Reddit User Refusing To Swap Airplane Seats With Pregnant Woman Praised Online. Here's Why

A Reddit user is being praised online for refusing to swap seats with a pregnant woman on an airplane. Posting on the "AITAH" subreddit on Saturday, user 'hahahajump', asked the Reddit community to weigh in on his story, titled, "AITAH (Am I the a**hole here) for not giving up my free upgraded exit gate seat to a couple ... wanting [to be] sitting together". In the post, the user described a recent 14-hour flight from Asia, with an economy ticket booked "as normal". The person revealed that they refused to accommodate a man's request to switch seats with his pregnant wife who was seated many rows behind on the airplane. 

According to the post, the Reddit user was offered a chance to move to an aisle seat in the emergency exit row - something that they "happily accepted instantly". But the minute the person moved to the new seat, a young man in his 20s already sitting in the row asked if his pregnant wife could have the exit-row seat as she was not comfortable in her existing seat many rows behind. 

AITAH for not giving up my free upgraded exit gate seat to couple (pregnant wife sitting far behind) wanting be sitting together( husband bought exit gate seat next to me already)
byu/hahahajump inAITAH

Hahahajump wondered why the man had only paid for a premium seat for himself and not for his own wife. "My brain just instantly responded, 'Oh, but you have a bigger seat. Why don't you switch with hers?'" wrote the user. 

Hahahajump refused to switch seats and the man's face "instantly" sank, the post read. As the flight took off, the user said that they were very tired and "ended up instantly falling asleep with my headphones on". 

The original poster (OP) added, "I woke up 3 or 4 hours later" only to find a new seatmate - the man's pregnant wife. "There was no story after," the Redditor said, adding, "We just had zero communication, which was perfect". 

The OP does not believe that they did anything out of line in terms of behaviour regarding the seat-switching request. However, their friends and family said that the traveller should have given up the seat for the person's wife so that the couple could sit together. "But I really feel, Why [didn't] the husband switch his [seat] as he was already in the better seat?" wrote hahahajump. "Why me?" 

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Meanwhile, the Reddit post has accumulated more than 4,000 upvotes. In the comments section, while some assured the user that they were not "NTA (Not the A**hole)" for keeping the seat upgrade, others were critical of how the man seemingly planned on exploiting the system for a better seat for his wife. Some users were also surprised a pregnant woman was permitted to sit in the exit row as people who are in the exit row must agree to assist during an emergency. 

"Nta that was a great question for the man. Why would he expect a stranger to give up their seat when he wasn't willing to do it," wrote one user. "They were playing on you being sympathetic. NTAH. It's the husband's responsibility to make sure his wife is comfortable," said another. 

"Exit seats normally come with a responsibility to be able to help open doors in an emergency. Older, younger or disabled can't sit there. I'm guessing a pregnant person would also be considered not physically able to do this tho I'm not sure. Also, he's a cheap shit who thought they could manipulate someone to move. NTA," expressed a third.