Man Traveling From Detroit To Chicago Doesn’t Pay To Pick His Seat. It Backfires When He Boards: ‘I Learned A Valuable Lesson’

A traveller flying home alone decided to skip the seat-selection fee and let the airline sort it out. He lived to regret it.

The choice to not choose got him a window seat halfway down the first aircraft and the last row of a regional jet on the second. The second seat was right beside the bathroom and close enough to the flight attendant’s jumpseat that the two men spent the flight shoulder to shoulder. He has the photograph to prove it.

OB (@oboftiktok) recently posted the one-minute, two-second video. It has drawn more than 175,600 views.

“So I learned a valuable lesson this weekend about traveling,” he says. “Always pick your own seat if you can afford to. Usually I do, I never just leave it to chance, but this weekend I’m traveling alone and I’m like, let me just save the money.”

“I will always pick my flight seats from now on,” reads the text across the screen, and his caption adds the silver lining: “At least I felt safe.”

What’s The Worst Seat On A Plane?

He says that the first leg made his carefree strategy look like a win. “When I check in they give me seat 26A, and I think it’s like almost 40 rows, so I’m kind of midway in the plane and I got a window seat,” he says. “I’m like, this is perfect.”

The connection out of Detroit was a very different aircraft. “Then I get to the second flight, which is a regional flight, so it’s a really small plane, I think it’s 18 rows, and I’m in row 18C. So I’m in the very last row, next to the bathroom, and I’m in the aisle.”

He says he made peace with that until boarding finished. “I didn’t think it was that bad until I got in the plane, and then we’re about to take off and I see the flight attendant shuffling with something directly over my shoulder. He’s putting down his seat and he’s going to sit directly next to me.” The photograph he cuts to shows the two men pressed together, both staring straight ahead.

He confirmed the airline in the replies. “This was Delta,” he wrote. “Definitely over $30. Want to say it was $40 or $45.”

The Jumpseat Surprise

OB’s experience reflects a design feature of the aircraft. On the Bombardier CRJ-900, one of the regional jets Delta flies, the rear cabin carries “1 or 2 flight attendant seats located in the rear center aisle,” according to aircraft reference site FlyRadius. That jumpseat folds down into the aisle at the very back, which puts whoever booked the last aisle seat directly beside a crew member for the duration.

Delta’s cheapest fare is more likely to deliver the outcome OB posted about. On Delta Main Basic, the airline says “your seat will not be assigned until after you check in to your flight,” and that “seat assignments can be purchased in advance for a fee or will be assigned for free at the airport after check-in or at the gate.” Passengers who skip the fee take what is left, and what is left on a full aircraft is likely to be the very worst seat, in this case the one at the back.

People Are Willing To Pay To Pick A Seat

The comment thread quoted different prices for seat upgrades. heatherhansen_author wrote, “It’s always worth the $30. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.” But others reported substantially higher figures. A commenter posting as kekeyourstruly said a recent flight cost $50, ozymandria said United wanted “$100 extra dollars to pick my seat,” and estherale24_7 put Delta’s opening price at “$80.”

They could all be right, because there is no fixed price. A Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations staff report released in 2024 found that airlines “leverage advanced technology and specific customer data to set and constantly adjust the prices they charge,” and that this is “particularly the case for seat fees, which can vary enormously from flight to flight and customer to customer.”

The same report put a figure on what the practice makes for airlines. Seat fees, which “did not exist at most airlines 20 years ago,” generated $12.4 billion for American Airlines, Delta, United, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines between 2018 and 2023.

The Crew Would Rather Not Either

Two commenters who identified themselves as cabin crew said the arrangement is no better from their side. “As a flight attendant who has to sit in a jumpseat like that, trust me, we hate it too,” wrote ilovemakingwaffle. A commenter posting as equillaaa, who said they used to fly regionals, agreed: “We really hate we have to sit between y’all.”

A commenter posting as sakura_drops offered a ranking. “I would rather sit in this jumpseat instead of the princess jumpseat,” they wrote, meaning the type that faces the passenger head-on. Another, everyday_kyle, had been there: “A flight attendant once sat directly across from me, face to face.”

Others took the opportunity to clown on OB. “It looks like he’s sitting on your lap,” wrote trayyso5inee. “Y’all go together now,” added akinasay, and OB conceded the point in his replies: “We were besties for 20 minutes.”

BoardingArea reached out to OB via TikTok direct message and to Delta Air Lines via website contact form for comment. We’ll be sure to update this if either responds.

@oboftiktok At least I felt safe 😂 #travel #flight #traveltips ♬ original sound – OB