US woman on 10-hour flight refuses to switch plane seats with passenger, who then cries for 3 hours as she can't lay her head on husband's shoulder

An American travel influencer went viral after sharing a video of a fellow passenger crying for three hours after she refused to switch plane seats with her.

Tomiko Harvey detailed the experience in a video on her Instagram, calling the incident "the ultimate white tears on a long-haul flight from Istanbul to (Washington) D.C."

Harvey said the woman asked her to give up her aisle seat so she could sit next to her husband on the over 10-hour-long flight.

She added that the woman's husband was "two rows up in a middle seat with his headphones on, sleeping in heavenly peace the entire flight".

Flying home after father passed away

Harvey shared that she was flying home from Kazakhstan because her father had passed away and was on a connecting flight when the incident occurred.

After being rejected on the seat swap, the woman apparently cried for three hours.

Baffled at the woman's tears, Harvey asked if someone died, and the woman said she "just missed her husband and whose shoulder would she lay her head on".

"She really wanted me in a middle seat for 10 hours so she could lay her head on his shoulder," Harvey remarked.

She added: "When we landed, I told her, 'Good job. Look at you surviving without your husband for 10 hours.'”

Netizens divided

In the comments section, netizens were divided.

Most sided with Harvey, stating that they would not have switched, as she had chosen and paid for her seat.

Other commenters took offence at the term "white tears", stating that Harvey was racialising the issue.

Some joked that the woman's husband booked the seats so that he could have a peaceful flight.

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A post shared by Tomiko Harvey | Richmond, VA | GenX influencer (@tomiko.harvey)