Seat kidnapping is a term I’d never heard of or even knew existed until recently but sadly, it’s now a thing. I first heard of people stealing other travelers’ assigned seats when my friend, a well-respected and known travel writer, Benet Wilson (aka Aunt Benet or ‘the Queen’, which aviation geeks call her), described a Southwest Airlines incident on her personal Facebook page. RELATED: Taylor Swift’s Clever Southwest Airlines Tip For Keeping the Seat Next to You Empty
Benet gave me permission to reprint it here: “Y’all! I have a new twist on the airline seat thing. I’m in my aisle seat and a man asked if he could sit in the window seat. I got up and stepped back so he could get in. Suddenly this dude plops in my aisle seat. I tell him that I’m actually sitting there (yes, my bag was under the seat). He moved my bag and said the middle seat was free. Before I could say anything, window seat dude tells him that I moved from my seat to let him in. He said tough luck. Window dude called the flight attendant before I had a chance. I said hi to her when I boarded and she complimented my T-shirts and Southwest earrings. She looked him dead in his eye and told him that he needed to move before she called the pilot. He sputtered that I moved, but window dude and the flight attendant both told he needed to move-quickly. He did and I’m now comfy in my aisle seat. #winning”
I don’t know about you but this made my blood boil. I can tell you if this happened to me, I would not have been as polite or calm as Benet. For someone to have the gall to do this says so much about the kind of person they are. Fortunately, Benet had a seatmate who witnessed what happened and stuck up for her, as well as the flight attendant. But what would have happened if no one had seen and it was simply one person’s word against another’s? Perhaps that’s what the rude passenger was banking on.
Benet’s incident happened back in April and I thought it was just a wild one-off so I didn’t write about. But I’ve heard of other incidents like this happen on Southwest Airlines as well since they don’t assign seats. It’s open seating, so first come first serve, which is why there’s been a huge uptick in passengers who pretend to need a wheelchair to board their flights but miraculously walk off the plane on two perfectly functioning legs. That’s another story.
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On an airline that does assign seats, Benet wouldn’t have needed anyone to witness the incident because your seat assignment is on your ticket. But there have been plenty of cases where people still try to sit in seats that aren’t their own – especially ones that cost more because they have more legroom. I’ve boarded the aircraft to find someone sitting in my seat many times, including an A-list celebrity who pretty much begged me to give her my window seat. I did.
I also had someone steal our seats on the ferry to Catalina. I didn’t know it until after we got off, when my wife said she had all four seats for us on the upper back deck when a couple just sat down in two of them. The polite Canadian in my wife didn’t say anything so she sat inside with my daughter. I was downstairs dealing with our checked bags and figured she had been too slow to secure the best seats.
But the inspiration for this article and headline came from a story I read yesterday in the South Morning China Post about a woman in China who refused to give up a train seat booked by another passenger. According to the article, “The woman had only paid for a standing ticket but wanted to sit beside her husband, so she took the seat of another passenger. When that passenger boarded the train, the woman refused to move. “We are married. We already have a marriage certificate. I already have a child with him,” the woman says in the video. The other passenger replied: “What does your marriage have to do with me?””
The comment that struck me was this one: “High-speed trains in China have recently seen numerous cases of so-called “seat kidnapping”.” That’s where we’re at people.
I’ve had people sitting in my seat on trains too including a few weeks ago when traveling between Rome and Napoli but the Americans didn’t realize and apologized. Often, it’s an innocent mistake and I’ve been on the opposite end of it as well.
If you’ve had someone deliberately kidnap your seat, leave a comment. What happened and what did you do? The best thing to do is to remain calm and call the flight attendant or train conductor over and let them know. If you have a seat assignment you really don’t have to worry about it. If you’re flying an airline that doesn’t assign seats, then you better hope someone saw since it’s your word against theirs.
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Regarding wheelchair users @ airports & early boarding; I do realize some may be deceitful/outright lying about being disabled for personal gain; but OLEASE realize not all disabilities are visible; example cancer, arthritis & mental health disorders. Same with service dogs; one may not look like they need this for PTSD as it is not a visible disorder like blindness; but equal in legitinitizing the benefits & use of service animal. Do some people lie about that; certainly; but please do not judge a wheelchair user or a service animal user based on that! Thank you.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I totally agree with you. My point was that people use a wheelchair to get on the plane but they don’t use it when they get off even if it’s a long walk.
