Who knew a bar buddy could turn into a seat squatter? A passenger flying from Chicago to New York City recently shared their awkward encounter with a "seat stealer" on Reddit, leaving travelers divided over the situation.

According to the post in the "r/delta" forum, the passenger had struck up a conversation with another traveler at an Irish bar inside Chicago Midway International Airport. They joked about the man's underwhelming old-fashioned cocktail and bonded over his $30 tab for the disappointing drink. Little did they know, this casual chat would lead to a bizarre in-flight interaction.

After boarding the plane, the Reddit user was surprised to find their bar buddy sitting in their upgraded first-class seat. "I showed him my ticket, and he moved aside," the user wrote, adding, "Nooo sorry, we have both seats." The squatter begrudgingly relocated to the comfort plus section, leaving the poster feeling awkward and a little betrayed. "I’m like, bro, I thought we were friends," they concluded.

Reddit users wasted no time chiming in. "You aren’t friends. He’s a seat stealer. Don’t call a seat stealer a friend," one commenter bluntly noted. Another added, "It astounds me the people who think they can get away with sneaking into an entirely different class of service like that." One user speculated this wasn’t the man’s first attempt at pulling a stunt like this, while another humorously guessed he might have been a bit tipsy.

The conversation sparked debates about airplane seat etiquette and the audacity of travelers who try to claim seats they clearly didn’t pay for. "Who steals seats, knowing it can just be shown that it's not their seat and they'd be told to move? It's wild," a Redditor wrote. Another added, "I don’t understand why these people think the flight attendants won’t notice someone in a first-class seat that isn’t supposed to be there."

Travel expert and author Brandon Blewett weighed in, offering advice on how to deal with seat squatters. "Let the flight attendant handle it. Nobody wants to go viral in a reel titled, ‘Passenger meltdown at 30,000 feet,’" Blewett said. He warned that situations like this can disrupt an entire flight, resulting in cascading delays and missed connections.

While this incident may have been awkward for the Reddit user, it serves as a reminder to travelers everywhere: stick to your assigned seat and avoid unnecessary drama in the sky. Or, at the very least, don't let your bar buddy become your in-flight nemesis.

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