Market Update: Mom Asked Plane Passenger to Give Up $7K Business Class Seat So She Could Sit with Her Daughter – Full Analysis

A plane passenger is recalling the moment she was asked to give up her business class seat for economy so a mother and daughter could sit together. 

Content creator and college student Ishika Yadavalli, 21, shared the surprising travel encounter in a now-viral video on Instagram and TikTok that have racked up millions of views.

The clip shows Yadavalli laying down in her business class seat with a purple blanket over her as she gets ready to go to sleep. Over the video, she wrote in white text: “Me in my $7000 seat after a mom asked me to switch to ECONOMY so her daughter can take my seat.”

In the caption of her TikTok, she added, “I’m sorry, when did it become my responsibility to pay for your daughter’s upgrade? Why couldn’t you just book both of you in business?”

Yadavalli provided more context surrounding the in-flight exchange in an interview with Newsweek.

She explained how she was traveling from Cincinnati to Dubai and she booked the business class seat with her own money as a way to “treat myself for the hard work I’ve put into college, almost like a graduation gift to myself, as I graduate this May,” she told the outlet.

She continued, “I was likely the youngest person in the cabin, and shortly after I sat down, the woman next to me asked if I would switch seats with her daughter.” 

After she learned the seat was in economy, Yadavalli said she “politely declined.” However, that only escalated the situation, as the woman then tried to justify her request, she recalled. 

“[The woman] explained that she had been upgraded, had never flown business class before, and wanted her daughter to experience it as well. She also implied that, because I was young, I should understand and that it ‘wasn’t my money anyway.’”

Yadavalli “reiterated that I wasn’t comfortable switching” and suggested calling over a flight attendant to help resolve the situation, she said. She also claimed she overheard the woman complaining on the phone, calling her “ungrateful” and not having any concern over the fact that her daughter was sitting alone. 

A flight attendant eventually got involved, Yadavalli said, and the crew member explained that they could not move a business class passenger to an economy seat. While the situation certainly got heated, Yadavalli said it didn’t impact her flight experience for the rest of the trip. 

“Thankfully, the cabin was a suite-style layout with doors and partitions, so I was able to enjoy the rest of the flight without further disturbance or interaction with her,” she told the outlet.

PEOPLE has reached out to Yadavalli for comment. 

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Many commenters aligned with Yadavalli’s perspective on the incident, noting that it was a completely unfair ask on the mom’s part. One offered that the mom should simply have swapped with the person sitting next to her daughter in economy and offered them her upgrade if it was so important to her that they sit together.

“Defs not?! If she wanted it she should’ve bought it herself!” one person wrote on Instagram.

Another added on TikTok, “That is insane. Thank you for saying no. Frankly it is the only morally correct thing to do.”

Others noted they would only switch if the mom sent them “double” or “triple” the cost of the price Yadavalli paid for her ticket. 

While some were skeptical, adding that a situation like this simply couldn’t “be true,” more commenters were quick to defend Yadavalli and reiterate how often this exact scenario actually happens. 

“You’d be shocked at the audacity some people have,” one person wrote, followed by another who added, “As a FA this happens like everyday.”