Travel expert offers advice for when someone asks to switch seats on a flight

For the most part, travelling is an enjoyable experience – but, at times, it can be hit by awkward interactions during the journey, including the dreaded seat swap question from strangers.

A travel expert has now revealed whether a passenger has the right to refuse.

Travel influencer and founder of Love and London, Jessica Dante offered her take if and when the question arises.

"If you’re asking someone to do a swap for a lesser seat in their eyes, the other passenger is completely entitled to say 'no,'" Jessica told Business Insider.

"The passenger being asked should assess the situation, ask what the reason for the request is, and have a look at the swapped seat. If the swap means a less comfortable seat for you, it’s perfectly OK to say no," she added.

She went on to advise travellers to be polite but firm – but if things intensify, alert a flight attendant.

Reddit is flooded with such encounters, specifically from those asking for reassurance they handled the situation appropriately.

One man found himself flooded with praise after he refused to switch seats with an "entitled" woman who didn't want to sit in the middle seat she had booked.

"I was seated at the window seat in the plane. A couple boarded and the wife sat down in the middle seat with the husband at the aisle," he explained to Redditors.

She then asked him if the pair could switch seats, to which he refused.

Drama then ensued as the guy recalled how "moments later I hear her yelling at her husband in another language (which I am fluent in) that 'the jerk won't switch seats so you got to switch with me.'"

Awkward.

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