolryt500

We are all human, and sometimes we swap seats with strangers on airplanes for good reasons. However, it is a show of entitlement to make people feel obliged to swap seats with you on airplanes just because you believe you have good reasons.

What are your thoughts on this common issue? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.