Seat squatting on flight in New Year riles up passengers: 'Couldn't believe' it

The "seat squatter" trend may have dominated travel experiences in 2024 - but it doesn't seem to be going away any time soon in this New Year of 2025. 

An experience shared on Reddit in the "r/delta" forum with the caption, "Seat squatter caught and rude entire flight," has continued to spark discussion.

The term "seat squatters" has been used to refer to those who rob the seats that were selected and paid for by other travelers.

"They both start fumbling around more and [the] female, who was originally in the window seat [that] I presume they did actually book, and [the] male who was sitting in my seat, both get out of the row so the female and dog can go to the window seat behind us," she added.

The man, for his part, then moved to the window seat in her row, she said. 

"I cannot rationalize how or why this man did this when we did absolutely nothing to him other than ask to sit in our own seats," the poster added in her story.

"It's only happened to me once, thankfully. But my rule of thumb is that I'll be polite on the initial interaction in case it's a legitimate unintentional mistake [that] they're sitting in my seat. In that case, they'll get up and move and there's no harm, no foul," said one.

"I doubt people that are already OK with breaking the rules are going to be great people, unfortunately," commented yet another user.

Some users debated the notion of which passenger gets the armrests in the middle seat.

Another stated, "Everyone knows the middle seat gets both arm rests."

"The middle person does not in fact get both arm rests," another user said. "That's a made-up rule and you can't get mad at someone who doesn't follow that."

Leff suggested that instead of stealing seats, flyers can try asking others directly to swap seats with them.

California-based etiquette expert Rosalinda Randall told Fox News Digital that "it is never OK to seat-squat once on board. Eventually, the passenger with that seat assignment will claim it."

Randall said when dealing with a seat squatter, it is best to address the situation calmly and in good faith.

"If the seat squatter refuses to move, do not engage; do not recruit other passengers to rally," she said.

Rather, "immediately request assistance from the flight attendant."