A plane passenger has sparked a debate after she refused to give up her extra seat for a toddler. The 34-year-old woman, who is on a journey to shed weight, admitted she still has a long way to go to reach her ideal dress size.

So to ensure her own comfort and avoid inconveniencing others during her flight, she purchased two seats, knowing one would not suffice. Sharing her story on Reddit, she said: “I’m going over to see my brother and his husband for Christmas across the country and because I’m fat, I booked an extra seat so everyone can be more comfortable. I know it sucks having to pay for an extra seat but it is what it is.”

She recounted that her travel experience was smooth until a mum with a nearly two year old boy eyed her ‘spare’ seat as an opportunity. The mum brazenly told her to “squeeze into one seat” to allow her son to occupy the other. She continued: “She told me, not asked. I told her no and that I paid for this seat for the extra space. She makes a big fuss over it, which got the flight attendant’s attention.

“She told the flight attendant I was stealing the seat from her son, then I showed my boarding passes, proving that I, in fact paid for the extra seat. The flight attendant asked me if I could try to squeeze in, but I said no, that I wanted the extra seat I paid for. The boy, who the mom said is 18 months old was supposed to sit in her lap so he could do just that. The flight attendant eventually told the mom to put her son in her lap.”

After enduring “direct looks and passive-aggressive remarks” throughout the journey, she began to question her decision. Taking to Reddit, she sought advice, asking: “I do feel a little bad because the boy looked hard to control so am I the a***hole?”

Users quickly weighed in on her dilemma, with one commenting: “She’s the a***hole for not buying a seat for her son and assuming someone else would give up a seat they paid for. Odds are she was hoping there’d be extra seats on the flight so she didn’t have to pay and used the lap thing as a loophole. Classic case of you snooze you lose.”

Another added their perspective: “You are a little bit of an a***hole (to yourself) for how apologetic you are in this post about your size. You should always do what you can to be as healthy as you can, but being fat isn’t a character flaw or a moral failing.”

The public backlash against flight etiquette erupted as one user said: “We all have our own challenges in life, and you deserve to not be ashamed of your body and yourself even if you aren’t currently meeting your goals. If mum wants an extra seat for her kids, she should have purchased one. She’s not entitled to a seat you purchased, and you don’t need to feel bad for her bad behaviour.”

The debate grew heated when another individual stated: “Some people are so entitled you paid for the seats, you should not have to give one of them up. The cabin crew should have stopped this straight away once they saw you had booked both seats, it should have been obvious why. They should not have asked you to squeeze in to one seat. The mother was an a***hole and So was the member of cabin crew.”