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36 Passengers Who Tried To Bend Airline Rules Until Flight Crews Put A Stop To It
Interview With Expert
We all expect and hope for a smooth-sailing flight. The idea is to have a hassle-free check-in and security experience, then either sleep through the entire journey or enjoy your favorite podcast or movie until you land.
Of course, that isn’t always the case. Every now and then, you will encounter some of the rudest, most entitled jerks who can cause an instant cortisol spike in even the calmest, most zen individual.
These people sure did, and they are sharing the hell they went through. Fair warning: these stories may induce secondhand rage.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Just got off a flight in in Sweden. We were an hour late arriving because when the crew were preparing for take off a 3 year old child couldn't be made to sit in his seat. Apparently he was too old to safely sit in his parents lap. So after much screaming from the child, the parents were forced to deboard. We then had to go through the whole thing of refuelling, weights and balance, remove their bags etc.
It's a Friday night, we just want to get home, and this brat and his incompetent parents make us late, make people miss connections, cause delays for the airplane and crew etc etc.
And to add to it, there were several other screaming kids on the flight. But at least the toddler who ran up and down the aisle during the flight was cute and silent....
I would seriously pay extra to go on adult only flights.
Edit: just to add, the FA gave them about ten minutes to get the kid to sit down, or they'd have to deboard. This was happening as we were taxing out to the runway. The rest of the delay was getting back to the gate, getting them off, their bags off, and then refuelling, checking weight and balance and getting a new flight slot. Luckily we were at a very small airport or it would've been a much longer delay.
Bartlet for world domination 3 hours ago
I am GenX, I would have been forced to sit down, and I don't really understand why we don't do that anymore.
RELATED:
#2
Person who hacked my credit card emailed me asking why I canceled his flight.
My credit card was hacked. I think the guy did it by hacking my gmail account. Because he signed up for Priceline, with the login with gmail button.
I called my bank and canceled it. I logged into Priceline to see if I could get any information about the person who booked the flight. I saw I could cancel it for no charge. So I did because it was going to be faster to get a refund from Priceline than my bank.
Two days later I got this email. It had his photo and phone number. It matched the name on the flight too.
#3
Last Christmas I was flying from Amsterdam to Seattle, and you know how you have to “have your window shades open, have your tray tables locked, your seat in an upright position and the arm rests down for take off and landing” ya, well this 50ish year old grumpy face of an old man literally did the opposite of all those things. (Was being a complete jerk the whole 9 hour flight)
So when the attendant came by to tell him to get his stuff together, he pretended to be asleep and ignored her, so she shoved his seat forward and slammed his try table up. This guy starts screaming at her, flailing his arms, and STARTS CRYING, yes, crying because she was “rude.”
I’m literally just staring at this dude in pure disbelief.
Then when we finally land, they were like “please stay seated until the seatbelt sigh turns off.” This jerk stands up while we’re taxiing and starts to get in the overhead bin. So the same flight attendant comes by and in the sternest and most pissed off voice, says “sit. Down. Right. Now.” She slams the overhead bin closed and just returns to her seat.
That woman needs a raise.
Whiskey Tango Delicious 9 hours ago
Flight attendant need an "Instant Karma" button. Untraceable retribution.
People who have had to deal with being in an airport know how stressful, even disconcerting, the environment can be. You can sense that many others around you would rather be somewhere else, or, if they could, fast-forward to their destination.
According to psychotherapist Tyler Jansen, such environments can lead passengers to break basic social norms.
#4
This girl at the airport waits until the queue moves all the way forward to move. People confronted her and she said “it’s the same if I move now or later”.
#5
Going on a flight alone, got the middle seat because it’s the only one they had… never again.
Did I try pushing them away? absolutely. at least 5 times. Did they end up leaning onto me again after a few minutes? Yes!
Lukas (he/him) 10 hours ago
"36 Entitled Travelers Who Expected Strangers To Fix Problems They Created Themselves". How did they create this problem? Or expect strangers to fix it for them?
#6
Entitled passenger refused to move from my window seat… then had the audacity to argue
So I need to vent because this genuinely annoyed me.
I booked a window seat (27A) on my flight. When I got there, two women were already sitting in my row. I politely told them I had 27A, and one of them goes, “No, this is 27C the window seat. 27A is the aisle.
I was a bit confused, so I double checked after sitting down briefly in the aisle seat, and asked a flight attendant. She confirmed that 27A was in fact the window seat.
So I go back and explain that to the woman, nicely, and her response was: “For gods sake, what are you so desperate to sit by the window for?”
I told her calmly that I’d paid for that seat. She snaps back, “We all paid for it,” and still refuses to move.
