'I refused to swap seats with mum on plane so she could sit near child - she had a tantrum'

Securing a prime seat on an aeroplane can often feel like hitting the jackpot.

Air travel is seldom the most comfortable of experiences, so nabbing your preferred spot - whether that's window, aisle, or for some peculiar individuals, the middle seat - can make the journey slightly more tolerable. However, if you do manage to book the best seat on the plane, be prepared for fellow passengers to request a swap.

This was the scenario one woman found herself in when she secured an aisle seat on a 10-hour flight, only to be immediately approached by a mother and her young child asking if she would exchange it for a middle seat a few rows back.

In a Reddit post, the woman explained her preference for the aisle seat, as it allows her to access the toilet without disturbing other passengers. Consequently, when asked to switch seats, she declined - and chose to ignore the mother when she began to express her anger.

She recounted: "We're about to take off when a mother of a nine-year-old child comes up to me and asks if we can switch seats (she had a middle seat). I told her no, as I picked [mine] for a reason!

"She got very mad and started yelling and her kid was crying, I just put my headphones on. When the plane landed, I got nasty comments and was called a horrible person and an a**hole!".

The woman later explained that, from "what she could see", the mum's child was seated "close to or next to" her, so the seat swap wasn't about being with her child. The real reason given was that "she wanted to be closer to the front so she can get off easier and she booked a back middle seat".

Online commenters rallied behind the woman, arguing that if you've reserved a plane seat, there's no obligation to move for someone else. They agreed it's fine to ask for a seat change, but the mum should have taken "no" for an answer.

One commenter remarked: "She's not asking if 'no' is not an acceptable answer. That's a demand disguised as a question."

Another chimed in: "I'm sick of these people that keep coming up and expecting others to change seats with them. If you want a specific seat, pay for it yourself! ".