A man has explained why he refused to give up his pre-booked plane seat to accommodate an elderly disabled couple.

The man, in his early 30s, was travelling with his partner on a four-hour flight and had specifically booked their preferred seats due to his partner’s claustrophobia.

They had secured seats 1B and 1C – a centre and aisle seat. Sharing his experience on Reddit, he said: “We always get on the plane last so there’s less hanging around waiting for the doors to shut. When we boarded, an older couple were sat in seats 1A and 1B. They were given 1A and 1D, and offered us 1C and 1D. We politely refused this offer, and explained that we’d booked 1B and 1C as we wished to sit together.”

A flight attendant then intervened, attempting to convince them to relinquish their seats for the elderly couple, citing one of them as disabled. However, sceptical about her disability and the rationale behind the seat swap, he declined the offer once more.

He added: “The flight attendant rolls her eyes, and the woman in 1B reluctantly moves.”

The incident has since been replaying in his mind, prompting him to seek opinions on social media about whether he was wrong to refuse to move.

One user responded: “You and your partner booked those seats in advance; they are yours. If the elderly couple needed special accommodations they should’ve figured that out in advance while booking.Your partner’s anxiety also is something that needed accommodation — in this case, sitting with her to help keep her calm probably made the experience much less terrifying for her.”

Another user commented: “You booked specific seats and you were 100% entitled to use them. I wish flight attendants would quit asking people directly if they are willing to switch seats and instead ask if anyone would be willing to switch seats so others can sit together. When asked directly and you decline, it just gets awkward.”

A third user shared: “I was on a flight in August where the people behind us were kinda switching seats, there was an extra one in the back, long story, but the flight attendant was not allowed to ask. She kinda just kept saying “it’s up to ___ , she paid for this seat” whatever. Afterwards, she came back to the people behind and explained she’s not allowed to ask anymore and that’s why she was kinda saying the same thing over and over. This was a United flight so maybe different airlines have different rules.”