Man charges 'obese' passenger for taking up a third of his seat

A Reddit user says he charged an "obese" man $220 for taking up some of his seat on a five-hour flight. Photo / Getty Images

A man sparked debate online after revealing that he charged an obese passenger $220 for taking up some of his seat on a flight.

Writing on Reddit, user BigBawluh asked others for their opinions on his act, where he wrote that he "compensated" for the discomfort of the passenger taking up "one third" of his seat on a five hour flight by charging him money.

"He sits down and is easily seeping into about 1/3 of my seat. I sit down and am pressed up against him, making me uncomfortable," he wrote.

"After a minute, I decided to be upfront and tell him: 'Sir, I'm sorry but this situation is not working for me, you're taking up quite a bit of my seat'."

He went on to say that the man attempted to squeeze in to give him more space, but that it didn't help.

After flagging the issue with a flight attendant, the larger passenger was told he may need to buy another seat – but that the flight was full and nothing could be done.
Which is when BigBawluh decided to ask for cash.

"I told the guy, 'Look, I'll put up with this if you give me $US150 — that's half the cost of this flight and that would compensate me enough for the circumstances'."

He claimed the other passenger "instantly agreed" – and even told him that he appreciated the offer – before handing over the money.

"The people sitting behind me (who keep in mind didn't volunteer to sit by him) were making under their breath comments about me being an a**hole for doing that. I just ignored them and put the cash in my wallet," he wrote.

The post has since gone viral – and proved to be very divisive, with many agreeing that he had been unfair in his treatment of the other passenger.

"This is ridiculous. You made a scene and embarrassed the man and then made him pay you for a fraction of your seat. You are the epitome of an a*****e," one wrote.

"You didn't settle this privately—you humiliated the guy by involving the flight attendant and then demanding $150 to allow him to stay on this flight," another commented.
However, others thought the "compensation" was reasonable.

"He should have bought two seats, this is his fault, in fact he got off well with it," one posted. He agreed and you agreed. I am sure if the people behind you were in the same position they would have thought differently."

Another commenter also agreed.

"You had every right to ask the flight attendant for a solution, and between the man and you, a solution was agreed upon. Everyone else can relax, because it wasn't their seat being overtaken on a flight," they wrote.

Meanwhile, the original poster described the situation as a "win-win".

"He wasn't angry at all, if anything he seemed quite relieved we could work it out privately," he wrote.