Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
46 Times People Got Stuck Next To An Entitled Passenger And Had Nowhere To Escape At 30,000 Feet
Most people treat flights like a task to get through before they reach their destination, which makes sense, as a lot of folks get grumpy during the process. Unfortunately, this is also why some people act up or throw tantrums in the air, which can be unpleasant for everyone else.
This list includes tales from passengers who had to deal with an entitled, rude, and demanding person on a flight, and how the incident turned out. Hopefully none of us ever has to deal with drama like this, but it certainly makes for an entertaining story.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Apologies, English is not my native language.
On long flights I preorder a special meal online because I am vegetarian. On most flights, the flight attendant brings the special meals first and then start the normal meal service for the rest.
On my last flight, a perfect stranger sat next to me and told me that I was rude and inconsiderate because I started eating my vegetarian food before their meal arrived. They said that it was basic rule to wait until everyone in the row got their food and that I ruined their flight. Their face was red and rolled their eyes several times
I stared at them. This is next level entitlement, right? We are not eating together on the same table in a restaurant.
RELATED:
#2
Just boarded a flight and put my roller bag in the overhead bin in my assigned section. Before I could sit down, Ms Entitled points to my bag and says “you can put that under your seat. My bag is big and it needs to go there. Take yours down.” I just looked at her and said ”no, I paid for comfort plus and this bin is labeled comfort plus, and it’s first come first serve.” She asked again for me to put it under my seat (it doesn’t quite fit) so I said no again. Then she starts asking people to move their stuff and some man finally removes a bag from the bin. She was very loud about thanking him for “doing the right thing”. She had no right to insist that I move for her. It pissed me off but that faded as I remembered the We Do Not Care club and settled in the enjoy my trip.
#3
Why does flying make people so entitled? My flight was delayed by a few hours because of a storm, and I've heard approximately 50 people complain and complain about the delay.
Now that I'm on the flight, it's extremely turbulent, and the flight attendants had to pause beverage service. Is that stopping the man behind me from loudly complaining? No. He's "OUTRAGED" that he can't get a beer right now. It's 11am. Not to mention, they'll resume service when it's safe to do so.
The real kicker is the old couple in front of me. Making loud comments like "thank God we brought noise cancelling headphones" in regards to a toddler who is "making too much noise". The child in question is giggling. Not crying. It's a flight to ORLANDO, during school vacation week, and we're sitting in the FAMILY SEATING section of the plane.
JFC.
Annoyance on a flight can reach sky-high levels, and according to CBS News, one of the biggest sources of friction among passengers is when someone plays videos or music at high volume. 40% of folks who travel by air think it should be banned for people to use their phone or device unplugged, as the noise is unbearable.
Another point of contention is when someone reclines their seat too far and doesn't move it forward at all. Although 51% of folks say this behavior is okay, 10% strongly oppose it. Most of these actions can come across as entitled if the person doing them doesn’t consider their fellow passengers' feelings.
#4
so my mom is a flight attendant. Yesterday my mom had a passenger who ask for directions to there next gate. My mom asked “where she was going.” The passenger said “Portland“. My mom said “I can look it up for you but I would need to get my device to look it up”. The passenger said “hurry up then”. So my mom look it up and told the passenger where there flight was, then the passenger said “are you going to tell me how to get there?”. My mom said “look for the signs with the gate number.” So they land and the passenger get to where they get off the plane and said “you are going to walk me to my next gate. Cause I don’t know where to go.” My Mom just looks at her co-worker and says “you can get help from CSA agents“.
#5
TL;DR at the end.
I used to fly for work, a lot. I have so many entitled people stories it stopped surprising me to run into the behavior. This is one such story ...
Cast: Me, myself and I = Me EP = Entitled Person
As can be expected, in a larger airport, I arrived to my connection gate after boarding already started. As I go through the slow death march into the plane, I arrive to my seat to see that the foot space of my seat is already packed solid way into the foot space. I ask the person sitting beside me if it was their stuff to which they replied that they had no idea whose it was. Well I certainly wasn’t going to be sitting with such limited leg room on a multiple hour flight so I start removing all that “stuff”.
I hear from several rows up “Excuse me, what do you think you are doing!”
Me: “Someone stuffed all their things in my foot space. Is this your stuff?”
Now, I look where she is sitting and she has NOTHING in the foot space in front of her. This woman really expected someone else to be inconvenienced and made uncomfortable by her “stuff” during the long flight. Well, I obviously picked up the last of the items stuffed in my foot space.
EP: “You put that back.” She didn’t scream it. She didn’t yell it. She just assertively and expectedly told me to put her items back under the seat in front of me and then gave “that” stare.
Me: “Lady, I am not going to fly with all your items jammed in front of me. I want my leg room”. I walked up to her and she made it clear she wasn’t going to take the items from me. So I pushed them in her arms, let go, said “if you don’t want to fly with all these things in front of you, what makes you think someone else does”, turned and walked away.
Did some of them fall on the ground? Yes they did. Did I care? No, no I didn’t. Could I have been nicer about it? Maybe.
As I sat down, I saw her picking up the item or two that dropped, stand up to realize there is no overhead space left and proceed to stuff them under the seat in front of her.
While I realize that this falls somewhere between rude and entitled, I thought it fitting enough for this subreddit.
TL;DR - Entitled person didn’t want to be uncomfortable on a multiple hour flight with all of their things stuffed in the foot space in front of them and expected me to fly with them in my foot space instead.
#6
I only ever read these kind of encounters on Reddit, so it made me taken aback when it happened to me. Sorry for the English, not my first language. Hopefully my experience fits this sub. (Sorry for the format, on the phone. Edit for formatting).
Last month I took a flight back home after visiting my parents. Boarding time, I walked to my seat, 23A. There were already someone sitting there. I had to double check, make sure it's the 23rd row. Yep, I was right. So I told the lady sitting there, it's my seat. Suddenly a man on 23D offered me 23E seat. Turns out they are a family, and the mother didn't want to be separated from her children (who's in 23B and 23C) so she took my 23A. I was confused, it's not like she will be long separated from her children. The children were in 23B-23C, she and her husband were in 23D-23E. Only separated by an aisle! Obviously I refused. I specifically booked a window seat. It could help me feel ease looking at the clouds and help me fell asleep.
The seat they offered me to trade was middle seat, 23E. Trapped between the dad (23D) and a random man (23F) in a narrow airplane seat? Nope. I feel suffocated already. I flatly replied, "No, I booked the window seat". The mother immediately feel offended. She replied harshly, "So you don't mind we, a family, sitting separatedly?" Well, why don't YOU booked the right seats in the first place. Didn't say this out loud tho, I was only replaying my words "That's my seat". I was adamant with my answer.
Finally she's up, walking away from my seat with angry words she whispered silently towards me. I chose to not pay any attention to them. However, things changed afterwards. Her children were still sitting on the 23B and 23C seat, obviously I could not walk in to my seat. I asked them politely to get out of their seat so I could get in. What the mother did? Body shamed me. "Kids, get up. Her body is HUGE, she could not get in". My height is above the women's height average in my country, plus I gained like 10 kgs in pandemic. I have body dysphormia already, comment like those hurts my feeling badly. With that comment, I couldn't stay silent. I replied, "So what? So what if I'm huge?" She did not silence easily. She kept on and on the insults towards me, even louder.
Her daughter, silently (and with blatant panic) whispered at me. "Please forgive my mother. She is always like that". Her daughter, who I assumed no more than 12 years old, looks sincere. It helps tuned out the angry insults from aisle beyond because I feel bad at her.
