Man supported after refusing to pay $11 to sit next to girlfriend on plane

Between single passengers refusing to give up their seats for children and one boyfriend refusing to pay more to sit next to his partner, it’s safe to say summer airfare has caused a lot of debate this year.

The most recent travel saga was documented by TikToker Gamze Esen, when she posted about her boyfriend choosing not to pick his seat on their flight for an extra fee. On 21 July, Esen captured her boyfriend on video standing in a separate boarding line for the plane. Her on-screen caption read: “All the couples are sitting together, but your man didn’t think it was worth paying an extra 10 euros to choose a seat next to you.”

The 10 euros would come out to be $11.08 in US dollars.

Esen’s post, which has since received over 4.6m views on the app, caused an internet frenzy over airlines charging seat assignment fees on planes. Nearly 4,400 users commented in agreement that they wouldn’t want to spend the money to switch either.

“Just out of principle i don’t pay extra for a seat, the flight is expensive enough,” one viewer admitted, while another wrote: “Think about it. With those 10 euros you can drink five coffees in your holiday. He thought about it already.”

“That’d be absolutely fine by me. We have a whole holiday to spend together,” a blunt person added, while one follower proclaimed: “Good man. Being responsible with his money. The time apart should be good for you guys.”

Meanwhile, other TikTok users considered Esen’s boyfriend’s decision to be a “red flag.” One comment that received over 25,000 likes argued that spending the extra money could prevent them from wasting valuable time next to a stranger.

“Nah im paying the 10€. If the planes going down i dont wanna spend my last minutes with a stranger,” they wrote.

The Independent has reached out to Esen for a comment.

The conversation surrounding add-on fees for flight seats is nothing new. President Joe Biden commented on the issue when he gave his State of the Union Address in February, exposing airlines for making families pay more to sit next to each other.

And it’s not like the prices to switch seats are only a few bucks. According to a report by IdeaWorks and CarTrawler, the estimated revenue across eight US airlines is estimated to be anywhere up to $4.2bn each year.

Thankfully, after President Biden’s address, Frontier Airlines announced every passenger below the age of 14 would now be seated next to at least one parent free of cost. Condé Nast Traveller documented a similar change with United Airlines, only they wouldn’t guarantee a child will be seated with their family. Instead, they would provide clear options for families who want to be seated together.

Esen’s video comes after several posts went viral on TikTok, in which passengers were praised for their refusal to switch out of their first-class tickets for children who want to sit with their parent. Recently, Dr Sabra (@lifewithdrsabra) unapologetically explained how she stayed put in the seat she paid for, even when a flight agent requested that she change with a child.

Viewers were in agreement that it wasn’t Dr Sabra’s responsibility to ensure the child could sit with their parent, and rather, it was on both the parent and the airline.