Entitled mom took jewelry CEO’s pre-booked window seat on long flight so she could sit next to her kids – then seethed when its rightful owner refused to swap it for middle seat

• Tammy Nelson, CEO of a jewelry brand, refused to give up her window seat to a mom who wanted to sit next to her two kids, sparking debate online
• Nelson, who had only 90 minutes of sleep the night before and had to prepare a presentation to 500 people when she landed, booked a window seat on purpose 
• The TikTok video has nearly 3m views and countless of positive comments, praising Nelson for not giving up her seat to the ‘entitled mother’

A jewelry CEO told of how an entitled mother took her pre-booked window seat on a plane – then seethed when she refused to give it up for a middle seat in another row. 

Tammy Nelson, the CEO of global jewelry brand CONQUERing, has garnered over 6,000 comments on a TikTok video she posted this month, describing the June 19 incident on a Delta Airlines flight from Cincinnati to San Jose, California.

She says she arrived at her row to find the unidentified mom in the window seat. On being told the seat was reserved, the mom said she wanted to sit next to her children, who Nelson estimated were aged 11 and 15.

The mom offered to swap her seat with Nelson, but Nelson refused on discovering she was being offered a dreaded middle seat in another row. Nelson said the mom seethed on being refused, and muttered angrily about the rejection for the remainder of the flight.

‘Having had only 90 minutes of sleep the night before and knowing I had to give a presentation to 500 people, I desperately needed some sleep, so I did not agree to switch seats,’ Nelson captioned her video, which has nearly three million views.   

Posing the question to her followers, Nelson asked: ‘What would you do?’ 

Nelson was taken aback when she discovered someone sitting in the seat she had reserved. Assuming it was a mistake, she politely informed the woman of the mix-up.

Tammy Nelson, CEO of a jewelry brand, refused to give up her window seat to a mom who wanted to sit next to her two kids, sparking debate online

The TikTok video has nearly 3m views has countless of positive comments praising her for not giving up her seat to the ‘entitled mother’

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‘When I got to the seat that I thought I had reserved, there was someone sitting in it,’ Nelson told The Cincinnati Enquirer. 

‘I just assumed the woman sitting there had just also made a mistake. And so I said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry. It looks like you’re sitting in my seat.’ And she said, ‘Oh, you wanna sit here?’ And I thought, ‘Well, that’s such an odd question.”

However, things took a turn when the entitled woman assumed Nelson would swap  and take her middle seat, so that she could sit next to her two children aged about 11 and 15-years-old. 

Nelson considered the request and told the woman she would be happy to switch with her if she had a window seat, which Nelson purposefully reserved on the flight. 

‘I always pick a window seat because I get motion sickness during takeoff and landing if I can’t look out the window,’ Nelson said to Good Morning America. 

Nelson’s TikTok has sparked a debate online, with countless positive comments praising her for not giving up her seat 

Nelson, who had only 90 minutes of sleep the night before and had to prepare a presentation to 500 people when she landed, explained that she booked a window seat on purpose

‘And then the second reason is, I don’t get a lot of sleep, so I usually like to be able to sleep on plane and being in the window seat obviously gives you that easiest opportunity to do that,’ she added. 

Nelson then politely declined her request and the passenger reluctantly returned to her assigned seat while ‘huffing and puffing,’ Nelson described. 

‘She was not happy. It wasn’t like a fight but she kind of begrudgingly picked her stuff up and huffed and puffed and went back to her seat,’ Nelson recalled. ‘Then she continued to complain loudly to the person next to her.’

Nelson said the mom ‘proceeded to complain for at least 15 minutes to the person next to her loud enough for me to hear.’ 

‘But the woman actually defended me — several times. It was so kind and I appreciated it so much because I was feeling really guilty,’ she added. 

Nelson’s TikTok has sparked a debate online, with countless positive comments praising her for not giving up her seat. 

But while most people supported her for refusing the mother’s request, a smaller minority argue she could have been more empathetic and understanding. 

‘Before anyone comes after me… the kids looked like they were about 11 and 15 years old. And the mom was in arms-reach of both of them from the middle seat in the row behind us,’ Nelson wrote in her caption. 

Many users argued that individuals who wish to sit together on flights should make arrangements when booking their tickets, rather than inconveniencing fellow passengers.

‘The amount of families who aren’t paying to select their seats together is mindblowing! You were 100 per cent right to not give up your seat,’ said another comment.

‘Nope. If it’s not an upgrade it’s a sacrifice,’ said another.

‘People choose book seats together if they want to sit together,’ added another user.

‘Even if I wanted to switch, the second someone acts entitled by sitting there before even asking… Not happening,’ one commenter said.

 ‘Mother of 3 here and I wouldn’t have switched either,’ one person wrote in the comments. ‘I pay more to book my family together.’

Seat swapping is a hotly contended topic among the frequent flyer community and one story on the matter has added fuel to the debate.

In recent months, a resurfaced Reddit post described one airline passenger who shared their frustrations over a mom who had ‘the audacity’ to expect them to swap seats so she could sit next to her child.

The anonymous traveler explained that they were on a transpacific flight from Japan and they had a widow seat, while the ‘toddler daughter was in the middle next to me’ and the mom was also in the middle but in the row behind.

Explaining the chain of events, the Redditor who has since deleted their account, wrote: ‘[The mom] asked me – and just me – to switch with her so she could have my window seat (next to her daughter) and I’d take her middle seat a row back. 

‘Hell to the f*** no. Not my problem they didn’t book together,’ the post read. 

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