For frequent travellers, it’s not uncommon to randomly get a seat upgrade on a plane when one passenger can’t make their scheduled flight.
In a recent Reddit post shared to the popular “Am I The A**hole?” subreddit, one person explained that they were on a flight with their brother to attend their father’s retirement vacation in Hawaii which was completely paid for. The passenger also mentioned that they were only slightly taller than five feet while their brother was way over six feet tall.
The traveller clarified that they and their brother were taking a 12-hour flight to get to their destination with an airline that the Reddit poster flies with often and had earned a “quite a bit of status”.
They explained that once the plane was boarded, a flight attendant came up to them to let them know that a passenger in first class hadn’t shown up and the seat in economy was needed for a standby passenger so they were getting a free upgrade to take the seat in first class.
“She said I had by far the most status of anyone on the plane so they were willing to move me to first class for free. I was like oh yeah – and I took it in a heartbeat. I told my brother I’d see him in 12 hours and let me know if he wanted any food or drink and I grabbed my stuff and moved. Needless to say I had a nice flight,” the post continued.
After the flight had landed, their brother’s attitude randomly changed and he stopped talking to them without explaining why. The siblings met up with their family when their mother pulled the Reddit poster aside to let them know that “what they did was awful”. It was then pointed out that their mother thought the first class upgrade should have gone to the brother and not the Reddit poster.
“I thought that would be the end of it but all five of my siblings and my parents are upset with me and the vacation is off to a very rough start,” the poster wrote.
However, the situation only escalated as family members continued to hold a grudge against not giving up the seat upgrade.
“I was trying to play with my niece and nephew in the lobby waiting for lunch and my sister said ‘no they only like to play with people who give a s*** about their family - what were you thinking?’ I asked her if this was about the first class thing and she said ‘what do you think it’s about?’ I said that he never asked me to switch with him, she said ‘an a**hole makes people beg, family members don’t.’”
After posting, many people took to the comments section to defend the Reddit poster, making the claim that the upgrade was the poster’s to give away and the way upgrades typically work, if the poster had refused the upgrade they cannot choose who it goes to. Instead it will go to who has the next highest flyer status.
“I’ve tried to pass upgrades to people travelling with me, and the airlines absolutely will not have any of it. That upgrade was never yours to give away, and your brother was never going to be allowed into that seat,” one commenter began. “Your brother needs to learn how airlines work and stop it with the tantrum.”
Another commenter agreed, writing: “If she refused the seat it would go to the next person in the list, not her brother. Your family is seriously entitled. This is a benefit/status you earned and not one you can share unless you’re married.”
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