In a time when travelers usually feel cramped for space, a woman’s recent experience on an airplane has triggered a heated online debate. After being upgraded to first class at no additional cost, she found herself in a moral quandary just one hour into her long-haul flight to San Francisco. A 23-year-old customer was ecstatic when an airline used her frequent flyer points to upgrade her to first class; she had been anticipating her trip to San Francisco for more than a year. Since this would be her first trip utilizing the VIP cabin, she was thrilled about the increased comfort on the 13-hour flight.

Her excitement was short-lived, unfortunately, as a flight attendant soon approached her with a strange request: would she give up her first-class seat for a 10-year-old boy sitting in economy? Though they were upgraded, the boy’s parents—who were also frequent travelers—did not know that their son would not be flying first class alongside them. Their son was consequently left sitting alone in the economy section while the parents reaped the rewards of first class.

A full travel refund or a future upgrade were among the several incentives the flight attendant provided to entice the passenger to switch. Despite feeling pressurized, the woman turned down the offer because she wanted to enjoy the upgrade she had obtained via her airline loyalty.

When the woman published her incident on social media and questioned whether she was inappropriate to deny the seat move, the account immediately gained steam. The post titled “AITA for not trading my first-class seat with a 10-year-old boy’s economy seat so he could sit with his family?” was met with a heated debate and a barrage of comments. Different opinions predominated. Some criticized her for lacking empathy for the young child and said she should have made the sacrifice so the family could be together.

“I was humiliated by an elderly woman seated behind me who informed me that I had left a child alone for thirteen hours,” she recalled. Critics argued that even though children were permitted to see their parents occasionally, it was still unsuitable for them to travel alone on an extended flight. Many, however, supported her decision, arguing that the airline’s rules could have better accommodated the family from the start. The woman was perfectly entitled to relish her advancement. Particularly after devoting so much time to planning and preparing for her vacation, they added. According to her own experience, “there are problems involved with flying in first class as well.”