Sometimes wanting some “me time” isn’t a bad thing, but can you have “me time” on an airplane?

This woman was traveling with her family, but she didn’t want to sit next to them on the airplane. Her brother didn’t understand and was really upset.

Now, she’s wondering if she made the wrong decision.

Check out the full story!

AITA that I refused to sit next to my brother on a plane?

I (29f) have 4 siblings all adults.

My dad (63) and my oldest brother Cole (35m) live in Asia, while the rest of the family lives in Germany.

My grandmother, who also lives in Germany recently passed away, so we all planned to go to the funeral immediately.

I’ve never been super close to Cole, but recently we started hanging out more, which I enjoyed.

While buying the airplane tickets, I made it clear I wanted to sit alone next to the window, my dad loves to sit in the aisle, and my brother Cole prefers a window seat.

She isn’t used to traveling with her family…

I haven’t traveled with family since I was a teenager, and I like to travel (flights) alone.

Cole however was furious.

He saw it as a family trip and told me the family must sit together.

I didn’t mind spending some quality time together, however sitting in a limited space does not qualify as a quality time for me, especially a red-eye.

This is where it gets bad!

Fast forward to the arrival at the check-in counter, I asked for a separate window seat.

Cole interrupted and told the airport employee that we’d sit together and that he’d take the middle seat.

I caved in.

On the plane, I put the tip of my elbow on the armrest, and he moved my arm, chuckled, and said: “According to the flight etiquette, the middle seat gets both armrests, haha”.

UH OH…

Now he’s NOT an etiquette guy.

I felt slightly annoyed, but whatever.

The flight itself wasn’t bad, but my flying experience with strangers next to me so far was better.

During our stay in Germany, we had a nice time together, had a beautiful funeral, and headed back home.

This time I again told him that I’d like to sit alone. My dad didn’t care about sitting together.

Cole wasn’t going to give up!

Cole, again, pushed me to sit together.

In front of the check-in counter, I stood my ground and asked for a separate seat. My brother and my dad were seated together and got middle and aisle seats.

Before boarding, he called me a traitor multiple times, I didn’t respond.

I had a lovely trip back home, the middle seat wasn’t occupied, so I was lucky.

Things were fine until…

When we landed, we took a taxi home. I told Cole that I had a very nice flight.

He responded that he had an awful flight because the guy who got the window seat was irritating, loud, and well, simply, big. He gave me a dirty look.

I, again, said nothing and just wanted to let things go.

They ended the trip with a little fight…

Later in the evening, he texted me that I didn’t appreciate his sacrifice to sit in the middle, and I value my comfort over personal relationships and the needs of other people.

Cole also texted that I rubbed in his face my nice experience while he had the worst flight of his life.

Now, I am upset and frustrated because apparently, he blames me for this.

We both want to repair our relationship. But his neediness to sit with me and putting blame on me is pushing me away.

She’s doubting her actions…

Does a family that travels together must sit together?

Maybe I don’t see something objectively in this situation.

AITA for refusing to sit next to my brother on a plane?

GEEZ! That must have been hard to navigate!

Why didn’t Cole just respect his sister’s personal boundaries?

Let’s find out what the Reddit community thinks about this one.

This user thinks Cole simply wanted to annoy her through the flight.

This user blames Cole for making this a big deal!

This user slightly blames her for not respecting her brother’s grieving phase.

That’s right! This user thinks Cole could have easily found his way around the situation.

This user thinks traveling with family isn’t a great idea.

Someone was clearly very sad on that flight back home!

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