At this point the flight attendant is right there witnessing everything and says, “It’s her seat if she wants to sit there, she will.”
Only then did the woman finally move, but the attitude the whole time was unbelievable. No apology, no basic respect, just pure entitlement.
Honestly, I don’t get how people can act like that over something so straightforward. If it’s not your seat, just move. It’s not that deep.
ॐBoyGanesh 8 hours ago (edited)
My son often flies with me I am always in seat 1A. He’s in 1B. If 1B is booked (I have 20+ flights booked out for the year and have had great luck getting my seat) we move to 1H & 1I. I know almost every member of the flight crew on my route & they know where I sit. The most common issue I have with entitled passengers is people demanding an upgrade even tho there are no seats, so they argue that my child doesn’t deserve the seat he’s in because he’s a child. It’s always like they think preferred seats are earned with age (clearly not with wisdom & experience) rather than purchased with some form of currency. When I have to speak up I remind them they were either too cheap to purchase the upgrade or are poor planners & didn’t purchase one before they sold out. Still, not my problem. It’s the audacity that they think a child can’t have a seat “nicer” than theirs and since I’m flying with a child neither should I. Luckily, my airline & flight crew always have my back.
“There is almost this social effect that can happen within a transient environment where people think things like, 'Oh, well, I won't ever see them again, so they'll get over it,’” Jansen told Bored Panda. “Unfortunately, the temporary nature of the flight can significantly affect an individual's sensitivity to their surroundings.”
#7
On December of 2025, I take a flight from the U.S. to visit South Korea for the first time. I was traveling on a budget, so of course I booked a flight on economy flying Delta Airlines. As soon as I arrived on the plane, a pair of 2 guys sitting behind me were talking loudly about their YouTube channel to the 3rd guy sitting next to them on the plane. At first I didn’t care too much because the plane hasn’t taken off yet, so I sorta just waited it out while I let them yap.
2 hours later while we’re up in cruising altitude, these guys are STILL talking! Everyone on the plane kept side eyeing them because these guys talked non stop of this dudes YouTube channel who bragged about making 15 million views when interviewing strangers in Japan, and how much money he makes a year, talking about how lavishly he’s living. It was obvious he was talking about this stuff so casually and being loud about it on purpose to try and make everyone else on the plane “envy” him or be like “omg this guys famous! :O” when in reality, he was just pissing off every single passenger on that plane.
To my surprise, nobody said anything and continued to let those guys yap. I plug in my headphones and try to sleep through the flight hoping I wake up by the time we landed in Incheon Airport.
6 hours later, I wake up after falling asleep with my AirPods in noise cancellation mode, I remove my headphones, and these jerks are STILL TALKING!!! At that point my patience was running thin, and I get up to tell them that they need to shut up because everyone here has grown tired of their yapping and that nobody cared about his YouTube channel. To which they looked at me weird and said “We’re literally not bothering anyone” and to which I responded saying “You clearly cannot read a room, because the whole reason why nobody else has said anything is because they are afraid to say something. But look how everyone else is trying to cover their ears and side eyeing you, because all you do is sitting here bragging about how much money you are making, like good for you, now shut up and let the rest of us sleep!”
Before the YouTuber could say anything in return, a flight attendant intervenes and tells both of us to calm down, and tells the YouTuber and his buddies that they need to keep it down because everyone else is trying to sleep. Like FINALLY! Took you a whole 8 hours for someone to speak up just for you to say something? Geez! The bystander effect is real!
Not even 30 minutes later, the YouTubers buddy sitting next to him decides to play a movie on the TV behind my seat WITHOUT headphones at Max volume (edit: I’m going to assume he had a speaker or an IPad because Airplane seats typically don’t have speakers.) doing that on purpose to be a jerk head.
Thankfully, shortly after he did that, the same flight attendant told him that he needed to plug in his headphones, otherwise he would need to turn it off. And right after she walked away he screamed out calling her a “B Word” to which that made everyone in the plane shoot him and his friends a death glare.
A few hours later, and we finally land in Incheon Airport, and I could hear everyone on the plane talking about how sick and tired they were of those guys and how even the ones in BUSINESS CLASS could hear them! As we got off, few of them thanked me for standing up to them, But even when it was all said and done, it made me feel bad for those who will have to endure them in their plane to Thailand, since they were only stopping by South Korea for a layover.
All in all, even if you’re flying economy, don’t be an inconsiderate jerk hole to the rest of the people flying, ESPECIALLY if it’s a 12 hour flight! And you know, for some entitled YouTuber who claims he has soooo much money, then why is he flying economy disturbing everyone else? Why? To brag? Or maybe a lot of what he was saying was just bull. Either way, screw him, and his annoying friends.
