I declined to switch seats with a 10-year-old boy, so he could be seated with his parents during the 13-hour flight.

Photo by Oleksandr P

A woman has defended herself after being asked to give up her seat on a flight so a boy could sit in first class with his parents, but refused to do so.

The lady, who preferred to remain anonymous, mentioned that she had made her ticket reservations a year in advance and was pleasantly surprised to receive a complimentary upgrade to first class due to her loyalty to the airline.

She was not the only passenger to be bumped up to first class, however, as a group of parents also accepted the upgrade, unaware that their son, who is 10, was ineligible.

According to the woman, who lives in San Francisco, California, she received a call from the airline around a month before the flight to inform her that they wanted to upgrade her to first class.

I was feeling really nervous since it was my first time in first class. To calm my nerves, I made sure to prepare myself in the lounge before the 13-hour flight. 

Surprisingly, the lounge turned out to be quite comfortable. 

After about an hour into the flight, a flight attendant approached me. She asked if I would be willing to switch seats with a 10-year-old boy who had been sitting in economy with his family. 

The flight attendant tried to convince me by offering to upgrade me to first class on the next flight or provide a full refund. She mentioned that she and the other two parents were the only first-class passengers on the plane.

The woman was perplexed as to why one parent did not give up their seat so that the child could sit with one parent in first class while the other was in economy.

She said that if the first class had been overbooked and the child had bought a ticket, it would have been different, but the upgrade was given to her because of her frequent flyer miles. 

She also said that the flight attendant had been polite and respectful throughout the entire experience, accepting her decision and saying that everything would be fine and they would sort it out. 

She added that she had never seen the parents sitting so far apart.

The woman was further embarrassed by an elderly woman sitting next to her who accused her of forcing a child to sit for 13 hours alone.

She wants to know if she’s being punished for staying put, so she took to Reddit to ask people what they think. 

One user said, “I would call the stewardess back and tell her the old lady offered.” Another said, “Who’s the idiot parent that wouldn’t let their kid sit in economy so they could meet their child’s needs?”

While I appreciate the flight attendant’s kindness, the fact that they gave it to a stranger instead of asking one of their parents (who obviously wouldn’t do it on their own) is a little shady.

And as someone else put it, “If the old lady was so disheartened, why did she give up her seat? She’s in her winter of old, and she still couldn’t bring a smile to a kid’s face?”

Shame on her! "I'm sure 2 people in the economy would be happy to switch with their parents!" 

A third user chimed in.