Plane Passenger Says 'Bold' 'Thief' Stole Multiple Seats to Avoid Sitting with Her Own Husband
The woman claimed two different stolen seats were her own before pleading with fellow passengers to swap, according to a fellow passenger's retelling
Getty
A plane passenger is airing their grievances after they allegedly encountered an especially “bold seat thief" on their recent flight.
The passenger was seated on their flight out of Houston when they saw an interaction between two other flyers, they explain in their retelling of the incident on Reddit.
They first saw a man approach his seat, only to find another passenger was already in it.
“He points out that he is assigned the A seat,” the original poster (OP) claims. “The other passenger tries to say it’s her seat, but the owner pulls out his boarding pass. Then she tries to convince him to [sit] in her seat.”
After the unsuccessful attempt, the seat stealer grabbed her three personal items and trudged four rows back to sit across from the OP. In a matter of seconds, the thief turns to the OP and asks if she can stay.
Related: Plane Passenger Accepts $100 from Elderly Woman in Exchange for an Aisle Seat
“I had looked at the map just before boarding and it was a full flight,” the OP says. “I told her most likely not as I think it’s a sold-out flight.”
Despite this, she stows her bags and takes a seat. Two minutes later, that seat's assigned occupant comes along and asks for his spot. The first interaction replays once again: the stealer refuses to leave and claims she's in the correct spot. Then, when called out, asks the person to let her stay.
“This time, the guy relented and went to her seat,” the OP recalls.
Getty
A view of a full airplane cabinSoon after, the thief turned over to the Reddit user and revealed the real reason she wanted to change seats.
“‘I did not want to [sit] in my seat. That is my husband in the other seat. He is drunk and I didn’t want to deal with him,’” the OP recalls her telling him.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Her alleged problematic behavior continued as the journey went on. She soon pulled out her phone and began “talking and watching videos” without headphones for the next hour and a half.
In the comments, the passenger's fellow Reddit users agreed that the seat stealer never should have gotten her way.
One writes, “So the dude she conned out of his seat had to sit next to her drunk husband? I'm sure that was fun for him. Each one of these stories just reinforces that I will never be giving my seat up to anyone who has squatted in it.”
“I actually love when people try to steal my seat now. It’s fun to put them in their place and inflict some shame,” says another.
PEOPLE previously spoke to travel expert, writer and advisor Nicole Campoy Jackson of Fora Travel to weigh in on the seat swapping debate.
Getty
Passenger wearing headphones on an airplane“I am always in the camp of getting a flight attendant involved for sticky in-flight situations,” she told PEOPLE. “Tensions run high when we're traveling plus they would know, for example, if there was another seat or another solution to this problem. They have more context than we, the passengers, do.”
Jackson continued, “Switching seats does always boil down to flexibility, understanding, and kindness of our fellow passengers. That starts with the ask, by the way. It also, of course, boils down to what's possible within the rules of the airline, the safety of where everyone needs to be at a given time, and what's been paid for.”
She also shared her thoughts on whether it's acceptable for passengers to play music or videos out loud on the plane as this woman allegedly did.
"Absolutely not. It's not cool to assume that everyone around you is okay with hearing whatever it is that you're watching. It's just about taking a moment to consider the people around you. Headphones come in kid and adult sizes and are not hard to procure — they even sell them at the airport!"
Read the original article on People