Another plausible reason is anticipating a long, uncomfortable experience. According to travel expert and Rosotravel founder Robert Sekscinski, the confinement of flying tends to bring out the “self” in each person.
#10
A toddler who got airsick and puked all over herself and pooped her diaper three times.
It was MY kid, but still.
Shark queen 🦈🦈🦈 7 hours ago
This is not the child's fault. Why is it this in a list of entitled people? This is just a child who was having tummy issues
#11
I was flying an Airline (named after a Greek letter in the alphabet) I am a Management Consultant for a large global firm and I achieve medallion status pretty effortlessly. Anywho, I was waiting in the Premium Line for my flight to board and a middle aged woman came up to me and said that I was in the “Premium Line” as if I couldn’t read. I told her I was in the right line and that I was flying first class. She demanded to see my boarding pass. I hadn’t smelled any alcohol on her breath but I am assuming she was under the influence of something or just being a complete jerk. We start boarding the flight and after I get settled, here she comes demanding to know why I am in first class and asking the flight attendants to check my ticket. I do also recall her saying something like “this is unfair, I fly with y’all all the time.”
ॐBoyGanesh 8 hours ago (edited)
If you ever want to see envy rear its ugly head then morph into absolute bigotry, racism, homophobia, sexism & ageism, have an airline rep escort you down from the lounge, through preferred security and into the preferred boarding line. I occasionally see a few people act hoity toity and elitist in this situation, but for most of us, it’s quite embarrassing and we get a lot stares & evil comments, usually muttered under breath but where we can hear.
#12
I was sitting next to a couple with a baby that was nursing who unlatched suddenly causing me to get squirted in the face with breast milk.
It was definitely an ice breaker.
Forrest Hobbs 9 hours ago
Unfortunate, but also a bit funny. I mean, no-one did anything wrong as such... 🙃
“The fact that many passengers experience some form of discomfort during flights-whether it be limited legroom, flight delays, a screaming baby next to them, etc.-can lead individuals to view their flight solely based upon their individual needs and concerns,” Sekscinski explained. “As opposed to being aware of all other passengers who share the same restrictions.”
#13
Snotty kid looking into my bathroom stall at the airport.
He was doing that to everyone. The mom did nothing.
#14
When United Airlines can't/won't tell a customer where their missing luggage is.
#15
I’m 5’9. This was a 5 hour international flight on a full fare airline.
ॐBoyGanesh 8 hours ago (edited)
Ya, you’re flying Air China, Fri m a country where the average height of a woman is 5’2”. This would be considered ample leg room for any gender in their country.
Most of these entitled passenger stories are about people so focused on their own comfort that they overlook how their behavior affects others. Jansen says unregulated emotions play a huge role, and they narrow as the trip progresses.
“It can feel as if people have horse blinders on, seeking to eliminate as much of their anxiety and discomfort as quickly as possible. When this is happening, it can be quite challenging to perceive those around them, which can come off as extremely rude.”
#16
This was how a 4 hour flight went today. I am a 5’8” Female.
#17
Yesterday I was flying home for my grandma’s funeral. I place my bag in the overhead compartment and sit in my seat.
Lady (In the middle seat): Hey, would you like to switch me seats?
Me: NOPE. I do not like the middle seat. Me: And that is why I paid extra to make sure I got this aisle seat.
Lady: What?! You didn’t pay extra! My husband has an aisle seat and he didn’t pay extra.
Me: Lucky him.
Lady: But I’m going to need to get up to go to the bathroom a lot.
Me: As someone in the aisle seat, I understand that is a possibility. Just let me know when you need to get up.
Lady: 😠
She had two opportunities to select a seat, one when she bought a ticket, and another while checking in. And the airlines explain this concept multiple times. It’s not my fault you can’t read.
#18
Gave up my window seat for this guys kid as he looked super happy about it and didn't have the heart to say "no". I get the middle seat in the middle isle and the dad does this all flight. Just gross.
Unpleasant airport experiences are definitely avoidable. And if conflicts arise, Sekscinski says dealing with them early, politely, and directly is the best course of action. However, he says airlines should do their part, too.
“Airlines need to communicate clearly and consistently about the procedures that flight attendants should follow when encountering disruptive behavior among passengers. Flight crews should be given authority to intervene in situations that could escalate quickly into disagreements,” he said.
#19
Oversized child sharing same airline seat as oversized father, sitting next to my wife on flight.
#20
A guy on a flight to New Delhi, who blew his nose in the blanket provided by the airline and smelled terrible.
#21
I was flying alone as a teenager and got groped by the man next to me 🙃 while I had my eyes closed because I was trying to sleep.
