Victim of 'seat swap shenanigans' reveals how fellow flyer attempted to trick her
By Ashley DiMella
Published June 16, 2025
Another seat swapper strikes again as a flight passenger is sharing her first experience with "seat swap shenanigans."
Posting in the "r/delta" forum on Reddit, a user wrote that she and her husband were on a "long-haul flight" prompting them to upgrade to comfort-plus in a "2-3-2 configuration. "
"We each got an aisle seat with someone seated between us, so my husband decided to offer to switch his aisle seat with the fellow in between," the woman wrote.
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"Here's where the strange part comes in," she added.
"Fellow in the middle is happy to swap, but then he wants me to swap with his wife, so they won't be separated. I declined because where would that leave me?"
The woman said that if she accepted the offer, she would have ended up in an economy seat.
"Dude went back to economy and found someone to switch with [him] so he could be with his wife. I guess he upgraded to C+ middle and hoped to pull a fast one," the user said.
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She revealed that a "delightful woman from Germany got a free upgrade and is happily sitting in the aisle seat."
"I've read of several seat-swap shenanigans, but I never expected to experience it myself," the post concluded.
Redditors took to the comments section to discuss the seat-swapping phenomenon and share their own flying experiences.
"Here's a wacky idea that could work in 99% of the seat-swap posts I see here," said one user.
"Buy the seat you want and sit there. If the seat you want isn't available anymore, buy the best option and sit there."
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The same user continued, "If you can't be separated from your traveling companion for the length of a flight, drive."
"We [have] offered to swap more as a courtesy to the person in the middle than as a necessity of sitting together," commented one person.
Another Redditor wrote, "Nice that it worked out."
"I would never ask someone to switch seats," said yet another person.
One user on the platform wrote, "Just got home from a long weekend solo trip. Trip out, I offered to swap seats with the husband so he could sit with his wife. They were happy. I was happy."
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"Today's [flight attendant] asked if I would swap so an older couple could sit together," the same person continued.
"Yup, no problem. I will admit that it was my first time treating myself to first class, so a first-class-to-first-class swap was not punishment, but as a solo traveler, I was happy to help couples sit together."
Another user wrote, "I feel like a lot of the seat-swap drama posts are fake (or at least heavily played up) or ... [they're] just assuming the illest of wills when folks really aren't trying to scam someone."
California-based etiquette expert Rosalinda Randall weighed in on the situation, telling Fox News Digital that "no one has the obligation to switch their seat" on a plane.
"Have a compelling reason that will resonate."
"The person making the request has no right to expect [this] or make a scene when they don't get their way," she said. "It is one's prerogative to make requests, as it is also the prerogative of the one being asked to deny a request."
She added, "Sometimes such requests make us roll our eyes in disbelief. But there are people who don't often fly, have a fear, a language barrier, or a very pushy spouse or boyfriend who forces them to make absurd requests."
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Gary Leff, a Texas-based travel industry expert and author of the blog "View From the Wing," told Fox News Digital that although the person with the ticket is entitled to the seat, sometimes flyers can try their luck on board by simply asking others to swap.
"Have a compelling reason that will resonate with the person you're asking," said Leff.
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Leff added that if you "have something decent to offer in return, it isn't as much of a hardship for the person to give you what you want." Print Close
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