“I am not a villain”: Woman refuses to switch plane seats for a family
A woman from the US has defended her decision to not move from her first class plane seat so a family could sit together.
In a series of now-viral videos, Maresa Friedman detailed her awkward experience on a recent Delta airlines flight, in which she was asked to move to a different seat.
Maresa said a family of three wanted her to move from her allocated seat so they could all sit closer together.
After specifically booking her chosen seat in first class, Maresa politely declined their request.
"I am not a villain for not moving from the seat in first class I paid full fare for," Friedman, a mother-of-two, captured her clip on TikTok. "I am also a mum so it's called PLANNING AHEAD."
In a series of follow up videos, the frequent traveller said it wasn’t fair to be expected to move just so the family could sit together, especially when they hadn’t planned their seats ahead of time.
She also suggested the family should’ve moved to economy class if they all wanted to sit in the same row.
"If the airline bumps you or moves you or whatever, totally fair, so the suggestion I gave was basically like, ‘Oh if all of you want to sit in together, in a row, since first class is two seats and two seats, I'm sure you could ask the people behind you, I think they would be super pumped to sit [in first class] so that the three of you could be together'," Friedman said.
"To which, of course, I just got 'the look'. The flight attendant just looked at me like… 'That was a good suggestion'."
Friedman said the family shot her "side eyes" and "death stares" for the duration of the flight because of her refusal to move.
"It didn't stop this mom from [giving me] side eye, I was getting looked at, she was talking about me," she added.
"If you book with the airline, because this has happened to us as a family of four who travels together, they will group your reservation together. So, the only time that you might be separated is if you miss a flight or a connection."
She then offered a piece of advice to fellow travellers who insist on asking people to switch seats: purchase travel insurance.
"Things like travel insurance will not only prevent problems like this, you can actually use travel insurance to file claims to get many back or rebook on another carrier," she added. "So again, all preventable."
After sharing her series of videos, Maresa was flooded with comments from people who claimed she was being unfair, to which she doubled down on her position by claiming it’s not her responsibility to “accommodate '' other travellers.
"Before you come for me, I have two kids, so I have been there, even in the early stages and I would buy my baby a seat next to me, but when you book with the airlines, you have to tell them to book your reservations together and that you're travelling with a minor," she continued.
Friedman added, "And by the way, the few times that I did switch seats in my lifetime, it was horrific, never again."
Image credits: TikTok