The angry tirade stops around 5 minutes later, when the mother told her kids to move seats few rows away. Once more the daughter pleaded apology to me. It's crazy, to think that a 12 years old was way more emotionally mature than her entitled 40s mother. The whole time her mother spouted insults at me, the daughter looked pale and her body rigid. Her gaze fixated at one spot. I assume she was very embarassed. Poor kid.
It’s bizarre that so many folks end up demanding or rude when they’re trapped in a metal box with other people. According to Highbrow Magazine, some individuals act entitled because they focus only on their own point of view and feel they deserve special treatment.
This narcissistic behavior can sometimes turn extreme if folks throw tantrums to get a particular seat, complain about somebody else, or force other passengers to comply with their wants. What these entitled people also don’t seem to understand is that everyone is just trying to get ot their destination with minimal drama, and that causing such chaos can make all passengers feel uncomfortable.
#7
I was on a 5 hour flight and had specifically booked a window seat moths ago. I love watching a view and taking a nap near the wall.
A woman gets on with her teenage son and asks if I'd switch seats so he can enjoy the view. I politely said sorry I'd prefer to keep my seat.
She immediately says, wow that's just a seat, don't be difficult.
I smiled and said, Exactly. It's my seat.
She let out this huge sigh, sat down next to me, and spent the entire fight elbowing into my armrest and dramatically texting with her brightness at full blast.
I get wanting to sit together, but how is me planning ahead suddenly me being rude?
#8
So, I’m on a 5-hour flight for a work conference. I booked a window seat because I like to lean against the wall to sleep. I board the plane, settle in, and everything seems fine. Then enters Entitled Mom (EM) and her Kid (EK).
EM: (Staring at me) “Um, you’re in our seats.”
Me: “I don’t think so; this is 23A, right?”
EM: “Yes, but my son really wants to look out the window.”
Me: “I booked this seat specifically, sorry.”
EM: “Well, my son has never flown before, and he should get to experience it. You should give your seat to him. He deserves it more!”
Me: “I understand, but I also paid for this seat.”
At this point, the flight attendant (FA) comes over to see what the commotion is about.
FA: “Is everything alright here?”
EM: “No! He won’t let my son sit by the window!”
FA: “Ma’am, the seats are assigned, and he’s in his correct seat.”
EM: “This is outrageous! My child deserves this experience!”
FA: “I can’t change assigned seats; you’ll have to sit in your assigned seats.”
EM huffs and puffs but finally takes her assigned middle seat next to me, muttering about how “some people are so selfish.”
Five hours sitting next to EM was not fun, but I held onto my window seat. My comfort was worth more than her entitlement.
So, that’s my experience. Can’t believe people like this actually exist.
#9
Can't believe I finally have a reason to post here.
My boyfriend (27M) is the sweetest, most understanding, nonconfrontational person ever. He's also 6'4'', 100% gentle giant.
We were on a plane visiting family. He has the aisle seat, and there's a girl (maybe 20yo) sitting in front of him. Before we take off, boyfriend happens to be getting something out of his backpack under the seat; without warning, this girl thrusts her seat back with all of her might, slamming into my boyfriend's knees and face. Surprised, he leans back. But this girl seems confused about why her seat isn't going back very far (cuz, y'know, boyfriend has long legs and she literally hit his face). He let her continue to slam her seat on his knees multiple times until he finally said "please stop." She had no head phones on, was not distracted, and could obviously hear him, and she didn't answer him (though she did stop). She did the thing where she flipped her long hair over the seat onto his lap, which I really only thought people faked for TikTok.
There was an old lady sitting next to boyfriend (bless her heart) who poked the girl and said, "You're being very rude." Girl still didn't answer; this old woman had a petty battle with this girl the entire flight to move the long hair out of my boyfriend's lap. (Girl flips her hair, old lady moves it back.)
I genuinely can't believe people like this are real. It was only a one hour flight! I was in a different part of the plane, but if I would've known this girl was literally hurting a stranger (much less someone I love) I would not have let her get away with it. She needed to move her seat up for takeoff anyway; he didn't let her push her seat back again, though she really tried. Never a single word from her through the entire ordeal. Absolutely insane.
Emotions tend to run high when people board an aircraft, and much of that has to do with the crowd on the plane. Having so many folks around, being squeezed into small spaces, and dealing with noise and chaos can make everyone feel irritable, like they’re on a short circuit. This feeling can definitely be exacerbated by an entitled passenger.
Even without the crowd, folks with a long journey ahead might feel stressed and quick to anger. These short fuses might not even be a result of the other people on board, but mainly of the frustration of having so many tasks ahead of them and such a lengthy commute to undertake.
#10
The happened a few years back. I was on a Southwest flight aisle seat and we are all settled in our seats. I opened my overhead vent as I run hot and like moving air. This woman next to me without asking, reaches up to shut my vent. I asked her why she touching my vent. And she felt entitled to it because she was cold and didn't bring an outerwear. I reopened it and not a minute later she closed it again without asking. I had to be more firm and tell her please don't touch it again. She calls a flight attendant and we both explained the situation to her. Luckily there another middle seat that she moved to. So in the end I got extra arm room and no one feeling entitled to my space. If she had asked nicely about turning down the vent, I'd happily accommodate to find middle ground. But if you pull the entitled card right away, then I will absolutely not give in. I'm so sick of entitled people.
Upstaged75 45 minutes ago
Sorry, but each seat has its own light and vent. You can touch your own but you don't get to touch anyone else's. People are so obnoxious.
#11
Finally, something to report to this thread. Just boarded a long haul United Airlines flight. Lucky to be sitting in Polaris business class. Took my seat in the row having selected using lots of advice as to which is the best Polaris seat. Turns out my seat was 9X. Had just sat down, wiped down the seat and surrounding areas thoroughly with the provided antibacterial wipes, and was enjoying the complementary bubbly when a middle-aged woman and her docile husband came over. In a raised voice, she accused me by saying “you stole my seat!“. I briefly checked my ticket realized I was in 9L (relieved because I couldn’t understand why was supposed to be such a great seat and it turns out 9L is a significantly better seat). I apologize profusely. Explain my error, tell her I just sat down and just finished wiping down the entire seat but she continued to throw a tantrum, berating me and telling me that I was a bad person for taking the seat. I explained again that my seat was also in Polaris and was a better seat and I was very sorry. There was at least 15 minutes till takeoff but she lurks over me as I rapidly pack up. Husband grand flight attendant who immediately realizes they have a “live” one. “Why would you do such a thing” she continues to berate . “I’m so sorry again my mistake“, I said. “That is my seat” she reiterates “I know, but I am also in business class just two rows behind you. Apologies again”, I repeat. I repeated that I just cleaned it and I was very sorry. It did not modify her one bit.
I rapidly vacated the seat grabbing everything of mine, dragging it to my true seat two rows back. At the same time, she turned to her husband and said “well?“ He then turned to the person sitting behind me in row 8L and said “I made a mistake when I booked the flights and my wife and I are sitting on other sides of the plane. Would you be kind enough to switch with me?”.
Meanwhile, the witch now sitting in seat 7L insisted on the flight attendant coming and taking a new antiseptic wipe and made het wipe down the entire seat, provide her with new bedding, even though I had not touched or opened the bedding and generally made the flight attendant uncomfortable. BTW, i’m nearly and properly dressed, clean shaven, don’t smell (just in case there is a pessimist out there).
