It was the mother of all airline hacks.
A scheming mom took seat squatting to new heights after she scored an entire row for her family on a United Airlines flight, as detailed in a viral Reddit post.
In the post, titled “Seat shenanigans — advanced tactics,” the Redditor described how they preboarded to see that the entire row in front of them was “completely open.”
Just then, a family of four boarded the aircraft in Group 2 and occupied the entirety of row 9, after which the mother started behaving somewhat suspiciously.
“Mom says to kids, ‘Don’t unpack yet,’” relayed the Redditor. “Mom is anxiously refreshing the seating chart in the app.”
The poster initially thought they were looking to see if they’d been upgraded to business class — something the poster had been waiting for as well.
“I check the app, see that row 9 is showing completely empty,” they wrote. “So I think that they got the upgrade.”
That’s when they realized the fam was “not waiting to upgrade” at all but rather attempting to game the seating system.
“They were watching the seating chart like hawks, hoping the seats don’t get booked, waiting for the door to close, because they wanted to take over an empty row!” the Redditor exclaimed.
It appeared that mom eventually won this game of mile-high musical chairs. “Door is closed, and we’re taxiing. The seats are theirs! Well played, mom!” they wrote.
The Redditor then added, “Oh, and I didn’t get the upgrade… But a full row of three isn’t so bad.
Reddit users had mixed feelings about the seating hack with some praising the parent for her resourcefulness. “You gotta admire their strategy. Not something I would do but wow!” gushed one.
“I don’t see the issue here,” declared another. “They waited until doors were closed to capture the seats. They knew they could be moved. I think it’s fine.”
A third pondered if the mom was actually a seat squatter, writing, “The seat map is notoriously inaccurate, so that alone wouldn’t incline me to think shenanigans — but the mother’s behavior with telling the kids to not unpack yet and constantly refreshing her phone display is rather sus[picious].”
The Redditor replied, “Oh they were all smiles and high fives once we started taxiing. There was no doubt what they were up to.”
Meanwhile, some critics shamed the parent for essentially taking seats that she didn’t pay for.
“I really think people should sit in the seats they paid for,” critiqued one commenter, while another wrote, “Some FA’s will enforce the walk of shame.”
A third recalled witnessing a fellow passenger’s failed attempt at an unauthorized upgrade.
“I was on an intercontinental 10-hour flight,” they wrote. “Exit rows were both empty. Huge leg space. 30 min into the flight, some guy decides to move and take one of the seats. Not 1 min later the FA comes “Sir, you didn’t pay for this seat. Go back now.”
The move comes amid an uptick in seat squatting in the friendly skies. California-based etiquette expert Rosalinda Randall said that should one of these fly-jackers occupy your air chair, it is best to address the situation calmly and in good faith.
“Pull out your boarding pass. Not only to double-check [if] you are correct but also as proof if the seat squatter protests,” she said. “If the seat squatter refuses to move, do not engage; do not recruit other passengers to rally; immediately request assistance from the flight attendant.”
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