• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Passenger hits out at couple who made him give up his seat so they could sit next to each other

Home> News> Travel

Published 20:51 1 Dec 2023 GMT

Passenger hits out at couple who made him give up his seat so they could sit next to each other

To swap or not to swap, that's the question, however, unfortunately for one passenger, he wasn't given much of a choice.

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck

A passenger has spoken out after he was 'forced' to swap seats to 'accommodate a couple'.

Another week, another airplane argument and this time it's not about screaming babies or naked toes, but swapping seats.

To swap or not to swap, that's the question, however, unfortunately for one passenger, he wasn't given much of a choice.

Writing for Conde Nast Traveler, Todd Plummer reflects on his solo travelling experiences, noting it takes 'a lot' to 'phase' him.

However, one recent experience has left him reeling. Plummer writes: "Few travel experiences have ever irked me so badly as when I was recently forced to change seats on a packed airplane in order to accommodate a couple."

Advert

But what exactly happened?

The passenger says he was 'forced' to switch seats.
Pexels/ Athena

Well, earlier this year in September, Plummer took a flight from Istanbul to Kilimanjaro International Airport.

Plummer received the seat number 11D - noting he was 'delighted' given he's 'a six-foot-two individual with the thighs of a lifelong skier'.

Advert

Alas, despite making it to his seat and starting 'mentally preparing' for the long journey, Plummer's experience in 11D didn't last long.

Just as he was settling in, the gate agent 'storm[ed]' up to him, a man and woman in tow.

Plummer was told seat 11D had been doubled booked and 'worse, the other gentleman ticketed in 11D was traveling "in a couple" with a female companion, and her seat, 11C, was just across the aisle'.

Despite being the first one to the seat, Plummer says he was asked by the gate agent to move to 9D to 'accommodate the pair'.

Advert

The writer questions: "Couldn't the two unseated passengers take the still-empty seats just two rows apart?"

The man was allegedly forced to move.
Jasmin Merdan/Getty Images

Plummer pointed out 9D 'isn't an exit row' and he was 'quite fine' where he was seated, thanking the agent.

He continues: "By this point, my heart thumped and my palms grew clammy.

Advert

"I could feel the eyes of half the plane watching our uncomfortable conversation unfold. The air stifled. I could hear a pin drop. Seat 9D seemed to shrink before my eyes."

Plummer says the agent told him the plane was 'very full', making him feel like the double-booking was 'somehow [his] fault' and him sitting there was 'somehow a personal attack on the sanctity of this couple's relationship'.

Plummer eventually gave in and moved seats.
Pexels/ Kelly

Eventually, Plummer 'caved,' the stalemate too much 'pressure' to deal with.

Advert

He notes he would definitely swap seats if it meant a child could be sat next to their parent or in a medical emergency.

The writer reflects on the experience as 'disappointing, irritating and downright humiliating,' noting he didn't want to have to publicly explain he needed the seat because he's 'so large'.

Plummer resolves: "Situations like this suggest couples are more deserving of a superior seat on an airplane, and perpetuates a stereotype that relationships are some sort of metric of happiness and success - or that two people are worth more than any one."

Featured Image Credit: Getty/ Mongkol Chuewong/ Getty/ AlxeyPnferov

Topics: Travel, World News, Sex and Relationships, Mental Health

Poppy Bilderbeck
Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

3 hours ago
5 hours ago
  • 3 hours ago

    Cult classic film removed from Disney+ over controversial scene that had it banned from TV

    The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has long expressed its concerns about the scene in the 1989 movie

    Film & TV
  • 5 hours ago

    Vin Diesel hints Paul Walker could be in upcoming Fast and Furious movie and it's left fans very divided

    He's desperate to reunite Dom and Brian

    Film & TV
  • 5 hours ago

    Trump supporters are revealing the ‘red line’ that would make them stop supporting him and people say it’s ‘disturbing’

    President Trump's shocking approval ratings were recently released

    News
  • 5 hours ago

    Starbucks customer outraged after barista allegedly wrote 'illegal' joke on her cup

    "When I read it I’m like, OK. Was I supposed to laugh?"

    News
  • Airline issues statement after couple reveal they were 'forced' to sit next to dead passenger on long haul-flight
  • Woman sparks huge debate after refusing to give up her plane seat so passenger could sit with her son
  • Expert reveals 5 questions couples should ask each other if they're going to stay together
  • Woman marries man who sustained head injury and forgot they broke up seven months earlier