Even though the flight attendant had no reason to apologize, she came up to me as I sat back down and was apologetic because of how rude the witch in my old seat was. I explained it was my error and that I was sorry to make the flight attendant do extra work. We both laughed at the irony of her being such a jerk while her husband in an entitled manner was asking somebody to move while at the same time forcing flight attendant to do nonsensical work. I got the feeling that the passenger agreed to move only because he was so scared of them which in front of him and just wanted to get away as well.
A few minutes later, another flight attendant who witnessed the whole scene, came over to me and apologized again on behalf of the airline. I once again reminded her that it was not the Airlines fault and that some people are unkind and demanding.
I know those are two separate items, but I think it describes the person and the family perfectly: mean and unforgiving on the one hand, entitled and demanding on the other.
Those of you that get really upset when someone is in your seat, keep in mind sometimes it’s a mistake. If someone really moves fast to make amends, apologizes profusely, and tries to lighten the situation with a smile, move on. Lufe is good. And for those entitled folks out there that are incredibly rude even when faced with multiple apologies and really good service, fly private. You deserve it and we don’t deserve you!
#12
So, I was flying today. Smaller plane. Short flight. Seat set up 1 to 2 in first class, 2 to 2 in coach. I (F40s) am in the first row of coach. Only one person is in row across from me. F60ish. When I sit down, she has a call on speaker talking to a hotel about her room tonight, demanding a room in a specific “tower” blah blah. Annoying. But whatever. I put my earbuds in.
Something is wrong with my seat, however, so when the boarding doors closed I politely asked the flight attendant if I could move across the aisle to the empty seat next annoying speaker phone lady. Flight attendant says yes, I go to sit down. Annoying speaker phone lady tries to stop me, starts arguing w me that I cannot sit there because the seat is “empty” and I am not allowed. I tell her I had permission (which she had heard me get … fyi), but still she keeps it up. The flight attend comes over, tells her I can sit there. Yet, she keeps arguing. Finally, I ask if she paid for the empty seat, because if not she needs to shut up and I sit down. She starts sulking.
Flight takes off. She takes off her smelly sneakers and puts her feet in the small pocket of the seat in front of her like a little foot hammock. Starts rocking her feet and moving the seat in front of her. For about 20 minutes. (Thankfully wearing socks, but I could smell her feet). When she gets bored with that, she puts her feet on the wall then later sits criss-cross-applesauce on the seat. Still no shoes.
She gets chips. 3-4 bags. Eats them with her mouth open so loudly I can hear her over my movie and gets crumbs all over the place—floor, my arm, self. All over her seat when we left. Looks like a toddler sat there eating goldfish crackers.
Finally, I look over and she is picking her nose.
Anyone who has ever come across an entitled person on a flight knows how hard it can be to stay silent or avoid getting pulled into their drama. Allianz says a good way to handle these situations is to know when to engage and when to mind your own business.
They stated that if a kid is kicking your seat, then you should give them some grace, unless the behavior keeps on happening and the parent doesn’t do anything about it. In cases like this, or even a mild conflict with a nearby passenger, it might be best to speak to the flight attendant first so they can defuse the situation.
#13
I am boarding my flight to O’Hare when a passenger right in front of me goes to his aisle seat. In his seat is a dad who is sitting next to two of his daughters probably around 10. He complains to the guy that he HAS to sit with his daughters. He sends the man back a row to a MIDDLE seat like he owns the aisle seat. The flight attendant says the flight is full but I think the dad ended up staying in the aisle. He was so entitled and it pissed me off. I wish that guy stood up for himself.
#14
Twelve hours in economy and I apparently drew the golden ticket: a kid behind me who thought my seat was the penalty box. Thump. Thump. Thump. At first I tried to ignore it, but after an hour of feeling like I was in a low-budget massage chair, I turned around and politely asked the parents if they could get their little Messi-in-training to stop. They gave me the classic “oh, he’s just a kid” shrug. Spoiler: that wasn’t helpful. After the third polite ask, I finally flagged a flight attendant, and suddenly the miracle cure for restless legs was discovered.
Fast forward to landing, and instead of apologizing, the parents are glaring at me like I’m the villain of the story. They’re muttering about how “some people just don’t understand children.” Buddy, I understand children just fine, I just don’t think my lower back needs to be enrolled in your son’s soccer camp. Maybe next time buy him a ball instead of a boarding pass.
#15
Hey! First post here, hope you enjoy my story. It’s short and sweet.
So I work as a barista and this happened around 2013. I had just learned how to make drinks and was nervously making my way through the line. It was about 7 drinks long at this point. EL (Entitled lady) comes up to the handoff point and waves to get my attention.
Me: Hello ma’am is there anything I could help you with?
EL: Yes, you see I’m on my way to the airport and I’m going to be late if I don’t get my drink soon. Could you move it to the front of the line?
She had just ordered her drink and it was at the back of the line.
I was shocked by the audacity of this woman and took a second to form a response.
Me: I’m sorry but I can’t do that...that would be unfair to everyone else in front of you. We’re getting everything done as fast as we can. It shouldn’t be long!
She frowns and gives a big huff and stands there the whole time just staring at me until her drink is done. I hand off her drink with a smile. EL grabs the drink not acknowledging me and heads to where the lids are. I expect to see her run out the door but what do I see instead? Her chatting with some friends for over 10 minutes before finally leaving.
Guess her flight wasn’t that important (if it even existed).
TL;DR Lady thinks that she should come first because she decided to get a coffee on her way to the airport
Silence doesn’t always help when someone acts entitled, so if even the flight attendant can’t help, you can confront the offender directly. Before you engage, take a deep breath and don’t immediately shout or raise your voice, as that can make the situation worse.
Let them know, as politely and calmly as possible, that their behavior is affecting you, and suggest a compromise. If they still don’t listen, you can ask the crew to help you switch seats or figure out your next move.
#16
I early 20F sat in the middle seat next to a male on my flight. I had no issue with this however he was literally manspreading into my space. His leg was stretched out into my leg space and when I tried to give him hints to move he completely ignored me. He was very much taking up my space and making me feel crazy like this cannot be happening.
After a bit of not picking up my subtle hints I told him to move. To which he looked at me like I had significantly inconvenienced him. He then gave a slight eye roll and moved finally giving me space.
Example of my “subtle” hints: Me trying to put my medium hand bag under my seat(it is extremely easy to put under the seat might I add) and his leg being in the way. I know he saw me trying to do this and nothing changed until I said something.🤷♀️
#17
I was seated in the second to last row on a flight out of Florida (MIA to DTW). Shortly after takeoff I reclined my seat and the guy behind me immediately flips out. He yelled that he couldn’t recline his seat so I shouldn’t either. Mind you the person in front of me had fully reclined already.
So the guy behind me thinks that I should be the one that suffers but he’s the one that bought a ticket in the last row.
I ended up splitting the difference and reclined half way and while I was adjusting my seat he punches it several times and shouts obscenities.
Looking back I should have called the flight attendant but I’m honestly not sure what good that would have done. It was a very full flight. (‘Very’ because the jump seats were full too).
#18
There were 13 passengers on the flight requiring wheelchair assistance. The gate agent made multiple announcements that these passengers were to remain seated in the boarding area until their name was called. Obviously, that is a lot for a single flight and they didn’t have 13 wheelchairs so they were just taking who they could and returning for someone else.
Meanwhile they also called for concierge key (AA) members to board. The flight had been delayed so the agents were doing their best to get the plane loaded as quickly as possible. This cranky guy about 60 yrs old is using a walker with wheels and still seems unstable pushes his way through the crowd and tries to board. He was on the list for wheelchair assistance but hadn’t been called yet. He is demanding a wheelchair and to be boarded immediately. Even though they announced to remain seated until name was called. He kept raising a fuss and they just let him (along with his whole party) board when then next wheelchair became available.
