I was bullied by a couple on a flight after they tried to use a ‘budget’ seating trick they found on TikTok: ‘They called me cheap’

A young woman was labelled ‘cheap’ and bullied on a plane after she ‘ruined’ a couple’s attempt to get more room.

Normally, a solo traveler would pay more to reserve a seat in advance, but due to a medical emergency on another plane, she had to wait on standby.

She was then greeted by a couple who had purchased both a window and an aisle seat to have more space, a trick that has become very popular on TikTok lately.

Because few people actively choose the middle seat, couples usually have enough extra space. This method is also called ‘business class for the poor’.

“When I got to my row, the man and woman were chatting and having a bite to eat…it was obvious they were together. I told the man I was in the middle and he stood up to let me in,” the unsuspecting traveler wrote on Reddit.

‘I asked if they would rather sit together, I said that was perfectly fine with me. The woman reacted rudely and said: “You shouldn’t be sitting here”.’

The plane was full and she offered to show the couple her new ticket, with the correct seat number on it.

“She waved her hand at my ticket and made a disgusted noise. I offered again to sit together, to which she didn’t respond. Her partner said it was okay and… we made some small talk,” she continued.

A solo traveler felt her friend’s wrath when she inadvertently ended up in the middle seat between her and her friend

His girlfriend then interrupted him: ‘Did you use one of those third-party websites to book your flight? It’s so frustrating when people do cheap things just to inconvenience others.’

The American woman explained that she had booked her flight directly and that she had been put in the standby position like everyone else. She had not chosen the middle seat, but it had been assigned to her.

She then tried to keep the peace by refusing to engage in conversation with the angry woman.

“I was so done with her attitude that I put my headphones on and tried to do my own thing,” she explained.

But the ‘entitled’ girlfriend did not leave it at that.

“This woman kept leaning over me, tapping her partner and trying to talk to him in a very insistent way,” she said.

‘I saw that even her partner tried to involve her less in the hope that she would stop, but she didn’t.

‘Airplane etiquette’ is a hot topic online, with flights even being forced to land after disputes over seat reclining and seat swapping

“I think they tried that tactic where they don’t sit together on purpose… hoping that no one will sit between them. But on full flights it doesn’t work. And even then it’s not the other person’s fault.”

Hundreds of people then unanimously criticized the ‘monster couple’.

Everyone agreed that the “unbearable” friend was suffering from “air rage” and was taking it out on the woman who couldn’t help it – especially after she kindly offered to swap seats so the couple could sit together.

“It’s like a toddler having a tantrum,” one woman said.

“She was disappointed and a total asshole. Disgusting, arrogant people,” added another.

A few people were impressed by how level-headed and diplomatic she was when she offered to sit somewhere in the line.

‘Wow! You’re my hero, keeping it classy. I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been as nice as you,’ said one.

One man was dismissive of the usual air travel strategy: “The old ‘redneck class upgrade’ trick: book two seats on either side and hope the middle seat stays empty.”

Others admitted that they had tried the sitting trick several times, but had never taken it out on the third person when the strategy didn’t work.

“A totally weird hill to die on. Sometimes you gamble and win, sometimes you lose. This time they lost, but that wasn’t the original poster’s fault,” one man argued.

“As someone who has tried absolutely the same tactic, I feel really bad that the other person was a****,” one woman said.

“When my partner and I do it, we always let the person who is coming with us know and ask if they want to sit by the window so we can sit together,” she added.

One man had his own opinion about why the couple wasn’t together in the first place.

“I would have said to my boyfriend at the end, ‘I understand why you didn’t want to sit next to her,'” he joked.