Tomiko Harvey, a travel blogger, has reiterated her decision to decline swapping her pre-booked aisle seat on a 10-hour Turkish Airlines flight, after a fellow passenger allegedly cried for three hours when her request was refused. Harvey, who was flying from Istanbul, Turkey, to Washington, D.C., in the US, said she would not give up her seat because the woman wanted to sit with her husband.
In her original post, Harvey summarised the encounter: “I refused to give up my aisle seat because a lady missed her husband.” She explained that the woman asked her to switch seats, which would have placed Harvey in a middle seat for the entire journey.
Passenger's Reaction and Harvey's Response
Harvey described the scene as “the ultimate white tears on a long haul flight from Istanbul to DC”, adding: “I said no. She cried for three hours.” She later asked the woman if someone had died, because “who cries for three hours?” According to Harvey, the woman replied that “nobody died. She just missed her husband and whose shoulder would she lay her head on”.
Harvey also noted that the husband was seated nearby: “Her husband was two rows up in a middle seat with his headphones on, sleeping in heavenly peace the entire flight.”
Context and Expert Backing
Harvey revealed she was travelling under difficult circumstances, saying she had been “flying home from Kazakhstan on @turkishairlines because my dad passed away”. In a new Instagram Reel titled “Turkish Airlines seat swap, Part 2”, posted on Wednesday (October 21), she stated: “I will die on this hill, I am not switching my airline seat, and here is why.” She added that she had purchased an aisle seat so she would not have to step over others to reach the bathroom, and that “Turkish Airlines assigns seats. If you want to sit together, purchase your seats.”
Former flight attendant Bobby Lorie supported her stance in an interview with Inside Edition, saying: “Just very politely decline the request. Again, it is a request. It is not an obligation.”
Aftermath
Harvey claimed she made a final comment after landing: “When we landed, I told her, ‘Good job. Look at you surviving without your husband for 10 hours,’” she wrote.