Then he did not sit in his assigned seat! When the person in that seat came, he told him he was disabled and didn’t want to move. Ugh! I felt bad for the other passenger. It’s hard to stand up for yourself when the guy is using his disability as an excuse. I readily get that a mobility condition can make flying challenging, but I would still book the seat I needed, not steal someone else’s. Even if my seat assignment changed, I would have inquired politely with the gate agent to see if they could change it without just taking someone else’s. It was bad enough he was acting like a jerk, but using his condition like made it worse.
On the same flight, a flight attendant went to take her seat just before takeoff. It was one of those jumpseats near the middle of the plane that faces the exit row. The exit row passenger opposite the jumpseat was using the jumpseat as a footrest. He actually had the audacity to tell her that she was taking his footrest. She tried to respond kindly just saying oh, I am just trying to take my seat. He literally said well you took my footrest and I want you to know it. What! Are you kidding me??? Kudos to the flight attendants on that flight.
The reason why we’re getting more information about entitled people on flights is that they’re being shamed online. Folks aren't hesitating to film demanding passengers to name and shame them on social media, which can definitely deter that behavior in the future.
The problem with this is that it can also create a trend of narcissistic people acting out for attention and Internet fame. This shouldn't be encouraged, which is why it’s best to think twice before filming a rude passenger. Maybe only do it to collect evidence of their wrongdoing and share it with the concerned authorities.
#19
Me, solo traveler, flying internationally from Asia to US, just getting checked in at the counter. On this plane, the seat layout is 3 seats - aisle - 3 seats - aisle - 3 seats. I ask the flight attendant if it's possible to move my middle seat to one that is the window or an aisle, but clearly state that it's fine if it's not possible. She gets me an aisle seat and I am jazzed.
Next to me, woman and man (looks like a couple), doing the same.
Woman: are there any rows of 3 with an empty middle seat? Flight attendant: I'm sorry, I can't guarantee any seats will remain empty. I can seat you next to each other though? Woman: No, I want to sit with an empty seat between us. Man: (murmurs something to her, looks kinda embarrassed) Woman: No, I like the extra room. We would like to be seated with an empty seat between us (continues to make the same request to the poor flight attendant)
Later, after boarding my flight, I realized that the middle seat between me and the other aisle passenger was open, and it made me smile.
Lady, we all want the extra room, but we aren't entitled to it, dayum. Leave the poor customer service agents alone.
#20
Well, folks, it's that time. Me traveling to and fro Costa Rica getting treated to seeing crazy entitlement around flying. Flying used to be rare and fancy. Now it's just a flying bus! Oh boy did I see lots of it, but this one kind of took the cake.
The other day I had a four hour international flight to get home. I'd already booked a business class seat. Larger seat equals more comfort instead of being squished together like sardines in main cabin. When I went to preboard the gate agent told me she'd moved me farther forward. Okay, cool beans, thank you! They wheeled me to the door of the plane and I discovered I was now sitting in first class! Score! I love first class but it's usually prohibitively expensive so I rarely buy a first class ticket.
The only other person preboarding in a wheelchair is sitting just in front of me in first class, and I had just watched her make a huge production of getting aboard, crying, whining and yelling. I sense she's a tad dramatic because she's only got an over the counter not so supportive knee support on, no crutches or cane, nothing medical issue that you'd get with a serious knee injury or disease. But whatever, people are entitled to be as weird as they wanna be.
Once regular boarding started I got to see my seatmate for the flight, a man with a magnificent quiff of chestnut hair in a man bun and a large beard. He was dressed in old shorts and an old stained tee. I'd watched folks looking like they bathed in hand sanitizer giving him wide berth and a variety of not very friendly looks in the airport waiting room. I'd seen how they were treating him and thought I'd love to know his story, so lo and behold he's sitting with me, just behind Yelling Knee Lady.
We settle in, and over wine we start talking. He's a federal and military retiree, just like my husband, and he's traveling around the world, going places that strike his fancy with merely a backpack. We're having a good conversation with a bit of laughing thrown in, but we're speaking at regular conversational level. Not loudly at all.
We've only been airborne 30 minutes or so when Knee Lady starts yelling for the flight attendants to move myself and this gentleman because, her reasoning, we were "dirty hippies" who didn't belong in first class. He and I are looking at each other and LAUGHING at that! We're both post 60, yes he's dressed very casually but is clean and doesn't smell. I'm wearing an outfit of linen tunic printed in an etole fabric, black pants, and Birkenstocks. This is an outfit that one of my kids teases me makes me look like I am on my way to teach yoga in Connecticut! Sort of alternative, sort of suburban upper class lady.
Thankfully the flight attendant had a lot of common sense, telling Knee Lady that she's not moving us anywhere, but she will ask us to pipe down some if that helps Knee Lady. We both smiled at the attendant and that she didn't even have to ask, we'll be more quiet. Lunch followed by a nap.
When we arrived in Costa Rica I got to see a Jetway Jesus experience as Yelling Knee Lady was suddenly able to walk without much trouble once her suitcase arrived. I just had to laugh at that as the guys at the airport pushed me out to my car.
I swear, I feel so sorry for everyone having to deal with folks like this.
#21
My wife and I took our children to Florida a couple of years ago, flying with Virgin Atlantic. Their seats have generous leg room compared to others apparently but I'm 6'4" and I fully utilise any leg room there is.
On the flight there, the woman in front of me (who swapped with her daughter I think, just my luck) decided to just ram her seat into full recline without warning, taking away some much needed room. She then proceeded to keep stretching and pushing the seat back every few minutes, crushing my knees.
I had to keep switching positions (slouched, knees to the sides / sat bolt upright, knees pressing into the back of the chair) just to get some relief.
Then I found a game on the monitor in the back of her headrest. Solitaire, controlled by touchscreen. For about 4 hours I jabbed those cards as hard as I could, sending vibrations through her seat and stopping her getting any rest.
At one point my wife saw her tutting and muttering to a family member and nodded her head towards me, so I knew my plan worked.
On the flight home I wanted to recline my seat. First thing I did? "Ask the passenger behind me if they minded, and that if it got too uncomfortable for them, just let me know."
It’s not easy to deal with unruly passengers on flights, and WingTalkers mentions that every 3 hours the safety of a plane within the EU is threatened by folks who are disruptive, entitled, or rude. 70% of these incidents involve some type of aggressive behavior, despite a zero-tolerance policy.
Over the past few years, this kind of entitlement has been on the rise, and nearly 80% of the most dramatic ones have ended up in Federal court. Unfortunately, once the flight is underway, the damage is done, as unruly behavior affects many other passengers and even crew members.
#22
I was flying in the window seat, because I like looking out the window. The woman sitting next to me reached in front of me multiple times to close the window shade. She never asked me, she just reached directly in front of me to close the shade. I would immediately reopen it, and a few minutes later she would reach in front of me again to close it.
It was a noon domestic short haul flight, so no reason to need darkness in the middle of the day. And absolutely no excuse for violating my personal space multiple times without asking me or acknowledging me or treating me like a human in any way.
So I pulled out my book and turned on the reading light, despite there being ample natural light from the open window for me to read. I then positioned my hands in such a way that my watch would reflect the reading light directly into her eyes.
I read like that for an hour, jiggling my hand the entire time, so it would shine the light back and forth across her eyes and be super distracting and annoying.
Once we landed and she took her headphones off, I turned to her and said “next time you fly, book a window seat if you want to control the window. Or at least treat me like a human and ask me before you violate my personal space. What you did is unbelievably rude.”
