The controversial question that leaves plane passengers furious

Summer plans are gearing up fast, and with that comes the countdown to booked holidays and the exciting thoughts of the airport buzz, alongside all the things you will do once you have landed.

Whilst the airport buzz is just one part of the holiday experience, it can also be a stressful process going through security checks, getting your bags checked, and finally boarding the flight to find your seat. The window seat is the most popular choice for travellers and those wanting to see what thousands of feet in the air look like, but it can also be the most common cause of rising tensions on board.

This is because many airlines are now forcing travellers to pay for an allocated seat. With cost savings in mind, many opt to take a chance and see if they can ask another passenger to swap seats so they can sit next to their loved one instead of paying to do so.

One passenger took to Reddit to explain that they refused to give up their business class window seat despite a couple's request.

In the 'r/americanairlines' forum on Reddit, a user titled a post, 'Finally happened to me.'

The travel enthusiast wrote: "Maybe I should stop reading about seat swappers ... because it finally happened to me. Get in my 2A seat and I tell the woman, 'Hey, before you get settled, I'm at the window.' And she goes, 'Well, my husband and I are apart in separate aisle seats.'"

The user continued in the post: "I go, 'OK, well, I'm not moving, so I hope you figure it out.' She goes, 'Well, it's still business class.' No."

The Reddit poster added: "To clear this up, I'm on an airbus 2x2. No middle. And it was my seat that I paid for. Moving to an aisle when I booked a window months ago is not the same ... otherwise [I] would've obliged."

The post garnered over 1,000 reactions as people took to the comments section to discuss the issue and share their own encounters with seat swappers on board flights.

"I'm not at all for seat swapping. It's ridiculous," wrote one user.

Another user wrote: Returned recently from Munich and the lady across the aisle kept asking me to switch seats so she could sit next to her husband."

Another person wrote: "I mean, there's no harm in asking, but if the answer is 'No,' politely drop it and move on.

"Unless a person has some sort of illness where their travelling partner needs immediate proximity, there's no point in this," wrote one user.

Many users addressed fellow flyers' need to be near their spouses or family members on planes.

"Why can't grown-ups just suck it up if they are not next to one another for a few hours?" commented one user.

A Redditor wrote that she and her spouse "fly often, and sometimes we can't sit next to each other - big deal. We never ask someone to trade seats".