Flyer tells how she refused to switch seats with mom's '6ft 5in' son

2023-02-03

‘Was I wrong?’ Woman reignites plane seat etiquette debate after revealing she refused to give up a window spot so a fellow passenger could sit with her 6’5″ son (and even EXPEDIA is on her side!)

New York-based TikToker Surya Garg told of her airline seat swapping incident
She says a mom asked her to swap with her teenage son and gave her attitude
Baffled by the experience, Surya asked: ‘Was I in the wrong here for saying no?’

The debate about plane etiquette has taken flight once again with a TikToker asking for advice over her disconcerting seat switching story.

Several stories about the etiquette around seat swapping on planes have reared their head above the clouds recently and now New York-based Surya Garg has reignited the debate.

The 23-year-old TikToker revealed how she was in the middle of a seat swap nightmare after being approached by a mom on a flight and, according to her, subjected to unpleasant behavior.

In a video, Surya details how a mom came up to her and asked if she could give up her window seat – which she had paid extra for – so that she could sit with her son who ‘had to be a minimum of 16 or 17 years old.’

When she asked where the woman wanted her to move to, she was directed to a ‘middle seat like a couple of rows back.’

New York-based TikToker Surya Garg has reignited the debate over seat swapping on planes after she was approached by a mom on a flight and, according to her, not treated the right way

for real like was I wrong #nyc #airplane #airplaneseats

Then, when she asked who the woman’s son was, she was shocked to discover he was not a child but ‘like a 6ft 5in man.’

Surya said she ‘didn’t really know what to say’ to the mom at this point and ‘didn’t want to look like an ‘a** hole.’

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However, she decided to decline the woman’s request and explained to her that she had paid extra for the seat.

After being told ‘no’, Surya said the mom ‘makes the nastiest face at me I’ve ever experienced’, and then went about ‘muttering profanities at me’ for ‘the entirety’ of the flight.

Baffled by the experience, Surya asked fellow TikTokers: ‘Was I in the wrong here? I need someone to tell me.’

To date her video, uploaded with the hastags #nyc #airplane #airplaneseats, has been watched more than 400,000 times with many viewers reassuring Surya she was not in the wrong.

Speaking out in her defense, @JZ wrote: ‘The way she reacted is precisely why you should not give up your seat. Good job for sticking up for yourself.’

And echoing similar sentiments, @Eem83 said: ‘No you weren’t. I’m a mom. I have an 11 and 14-year-old daughters. When we fly, I pay extra for us to sit together. Every time.

Even travel booking site Expedia spoke out in support of Surya, simply commenting: ‘Not in the wrong’

Baffled by the experience, Surya asked fellow TikTokers: ‘Was I in the wrong here? I need someone to tell me’

‘Because it’s my responsibility to make sure we sit together if that’s what we need. And at their ages they can absolutely handle a flight on their own. So a 16-year-old old boy can too.’

Even travel booking site Expedia spoke out in support of Surya, simply commenting: ‘Not in the wrong.’

Other commenters took a moment to share their own travel horror stories.

@Ali commented: ‘This happened to me with an adult couple. But they were ALREADY in my (aisle) seat when I got there!’

She went on to explain that she managed to get the couple move but the woman was not happy about and made her feel ‘uncomfortable and anxious the whole flight.’

Meanwhile, @Samantha served up Surya a piece of advice for next time, writing: ‘I always tell them I need a window seat since I get motion sickness and vertigo… might puke. Usually shuts them up and they don’t mind the first seat.’

Surya’s story follows one that made headlines last November, with a mom detailing the ‘right way’ to ask a fellow plane passenger to switch seats.

Anna Lyn Cook explained in a TikTok clip how she told a fellow passenger that her seat was ‘much better’ than his since it had ‘lots more legroom’ and her polite manner convinced him to swap spaces.

Lots of people quickly flooded the comment section with their thoughts, with many of them praising the mother for asking for the switch the ‘right way.’

‘You handled this the right way. Good job, mama,’ one person wrote, while another added, ‘See, THIS is the way. Always offer to swap for the better or more forward seats.’

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