She looked SO OFFENDED.
And naturally she walked 2 mph. Being a city walker, I easily got in front of her, then once we were on the moving walkway I stopped immediately in front of her. Did the same on the escalator to the curb, before flipping her off the entire way to my ride.
Edit: wanted to make a slight clarification that I was subtly flipping her off by extending my middle finger while holding the handle of my bag, so it was upside down and you only would’ve noticed if you were looking at my hand. It wasn’t like I was just holding 🖕up to her face. I was angry and it was a subtle way for me to voice my anger and get it out of my system
#23
Parents let their kid scream and blast toy music for a 5-hour flight, parents did nothing and let the kids do whatever—am I crazy for being furious?
I got off a flight from IAD to LAX yesterday and need to sanity check this because I’m genuinely furious.
About 30 minutes into the flight, a kid (maybe 3 or 4 years old) started screaming hysterically. I get it—kids cry, ears pop, flying is rough on little ones. But then the parents handed the kid one of those electronic noise-making toy devices, and instead of using headphones, they just let it blast repetitive, loud kid music at top volume.
So for the next three hours, it was a tag-team of full-volume toddler meltdowns and blaring electronic toy noise.
I asked the flight attendant if they could request the parents turn the device off or use headphones. The FA walked over to speak with them, and the parents literally just shrugged and said, "We can't do anything to control him, so we just have to let him scream and play." The parents just ignored everything and let the kid do whatever they want.
When did "kids will be kids" turn into "we won't even try to parent or respect 150 other people trapped in a metal tube"? Is it standard now for flight crews to completely give up on noise enforcement, or did I just get unlucky?
What would you have done in this situation? How are parents getting away with blaring loud audio devices without headphones on planes now?
#24
Ok so I’m not 100% sure if this fits here but I’d say so
I just got home from a brutal night of traveling and had such an annoying experience and all my friends are asleep so i gotta rant.
I had a late night cross-country flight so i took a magnesium pill and put on my noise canceling headphones.
So i have a loop of white noise that i listen too when i sleep in general but especially on planes, so ive got my pillow and eye mask, headphones and blanket so im cool right.
Something starts stinking, i peek out and basically there’s a mother and daughter next to me eating some sort of stinky egg thing out of tubberwear. It was nasty and smelly but i was like fine whatever, let’s go to sleep.
Also we have not taken off yet btw and i get a sharp jab in my shoulder, it’s a flight attendant, im like yes? And she tells me that my music is too loud and im disrupting people. I’m sooo soo confused because im not even listening to music and let me tell you this woman was being very mean straight away and I’m kinda like I’m not listening to music and she claims she can hear it blasting and if i could go back in time I’d have asked her what song but i kinda just stared liked a moron because i was so taken aback.
The woman next to me has been quiet but starts whispering to the flight attendant and Flight attendant tells me to either turn my music down or she’s moving my seat. That’s when im like ohh egg lady probably lied on me to get a row to herself and her kid or maybe she has someone else she wants to join.
I said I’ll move to another window seat but noooo that wasn’t available so i was like ok no. This lady was kinda fighting with me about my “music” claiming she could hear it when nothing was playing, then another flight attendant basically shooed her off and apologized and that was that.
But so the stinky egg family can stink up the whole plane but god forbid i wear headphones. I had not even turned on my white nose yet! I’m grumpy af. I’m just baffled at the balls of some people.
Also stinky eggs should be banned from flights! Out of all the places you need to eat an egg salad you choose an airplane? Why?
Beyond folks getting mad at an entitled passenger, such behavior has consequences, and professionals say passengers can even be fined $37,000 per violation. This is a hefty price to pay for a tantrum, and most people don’t even know that they can face such consequences.
In extreme cases, if someone is disruptive, the plane might be forced to land or divert, which can disrupt its schedule and inconvenience many people. That’s why anybody who thinks they can just keep making crazy demands on flights should think twice before acting out.
#25
I've had a few people be nuisances (idc I always got my seat in the end), but the one exchange that always comes to mind is this one. Once there was a mom with two kids sitting in my two seats, who pretended to not understand English, and then started to be racist about and cuss me out to the flight attendant in a local Zambian language (Bemba, which I speak because most of my colleagues prefered it). Cue her surprise when I as a white guy told her in fluent Bemba I've been kind and patient with her, but I don't appreciate her attitude and asked her to leave one last time or I'd have to get her moved. Suddenly she can apologize in perfect English and runs to the back dragging her screaming kids with her. The flight attendant thought it was hilarious. Wished the other lady a nice stay in my home country when we were at the baggage pick up but didn't hear anything back lol.
#26
Sitting on UA flight 40 to Rome. Was at the lounge earlier and this couple was sitting across from me, wife was visibly sick and sneezing and snotting everywhere. Not wearing a mask.
I get on this flight, and just my luck, they’re seated next to me. I kindly ask her (after another nasty sneeze) if she was in the lounge earlier and asked her to wear a mask. She said she just has a cold and didn’t have a mask but would ask the flight attendant. Flight attendant said they’re out. The wife then tries to talk me saying that it’s just allergies, so I’m like no you just told me it was a cold, and if it were me I’d be wearing a mask to try to minimize getting others sick even if I had to wear a mask. And husband tries to jump in saying some nonsense so I just responded they were classic entitled people and turned my head but this really grinds my gears.
If you’re sick and you’re getting on a plane put on a damn mask. Is it that hard?
I am white and I don’t want to make it about race but it’s always entitled white folks doing this bs and then not even apologizing for their behavior/acting like it’s fine. It really proves other people’s criticism of white people.
Thank you for coming to my ted talk.
#27
This is fresh from last evening. I was on the last flight of a long trip and ready to pass out for two and a half hours. That changed when my seatmate thumped into his spot. Let's call him Bill. Bill is in his 60s and speaks about five decibels too loud. His tablet font is so big the guys in air traffic control can probably read it through the plane window.
Bill settles in and begins watching videos on his tablet while the flight attendants do the pre-flight demonstrations. The videos are far-right politics on nature, and the sound on the tablet is maxed. The flight attendant tells Bill, “You'll need to wear headphones or earbuds or put that on mute, sir.”
At first, it seems like Bill complies. The sound is off, and we get into the air. When we reach flying altitude and the wifi comes on, he's back on YouTube with his videos at full volume.
The flight attendant rolls his eyes and repeats he will have to put on headphones or mute.
Bill sits up straight and exudes obstinate entitlement. “I can't wear headphones. They hurt my ears, and I'm not missing the debates.”
“You will have to mute it and put captions on so you don't disturb the other passengers.”
With a smug smirk, Bull says it's his right to watch the debates, and this is the only way he can. If anyone else hears, they should be listening as voters and learning.”
The flight attendant gives Bill a long look and returns to the front of the plane. Two minutes later, an announcement was made that “due to electronic issues, the wifi won't be available on this flight.”
Bill huffed and puffed about this and complained bitterly to his wife. He was snoring most of the flight, and the attendant told him to bring his complaints about no wifi to the ticket counter. Two policemen were hanging out there as I passed. I hope they were there to educate Bill on in-flight rules and the consequences of not following them.
A flight should be smooth and relaxing, but it can turn into absolute chaos if someone entitled is on it. The stories in this list show how tiresome and annoying it can be to deal with a rude passenger, but hopefully you’ve learned enough tips to handle them if you ever have to.
We’d love to know if you’ve ever had an unpleasant flight experience because of another passenger. Do share your stories in the comments below.
