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A passenger offered a honeymooning couple his seat on the plane at a price they were not willing to pay.
The passenger, who was wondering if they had made a mistake in charging the newlyweds, asked Reddit users what they thought and detailed the situation on popular confession forum Am I The A**hole. The Redditor prefaced the story by admitting that his flight was from Melbourne to Dubai, a 13-hour and 50-minute non-stop flight.
Since the Reddit user knew the trip would be long, he indulged in a premium economy class seat for added comfort. The passenger assigned to the seat above was the newlywed husband, who received an upgrade.
“They asked me if I could switch seats with his wife since they had just gotten married and were on their honeymoon,” the original author explained. “I congratulated him on his nuptials and asked him where his wife was sitting.” His seat was nowhere near them.
Much to the Reddit user's disappointment, the wife was assigned a seat in economy class much closer to the back of the plane. At first, the Reddit user politely refused, but after further insistence, they agreed to swap seats for a price.
“I offered to upgrade if he paid the difference between the seats,” the Reddit user says. “It’s a considerable amount. I was lucky to get mine at a decent price.”
According to the author of the original post, the couple would have had to pay 1,000 Australian dollars or 676 US dollars to change destinations. While the Reddit user thought the offer was more than generous, the newlyweds did not accept due to the strict budget they had set for their trip.
So when they finally declined the price, the Reddit user congratulated them on their nuptials and put on some headphones, which didn't please the husband one bit.
“He muttered that I was a jerk. I said he was a jerk for accepting the update instead of sitting with his wife or giving it to her,” the Reddit user confessed. “I told my wife about the incident and she thinks I should have done the right thing.” However, the Reddit user doesn’t think his wife would have changed if she had been in the same position.
Most readers disagreed with the Redditor's wife, arguing that the newlyweds were to blame, specifically the husband.
One supporter said: “Did he really want to sit with his wife? I’m sure the person sitting next to him would have loved an upgrade to premium economy. He was basically asking him to pay for his wife’s upgrade.”
“What exactly was he supposed to mean when he tried to guilt trip you into thinking he was on his honeymoon? Why did he and his wife have the right to receive a $1000 gift from a stranger at the last minute?” another reader added.
A third wrote: “Your lack of planning is not your fault. The mere fact that some people feel entitled to everything is ridiculous.”
“Having travelled between the US and Sydney, I completely understand why they want the best seats,” one seasoned traveller confessed. “Being newlyweds doesn’t entitle them to special treatment.”
