Mom says another passenger on the plane got angry when she and her baby were offered a seat with more space, but who was right?

• Mother claims after flight attendant offered her and her 19-month-old son a seat in a row with two empty seats, a passenger in the new row became angry .
• In a post on Reddit, the mother says the other traveler complained that she wanted to sleep on the flight and that having a baby in the row would be a “nightmare.”
• PEOPLE consulted a travel expert, who determined who was right in this situation that divided readers

A plane passenger says a flight attendant’s generous gesture toward her and her 19-month-old son angered another passenger.

In a May 19 post on the subreddit r/AmItheAssh— (AITA), the mom wrote that she was about to board a 3-hour flight with her son on her lap, in a full row, when he was offered the chance to move up a few rows, to a row where there were two adjacent empty seats.

She said the flight attendant told her the unnamed airline was trying to “accommodate people with young infants” and that although both were standard seats, she would have more space in the new place.

“I was delighted and immediately accepted,” she wrote.

However, she continued, the only passenger who sat alone in the new row did not appreciate their arrival at all.

“She started complaining to the flight attendant that she planned to sleep on the flight and that would now be impossible,” the mother wrote. “That she specifically chose this seat during online check-in because the row was empty and it’s going to be a nightmare now.”

According to the mother’s account, the flight attendant’s explanation of the parent-friendly policy sparked additional anger from her new neighbor.

“The woman then told me that I should be ashamed of causing all this noise to people who are just trying to enjoy their flight,” she added. “Especially since it wasn’t even my seat and I hadn’t even paid for it.”

The original poster (OP) claimed that her son “ended up crying only once” and concluded that despite “stink eyes and other rude comments”, she did not regret changing seats, because the Extra space made the flight more comfortable. .

In an edit to the post, she noted that her son was on her lap the entire flight and that the purpose of the extra seat was simply “to feel less crowded and not bump elbows.” Although she said her bag was under the seat during takeoff and landing, she kept it on the floor of the row for the remainder of the flight for easy access.

While one Reddit user said it was “inconsiderate” to keep a large bag on the ground, most commenters sided with the OP, arguing that since the lone passenger didn’t pay for any row, she shouldn’t have expected the other two. the seats remain empty.

“You paid for a seat, the airline accommodated you and explained to the other passenger,” one Reddit user wrote to the OP. “The other passenger only paid for her seat, not the whole row. It sounds like the other passenger was a rude person, which is not your fault. If another mother with a young child had paid for the seats next to her, I’m pretty sure she would still complain.”

“You were asked if you wanted to move to THE CREW, so it’s all good,” wrote another Reddit user, who identified himself as a former flight attendant. “The other woman was shitting herself because she thought she was going to have 3 seats and could lie down on all of them. Ironically, she was complaining about not getting 2 seats that she had not paid for. She is the AH.

PEOPLE asked travel expert, writer and advisor Nicole Campoy Jackson of Fora Travel to weigh in on the divisive incident.

Jackson said the OP “absolutely” had the right to accept the new seat.

“This mother was sitting in her assigned seat and was approached by a flight attendant who was simply taking good care of her passenger,” she said. “If the mother had been outraged about not having extra space or unreasonably expecting more than she paid for, I can understand the passengers around her having a problem. But in this case, she sat in her seat and was offered a better seat by someone who works for the airline. Zero problems here.

Jackson says she understands “not liking the idea of ​​sitting next to a baby” as well as “the momentary mix of thrill and relief you feel when your row is empty once the doors close and l ‘boarding completed’.

However, she said, unless the other passenger had paid for all the seats in her row to ensure they remained empty, “she had no right to expect that space.” .

“It may have been disappointing, but in my opinion… that’s all it was,” Jackson adds. “Certainly doesn’t cause any sort of scene or stress. If she needed rest and was particularly concerned, she should have simply asked the flight attendant for help in changing seats to another row or part of the cabin.

Jackson believes the mother “did the right thing by staying,” especially since it wasn’t even an upgrade in the type of seat.

“She shouldn’t have had to intervene personally any of them complaints about this on a three-hour short-haul flight and with a baby who was generally calm. If either had been particularly space-obtrusive or noisy, sure, I can understand that being an issue. But she claims her bag fit under the seat and the open seat stayed open. It’s simply more comfortable than sharing an armrest when you have a baby on your lap. ”

As for the other passenger’s argument that she had deliberately booked an empty line in hopes of a smooth flight, Jackson said: “We all Deliberately book as empty a row as possible when traveling in economy class.

“It’s the holy grail of economics and we check in exactly 24 hours in advance to choose seats that might excite our fellow travelers,” Jackson continues, explaining that his own strategy is to seek out the rows where the window seat is occupied and select the aisle, hoping that no one chooses the middle seat.

“But you can’t expect that row to remain empty, nor should you be accommodated when the airline fills those seats with other paying passengers,” she adds.

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Ultimately, Jackson says, “We all choose – parents, non-parents, frequent travelers, occasional travelers – to share a small, unnatural space with each other in order to get from point A to point B. None of us have the slightest idea what the journey means. other is there for (work, vacation, family emergency); neither of us has any idea what state the other is in (excited, stressed, exhausted).

She adds: “Kindness and understanding must be paramount for everything to go well. »