#28
A few years back I was flying home from a vacation island. It was a four hour flight and we should have been at our destination by 4 pm. About half way through the flight the pilot asked if there was a doctor on board. Which is never a good omen. Two guys stood up and went to the back of the plane. A few minutes later the pilot announced that we‘re going to land at the nearest airport because we have a medical emergency on board. 20 minutes later we were landing and there was already an ambulance and an emergency doctor waiting for us. They carried out an elderly man and a crying woman followed them. After they left the pilot told us that the guy was having an heart attack and that they would sort out their luggage and fuel up the plane. This would take around 30 minutes and that we would be at our destination by 6 pm. After the announcement a woman started to complain loudly that she would be late and that her son is waiting for her at the airport and that it’s an impudence she is late. Old people just shouldn’t fly and so on. She was traveling alone and complained to everyone around her. Unfortunately I was sitting right next to her and had to listen to this for at least 15 min. Than I snapped and told her to shut up because nobody on the plane wanted to be late but the old guy definitely didn’t want to have a heart attack and going to a hospital in a foreign country instead of going home. I may have said a few not so nice things although but I was really annoyed by her. For the rest of the flight she just sat there right next to me and gave me a few really evil eyes. But she shut her mouth.
P.s. Sorry for the English. It’s not my first language.
#29
My son and I are flying out. I booked the aisle and window in case the flight wasn’t full. If it was full, we would let the middle person choose aisle or window. We get to our row and there is someone in the window. We check our seats. She looks away pretending she doesn’t see or hear us. It’s fine for us since we were going to take the middle seat anyways.
Then this guys comes and says he has the middle seat in our row. I explained we have the aisle and the window but this woman sat down first. Turns out she had the middle seat on the other side. Now she is squished between two large dudes. She didn’t even steal the correct side.
#30
I had the seat "1A" booked on both of my flights. Yes I got a deal on First Class and flew sitting in the first seat on the plane. I was thrilled. First flight, great seat mates. Second flight, problematic people.
I got on, got in my seat. A few minutes later a couple with the husband wearing a "Berkley" sweatshirt and jeans and a wife dressed in designer duds got on and started immediately insisting I was sitting in one of their assigned seats. They had tickets for "1B" and "1C" and insisted that "1A" was the aisle seat. Told them they were wrong. Pointed to the sign showing which seat was which.
They got the flight attendant, who confirmed that I was in the correct seat and they were middle and aisle, not I. Copacetic? Right?
Nope. They started complaining to the flight attendants that I was 'too fat' and was crowding the husband. I may be fluffy, but I can fit in the seat easy on a regular seat much less these wide ones, and put on the seatbelt AND pull it in some. I wasn't touching his rarefied ass. The flight attendants moved them, not I, to right behind me.
So I ended up with a full empty three oversized seats. I made sure to stretch out over all three and take the most glorious and petty power nap of all times. They moaned about how unfair it was, how I should never have been allowed to sit near them, I should have been moved, etc, etc.
This is why it pays to be nice to others, even others you don't particularly like much. They sat crowded in with someone else fluffy, ignored by the flight attendants while I lolled about napping. I take napping oh so seriously.
I think they must have exhibited that same very bad attitude going through customs because I passed them having their baggage pulled apart and inspected while a customs agent grilled them. Karma is real.. still laughing thinking about it.
#31
Just before landing, the pilot made the plea for people to let other people make their connections. While taxiing, the flight attendant made the same plea. When the seat belt sign went off, the usual thing happened where (almost) everyone stood up in the aisle. The flight stated to everyone that there should only be about ten people in the aisle. Most of the travelers ignored the flight attendant. Some of us connectors were in the back of the plane. As we finally were able to move down the aisle, practically every seat we passed was empty. A special shout-out to “first class” passengers who showed no class. I know you first-classers paid for the privilege of disembarking first, but can’t you have the decency to let others make their connections? You can still get off the plane before the other non-connectors
#32
In a previous job I used to travel for work - ALOT. Often I'd go into work only to be told I was needed in another state that day so they would have a car waiting for me to take me to the airport and than I'd normally fly first class to my destination. The main reason I would fly first is so I would have space to work (or sleep, depending on the time).
Anyway this happened so I grab my travel bag (which I kept in my desk - had my phone charger, my noise cancelling headphones and my passport) and jumped in the car to the airport.
One big advantage to flying first is lounge access so I always made a priority to go into the lounge and grab a muffin and a coffee. I'd down the coffee as fast as I could, and then head to the plane with the muffin.
it just so happened that todays flight was on a 38 seater prop job but because of the status I have with the airline thanks to all the travel and the first class ticket I was in row 1 (this plane was a 2 - 2 seating formation with the first 2 rows being first class)
I get on the plane and as I am boarding I see someone in my seat. mind you, the plane boards right next to the first row. I give the flight attendant my boarding pass and she sees 1A and says "your seat is right..." as she spins around 180 degrees and sees the passenger in my seat over the barrier that's there.
She turns to the passenger and says "your in the wrong seat"
The passenger responds with "make him sit in the second row"
this turned into a full argument with the FA winning. the seat stealer gets up and just to be spiteful knocks the muffin out of my hand.
This was too much for the FA who ordered the passenger off the flight. they didn't have any checked bags so they grabbed their carry on and left.
The thing was there was only 1 direct flight to where I was going a day. the only other way of getting there was to transit though another city and pay quite a bit more, so that's what I guessed happened.
The flight attendant was rally apologetic about it (I told her not to worry) and when I flew again in the future she always hooked me up with extra stuff - one day she found out I had a newborn so she gave me a stuffed mascot of the airline.
#33
Sadly, people need to be reminded that unless you are trading for the same seat or a better seat, don’t even ask. It’s rude and so annoying. Literally choose a different flight if you didn’t get the seat you wanted
People think they are so entitled and they are just cheap! People need to not book the aisle and window seat of an extra room seat expecting the person in the middle to give up their seat for the seat you purchased for your son in the back! A family made my poor mother so uncomfortable. My mother flew delta the other day and had purchased the comfort plus middle seat in the row behind first class. There weren’t any window/aisle seats available so she chose the option with the most room. The flight was over booked and a couple had booked the window and aisle seat next to my mother. While the husband went to the bathroom during boarding, the wife asked my mom if she could switch seats with her teenage son who was sitting in the middle seat of like row 24. My mom obviously said no because she paid for the seat. So the wife asked my mom if she could switch seats to sit next to her husband. Clearly her whole seating arrangement didn’t go as planned. The husband came back and made a scene about my mom not switching with his son and now her sitting in the window seat. My mom continued to ignore them, while he continued to complain and tried to intimidate her to move. My mom was over the husband complaining so she offered to move back to her original middle seat and the wife quickly declined. Meanwhile all of this could’ve been avoided if the family had purchased the middle seat my mom was sitting in. People need to learn how to behave idk
#34
I was boarding a flight in ATL and had a window C+ seat. When I arrived at my seat, a man was already sitting there. He asked if he could keep the seat because he has knee problem. Apparently his knee problem prevents him from sitting in the middle seat? I don't know, but I'm non-confrontational and didn't want to make it awkward since I still had to sit next to him for the next 4 hours, so I just said OK and took his middle seat. The entire flight I was wedged between two decent-sized guys, struggling to find a comfortable way to take a nap. I'm a thicker girl myself.
I'm so frustrated that this other passenger thought he was entitled to my window seat, and that I didn't have the balls to just tell him to move, or call the FA over.
Rant over. If this happens again I'm just going to try to politely stand my ground, even if it leads to an awkward flight.