Meanwhile, Jansen says mindfulness practices go a long way, along with curiosity and empathy about why the person may be acting the way they are. This applies to everyone, from the airline and airport staff to the other passengers.
#22
This happened many years ago... I sat next to a woman who would not stop talking to me, and it became apparent she was like desperately looking for male companionship. She kept saying things like, "I haven't been with someone in a long time, can you believe that?" and "I really just want someone to take care of me and my son." - "Do you think I am attractive?" - "What kind of job do you have?" - "I bet your girlfriend is pretty." - "Oh man, you're so smart. I really like smart guys."
I started playing sudoku in a book to try to ignore her, and that seemed to impressed her even more. For 3 hours, she basically kept hinting that she wanted me to take her home with me. I was single at the time, but man, she came across as someone in need of some serious therapy.
ॐBoyGanesh 8 hours ago
“I’m GAYYYYY” is a totally appropriate exclamation in this situation whether it’s true or not.
#23
I saw someone hand a baby with a dirty diaper to a flight attendant expecting her to change it. I wanted to engage the woman in a conversation. My wife stopped me. Probably good thing. The attendants would have had to throw me off the plane after I was done.
ॐBoyGanesh 8 hours ago (edited)
How would any functional person ever make the assumption that part of being a flight attendant is changing your child’s shîtty diaper? There is no sane or rational thought process that should lead to that conclusion.
#24
There was an elderly couple on board and the flight was completely full. They were sitting next to each other and the wife demanded another seat because when her husband falls asleep he will put his head against her shoulder. Since this was an intercontinental flight this was unacceptable. Nobody was willing to change seats and eventually the couple got so verbally agressive they had to be taken of the aircraft by the Dutch military police.
“If the conversation surrounding someone's behavior begins inherently hostile, it is going to go poorly for everyone - but if it is approached from a ‘What is actually going on here?’ approach, we may stop a large amount of negative behaviors from starting in the first place,” Jansen said.
#26
On a recent west coast of the US to east coast of the US trip, I had one entire row to myself on one side of the plane, and this older gentleman had the the entire row on the other side of the aisle from me. Sitting in the plane, as you do, while waiting to push back & taxi & take off, he asked the flight attendant if he could use the restroom. Fasten seatbelts sign was already lit, but she said she'd go and check if he could use the bathroom before we started moving - guess she wanted to see how long until we'd push back. Apparently he couldn't wait those couple minutes, and proceeded to grab his air sickness bag, unzip, and pee into it... in full view of me. Then closed the bag up and smooshed in down into the seatback pocket. I cringed when, at the end of the flight, he finally handed it to a flight attendant to throw away. Definitely something I never wish to see again on a flight.
#27
Darn
#29
Yes. I have the middle seat and I have legs.
I was eye rolled when I politely asked if the window seat passenger could move her backpack. I guess I should have left my legs at home.
Forrest Hobbs 9 hours ago
Hey, no worries. Just sit down, then kick and crush the bag out of the way with your feet. It might take a bit of work to crush everything down so you can push it out of the way, but never mind. Bonus points for maximising the amount of shoe-sole dirt left on the offending article. 😁
#30
Dude leaned his seat back on the plane today… I’m 6’5 and flying economy. I had to put my legs in the aisle.
ॐBoyGanesh 8 hours ago
They lean back because they’re supposed to lean back and you are allowed to lean them back. Life isn’t fair and tall people have unfortunate situation if they can’t afford to fly in a seat was more legroom. Just as larger people do. That’s just the way it is in a free market economy when you’re doing business with a private company that makes their money off of legroom and location.
#31
Dropped my passport down this hole to nowhere while lining up to board my flight.
Got put on standby due to overbooked flight, then went to the wrong gate, ran across the entire airport and made it just in time, only to then drop my passport through this inaccessible gap on the stairwell. Fml.
#32
There was one guy who kept insistently pressing the help button before we even took off. "Just making sure it works", he said. Then, during the presentation, he kept insisting I repeat myself. At once point, he shushed the women behind him that were talking to each other, supposedly because he couldn't hear. Then, he asked "how do we know that the best people possible are in the emergency rows?". Yeah. Yeah, he did.
#34
Guy on flight watched entire movie without tapping screen to get rid of overlay.
#35
Blue Jays player mad flight attendants won't clean up after his kids.
ॐBoyGanesh 8 hours ago (edited)
Isn’t there some book that tells you the 101 things you’re supposed to learn in kindergarten and one of those things are if you make a mess you pick it up???
#36
Dubai to Toronto, got separated from my husband and the dude next to me ate shelled pistachios the entire trip like it was his mission in life.
