The often-criticised seat-booking ploy is once again at the centre of an ethics debate online. Being squished in a tightly-spaced flight isn’t great. Being squished together with a stranger is, perhaps, worse.
There’s an old controversial loophole around both problems - which some say is a classic d*** move - and in 2024, people are still doing it. Passengers trying out the “poor man’s business class” travel trend to get extra room in economy has again sparked an ethics debate online, after a woman was accused of being “cheap” and “inconveniencing others” when she sat between a couple who paid for the window and aisle seats to get more room. The trend usually plays out in two ways: 1) A person pays for the whole row and then has two of the seats refunded at the last minute so they have the entire row to themselves.
.