Edit: There is really no need to be rude. I'm very well aware that I voluntarily gave up my seat and should not have. As I said, I'm not confrontational and I struggle with awkward situations like this. While I could certainly use a lesson in assertion, some of you could use a lesson in basic respect.
#35
This happened several years ago on a flight out of Dallas. It is worth mentioning that I am tall: 6'4" with some long legs.
I was flying American (I now prefer JetBlue for the legroom) so the seat spacing had my knees right near the seat in front of me. After the attendants made their final check of seats up, belts buckled, trays folded we were good to go. We accelerated and started to ascend. The guy in front of me reclined but thanks to the acceleration and angle of incline the seat didn't go back slowly but rather slammed into my knees.
I got hit by the tray hinge. It hurt. I was annoyed.
During the rest of the ascent I slowly raised my heels off the ground to lift my knees, and therefore his seat, up. This took a couple minutes but when we leveled off I dropped my heels suddenly, causing his seat to drop. The guy sat up immediately and whipped his head around to look at me.
I shrugged and smiled.
His seat went back up and I didn't have a problem for the remainder it the 3 hour flight.
To be clear, I'm fine if people recline back into my legs during flights. The seats are made to recline, kinda, and while I won't do it to the people behind me I will not begrudge someone a little comfort. In this case though, they ignored instructions for the ascent and hurt my knee so I felt it deserved some response.
#36
I tried to recline my seat and it popped back upright, I tried again and realized the lady behind me was shoving my seat forward. I tried again and she yelled at me that I couldnt recline my seat.
I was very shaken up by the interaction so I just stayed upright for like 10 minutes until I could see a flight attendant nearby. I was able to quickly recline and have my chair click into place so she couldn't shove it forward. She raised her voice at me again and I told her everyone on the whole plane gets to recline their seat. She said I was reclining too far back though... I told her my seat was in the same position as the person sitting in front of me and kind of held my hands up at her through the little gap between the seats and then sat back. She didn't try to talk to me again.
The whole thing made me so uncomfortable. I wish I had gotten an attendant to help me instead of interacting with her directly. I can't believe this happened irl, the whole time i was thinking it sounded like a reddit story
Edited to add: she was a petite short woman, all of 5'2" like my travel companion (we saw her again at baggage pick up) In a different situation, and asked politely, I am certain I would have accommodated the person. Even the tall guy who's knees were jammed into the seat in front of him was getting involved telling her she needed to calm down
#37
I witnessed a small spat between two people on a flight earlier today regarding their seats which reminded me of this experience I had about ten years ago. I was on a flight to attend an annual convention happening on the other side of the country with two of my senior colleagues. It was the night before the first day of the event so the entire flight practically consisted of people in the same industry. My colleagues were busy greeting or acknowledging people as we were walking along the airplane aisle to get to our seats. I was a rookie at the time.
At any rate, a woman in early thirties was sitting in my seat. She was wearing oversized sunglasses along with a pair of studio headphones over her head. Moreover, she rested her hands neatly on her lap and had her head tilted back on the headrest as if to suggest that she was asleep and not to be disturbed. Give me a break, half of the plane hadn't finished boarding by this point.
She ignored several of my initial verbal attempts at getting her attention. She ignored half a dozen gentle taps on her shoulder. When she finally "awakened", I tried explaining to her that she was in my seat. But her response was to point at her headphones, then shrugging with both her hands upturned to gesture that she couldn't hear what I was saying. "You could try taking them off?". Nothing, still playing dumb with no intention to take off her headphones. I think the reader can appreciate that I was starting to impede aisle traffic by this point.
Not giving up, I then showed her my boarding pass, pointing at the printed seat number. She then mouthed "ohhhh" as if she just understood what I've been saying all along. She then tucked in her knees half an inch into the seat and motioned me to pass by her like that. I had briefly considered whether to give her the crotch or the ass but I chose to insist. When she tucked in her knees again at my another futile attempt at getting her to move to her own seat, I just about had it.
I raised my voice and and said out loud that "I'm not the one getting in, you are!" to which she instantly recoiled and moved to the window seat without a word. The guy who was waiting behind me in the aisle gave me a thumbs up as he passed by. I thought that was that but she was apparently still salty and wanted satisfaction. After the plane had taken off, she tapped on my shoulder and said she'd be open to switching seats with me "If I wanted." I politely declined albeit with an almost amused look in my face.
Later, I was casually conversing with my colleagues seated across from me in their aisle seats. She tapped on my shoulders again and said that her offer extended to "your friends". I gave a light chuckle and said "Sure." I knew what she was getting at along with her condescension; that she was "someone in the industry". Too late, I already texted my colleagues after that little incident of ours and both of them had Mariah Carey'd her.
She later circled back on this, whether if I'd asked my colleagues about their seat yet to which I replied in the negative. She asked "If I could please ask them" to which I'd always reply in the positive, "Sure" in a lighthearted manner. This exact exchange occurred between us not once, not twice, but thrice in the course of a 6 hour flight. To this day, I've never come across her professionally so I'm not sure what exactly she was trying to achieve there.
#38
So I was recently on an 8 hour flight from the US, settled into our seats and noted a family with several teen/young adult children sat with each child having a 2 seat row to themselves, mum settled them all in and went to her seat in business or premium economy from what I could see. Take off and everything is fairly normal. From the moment the seatbelt sign went off the mum was up and down the aisle from her seat to her children’s seats the whole damn flight, every time banging everyones elbow and talking so loudly I couldn’t even hear what I was watching on Netflix despite having the volume up fully.
The seatbelt sign went back on a couple of times due to turbulence and she had to be told at least 5 times to just sit the hell down.
During meal service they all loudly complained about the food and basically treated the FA as their own personal waitress. They kept waving her down and being so rude she announced no more drinks as she was only one person. It was an over night flight and gradually all the kids fell asleep but that didn’t stop mum continually marching up and down. It was just impossible to sleep.
Descent begins and again they basically had to force her to take her seat and the kids all begin throwing their trash in the aisle and packing up. We land and mum barges through anyone trying to get off and then pushes her way back through with her kids in tow.
I was so happy to get off that plane and went to go through passport control when I saw them all frantically tearing their bags apart as apparently the daughter had lost her passport. Might have had a smile to myself as we went straight through while dad was arguing with a member of staff about the missing passport. Felt bad for the daughter but after that awful flight it felt good to see a tiny bit of karma come through!
#39
Wife and I were flying from Santorini to Paris recently on budget airline Transavia (subsidiary of Air France) . It’s like the Spirit Airlines equivalent I guess.
Anyhow we had paid extra $ for exit row seats which come with additional leg room. Also allowed for earlier group boarding but wifey was in the toilet when boarding started so we ended up boarding a bit later.. no big deal I thought since we had reserved seats.
When we boarded we see a lady in my exit row aisle seat. Of course a fellow American. I informed her she was in my seat and she (without even looking up, mind you) asked if we couldn’t just sit in the exit row across the aisle which (at the moment) was empty. I of course politely but firmly told her no.
At this point plane is about 75% boarded but we are now holding up people trying to get to their seats. I moved over to let other passengers pass by and she still hasn’t gotten up. After about 10 more seconds I lost my patience and finally said “get out of my seat or I’ll have the flight attendant do it” loud enough to startle her and she finally looks up sheepishly and says “fine but you don’t need to be rude!” And a huge huffy puffy
I quickly responded with “I wasn’t until you decided to be an entitled jerk” as she walked …. To the second to last row on the plane !
And yes the plane was 95% full in the end, including all exit row seats.
#40
Not sure this is the most entitled thing ever, but I think it fits.
Sitting on a plane while boarding continues and watch this interaction between old grumpy lady heading to her seat and flight attendant.
