Sydney Miller, a fitness entrepreneur from Miami, shared a video on October 13 explaining how a couple refused her request to switch seats—after she offered for them to sit together—leaving her in the middle.
The couple’s decision confused Miller, who thought she would be killing two birds with one stone—allowing the couple to sit together and getting herself the aisle seat, which would facilitate access to the bathroom.
The video went viral, garnering more than 2.5 million views and close to 500 comments from users who agreed with the couple’s refusal to cede their seats for various reasons, including not having to talk to each other for the duration of the flight.
“I always book the window and aisle, lol. I can go without talking to my husband for a couple of hours,” one user joked.
An influencer went viral after her offer of changing seats on a plane got rejected by a couple, leaving her confused while sitting between them
The video is the latest in an ever-growing trend of passengers recording various uncomfortable situations on planes, from fights to robberies, altercations, and other problems. For instance, a simple search of airplane fights returns more than 690 million posts on the platform. Similarly, a search of couples arguing on planes returns around 480 million clips.
Miller’s audience, accustomed to more hectic videos on TikTok, was surprised by the relative calmness with which all parties handled the disagreement. They took the chance to share their preferences with the influencer.
“I respect it so long as the couple aren’t talking over me or constantly passing things between each other,” one wrote.
“We do this too. He wants the window, and I want the aisle. We are strangers on a plane,” another passenger said.
“I’m a wife that buys a window seat for me and an aisle for my husband,” one viewer said in a similar video. “If the middle seat is bought, I never make the person sit between us. I always offer them a window seat”—a courtesy the couple in the video did not grant the TikToker.
Couples buying window and aisle seats is not a new phenomenon, and people sitting in the middle have shared their awkward experiences online in the past
The fitness influencer’s video starkly contrasts with a video uploaded by user Malia Makaila in July, in which she found herself in the exact same situation—trapped in the middle seat between a couple.
Makaila’s experience, however, couldn’t have been more different, as instead of the couple respecting the fact that a stranger was between them and keeping to themselves or communicating via phone, they proceeded to pass food and other items over her.
“They’re just passing chips and drinks over me, having a full conversation; meanwhile, the guy in front of me pushed his seat so far back I can’t open my laptop, and the WiFi doesn’t work,” Makaila said, sharing the uncomfortable experience with her viewers.
This behavior seems to be linked to a well-known “travel hack” consisting of buying window and aisle seats, leaving the middle seat open, in the hope that the uncomfortable prospect of being squeezed between two strangers discourages potential travelers from taking the seat, effectively increasing the available space for the “hacker” couple.
“We do this too.” Miller’s viewers not only agreed with the couple’s decision but said they’ve done the same on their flights