This is really common when you book assigned seats on train tickets in Europe but everyone just sits where they want and tells you to get lost when you tell them they’re in your seat. I paid extra for an assigned seat on a train to the Copenhagen airport, but a family was seated in the seat I had purchased. There was a lack of seats, so I was stuck standing for about 45 minutes since I had a lot of luggage and had no idea what to do. There’s a lack of train attendants to help, and when one finally walked down the aisle and I showed them my ticket, they looked at me like I was crazy to make one member of a family get out of their seat. I asked for a refund and they also looked at me like I was crazy. For all the hype that European trains are so much better than Amtrak, I can guarantee Amtrak attendants would kick out people who hadn’t paid for Business class tickets.
Interesting. I had something similar happen to me in Italy
On a flight to Morocco my husband and I got to our seats to see a man sitting in my window seat. He essentially ignored us and we figured there was a language barrier. So my husband sat next to him and I took the aisle, giving him evil eye. He eventually spoke in limited English to my husband that he wasn’t used to flying. So I’m that case I forgave him.
I’ve had people automatically sit in my seat thinking that I’d switch with no complaints. Especially couples. Thank you for bringing this up and making me realize I can push back on this.
THE BEST IS ATLATA, CUSTOMS, IT IS NOW THE NEW LOURDS, WHY PAY TO GO THERE, PLUS ITS A CON , WHEN YOU CAN HAVE ATLANTA, CITY OF MIRACLES, I,M IN MY DISABILITY SCOOTER, AND SEVERAL WHEELCHAIRS COME, ALONG WITH ALL THEIR FOLK TO IMMIGRATION , STRAIGHT THRU THE LINE, THEN AT BAGGAGE, IT HAPPENS, MOST AMZING THING, THEY ALL GET UP WALK, PICK UP BAGS AND THEIR KIDS AND OFF THEY GO , , UNLESS GOING THRU TO ANOTHER CITY,
My husband were on a train in France years ago and had reserved two seats next to each other only to find a French woman in my seat who refused to move. When the other passengers heard her refusal, more than two French passengers told her to move because it was my assigned seat and it was next to my husband’s. That much I understood with my limited French. The middle-aged woman eventually left when she heard a growing chorus saying so and I at least gave a fervent “Merci” to everyone else.
My husband and I had the exit row seats many years ago and a guy jumped in mine and would not budge untilI got the flight attendant involved. She asked to see his boarding pass and politely told him to move. He fussed and fumed but finally got up. It was so embarrassing!! That was at least 15 years ago so apparently seat theft is not a new practice.
We had first class seats on a train from Lucca to Rome but when we got to the compartment two ladies and two older Italian men were in our seats. As my one friend spoke some Italian they claimed not to understand. Finally the young Italian woman spoke up and told them to move. We sat down and she explained that people buy the cheap seats but sit in the first class seats then claim it’s theirs. We thanked her and she gave us good advice as when we got to the Rome station go out the side door not the big line out front and we will get a taxi. Of course we did have a nicely dressed man approach us with a cab for hire which we knew was a scam and forcefully told no, but that’s another story.
Had this happen on a tour bus in Greece – you pick your seats (first come first serve) for the length of the tour (in this case 5 days). My husband and I put our hats, tour book, umbrella and water bottles in the seat pockets in front and were fine and dandy for the first two days. On the third day, we got on the bus and low and behold two other tourists (European) had decided they liked our seats better so just took them. When we politely told them they had mistakenly taken our seats, they just ignored us. And then ignored us again. So, I put on my “loud American” hat and told them in a firm yet loud voice that they were sitting in our seats and would have to move. The bus went silent and everyone was staring at them and guess what, they moved! And everyone on the bus (I was the sole American) applauded and later several told me that they never would have been able to be so “pushy” but that I did the right thing. I know we’re not supposed to be loud Americans, but sometimes it is a nice tool to have in your back pocket. You wouldn’t believe the respect and friendliness we received from our other tour buddies for the remainder of the trip! And the tour guide was so relieved he didn’t have to get in the middle of what could have been a nasty scene.
3 years ago on a train from Brussels to Paris a man was seated in my assigned seat and working on a laptop. When I pointed out his error, politely, he said “so?”.
I repeated that it was my seat and he asked me with great disdain, “do you want me to move?”
I told him yes. He glared and slowly gathered his things and moved to the aisle seat.
I think he meant to intimidate me and make me uncomfortable, but it was my first high speed train ride and I wanted my window seat.
This is also a “thing” in movie theaters that now assign seats.
A man got beat up by a seat “thief” when he showed his tickets with seat numbers. They took off, but everything was captured on video. (yes, theaters have IR cameras watching the audiences.)
It’s sad to see society has digressed. How about taking a selfie with you in the seat. Make sure the picture contains you and the aisle if the aisle seat is what you want.