OGL: You don't have in flight entertainment?
FA: On your device. You connect to wi-fi.
OGL: But no screens?
FA: There are screens on some international flights, but not usually on domestic.
OGL (with a sharp tone): You should have screens on EVERY flight!
Luckily it didn't escalate, but such a weird thing to hold up boarding over.
#41
I’ve been flying for decades but this one was new to me. I was traveling with my 80 year-old brother. He needs wheelchairs and a bit of looking after during a flight. So I made sure that, in addition to the wheelchairs, I booked two aisle seats, directly across from each other. Flight was completely full. Boarded the flight and found a man in my aisle seat. He tried to claim that seat A-x was the aisle seat and so mine was the window. I’ve been flying on AA for decades, and on a plane with 3x3 seating, C&D are the aisles, A&F are windows. I attempted to explain this, nicely, to him. He insisted that I was wrong and he was right. I didn’t argue with him any further, I simply asked the flight attendant to explain the seating letter system to him. She did, and he then tried to argue with her that the airline booked him with the wrong seat. He finally took his window seat, grumbling about it, and so I could take my assigned aisle seat. I’ll give the guy A for originality but the only way to deal with these entitled folks is to be polite, but firm, and involve the flight attendant if you can’t make any headway.
#42
This happened in July 2018.
Me, my mom and stepdad were flying home after vacationing in Mexico. For some reason my stepdad was sitting in the row ahead of me and my mom. There were two guys sitting next to him and another guy came up to sit next to us. I was the window seat, my mom was the middle seat and the man was the aisle seat.
My mom politely asked the man if he would mind switching seats with my stepdad but he said no because he apparently paid extra money to sit in the aisle seat ( I didn’t know you could do that ). One of the men who were sitting on the aisle seat next to my stepdad offered to give up his seat but the man still refused. Me and my mom were kinda annoyed but hey, he paid for the seat so it’s rightfully his.
I was in the window seat so I didn’t experience this and I didn’t know about this until after we got off the plane. The man had a laptop and the whole two hours of the flight he was typing on it and was elbowing my mom the whole time. My mom even asked him to stop but he just looked at her and then looked back at his laptop. I was asleep but she said that she was leaning on me and he was still elbowing her. At this point it seemed like he was moving his arms more then he had to to type and she said that she was pretty sure he was jabbing her on purpose at this point. The plane eventually landed and we all got off and that was the last we saw of him, thankfully. My mom later looked at her arm and saw a bruise on it where he was jabbing her.
#43
Hello Reddit!
This happened to me just a while ago and I wanted to share it with all of you. So my family and I had taken a 5 day trip to NYC over the 4th of July weekend. Everything went perfectly fine until we boarded our plane to return to Minneapolis/St. Paul MN. As we were walking down the aisle, we noticed that there was a Karen in one of our seats. The interaction went something like this:
Me: “Excuse me ma’am, but I think you’re in my seat”
Karen: “No, I’m not! I specifically paid for this seat!”
Me: “Well my ticket says that this is my assigned seat.”
Karen, pulling out her ticket: “See 27B!”
I looked at my ticket and saw that my ticket also said 27B. Karen flagged down a flight attendant.
Karen: “This guy says that he’s supposed to sit in my seat, but I already have settled in and I’m not moving.”
Flight attendant: “Can I please see both of your tickets?”
Karen and I hand the flight attendant our tickets. Karen looks at me with an “I know I’m right” smirk. The flight attendant then points out to her that she somehow got onto the wrong flight.
Karen: “No I didn’t. This is the flight to Ontario, isn’t it?”
Flight attendant: “No, this is the flight to MSP.”
Karen’s face goes pale. She then picks up all of her things and hauls @$$ off the plane.
How the hell she was able to get on the plane is beyond me. I'm also pretty sure that the flight to Ontario left about a half-hour before we boarded.
The best part of the whole story comes when the flight attendant makes her preflight announcement saying “Welcome aboard to Flight ###, Nonstop service to MSP, not Ontario. If you are flying to Ontario, get off the plane now.” My family and I burst out laughing.
#44
This happened about 7 hours ago, we haven’t landed yet and I’m still getting major stink eye.
My husband and I are on a trip to Europe for his work. I have really bad joint issues, and my husband deserves the special treatment, so I surprised him by upgrading to the little first class pods - the ones that lay flat.
The plane’s configuration is 1 pod next to the windows and two pods in the centre, separated by a short wall. My husband and I are in the centre pods.
As soon as I sat down I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was a Karen in the pod to my right - where’s-the-manager-haircut and all.
Her: “You need to change seats with me.”
Me: “huh?”
Her: “You’re travelling alone, I want to sit next to my husband.”
She motions at the guy sitting in front of me.
(Now, there’s an age difference between my husband and I. The assumption is always that I’m a gold digger - the funny thing is, we earn the same.)
Me: “oh. No, sorry, I’m travelling with MY husband.” I point to him in his pod.
Her, rolling her eyes: “You don’t need to sit next to each other. It’s just one flight.”
Me: “I guess that means it’s okay for you to stay there”
I put my headphones on and thought that would be the end of it... but no.
She then called the flight attendant and TOLD her to tell ME to change seats.
Bless this flight attendant, she shut it down fast...
“Mrs. Karen, there’s no available seats in this class and Ms. Omissions has no obligation to switch. I do have two seats together in economy class if you’d like to move back there?”
Karen has been glaring at me for 7 hours now.
#45
I was on an airline with my family who were scsttered in the one or two rows in front of and behind me. The random girl next to me at the window seat was talking to her friend who was sitting directly behind me. The friend then asks me if I can switch seats with her so she can sit next her friend. It's still within the vicinity of my family so I agree to it and we swap positions.
She's rhen laughing with her friend and turns and say, "okay, my seat is way back there". Since she had standing in the row behind me talking to her friend, it had appeared like her seat was one row behind, but her actual seat was like 20 rows behind at the back of the plane.
I told her, "I thought you wanted me to switch one row back. I'm not moving to the back of the plane. You didn't mention that before, and I can see you did it on purpose cause youre laughing about it."
She told me I agreed to switch and it's too late now, as if we're in high school. I told the flight attendant that the girl is in my seat, and she told the flight attendant that I agreed to switch. Without getting into who said what, I told the flight attendant, I didn't agee and I've never spoken to this person in my life. They were angry and yelling but it was either go to her seat or get off the plane.
The only issue I was concerned about was having to awkwardly sit next her friend for a few hours. The situation resolved itself when they got someone from the back to switch with them.
#46
Boarded a flight the other day and saw the aisle was occupied by an older lady. We let her know we had the middle and window and she glared a little, I said cheerfully "at least you'll get this out of the way" since we boarded fairly early. So she stands up and barely moves enough for us to smoosh by even though no one else was on the plane yet and there was plenty of room.
So I start to sit and notice her cane, the entire top handle of it is on the floor in my space and under the front of my seat with just the end under hers. My bag would have been on top of part of it and my feet would have to be arranged around it.
I offered to hand it to my spouse to put up in the bin. "No, it's fine, it's under my seat" she replied.
I said, cheerfully again, "actually, it's under MY seat, it's got to move." Another glare. Staredown. She sees I'm not going to budge, sighs, and agrees to allow it to be put in the bin. Makes me wonder how often that move works for her.
As a fun side note I spent the next hour staring at the used dirty medical tape someone else had stuck to the back of the seat in front of me, until the fight attendant finally removed it and brought me alcohol wipes to disinfect the seat. Flying is such a a thorough displeasure thanks to other travelers.
Related on Bored Panda
